Samedi: Curios

The beautiful, sea-blue stone known as aquamarine is an ancient talisman of those devoted to the sea. As I am thoroughly missing the blue water right now, I find it is high time to discuss the crystal most precious to my lwa, La Siren.

Aquamarine, a variety of beryl, has been used as a talisman and made into beads and pendants since the dawn of civilization. Beads of aquamarine have been found in Sumerian and Egyptian burials from as early at 4,000 BCE, when bead making was just taking off as an art form. The stone was thought to ease the soul's transition from life into afterlife, probably a stunning psychological trauma that needed - and needs - all the easing it can get.

The stone has long been believed to enhance psychic power, and is a favorite of those who work in the business of divination. Scott Cunningham, in his Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic, gives a simple yet powerful ritual for enhancing one's psychism and empathy. Place an aquamarine of any size, even the smallest bead will do, in a glass of fresh water and let this sit in the light of a full moon for three hours. Retrieve the stone, which you might want to tuck away wherever you store your divining tools, and drink the water to achieve increased psychic awareness. This ritual can be repeated as often as necessary.

Probably because of its color, aquamarine is associated with seafaring and safety on the water. The Phoenicians, whom the Ancient Egyptians simply referred to as "The Sea People," sent their men out into blue water with amulets of aquamarine to protect them from storms and drowning. Fishermen along the coasts of Europe and North Africa still wear aquamarine for this purpose. Tuck an aquamarine in your luggage, or wear one on your person, when you travel by or over water to safely arrive at your destination.

Aquamarine can also be used in the same ways one would use amethyst. Wear it to inspire courage, calm, joy, happiness and strong relationships as well as keep the mind alert. Bonne chance ~

Header: Orpheus and Eurydice by Michael Putz-Richard via Old Paint

Jeudi: Great Spirits

In Voudon, the lwa who rule the ocean are the one known as the Admiral, Agwe, and his powerful consort, La Siren (or Lasiren). Both lwa belong to the Congo nachon (although La Siren does have a Petwo aspect known as La Balen - the whale) and are therefor generally consider approachable, especially for those new to honoring the spirits of Voudon.

Agwe is envisioned as a broad shouldered naval commander. He is usually given the racial designation of mulatto and his eyes are invariably spoken of as green. His area of rule is the oceans and seas of the world and he is charged with looking after people at sea, ships and all those who make a living from the ocean. Agwe is syncratized with the Catholic St. Ulrich, who is often depicted holding a fish, and his altars are decorated not only with statues or pictures of the saint but also with boats, paddles or rudders and images of fish. Agwe, though slow to anger, can be responsible for terrible storms that sweep in from the ocean if he is not acknowledged with offerings now and again.

La Siren is always depicted as a mermaid. She is envisioned as very light skinned with blond hair and a beautiful, sparkling fish's tail. Her realm is the ocean depths where she has a magnificent home. Her favorite pastime is playing music or beautifying herself with the fruits of the sea. She is thought to be rich, her home and person decorated with silver, jewels and especially pearls. In her generous aspect, she is the teacher of priestesses. Some mambos claim to have met La Siren in dreams. While they sleep, they descend to the mermaid's magnificent palace below wave and she generously teaches them all the wisdom of ritual, healing and magick.

In her alternative aspect, as the giant black whale La Balen, La Siren is not so benign. Like her consort Agwe she can stir up storms. She can also punish individuals who have displeased her by luring them into the ocean with her haunting song. The unfortunate miscreant only comes out of his or her trance once they are too far out to sea to be saved. There, they drown in the salty water. This aspect of La Siren is also the one she uses to show her displeasure toward Agwe who is continuously unfaithful to her with her sister, the irresistible lwa of love and pleasure, Erzulie Freda.

La Siren is represented by Stella Maris, Our Lady of the Ocean, and in some cases St. Martha. Her altars are strewn with the offerings she loves: pearls, perfume, mirrors, combs, sea shells, champagne and sweet cookies with blue or white frosting.

The largest ritual performed in coastal communities in Haiti to honor the lwa of the sea is often referred to as the Barque of Agwe. A raft is especially made for the occasion and covered in blue and white cloth. Then it is laden with the foods and beverages that the lwa favor and towed out to sea with all ceremony, drums beating and songs to the lwa being sung. The barque, full of very precious items in a country as under served as Haiti, is then left to float as far out to sea as it may in hopes that the Admiral and his beautiful mermaid will bring good fishing, fair weather and - in this day and age - big cruise ships full of wealthy tourists.

These two are my personal lwa, and I invariably dress in blue or blue-green on their special day: Thursday. It surprises no one who knows me that the lwa of the ocean have claimed me. Destiny, after all, will out...

Header: The Mermaid by Howard Pyle via Wikimedia

Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Though probably not technically an "herb", that's how we are going to treat kelp and that odd form of seaweed know as agar today here at HQ. The stuff is certainly in demand for magickal workings both in Wicca and hoodoo regardless of any semantics issues.

Sea kelp, which can be found in fresh and dried form on just about any saltwater beach, is sometimes still called bladderwrack for its diuretic properties. In the past, the home nurse and/or local wise woman would keep the stuff handy to help out when frequent urination was called for as a form of purge.

In Wicca, kelp is often utilized as a way to connect with the spirits of the sea. Mermaids and other potentially helpful water sprites are thought to be drawn to the stuff. According to Scott Cunningham, one should stand in the water and toss kelp that has washed ashore back into the waves while calling to the sea spirits and asking them for their help. Be careful though; like fairy folk, sea spirits can do just as much harm as they can good.

Old wives told that carrying seaweed while one was at sea was a must for protection. This practice has expanded in our modern age and it is now considered protective to carry a piece of seaweed while traveling by plane as well as by ship. This particularly if the plane is crossing the water.

Another old wives tale - or perhaps it is an old sailor's tale - adds kelp to improve the efficacy of "whistling up the wind." The story goes that standing on the shore while waving an arm of kelp over ones head, in a clockwise motion, and whistling will stir up a good wind.

In hoodoo, kelp is boiled into a tea which is then strained and used as a floor wash to keep a steady stream of business coming in to any sort of establishment. In the home, a bit is bottled up in a jar to which whiskey is added. The jar is then sealed tight and placed near the stove or in a sunny kitchen window. It is said that this trick will ensure that the family is never caught penniless.

Agar, or agar-agar as it is sometimes called, is best known as that semi-gelatinous medium in which bacteria are grown in a lab. In hoodoo, the same stuff is used in a powder form which is often called sea spirit. It is said that carrying a bit in your pocket can make you recede from view in a crowd as long as you are careful and quiet. A pinch of the powder sprinkled in a glass of water that is then kept next to one's bed at night is thought to ward off bad dreams and malicious sendings.

Bingo players also wash their hands in a tea made with chamomile and sea spirit before going out to play their chosen game of chance. This is said to increase anyone's chances of winning at the game. Bonne chance ~

Header: Mermaid by Henry Clive via American Gallery

Dimanche: Swimming

A lovely cartoon mermaid, via Mid-Century

Jeudi: Great Spirits

The water spirit who has taken on the collective, and perhaps unfortunately generic, moniker of Mami Wata is far more than the sum of her parts. A spirit venerated as far afield as the entire Atlantic coast of Africa, most of South America, Central America, the Caribbean and in the Cuban and Haitian diasporas, one is hard pressed to find a more frequently worshiped form of water deity than she.

In my personal frame of reference, Mami Wata most resembles the Voudon lwa known as La Siren/La Balen. La Siren is the light-skinned, either blond or brown-haired mermaid who imparts wealth and beauty upon those who are devoted to her. La Balen, her Petwo personification, is the whale who may appear at first as a beautiful woman, but has come only to lure those who have offended her to a cold, dark death in deep water.

Mami Wata in all her transmogrifications has a similar light and dark aspect. Stories are told of her appearing near the ocean, usually in the guise of a beautiful woman and usually - but not always - to a handsome young man. She is combing her hair with a silver comb, or admiring herself in an expensive mirror, or adorning herself with pearls when the human comes upon her. Startled, she slips into the water and disappears leaving her treasures behind. The young man may gather up these costly treasures but he is warned to return them immediately when he again, invariably, encounters the beautiful mermaid. Failure to do so will bring untold misfortunes and sometimes even a withering, miserable death.

In other stories, which show a similarity to the Voudon lwa Erzulie Freda Dahomey, Mami Wata demands sexual fidelity from the young men she encounters. They must join with her and shun human women. Failure to do so will mean the worst possible luck for not only the young man, but his family as well. Agreeing to the mermaid's terms, however, ensures health, wealth and happiness. One also assumes a continuing conjugal relationship with Mami Wata as well.

Like a third Voudon lwa, Grande Erzulie, Mami Wata is designated as the protectress of prostitutes in some of the cultures that worship her. In this aspect, and in her aspect as a bringer of fertility to both the land and its people, her symbol is a snake. This aspect also bares a striking resemblance to Ix Chel, the Mayan protectress of women and she who bestows them with fertility.

The names given to Mami Wata are as numerous as the forms she takes. Her African names, such as Watramama, have a similar ring to Mami Wata; that name is also sometimes found in Africa. In Brazil she is syncratized with the Orisha of the oceans, Yemaya; this is also the case in Cuba and the Cuban diaspora. On previously French-speaking Caribbean islands such as Guadalupe, Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago, she is Maman de l'Eau or simply Maman Dlo. In Haiti, of course, as in New Orleans, she is La Siren.

Her various aspects are so numerous, and her worship so far-flung, that she is a testimate to the enduring power of the water goddess all over the world. Even the Catholic Church gave in when it came to Mami Wata and assigned a particular aspect of the Virgin Mary to look after the oceans. Known as Stella Maris - Star of the Sea - her picture is often used to represent any of Mami Wata's many faces.

That's a back-handed complement from a patriarchal religion many a modern theorist would opine. Be that as it may, those of us who straddle that fence, as our ancestors have done for centuries, will take it where we can get it.

Header: Mami Wata of Trinidad and Tobago by Zofia Bogusz via American Gallery

Samedi: The Family Erzulie

In Haitian Voudon, a group of female lwa stands out as a particularly dysfunctional sisterhood.  These are the Erzulies or Ezilis as they are known in Creole. 

There is Erzulie Freda Dahomey, the gorgeous and luxurious.  She is the queen of all things beautiful, sensuous and graceful.  Erzulie Freda is envisioned as a light skinned woman with light eyes; she speaks only French and is the dream of every mortal man.  She is herself a sensual animal who takes lovers from among the lwa and her human worshipers.  Maryaj lwa with Erzulie, though not necessarily common, is one of the most likely such entanglements with the lwa for a man to find himself in.  Erzulie Freda is said to be the “consort” of three male lwa: Danbala, Ogou and Agwe.  All of these gentlemen are married to others.

Erzulie Freda’s sister, or perhaps her other half, is La Siren.  She is the blond haired, white skinned mermaid who is lwa of the deep blue sea.    Mermaids are extremely common in Afro-Caribbean and African American stories.  The tales generally tell of a beautiful, fish-tailed woman who lures an adult or sometimes a child down to her watery domain where they live for what seems like a year, but is in fact decades or even centuries.  La Siren follows this pattern as well.  Though generally benevolent, she can turn violent just as the sea does in a storm.  In this guise she is known as La Balien – the whale – and she can be deadly.  She is married to the sea lwa and admiral, Agwe.

The third sister is Erzulie Danto, the mother lwa of the Petwo nachon whose tongue was cut out by Haitian revolutionaries so that she would not tell their secrets.  She is a fierce mother and warrior, dark skinned and ample in form who has a scar on her cheek.  This wound was inflicted when she fought with Erzulie Freda, and the two have detested each other ever since.  Their enmity is only increased by the fact that Erzulie Danto is married to the warrior lwa Ogou.  Erzulie Danto can wreak havoc against human women in fits of rage and jealousy, but she is also known to take women in maryaj lwa and is thought to be the patron of lesbians.

The three sisters’ grandmother also goes by their name.  She is known as Grande Erzulie (or Grann Ezili) and in some sociétés she is the patron of prostitutes (in others, this task falls to Maman Brigitte).   She is also the lwa of regret, weeping over lost love, beauty and opportunity.  Grande Erzulie is envisioned as impossibly ancient and crippled by rheumatoid arthritis.  For this reason, she is the patron of people of any age who suffer from this crippling autoimmune disease.  My daughter, who has the juvenile form of arthritis, is beginning to cultivate a relationship with Grande Erzulie.

All four of the Erzulies can be of great benefit to their devoted worshipers.  But as always, know your lwa and respect them fully.  The opposite of benefit is not always simple hindrance.  Bonne chance ~

Header: Mater Dolorosa de Monte Cavario, the Catholic aspect of Erzulie Freda

Samedi: Maryaj Lwa

I have done my damndest over the course of the last week to completely tune out the “royal wedding”.  I’m an American; it really has no effect on me.  I hope those two people are happy but all the rest of it is a bit much, I think.  That said, Voudon has its own kind of “royal wedding” where in a common mortal may be chosen by a divine spirit and elevated to the status of their husband or wife.  This is the maryaj lwa or spirit marriage.

Generally speaking, a man or woman will be called by their met tête or dominant spirit to take a vow of marriage with them.  This occurs through dreams, which is the way almost all voudoisants experience communication from the lwa.  On far more unusual occasions, a lwa not previously involved with the person will ask for marriage which sometimes prompts that person’s met tête to also ask for vows.  Frequently jealousy issues arise between the lwa when this happens and it can be hell to be popular (for the mortal involved) in such a case.

The human partner has large responsibilities in these marriages.  They will have to arrange a not inexpensive ceremony including bridal clothes, rings, cake and other foods favored by their bride or groom as well as guests and a prêt savann, or bush priest, to perform the ceremony.  The costs can be ruinous, and that’s just the wedding.  After the marriage the mortal is expected to wear wedding rings, both theirs and their lwa spouse’s, at all times.  They are to keep a separate bed in which they will sleep with their spirit spouse one night a week.  Any deviation from this routine – and in particular any sexual congress with another mortal on that day/night – will bring the wrath of the lwa down on their husband or wife.  It goes without saying that an altar must be kept to the lwa spouse and offerings made regularly.

In return the mortal spouse will be given special attention by their lwa.  They will be favored in those areas that the lwa controls and given precedence in intersession of prayers over the lwa’s non-spouses. 

As you may have imagined, the lwa are polygamous not only with humans but among themselves as well which can lead to some awkward interactions.  The lwa most likely to ask a mortal to marry them are Erzulie Freda, and her sisters La Siren and Erzulie Danto.  The gentlemen most frequently seen in maryaj lwa are Danbala, Ogou and Agwe.  This is where the trouble can start because Danbala, Ogou and Agwe are all married to Erzulie Freda.  While Danbala’s first wife is Ayida Wedo, Agwe’s main wife is La Siren and Ogou’s is Erzulie Danto.  To make matters worse Erzulie Freda and Erzulie Danto despise one another.  As if the pot could not be stirred up any more, Erzulie Danto will sometimes ask a woman to marry her, putting her at odds with both male and female lwa. 

Some connections are dealt with by multiple marriages to calm any potential jealousy.  A woman who marries Danbala will also marry Ogou, for instance, while a man who marries Erzulie Freda will invariably also marry Erzulie Danto.  This may make the lwa happy but it is a lot for the human spouse to take on.

Though it may sound spiritually glamorous to be called to maryaj lwa, most of us are thankful to have been overlooked.  While I love the lwa, I’m happy to simply tend to my relationships on this side of the gate.

Header: The Long Engagement by Arthur Hughes c 1859

Samedi: Saint Expedite

All lwa in Voudon belief have a corresponding Catholic Saint. This had to do with the African religion being practiced openly under the nose of Catholic slaveholders in what is now Haiti and what was then Saint Dominique or San Domingue. A statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin in her guise as the Stella Maris would be set up as the centerpiece for an altar to the mermaid La Siren and who would be the wiser? As the process of assimilation continued, the Catholic faith leaked into the African religion. Many voudonisants and rootworkers call themselves Catholic. The famous Marie Leveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, stopped practicing hoodoo all together and “became a Catholic” in later life.

In the case of the Lord of the Ghede, Baron Samedi, the corresponding Saint is known as Expedite. This was not always the case, however, and is in fact not generally the case in Haiti. In Haitian Voudon the Ghede tend not to be represented by Saints. A cross will do nicely, particularly if it is painted black or purple. The association with St. Expedite (shown above on a prayer card) came out of the Crescent City and the story is not only amusing but a true tale of cultures mingling while they are still at crossed purposes.

In Catholicism proper there is no St. Expedite. Believe me. I was raised Catholic, did my time in CCD and have not only my jumbo book of saints for all things and days but my mother’s family Bible with the “Names of the Saints” section that includes such obscure entries as St. Cleopatra and St. Mel. Mom consulted it to come up with my name and never forgave Dad’s Creole kin for giving me a second, French version. “There is no St. Pauline,” she’d say. “She’s not in the book.” And, like Pauline, if there was a St. Expedite he’d be in one or both of these handy references.

The story goes that after the Louisiana Purchase but before Louisiana became a state, a package was shipped to St. Louis Cathedral from a Catholic Diocese in New England. The crate was stamped with the word “Expedite” as so frequently happened when mailing items to the unknown frontier but the Creole speaking Haitian men who were opening the mail had no idea what that meant. They read the word though and when they opened the crate they found a beautiful statue of a Roman soldier with golden armor, a gold halo and holding a cross. Surly, they agreed between them, this must be St. Expedite (pronounce “Ex-pa-DEET”).

The word got out and people began lighting candles before the new statue in the Cathedral. When it seemed that rootwork would be more successful and that success would come faster if St. Expedite was invoked, he got a reputation for helping things along. This, in turn, began his association with the lwa who watches over NOLA then and now, Baron Samedi. And all because of a stamp on a crate.

Is the story true? I would never be so bold as to say definitively “Yes!” because that would be foolish. As Hamlet told Horatio, there are more things in … Well; you know the rest. So for now, Au revoir ~