Calling the Lwa: Rada and Petwo

In Vodou ritual, drummers are called tambouriers and becoming one requires a lengthy apprenticeship. The drumming style, choice of rhythm, and composition depend on which Lwa is being invoked. The drum rhythms create a kase (break), in which the master drummer will initiate to oppose the main rhythm to have a destabilizing effect on the dancers, which in turn helps facilitate the "mounting" or trance possession by the Lwa.

The Rada and Petwo are two different families of Lwa spirits in the Haitian Vodou religion. While Rada are regarded as being sweet-tempered and "cool", the Petwo are regaded as being volatile or "hot". 

In the below clip you can see an example of a typical vodou ceremony. The drumming is polyrhythmic and a call-and-response pattern can be heard later in the video as the participants begin singing. Pictured you can also see bamboo "trumpets" called banbou.

Next, I have included a link to a Rada ceremony. 

You can see how their movements are calm and the dancers move like gentle waves to the beating of the drums, as the gentler spirits are being called upon. Near the end of this clip, listen for the kase (break) from the drums where the mood begins to shift. This is done by the drummer to try to induce the trance state. There are a few reactions in the crowd to the shift.

The following video offers a look at the more volatile Petwo ceremony. This video begins with what seems to be a more intimate part of the ritual, followed by these women joining the dancing throng and being enveloped by the more aggressive-sounding drums. You can see one women enter a trance, seemingly be entered by a Lwa, and then looks around, a strange look on her face. Someone comes and removes her jewelry, presumably to keep her safe.

I find it interesting that in a lot of the Western world this would be considered demonic, but if you were to look at a Pentecostal service, this is akin to what you see when someone "gets the holy ghost". If only people would begin to see what we have in common more than what separates us.