Refractum Spells and Magic

Organization

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There are two levels of organization in most Voodoo societies: local and global. Most bizongues have a number of local chapters. This is the outermost layer of the Voodoo societies: groups that operate within one community, seemingly isolated from the rest of the world. These local groups in turn owe allegiance to a larger society that spans local and even national boundaries.

The bizongues have many layers of organization, and the lower echelons may not have any idea of the scope of the organization. As a society member rises in rank, he learns more about the ties between local and global groups, and is expected to fulfill the commands of both. The links between local and global societies are maintained through periodic meetings, which the leaders of the local bizongues must attend. The system is more informal and less strictly enforced than it sounds, however, and many local societies do little more than pay lip service to their allegiance to the larger whole. Sometimes, this informality ends when the global organization cracks down on unruly locals, killing or exiling their leaders.

A local bizongue is made up of one or more hounfors (usually five to a dozen); their houngans form in effect a larger hounfor, with a King and Queen (or sometimes a President or Emperor), and several officials, including a

Minister of War, a Prime Minister, and other positions, depending on the temperament of the society. The more traditional ones use African titles, while others mimic the colonial and post-colonial governments of the Caribbean. Membership includes both Initiates and non-Initiates, although the latter are usually relegated to the lower echelons of the organization.

Large bizongues identify each other through complex passwords, handshakes, and "passports." These passports used to be (and still are in some areas) colored pieces of cardboard inscribed with mystical symbols. Technologically-adept Voudounistas now use more complex identification, including fake credit cards with an electronic signature identifying the carrier. Many of the handshakes and passwords are actually magical rituals (see p. 66) that identify impostors — even if they perform the ritual correctly. Many Voodoo societies have "treaties" with each other. Members are taught some basic passwords and given passports that allow them to meet with other societies, and even to request aid from them, depending on the nature of the treaty. There is, however, no overall ruling body that controls all the bizongues — or, if there is, it is very well hidden.

The process of selecting leaders varies from group to group. Most include rituals and the intervention of spirits. Contests of power and wit, inheritance from parent to child, and ballot elections are all used by one society or another.