Samedi: Pot Tet et Govi

According to the religion of Voudon, we are all born animals. Fish in the sea, birds in the air, monkeys in the trees, moles in the ground and men on the land; all animals. The only difference is that people can become human by choosing to go through initiation into Voudon and thereby being born again as humans. Most people I mention this to find it off-putting, which is amusing to me. None of the Big Three Western religions think twice about using the same language with regard to their rites of initiation.

This rebirth is the reason for the two articles, or some would say “fetishes”, that I’m bringing up today. One, the pot tet, is for the living. The other, the govi, houses the dead.

Pot tet can be literally translated as head pot and it is a vessel used to hold the gros bon ange, that part of the initiate’s soul that carries a little piece of Bon Dieu and will live on after death. The pot tet is a crockery jar, usually white, that accompanies the initiate on their journey to join humanity. Once initiation has concluded, personal concerns from the initiate such as hair and nail clippings, some ash from the ceremonial offering, corn meal and sweets such as hard candy will be placed in the pot tet and it will be sealed. The jar is then ensconced in the initiate’s oumphor. Here it will be guarded by the presiding mambo (priestess) or houngan (priest).

The pot tet is a symbol not only of initiation itself but of the initiate’s trust in his or her spiritual leader. In theory, an unscrupulous priest could use the pots tet under his care to maliciously control some or all of the oumphor’s members. When a houngan or mambo falls under suspicion of such dealings, people will remove their pot tet from the oumphor and find another house of worship.

This kind of trust is particularly critical in the case of the second receptacle of the soul: the govi. As we’ve discussed before, when the gros bon ange is released in desounen it goes into the waters of Ginen. This part of the human soul only resides in this abyss for a year and a day – a marking of time that will be very familiar to many who practice alternative religions. On this anniversary, the priest and family of the deceased will call the gros bon ange in a ceremony known as “calling the dead from the low water”. The receptacle for this now immortal force is the govi.

The govi is usually made of clay in a form more or less like a human uterus. It is usually draped in a skirt of cloth in the favorite color of the lwa who was the deceased’s met tet. A woman who held Erzulie Freda on her head might have pink satin draping her govi; one who was favored by Simbi would have a govi swathed in green cotton. The govi, like the pot tet, is kept in the oumphor. Interestingly, mambos and houngans report that once the gros bon ange has entered the govi, the clay pot is heavier than it was before.

These traditions are an example of Voudon’s honor for those who have gone before, which is an ancient wisdom unfortunately neglected in our “enlightened” world. Bon Samedi ~

Header: Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans

Samedi: Desounen

The end has come and the spirits we met over the last two Saturdays have left the loved one for the stars or the sea, the earth or the sky. Or have they? In Voudon practice, one can never be too careful when dealing with the dead. Time to call on the local priest or priestess and make sure things are done properly.

The ritual of Desounen, which comes from the French verb disunir meaning to separate, is performed as close to a person’s death as possible. Minutes ticking away only add to the anxiety of the living and the confusion on the gros bon ange. This spirit doesn’t necessarily know how to – or even that it should – separate from its corps cadavre. It is believed that the gros bon ange will hover about its body and possibly even move around its house like a ghost. It is dangerous to the living in the same way that contagious disease is. The spirit now carries death with it and it needs to be ushered off to Ginen with all haste.

Desounen is a complex ritual that includes saluting the deceased and honoring his or her spirits, including the met tet which is akin to the person’s “guardian lwa”. Both the gros bon ange and the met tet must be appeased and sent on their way or there will be repercussions for the living. Careless family members – wives/husbands and children in particular – will be visited with ill luck and sickness until the ritual is properly taken care of. Very few voudonists would even consider skipping this step so you can imagine the anxiety that a major disaster or epidemic could potentially engender. What if the local priest/priestess is otherwise engaged or injured or dead themselves? This pressure on the deceased’s family makes a very bad situation even worse.

If done in a timely and correct manner, however, Desounen will put the minds of the living at rest and signal readiness for the funeral and the wake thereafter. As with all cultures, but particularly those that live close to the Earth, death is cause for concern and mourning, ritual and gathering. And a chance for renewal as well.

Header: St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans