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

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: Great Spirits

In Voudon, the Lord of the Forest is a lwa from the Petwo nachon.  He is generally retiring, a shy gentleman who is eager to help but must be sought out.  His name is Gran Bwa.

Given that he comes from the island nation of Haiti – as do all Petwo lwa – Gran Bwa is a bit of a paradox.  There is probably no place on Earth more deforested than Haiti; what was once a lush rainforest has become a near desert.  Trees have been cut down for fuel, for building materials and, sadly, to try to turn the people away from their spirituality.  Both the Catholic Church and Protestant fundamentalists have ravaged the island’s countryside, destroying trees they knew to be sacred to voudonists.  The devastation is striking and immediately evident.  Flying in to Port-au-Prince feels almost like circling a moonscape.

And yet Gran Bwa remains.  He inhabits the demambwe, the wild land where trees still grow.  Here houngans and mambos go to learn the secrets of root work and curing with herbs.  It is here, too, that bokor come to learn to do harm with the same vegetation.  Gran Bwa is not judgmental; he will offer his knowledge for good or ill if the one who seeks it is sincere in their devotion to him.  In this he is representative of not only Petwo lwa but of Voudon in general.  Gray areas are readily accepted in this spirituality where they are shunned in organized religions that see everything in terms of good and evil.

Gran Bwa is represented with the colors red and green, which should always be prominent on any altar dedicated to him.  He is fond of rum and coffee, and pouring a little of either onto a tree’s roots (not too much) is a fine offering to the Lord of the Forest.  He also enjoys rice with honey.  Gran Bwa is often represented by St. Sebastian, because he is tied to a tree.

If you work with herbs or if you have a close relationship with your garden (or would like to), consider cultivating a relationship with Gran Bwa.  It may take you a while, but the sincere effort will be well worth it.

Header:  St. Sebastian from a prayer card in my collection

Samedi: Gad

Gad is the Haitian Creole word for the French garde, meaning protection.  It probably goes without saying at this point that a gad is a charm to guard the one who carries it but from what, and how, is what we will delve into today.

Unlike a hoodoo mojo, which is separate from the individual who uses it in the form of a pocket piece or a bag, a gad is part of a person.  Generally speaking there are two kinds of gad.  The first is applied to the skin in the form of a tattoo, carving or brand.  The second is ingested, usually in liquid form.  At this point, it is doubtless very apparent that a gad is a serious thing, that should not be undertaken lightly.  We will address that issue at the end of this post.

A gad is an invocation of an individual lwa, using their symbols and herbs related to them to accomplish the protective magick.  This means that the spirit involved has a stake in the ritual and will expect the person who receives the gad to serve them in return for their protection.  The lwa invoked is usually of the hot Petwo nachon so the potential for backlash is redoubled.

An houngan or mambo will prepare for the gad ceremony with sacrifice to the appropriate lwa.  The person receiving the gad will participate in a ritual bath and then be scarified or branded, after which herbs sacred to the lwa, usually along with charcoal or ash, will be rubbed into the wound.  Tattooing is also a popular form of modern gad, with the herbs rubbed on the tattoo once it is completed.  The gad is usually applied to the shoulder and it is expected that the voudonist will “feed the gad” with liquor or herbs on a regular basis.

Alternatively, a gad may be in the form of a libation which the voudonist drinks.  These gads are said to not only protect again evil magick but also against poisoning.

The gad must be renewed regularly, usually on a yearly basis.  The ceremony is repeated, with herbs rubbed on the physical gad or the individual once again drinking the decoction of appropriate herbs.  Failure to renew the gad will result not only in its loss of power, but in potential retribution from the lwa originally invoked.

It has become popular, particularly in New Orleans Voodoo, to have a favorite lwa’s veve tattooed on one’s shoulder or elsewhere on the body.  While this has all the outward seeming of a gad it is in fact a poor substitute.  Serious thought should be applied to such undertakings as the chosen lwa may not be in tune with the individual receiving the tattoo.  One should – at the very least – make sure they are very well acquainted with their lwa of choice and feed their tattoo with appropriate herbs or liquor on a regular basis.   Prendre garde ~

Header: Veve Baron Samedi

Samedi: Lady Screech Owl

One of the rarely spoken of lwa, Marinette is most probably a mystery even to those who know a thing or two about Voudon.  In her native Haiti she is not mentioned without the whisperer of her name crossing themselves, at least if they know what’s good for them.  Even devout Haitian Protestants, who claim no affinity for Voudon, will not speak of her.

Marinette is a lwa of the Petwo nachon, born and bred in Haiti with no ties to Africa or Europe.  She is a sorceress, sworn to “work with the left hand” until time ends or she herself is destroyed.  She is called up by the bokor (pronounce baw-kaw) who are priests and priestesses but who work only “black magick”.  They are the person a voudonist would consult to have an enemy killed, raise the dead for the purposes of necromancy, or bind someone in blind love.  Almost without fail, these kinds of workings involve summoning the gleefully malevolent Marinette.

Sometimes known as Marinette-Bwa-Chech, “of the dry arms”, she is imagined as a skeleton who is accompanied by her symbol, the screech owl.  She is thought to reside in wild places like swamps and forests where she will appear only at night.  Her devotees do not keep altars to her but go to such places to bury her offerings.  She in turn will come and dig them up, consuming them under cover of darkness so that she is not forced to share her bounty with any other lwa.  She is worshipped in these wild places where gasoline, salt and dust are thrown onto a bonfire in exchange for the skeletal lady’s help with malicious magicks.

Marinette is the particular protector of lougarou, a secret society of people who believe themselves to be shape shifting werewolves or, in the case of some women, vampires who suck the blood of children.   Special precautions are taken against people of this socyete including charms tucked into children’s bedding and the sprinkling of hoholi, sesame seeds, in coffins to prevent the dead body being dug up and misused for evil.

Like most lwa, Marinette is partnered with one who is thought to be similar to her, if a bit less cruel.  This is the much mythologized leader of the Haitian Revolution called Don Pedro.  He is known as the hougan who called up the original Petwo lwa to help the slaves fight for their freedom.  After his death, he himself became the lwa Ti Jean Petwo (Little John Petwo) and married Marinette.  He is the lwa of violent struggle against subjugation and is pictured as a dark skinned dwarf missing a foot.  Like his wife, Ti Jean will assist the bokor who serve him.

Though Ti Jean has been known to possess voudonists in ceremonies, Marinette rarely manifests in this way.  She is considered a lwa who is far too dangerous for the average worshipper.  The Lady of the Screech Owl is best known and then bypassed all together.  Voila un avertissement ~

Header: Riding the Dead by Jean Michel Basquiat

Samedi: Lwa Nachons

In Haiti, the lwa run in packs. It may sound a little irreverent to put it that way but I’m betting Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte at least are having a good laugh about it right now. Lwa families, or nations known in Haitian Creole as nachons, are worshipped together at fetes. They have different family characteristics and they are approached according to same. At one point there were numerous nations but over the years some have been absorbed into the more recognizable groups that we know today. In this post, I want to give a little background information on each of the five major nations with whom I am personally familiar.

Rada: The Rada nation contains the lwa considered the most benevolent and easiest to work with. They are probably also the most familiar to people who know only a little about Voudon. The lwa in the Rada nation originated among the Fon people of Dahomey and includes Damballah, Papa Legba, Erzulie Freda and Agwe. These lwa are thought to be distant, ancient and forgiving but they are said to work very slowly so they are rarely consulted in a situation of dire, immediate need.

Petwo: The fiery Petwo nation originated in Haiti. They do not claim African origin but were kindled by voudonists on their native soil, particularly during the era of rebellion and revolution in the early 19th century. This nation includes Bossou, Simbi, Erzulie Danto and Kalfou. Because this nation is much less predictable and more quick to anger than the Rada, they are sometimes referred to as ze rouge meaning “with red eyes”. They are more demanding of their devotees but they can hurry along workings for healing, prosperity and even revenge.

Kongo: This nation originated in the Congo area of Africa and many of their individual lwa have been assimilated into the Petwo nation. They too are considered fiery and quick to anger. The Kongo lwa are often referred to collectively as lwa-gad or guardian spirits. They are associated with magick and with protecting the voudonists who serve them.

Ibo: The Ibo nation came to Haiti with the Igbo people. These are ancestral lwa who are particularly concerned with protecting the downtrodden and the enslaved. This association may come from the fact that the Igbo people tended to be enslaved by their neighbors in Africa before European slavers appeared on their soil.

Ghede: This is, of course, the nation of the dead. Ruled by Baron Samedi they are the closest to living humans. They do not have their only rituals per ce but will happily barge in while other nations are being called, heedless of whether or not they were invited. They are frequently called upon for help in matters of health, money, love and particularly fertility. Talking to the Ghede is a daily occurrence for many voudonists who very much feel them to be part of everyday life.

Other nations exist as well, including the Nago of Yoruba and the Bambara from the Sudan but, as noted earlier, many of these have been absorbed into other nations. There are also lwa who are the almost exclusive domain of secret societies like the Zebop which no one with my limited knowledge has any business talking about. In the end, the lwa are like a large clan with each family having its own area of expertise and with certain members openly loving or despising one another on an ongoing basis. But that’s another story for another time. Ashe ~

Header: RaRa band in Haitian metal art via haiticheri.com