potomitan

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Haitian Creole potomitan, and its source, French poteau mitan (central post).

Noun

[edit]

potomitan (plural potomitans)

  1. A sacramental post or pillar in the middle of the peristyle in front of a voodoo temple, used as the focus of certain rituals.
    • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 36:
      Around this poteau-mitan revolve the ritual movements and the dance; at its base the offerings are placed; and through it the loa enter the peristyle.
    • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 226:
      Across from us two young men were setting up a battery of drums; they cast furtive glances at Rachel as she cracked open a bottle of rum, tipped it three times toward the poteau mitan, and took a drink.
    • 1995, Marilyn Houlberg, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 277:
      Next, swinging a censer, Divié blessed the poto mitan and all the ounsis who raised their skirts and swished them around to get the full effect of the incense.
    • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 36:
      The poteau-mitan is a ladder between Heaven and Earth, a pathway by which the ancestors can rise from below and the spirits descend from above.
    • 2009, Molefi Kete Asante, Ama Mazama, editors, Encyclopedia of African Religion, volume 1, page 394:
      The Lwa are believed to ascend or descend through the potomitan, which is therefore seen as a magical axis.