Vodou is not a belief system that is forced upon you, nor is it given. It is an initiatory tradition. Many of its followers may never become initiates, but some reach higher ranks and become the higher ranks, known as manbo or hougan.
Vodou is a religion. Its practitioners are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants or Vodouizan. Many such practitioners sèvi lwa (‘serve the lwa‘), a reference to the spirits that play a central role in Vodou. The main structure of Vodou derives from the African traditional religions of West and Central Africa which were brought to Haiti by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries. On the island, these African religions mixed with the iconography of European-derived traditions such as Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry. In combining these differing influences, Vodou has often been described as a religion of symbiotic beliefs – one that exhibits diverse cultural influences. Lacking any central institutional authority, Vodou has no single leader or a formal creed.
Vodou has been characterized as a “sister religion” of Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé.
Below is a list of the most “known” Vodou Lwa:
| 1. Legba | Key to the spiritual world – Communication |
| 2. Dambalah Wedo: The father of all Lwas. The sun. | Masculinity – Paternal love and Medicine |
| 3. Azaka Mede | Agriculture – Hard working |
| 4. Kouzen Zaka (Brother of Azaka) (Peasant) | Agriculture – Peasant life |
| 5. Ayida Wèdo (female counterpart of Dambalah): The moon. | Rainbow – Femininity |
| 6. Erzilie Dantò | Maternal love – Mistrust – Androgyny – Lesbianism |
| 7. Erzili Freda | Love – Polygamy – Ideal dreams – Hope and aspiration |
| 8. Ogou Feray | Political Warrior |
| 9. Ogou Badagri | Scholar lwa – Prophesy. |
| 10. Baron Samedi | Powerful healer and is especially sympathetic to terminally ill children. Rules the cemetery: no one can die until he gives permission. |
| 11. Guede | Spirits of the ancestors – crossing from life to death. |
| 12. Kalfou | Bad and good principle. |
| 13. Simbi | Water and cure for supernatural illness |
| 14. Marassa | Fertility – Capricious – Powerful healers |