houngan

houngan

English

Etymology

From Haitian Creole oungan, apparently from Fon houn (“spirit”) + Kongo nganga (“high priest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(h)uŋ.ɡən/, /-ɡæn/

Noun

houngan (plural houngans)

1. A (male) voodoo priest.
   • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company 2004, page 48:

     The shadow of the houngan, projected from within the tent by the flickering of the candle, dances and glides over the folds of the cloth as he completes his final preparations.

   • 1995, Sidney Mintz & Michel-Rolph Trouillot, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, page 147:

     By then, estimates of the number of oungans killed in 1986-87 had reached as high as 400.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books 2007, page 16:

     From 1751 to 1758, Makandal, a one-armed former slave and houngan, staged a rebellion that claimed some six thousand lives.

   • 2008 April 5, Marc Lacey, “A U.S.-Trained Entrepreneur Becomes Voodoo’s Pope”, in New York Times‎:

     Most voodoo priests, known as houngans, operate semi-independently, catering to their followers without much structure.

Alternative forms

• oungan

See also

• mambo (the female equivalent)