potomitan

Etymology

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

noun

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.
   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. 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 36
   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. 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 226
   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. 1995, Marilyn Houlberg, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 277
   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. 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 36
   The Lwa are believed to ascend or descend through the potomitan, which is therefore seen as a magical axis. 2009, Molefi Kete Asante, Ama Mazama, editors, Encyclopedia of African Religion, volume 1, page 394