Estelle Beauvoir has written a definition of “Vodou Songs”, she describes them as the Walls, Carrels and Books of the Great Vodoun Public Library. They are not stored and retrieved occasionally, however… We live them, we live in them and we live through them.
Ask a question of “Vodou People”: they will answer with a song. Snippets of song, even songs other cultures would call “sacred,” are part of ordinary conversation. One cannot speak about songs in Vodou without speaking about the Regleman, which is the protocol that governs the liturgy of sevis lwa (the ceremony for the lwa, of gods, of Haitian Vodou).
This article is an introduction to the Regleman, and presenting some of its songs to show you how they invoke history and speak to contemporary concerns, although they are all rooted in the same tradition and have many parallels.
The Regleman of each houmfour (Vodou temple) is unique. In the ceremony, in addition to the oungan or manbo (priest or priestess), the person who directs and conducts the Regleman is called an Houngenikon. The Houngenikon is initiated specifically for this role, and is the only person besides the oungan or manbo who can carry the Asson. Of course, the instruments like the drums are also central to the music.
This video will give you a sense of how the Regleman is followed in a temple.
Most ceremonies begin with the Priye Ginen, a kind of litany for all of the lwa, whose names are cited in the prayer. Part of this prayer is directed to the Roi De Wongol, a lwa whose name probably means “King of Angola”.
“WONGOL O
WONGOL O
WA FEN SONGE
TWA MOT PRIYE
KI MENE AFRIKEN
KI SOTI NAN GINEN
TWA PATER, TWA AVE MARIA
JE VOUS SALUE MARIE
KI MENE AFRIKAN
KI SOTI NAN GINEN”
Which can be translated as:
“WONGOL O, MAKE US REMEMBER
THAT PRAYER OF THREE WORDS
THAT CAPTURED THE AFRICANS
WHO CAME FROM AFRICA
THREE PATER, THREE AVE MARIA
I SALUTE YOU MARIE
WHO CAPTURED THE AFRICANS
WHO CAME FROM AFRICA”
This song recalls how the Catholic church was involved in colonization and slavery. It is a call to remember that Catholic prayers were a part of the capturing, both physical and spiritual, of the Africans brought to Haiti. One song from another part of the Regleman explicitly recalls the experience of the Middle Passage, remembering how the ancestors hands and feet were tied and they were placed in a batiman negrier, a slave ship. It is also a reminder of the African origins of those who sing the song.
This prayer can last anywhere from 1 minute, to two hours, and in its longer versions can include invocations of other aspects of colonization and the history of resistance to slavery. Some songs invoke the blowing of the conch shells used by maroons and in the Haitian Revolution.
In another, the singers describe themselves as “Creol Kongo,” as a way of explaining that they have become creoles but retained an African soul.
After the Priyé Ginen, the Houngenikon asks the initiates of the temple, to gather together and sing a song that declares:
“LA FANMI SAMBLE
CREOL NOU LA E
NAN PWEN GINEN ANKO
LA FANMI SAMBLE
CREOL NOU LA E”
The song calls the family of initiates to gather together, and they sing “We Are Creoles Now.” The song suggests that struggle ahead is no longer for Africa, but for the Creole land of Haiti. Sung today, the song recalls one of the central victories of the Haitian Revolution, the unification of Africans and Creoles in pursuit of liberty and independence.
Even after Haiti won its independence from slavery and colonialism, Vodou was often persecuted within the country, and had to struggle for recognition and respect. The Emperor Faustin Soulouque, for example, who reigned in Haiti from 1847 to 1859, gave orders to destroy the temples and ritual objects of Vodou and build more churches.
His actions are recalled in this song for lwa Legba, which was composed at the time and is still sung today.
“MINAN CHAGE
SOBO MINAN CHAGE ATO
LEGBA DEYE YO
FRE PAUL COMMANDANT LARRONDISSEMAN
GENERAL PAUL COMMANDANT LARRONDISSEMAN
SAINT ELANGE OU-MENM KI KENBE KLE DJOHOUN A
VOYE PALE LEMPERE SOULOUQUE
WA DI LI POU MWEN
MINAN CHAGE
LEGBE DEYE YO"
A Minan is a jar, and this song says the jar is running over, in other words, that Soulouque has gone too far. The lwa SOBO agrees. The song sends a series of warnings to Soulouque. The song warns him that Legba is behind him, is watching him. And it calls on several important people to pass along the message that he should stop: Brother Paul, a local leader and Saint Elange, one of the most powerful houngan at the time. Saint Elange, the song notes, holds the key to the tradition that Soulouque was trying to destroy.
At the end of Soulouque’s reign, his leading general, Fabre Geffrard turned against him. As he prepared to launch an uprising against Soulouque, he went into hiding in a very old and important temple called Souvenance. After he overthrew Soulouque, however, Geffrard continued many of the same policies, and shut down the temple for twenty years. Today, at Souvenance, this treason is remembered in a song sung at the beginning of every ceremony. The song still invokes great emotions, as listeners often cry at the remembrance of this episode of betrayal and repression.
During the U.S. occupation of Haiti, which lasted from 1915 to 1934, there was further repression of Vodou: ritual objects were collected and burned, and priests who refused to hand over their objects imprisoned.
A song from this period attacked Louis Borno, who served as president under the occupation, for his actions against Vodou. It mentions that he has used his power for the destruction of the asson, but warns that the lwa are ultimately more powerful, and that the time will come when he himself will lose his power.
The Regleman includes some moments for more recreational or profane music. These songs provide an opportunity for people to settle scores, laugh, and dance to show off. Some songs, for instance, criticize young people who are involved in gossiping, prostitution, and stealing. During this period, there are often songs sung that speak to present circumstances, and can express political positions.
The same song can be used to very different ends. In the wake of the departure of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, for instance, a song about a son who has to leave the country was often sung by those who regretted his departure. The same song was taken up again years later, when Aristide was overthrown and left for exile; the group RAM released this song on one of their albums in 1992 in honor of Aristide.
Throughout all of this history, one of the major pillars of Vodou practice has been healing. And many of the songs in the Regleman celebrate the virtues of the leaves that are used for healing. In the midst of misery, the houngan can help provide healing and save his children.
