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Gran Bois


Gran Bois identified as a Lwa. Gran Bois is the Father of The Forest, a divine healer who presides over botanical secrets and the sacred power of the forest. He is primordial and exceptionally powerful lwa. He may be of Congolese origin, although some believe him to have been a Taino spirit incorporated into Vodou pantheon. Gran Bois is considered the Vodou's Kongo and Pantheons and is the patron of initiation. He forms a trinity of master magicians with Baron Cimitiѐ and Maitre Carrefour. Gran Bois is the Tree of Life connecting the celestial realms with those of the living and the dead. He rules the forest but also Ginen, the mystical undersea island, home of ancestors and lwa, the Vodou realm of the dead. Essentially Gran Bois knows all secrets of life and death. Gran Bois is syncretized to Saint Sebastian, traditionally depicted bound to a tree. Gran Bois is usually envisioned as a kind of tree-man with roots for feet. He is traditionally considered mute, as he is so primordial that he is pre-speech. He protects all forest animals, but his own special sacred creatures include monkeys,and red snakes (tree dwellers). Gran Bois favours colours of Brown,Green and Red with a special connection to the Mapou Tree ( Bombax ceiba or Ceiba pentandra) If you were to create an altar in his honour you would hang offerings from a tree branch, or lay them at the foot of the tree. you could give favourable offerings consisting of Cornmeal, honey even honey drizzled over the cornmeal, bread, flowers, leaves,roots of fallen branches and tobacco. Sacred sites to Gran Bois are forests in general; in Brooklyn New York, home to a substantial Haitian community, Prospect Park has emerged as the sacred domain of Gran Bois. [source:encyclopedia of spirits]

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