loa
3
9.9
- noun
- /loʊˈɑː/
- Literature
:
loa
- The loa are considered powerful spirits that mediate between the living and the divine.
Examples
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The other back seats were filling with men and women dressed in white, many of whom had served the loa last night.
Fiction book (2000) -
WHEN I was six and living in Haiti, Odette taught me how to find a stone with a loa spirit in it.
Fiction book (1991) -
Legba opens the way for the day loa, but the night demons all pass through the hand of Mait'Carrefour.
Fiction book (1994) -
Boukman was mixing blood with gunpowder and clairin to feed the loa, and most of the people were pressing forward to get some, whether the loa had mounted them or not.
Fiction book (1994) -
To be sure, Moustique did not report to Delahaye that the houngan had also begun to teach him the names and natures of the loa, particularly Damballah, the spirit that had chosen to possess him.
Fiction book (2000) -
Integral to Voodoo, Legba is a male/female spirit who acts as a portal between the loa (spirit deities) and humanity and therefore stands both between and within the world of the spirits and the material world.
Academic text (2012) -
In Haitian Vodou, practitioners often seek guidance from the loa during their rituals.
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Each loa is believed to have specific attributes and responsibilities within the Vodou pantheon.
Synonyms
A spirit in the Yoruba religion that people worship and give gifts to
Surface Forms
Etymology
Loa (often spelled lwa) is a Creole word for 'spirit' that came from West African languages brought to Haiti. So a loa is a spirit or deity who acts between people and the divine.