Stone That the Builder Refused - Madison Smartt Bell [451]
LEGBA: Vodou god of crossroads and of change, vaguely analogous to Hermes of the Greek pantheon. Because Legba controls the crossroads between the material and spiritual worlds, he must be invoked at the beginning of all ceremonies.
LES INVISIBLES: members of the world of the dead, roughly synonymous with Les Morts et les Mystères.
LESPRIGINEN: spirit of Ginen.
LOUP-GAROU: a shape-changing, blood-sucking supernatural entity.
ISLAND BELOW SEA: Vodou belief construes that the souls of the dead inhabit a world beneath the ocean which reflects the living world above. Passage through this realm is the slave’s route of return to Africa.
LOA (LWA): general term for a Vodou deity.
LOI DU QUATRE AVRIL: decree of April Fourth from the French National Assembly, granting full political rights to people of color in Saint Domingue.
LOUP-GAROU: in Vodou, a sinister supernatural entity, something like a werewolf.
LIBERTÉ DE SAVANE: freedom, for a slave, to come and go at will within the borders of a plantation or some other defined area, sometimes the privilege of senior commandeurs.
LWA BOSSALE: an uninstructed spirit, who may disrupt the decorum of ceremonies.
MACANDAL: a charm, usually worn round the neck.
MACOUTE: a straw sack used to carry food or goods.
MAGOUYÉ: devious person, trickster, cheat.
MAIN-D’OEUVRE: work force.
MAÏS MOULIN: cornmeal mush.
MAÎT’ KALFOU: Vodou deity closely associated with Ghede and the dead, sometimes considered an aspect of Ghede.
MAÎT’ TÊTE (MÊT TÊT): literally, “master of the head.” The particular loa to whom the Vodou observer is devoted, by whom he is usually possessed (though the worshipper may sometimes be possessed by other gods as well).
MAL DE MÂCHOIRE: lockjaw.
MAL DE MER: seasickness.
MAL DE SIAM: yellow fever.
MALFINI: chicken hawk.
MALNOMMÉE: medicinal herb used in tea against diarrhea.
MAMBO: Vodou priestess.
MANCHINEEL: jungle tree with an extremely toxic sap.
MANDINGUE: African tribal designation. Mandingue slaves had a reputation for cruelty and for a strong character difficult to subject to servitude.
MANGUIER: mango tree.
MANICOU: Caribbean possum.
MAPOU: sacred tree in Vodou, considered the habitation of Damballah.
MARABOU: term for a particular combination of African and European blood; a marabou would result from the congress of a full-blood black with a quarteronné.
MARAIS: swamp.
MARASSA: twins, often the sacred twin deities of Vodou.
MARCHANDE: market woman.
MARCHÉ DES NÈGRES: Negro market.
MARÉCHAL DE CAMP: field marshal.
MARÉCHAUSSÉE: paramilitary groups organized to recapture runaway slaves.
MAROON: a runaway slave. There were numerous communities of maroons in the mountains of Saint Domingue and in some cases they won battles with whites and negotiated treaties which recognized their freedom and their territory.
MARRONAGE: the state of being a maroon; maroon culture in general.
MATANT: aunt.
MAUVAIS SUJET: bad guy, criminal.
MÉNAGÈRE: housekeeper.
MITRAILLE: grapeshot.
MONCHÈ: from the French mon cher, literally “my dear,” a casual form of address among friends.
MONPÈ: Father—the Creole address to a Catholic priest.
MORNE: mountain.
LES MORTS ET LES MYSTÈRES: The aggregate of dead souls in Vodou, running the spectrum from personal ancestors to the great loa.
MOUCHWA TÊT: head scarf.
MOULIN DE BÊTES: mill powered by animals, as opposed to a water mill.
MULATTO: person of mixed European and African blood, whether slave or free. Tables existed to define sixty-four different possible admixtures, with a specific name and social standing assigned to each.
NABOT: weighted leg iron used to restrain a runaway slave.
NÈG: black person (from the French nègre).
NÉGOCIANT: businessman or broker involved in the export of plantation goods to France.
NÈGRE CHASSEUR: slave trained as a huntsman.
NÉGRILLON: small black child (c.f. pickaninny).
NOBLESSE DE L’ÉPÉE: French aristocracy deriving its status from the feudal military system, as opposed to newer bureaucratic orders of rank.
OBUSIER: mortar.
OGÛN: one of the great