Vilokan

Vilokan designates the mythological abode of the Vodou spirits (lwas). An African-derived religion, Vodou was brought to Haiti during the colonization period (1492–1804) and has maintained many West African religious traditions; among them are those of Benin (formerly Dahomey), Kongo, Nigeria, and Guinea. Vodouists believe that Vilokan is in Africa, and they conceive of it as a city in Ginen (or Guinea) on an island below the sea.

Vilokan features prominently in Vodou's worldview and ritual observances. Vodou's mythology conceives of the cosmos as a sphere made of two inverted halves of a gourd whose edges match perfectly. Inside this sphere are two mutually perpendicular and intersecting planes that, perceived in a cross-section of the sphere, represent the arms of a cross. The plane along which the two halves of the sphere are conjoined constitutes the horizon. The perpendicular line of the cross that transects the horizontal plane forms the second arm of the cross and joins the top to the bottom of the sphere. Both planes provide the framework and supporting axes of the cosmic sphere. Moreover, Haitian and Beninese mythologies conceive of the Earth as floating on water and stretching flat along the plane of the horizon in the center of the sphere. Far beneath the Earth is Vilokan. The vertical arm of the cross that conjoins the top to the bottom of the sphere is said to pierce through the center of the Earth to plunge into the waters of the abyss to the subtelluric city of Vilokan.

This vertical arm serves as the point of contact between Vilokan and the world of the living because during a ceremony, the priest (boungan) or his assistant (laplas) invokes a lwa by drawing its geometric cabbala-like tracing (vèvè). As the community intones the appropriate song, the officiant traces the vèvè on the floor of the temple by sifting cornflower between his thumb and index fingers. Vodouists believe that these auditory and visual media summon a lwa to the temple, and, at the appropriate moment during a ritual, the lwa leaves Vilokan and climbs on the vertical arm of the cross to manifest itself in the body of a devotee in spirit possession. Spirit possession is an altered state of consciousness, in which a spirit is believed to mount a devotee like a horse. Through this medium, a lwa is given a voice with which to impart its sacred wisdom to a community and conversely ears to listen to its concerns. Spirit possession, then, is a nonmaterial attainment by which a believer experiences a direct engagement with the spirit world.

At the outset of Vodou ceremonies in the temple (ounfò), devotees make contact with the lwas in Vilokan by invoking Legba (or Elegua) through the medium of the priest or his assistant. Vodouists believe that Legba holds the keys that open the gates through which the lwas pass to “visit” their devotees. Moreover, the lwas are said not to speak the same languages as their devotees; Legba is the polyglot who translates the supplications of the devotees to the respective lwas in Vilokan. In short, he is the mediator between Vilokan and the profane world.

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