Erzulie Gogol

Mrs. Gogol
Name	Erzulie Gogol
Race	Human
Age	unknown, probably around 50
Occupation	Voodoo Witch
Physical appearance	black skin, attractive
Residence	Swamp, Genua
Death
Parents
Relatives
Children	Ella Saturday
Marital Status	mostly widowed
Appearances
Books	Witches Abroad
Cameos

Mrs. Gogol is a voodoo witch. She's also a great cook. Her only appearance so far has been in Witches Abroad, where she allied with the Lancre witches, but nearly fell out with Granny Weatherwax over the spoils of victory. She lives in the swamp just outside Genua, in a hut on legs, together with Baron Saturday. She smokes a pipe. Her cottage can move about on duck-like feet over land or water.

Mrs. Gogol's Genuan style of magic, besides the entrancing cooking, includes the raising of gods and zombies. She is adept at scrying and headology. The cooking itself may be used as a means of predicting the future, by the bubbles and patterns of ingredients: an edible Ching Aling. Her familiar, Legba, is a black cock who can even daunt Nanny Ogg's fearsome cat, Greebo.

As an interesting cross-reference, there is a Mrs Gurgle in Nation who serves as shamaness and de facto witch: but this is possibly a coincidence!

Annotation

A reading of the introductory anthropological text, "Mama Lola," by Karen McCarthy Brown confirms that Pratchett is accurately and fairly representing many aspects the Roundworld practice of Haitian, "vodou," which inspired the demonized "voodoo" of popular culture. Concepts like Legba, the Baron Saturday, and plays on names (Erzulie is a name shared by a femininity goddess) demonstrate a respect for an often misunderstood culture and an apt Roundworld analogue to Discworld witches.

The ambulatory house is not unique; on Roundworld, the Russian witch Baba Yaga's walked on chicken legs (she didn't live in a swamp.)