houngenikon

English

Alternative forms

• ounjenikon

Etymology

From Haitian Creole. Compare houngan.

Noun

houngenikon (plural houngenikons)

1. (voodoo) The leader of singing in a voodoo ceremony.
   • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 51:

     The houngenikon thereupon starts off the song, the drums and the chorus join in and when it is ended the houngan inquires: “Are you satisfied?”

   • 1954, Ian Fleming, Live and Let Die:

     The drums changed and the Houngenikon came dancing on to the floor, holding a vessel filled with some burning liquid from which sprang blue and yellow flames.

   • 1989, Amy Wilentz, The Rainy Season:

     Sometimes Bienaimé nods in the direction of a particularly noisy racket, and the houngenikon flicks at those kids with his whip.

   • 1995, Karen McCarthy Brown, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 211:

     I was told that the Vodou priest Cesar had had a serious fight with Nicole, the ounjenikon, mistress of song, of his temple.