Vodou Part 3a - Bondye and the Great Lwa

@Ravenladyj (22902)
United States
May 9, 2007 10:14am CST
just a touch on Bondye so ppl know what he is...Basically the Supreme Being ("god") in Vodou is named Bondye OR Grand Met...He is more like an eternal force rather than a spirit or higher power complete with emotions or a personality.....in Vodou, unlike many other religions in the world, Bondye is NOT worshipped in the sense that ppl serve him or have rituals to honour him etc...He also has absolutely NO CONTACT with ppl...Bondye is the constant motion of existance...he's life and death, he's all of nature, he is day and night, the ocean and air and so on....He is pretty much the "Universal All" (which is how i like to see it/word it but some may disagree which of course is fine, to each his own etc).....Bondye is kind of like the "fly on the wall" He watches everything that goes on and watches over us but he just doesnt get involved, he doesnt get angry he doesnt pat us on the back and so on...all those types of things are left to the Lwa to deal with.....Just because he's not worshipped or in our lives directly though, doesnt make him less important or insignificant...In fact its just the opposite..Bondye is with us, in our lives, thoughts, hearts, souls etc on a daily basis.....Now on to the Great Lwa.... So ALL of the Lwa oversee every aspect of life, living, dying, just plain existing with us...and there are thousands of Lwa with some retreating and new ones replacing all the time...There are however a few groups of Lwa that are everlasting and kind of at the top of the food chain I guess you could say....They are the Great Lwa and the Lwa of Death.... The Great Lwa: first and foremost you have the oldest, wisest, most cherished of all which is Danbala and Ayida...Think of them as kind of the parents of humanity...Danbala is the first of all the Lwa as well as the one who created the world, he has with him the knowledge of the ancestors and ...The Snake is his symbol (he's sometimes refered to as "the Great Serpant" and is seen as a Boa) and since all snakes are his servants, snakes are respected by all Vodou ppl... Ayida-Wedo is Danbalas wife, her symbol is the rainbow (but she is also seen as a snake but a smaller one than Danbala)... As a couple Danbala and Ayida-Wedo are the mother and father of all and together their symbol is an egg...they are all about all new life, birth, fertility...as well as happiness, prosperity, marriage/unions and good luck.... BUT WAIT! THERES MORE! but I need another coffee first
2 people like this
3 responses
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
11 May 07
This is some really interesting information. I had heard of Grand Met and of Bondye, but I wasn't aware that they were the same. *thinks* Thanks for the info, and I will very much look forward to more. Vodou is something I know more about in practice than in spirituality, so I love this series you're doing. =)
1 person likes this
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
9 May 07
I think I need more coffee also. Then I have to read this again and try to understand it better. I think I need to go find Part 1 and 2.
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@missak (3311)
• Spain
9 May 07
This is very great! Thanks for this information. I love the description of Bondye. It is more or less the same for Olofin, Olorum, Oloddumare, Abasi and Nsambi for other afro-american religions :). I hope you don't mind me to make such comparisons, it is my way of understanding that matters...
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
9 May 07
no no I dont mind at all!! feel free to add and if you are up to it feel free to give descriptions or explainations etc of how it is for you if that makes sense....I'm always game for learning new things :-)
1 person likes this
@missak (3311)
• Spain
9 May 07
mee too, I'll do so :)
@missak (3311)
• Spain
14 May 07
Ok, today I am in the mood to explain a little, sorry for taking so long... Olofin, Olorum and Oloddumare are the same idea that you explained for Bondye, in the Yoruba version (from Nigeria). There are many discussions on why they are 3 names for the same unique "God over All", and the better explanation seems to be that the Yoruba Empire had conquered different kindoms in West Africa, as Dahomeyan one. So this different names could be the different village names. In the cuban version of this tradition, the Santeria, they lasted the three and they are used in different ocassions or opinions on that semi-monoteistic idea: Olofin is more like a universal mean of creativity, Olorun is the Sun and the universal energy that pushs everything to evolution and changes, Oloddumare is more related to Mother Earth. They are also compared to Christian Saint Trinity. Nsambi is more or less the same for the Congos (coming from Central Africa). There are two Nsambi: one that is far from us and don't contact living beings, and one that is inside everything and is like the force of life. Abasi is perhaps a newer vision of Nsambi, since there are also two Abasi in is the same idea. This one comes from the Carabali, nowadays Cameroon. There are many Congo influences in their religion. It is for me a great mystery how all this religions lasted in Cuba...