Vodou Part 2 - Lwa - General info

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In Vodou there is the Lwa which is the spirit world on a basic level.....These are the spirits that oversee life/people on both a grand scale as well as an intimate one etc etc kind of like Angels I guess you could say....So the next couple threads I post will be about the Lwa but keep in mind it is impossibel to know ALL the Lwa simply because they are far too many and over time some of the much older ones are dropped from the list so to speak in order to allow new ones to enter that stage of "life"... One thing I really relate to when it comes to the Lwa is the fact that the Lwa is in everything...its very much like my Buddhist and Native Am beliefs that we are all one and everything is connected...this DOESNT mean for example that the Lwa IS the tree, animal, rock etc it just means that they are part of them, connected to them just like we (the living) are...sorry kinda hard to explain... There are many different classes I guess you could say when it comes to the Lwa - you have the highest of all which is the Great Lwa: Danbala & Ayida-Wedo (Rada) = Papa Legba - (Petro) = Kalfou (Rada) = Ezili Freda - (Petro) = Ezili Danto Ogou (Rada) = Agwe - (Petro) = Agwe la Flambeau (Rada) = Lasiren - (Petro) = Labalenn (Rada is the gentle aspect Petro is aggressive aspect) Then you have the Gede which is the family of the Lwa of Death....Their job is to basically oversee death and all that is associated with it..they are also great healers and are the protectors of children...One thing I relly love about the Lwa of Death is the fact that they make light of dying....which makes perfect sense to me..you cant avoid it or stop it so why not have fun with it ya know.... the major Lwa of Death are Baron Samedi Baron Cimetie Baron Crois Maman Brijit then you have the numerous other Lwa which ranges from famous ppl in history as well as goverment ppl (like presidents which is a scarey thought really LOL) down to our personal Lwa which would be our family members/ancestors etc who've passed before us...Some would say however that not everyone who dies is granted Lwa status but WHO is granted it or rather is entitled to it most likely varies from person to person and maybe even country to country.. any questions? anything to add? I need coffee then I'll get on to Lwa part 2 which will start with the Great Lwa and their purpose etc....