houngan

plural houngans · alternative oungan

1. A (male) voodoo priest.

   By then, estimates of the number of oungans killed in 1986-87 had reached as high as 400.

   1995, Sidney Mintz & Michel-Rolph Trouillot, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, page 147

   3 more examples

   The shadow of the houngan, projected from within the tent by the flickering of the candle, dances and glides over the folds of the cloth as he completes his final preparations.

   1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 48

   From 1751 to 1758, Makandal, a one-armed former slave and houngan, staged a rebellion that claimed some six thousand lives.

   2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 16

   Most voodoo priests, known as houngans, operate semi-independently, catering to their followers without much structure.

   2008 April 5, Marc Lacey, “A U.S.-Trained Entrepreneur Becomes Voodoo’s Pope”, in New York Times