Haitian vodou and vodun: lwa and spirits

Vodun was born among the Fon and Ewe peoples of the Bight of Benin, where every force of the world has its spirit. Carried to Saint-Domingue by the slave trade, it became Haitian vodou, where the lwa mediate between humans and Bondye: Papa Legba opens the roads, Baron Samdi rules the dead, Erzulie embodies love. The entries below document these spirits from Benin to the Caribbean.