Manbo (Vodou)

Female priest in Haitian Vodou

A manbo (also written as mambo) is a priestess (as opposed to a oungan, a male priest) in the Haitian Vodou religion. Haitian Vodou's conceptions of priesthood stem from the religious traditions of enslaved people from Dahomey, in what is today Benin. This form of female leadership is prevalent in urban centers such as Port au Prince (the capital of Haiti). Typically, there is no hierarchy among manbos and oungans. These priestesses and priests serve as the heads of autonomous religious groups and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their hounfo (temples). They become qualified after completing several initiation rituals and technical training exercises where they learn the Vodou spirits by their names, attributes, and symbols. During these rituals, manbos may either be possessed by a loa (also spelled lwa, Vodou spirits) themselves, or may oversee the possession of other devotees. There are also notable manbos within the United States. Marie Laveau (1801 1888), for example, gained fame in New Orleans, Louisiana, for her personal charm and Louisiana Voodoo practices. Mama Lola is another prominent manbo and Vodou spiritual leader in the United States. She rose to fame after the publication of Karen McCarthy Brown's ethnographic account Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Mama Lola's success provided her with a platform to challenge Western misconceptions of Haitian Vodou and make television appearances. As a result, Vodou has elements that can be traced back to the Fon people. For instance, the term manbo stems from the Fon term nanbo, which means "mother of magic". Like the nanbo in West African Vodun, Haitian manbos play a vital role in Vodou temples and rituals.

Generally, manbos and oungans serve as the heads of autonomous Vodou religious groups—rather than clerical hierarchies—and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their temples. Before they can put these skills into practice, these priests and priestesses receive a technical education wherein they learn about the different Vodou spirits and ritualistic practices. They must also cultivate a konesans (knowledge)—typically regarded as intuition, psychic power, or the "gift of eyes". In a humfo (Vodou temple), manbos and oungans are commonly referred to as manman (mother) and papa (father) respectively. Patriarchal structures with male priesthood often prevail in rural areas of Haiti. Female leadership, on the other hand, is often seen in urban centers such as Port au Prince (the capital of Haiti). The autonomous nature of the Vodou priesthood enables manbos to exercise leadership entirely independent of male control. During possession, an individual's consciousness and sense of control leaves their body, which increases mental and corporeal reception of the spirits.

Cécile Fatiman is famously known for her participation in the August 1791 Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman, which is considered to be a catalyst for the Haitian Revolution. This historical Vodou priestess inspired the first act of the uprising by sacrificing a black pig and sharing the blood with other slaves. Following the ceremony at Bois Caïman, a slave revolt began on August 21, 1791, resulting in the destruction of plantations surrounding Cap Français (modern day Cap Haitien) and the deaths of thousands of French men, women and children. Like its Haitian counterpart, New Orleans Voodoo was brought by enslaved Africans from West Africa to French Louisiana during the slave trade. Contrary to popular belief, Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo are not the same—these African diaspora religions have their own history and identity. From its beginning, female practitioners played a dominant role in New Orleans Voodoo. Approximately eighty percent of Voodoo leaders were said to be women during Laveau's time.