Loco is a

loa ( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerat ...

, patron of healers and

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s, especially

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in the Vodou religion. He is a racine (root) and a

rada loa The Rada are a family of lwa spirits in the religion of Haitian Vodou. They are regarded as being sweet-tempered and "cool", in this contrasting with the Petro lwa, which are regarded as volatile and "hot". Description The Rada lwa have been des ...

. Among several other loa, he is linked with the ''poteau mitan'' or center post in a Vodou peristyle.Torres, Rafael Agustí. "Loas y Vèvès del Vudú", p. 25 (in Spanish) He is the husband of the loa

Ayizan Ayizan (also Grande Ai-Zan, Aizan, or Ayizan Velekete) is the loa of the marketplace and commerce in Vodou, especially in Haiti. Background She is a racine, or root loa, associated with Vodoun rites of initiation (called kanzo). Just as her h ...

and just as she is the archetypal mambo (priestess), Loco is considered the first houngan (priest). As the spiritual parents of the priesthood, he and his wife are two of the loa involved in the kanzo initiation rites in which the priest/ess to be is given the asson (sacred rattle and tool of the priesthood). Both are powerful guardians of "regleman" or the correct and appropriate form of Vodoun service. He is similar to the

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

deity Louquo, a founding ancestor of the Arawak people. He's related to the

Iroko Iroko (also known as in Igbo language, '' in the Urhobo language of Southern Nigeria, and as odum in the Kwa languages of Ghana) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common n ...

and the ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety ''C. pentandr ...

'', two sacred trees, one in Africa and one in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

References

Voodoo gods Nature gods Tutelary deities {{Deity-stub