Gòj / voice — possessed speech

Changed voice, song, and address

The throat is an attention site for the changed voice, song, and address that accompany many possession ceremonies. The rendering follows ritual phenomenology: it does not assert that the lwa is anatomically lodged in the larynx.

Tèt / konesans — head of awarenessPoto mitan — ritual central axisGòj / voice — possessed speechGòj / voice — possessed speechKè — heart of relationshipVant — belly of entryMen — hands of servicePye — feet of danse

Point 3 of 7 in Haitian Vodou — Lwa Possession Body Sites

Cross-tradition overlaps

No overlapping points are registered for this point.

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Sources

Alfred Métraux, Voodoo in Haiti (scholarly_modern)

Ritual descriptions of songs, invocations, and altered speech support the throat/voice attention site; they do not establish a universal throat doctrine.

Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn (scholarly_modern)

Narratives of ceremony and spirit communication document the importance of voice, song, and address in possession events.

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