Main Menu

Rada rites follow the more traditional African patterns emphasizing the gentler, more positive attributes of the loas. Devotees were all white clothing during these ceremonies. Animal sacrifices, which represents the "partaking of the blood, include chicken, goats, and bulls. Three oxhide-covered drums provide the rhythms for the chanting, representing three atmospheres of the sun, or Legba: the largest, called Manman, related to the chromosphere; the next, called simply Second, related to the photosphere; and the smallest one, called Bou-Lah, which is the solar nucleus. These drums provide the resonant combinations of musical rhythm of any rite and are struck with drumsticks. The drummers are called houn'torguiers.