Afro-diasporic · branch
Haitian Vodou
A distant creator and a crowd of lwa who are served, fed and who ride their devotees in ceremony. Initiatory, communal, intensely embodied, and consistently misrepresented by everyone who has not looked at it.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A3 Pluralitymany powers and spiritsFurther toward "many powers and spirits" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribedFurther toward "essential and prescribed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B2 Reading of sacred textmetaphorical, or no text at allFurther toward "metaphorical, or no text at all" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D3 The bodyleaning to be celebratedFurther toward "to be celebrated" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 1.00 | 0.03 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | leaning a personal being one can addressHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.72 | 0.14 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | many powers and spiritsHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.95 | 0.04 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.92 | 0.06 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experienceHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.62 | 0.15 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | metaphorical, or no text at allHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.90 | 0.07 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | clergy and tradition decideHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.15 | 0.10 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | leaning cyclical returnHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.68 | 0.18 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally soundHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.78 | 0.12 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insightHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.55 | 0.18 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | essential and prescribedHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be celebratedHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.78 | 0.12 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | leaning many valid pathsHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.68 | 0.15 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | leaning an intentional actHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.25 | 0.18 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning a people, inheritedHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.28 | 0.16 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacredHaitian Vodou ritual practice and Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods | 0.88 | 0.08 |
Further reading
- Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods — Vodou and Catholicism side by side; the source for the A- and E-group values.
- Brown, Mama Lola — A single practitioner’s religious life in detail — useful for the dispersions.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.