Vodou, community and communion

At its heart, Vodou is a community religion. In her book Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition, Mambo Chita Tann writes: “Haitian Vodou is not a solitary practice overall. While there are things that a person does alone to serve Bondye and the Lwa, the vast majority of Vodou service is done in community, with one’s family or sosyete, or in large gatherings with other families or sosyetes.”

I remember when I first started down this path, I kept hearing that there is no such thing as solitary Vodou. Before that, I had always been a solitary Wiccan, and feeling ‘forced’ to be part of a group did not appeal to me at all. My plan was to learn on my own, and maybe hook up with a group years down the road. The ‘maybe’ was very vague and noncommittal and, as it would turn out, not taken very seriously by the lwa, who used various channels to hook me up with the local mambo. Now, four years later, I realize the value of a Vodou community.

It’s not that one cannot serve the lwa on one’s own. Obviously one can; author Kenaz Filan did for many years before he was initiated, and I know other Vodou and Voodoo (two spellings to differentiate between the Haitian and NOLA traditions) practitioners who are solitaries. But there are some things that you simply cannot or should not experience on one’s own. For instance, one should not attempt possession by oneself, and talking to a lwa via a physical vehicle (a chwal, or horse) is not going to happen when you are by yourself.

Personally, I love my home altars and talking to my lwa one-on-one. However, I also love the infectious rhythms of live drumming that command my feet to dance.

I remember when I agreed to attend my first fet, and feeling uncomfortable about the whole group thing. Losing myself in dance and service is no easy task for me, and one that I am still working on. It’s getting better with time. Something else I am getting out of the group activities: my singing voice is starting to improve a little. I am still not a good singer, and in fact not even a decent one, but it’s getting easier.

There certainly are better tools out there available for solitary Vodouisants these days, the most recent being the above quoted book by Mambo Chita Tann. The book includes very detailed instructions on how to make a Vodou lamp which one can use for illuminasyon or wanga (I plan to try this soon). However, there are other things that I still have not seen in books and would not know about if I had never attended a fet. For instance, how to properly do salutes (you can see this on some YouTube videos, although sometimes it’s hard to see exactly what they are doing, and no one narrates it).

When one is new to Vodou and becoming attuned to the lwa, it makes sense to pay attention to your intuition and those subtle nudgings. But intermingling with other Vodouisants and attending services is also very important at this stage. As my friend Ian recently commented: “…it’s a given that pretty much everything in Vodou is UPG (unverified personal gnosis), at least initially.” He then pointed out that one of the reasons to attend public Vodou services is that it’s one of the only ways to verify UPG, by communicating and communing with others.

It really helps too to be able to talk to houngans and mambos and hear their perspectives on things. Vodou is not the same as Neo Paganism; it’s not a reconstruction but a faith that has been practiced continuously for centuries. And in my opinion, the lwa are not thought forms or energy vibes who are satisfied with having our love and our gratitude in the form of ‘thank yous.’ They expect service from us, and it seems to me that the closer we are to them, the more they demand of us. Initiates have very specific duties that they have to perform, and the higher up you go, the more responsibilities you have.

My Vodou practice is far less “free form” than my other Pagan practices. Why? Because the ways to work with the lwa are established and there is no need for me to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. I do put my own spin on things to a degree, but one must find that balance between personalization and respect for the regleman and other established protocols, especially when one is new to the faith (otherwise we risk falling into that nasty cultural appropriation trap). Also, as I mentioned above, I do not believe that the lwa are energy vibes, thought forms, what-have-you. I believe them to be their own entities with autonomy and free will. And some of them have bad tempers. They have their own tastes, and it is not for us to redefine those for them.

During the past several months I have been noticing a closer connection with the lwa and with spirit in general. I can feel it in my head; something shifts when I approach my altars, sing to Legba, light a candle. I know that my progress would be much slower without the experience of the fets and other gatherings and the help of Mambo C. And I am grateful. Ayibobo!

Books for “Vodou 101”

Last Wednesday I stopped at Edge of the Circle Books on my way to meet a friend, and found yet another new book on Vodou that I think I am going to like a lot (more on this later). How I wished I’d had this book when I started down this path. This got me to thinking, what books would I like to see included in a “Vodou 101” class? Below is my list, with brief comments on each.

Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti by Maya Deren. A much-touted (and deservedly so) account of Deren’s journey to Haiti and into Vodou. Includes a ton of information about the lwa and various ceremonies, including a beautiful service held for Met Agwe and a firsthand account of possession.

Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn by Karen McCarthy Brown. This book also includes a lot of info about the lwa and the services, but I also liked that the author focused on Mama Lola as a Haitian living in the U.S. and how she holds her services here. This focus gives the book a more personal feel. The author and Mama Lola also travel to Haiti, and we are given a closer look at the Haitian people and the author’s experience as a foreigner being initiated into Vodou.

The Book of Vodou by Leah Gordon. I really wish I had this book when I started out. It packs a lot of information into a thin tome–everything from a brief history of Haiti to descriptions (with property tables) of the lwa to a glossary of terms. And tons of pictures! This would be a good first book to assign to a class to give a student a quick  overview of Vodou and engage their interest.

The Haitian Vodou Handbook: Protocols for Riding with the Lwa by Kenaz Filan. This is another book I wished I’d had from the get-go. Filan’s writing style and the way he arranged the book is very accessible to someone new to Vodou. What I really love about this book, however, is that it contains some very practical suggestions for the non-initiate solo practitioner. Not everyone is near a sosyete (a Vodou house) and his book helped me immensely when I was figuring out how to serve the lwa on my own.

Serving the Spirits: The Religion of Haitian Vodou (Volume 1) by Mambo Vye Zo Komande la Menfo. Just published last year, this is a very good overview of Vodou with focus on respect for the lwa and for the culture of Haiti. I liked that the author emphasized the importance of discovering which lwa are with you rather than courting a lwa you happen to find interesting (she considers this rude to the lwa who are with you, and I agree).

Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition by Mambo Chita Tann. This is the book I ran across on Wednesday by happy “accident.” My plan that day had been to take a bus to the northern end of Capital Hill and go to a different book store altogether. This plan was changed when the bus I wanted to catch did not show up after 20 minutes (which was weird as this particular bus runs at least every 15 minutes at that hour, so I should have at least seen one go by) and I had to walk to another bus stop, which left me with not enough time to go to that particular store and meet my friend on time. So I ended up catching a different bus and got off partway up the hill and went to Edge of the Circle instead.

And I was glad I did. My initial reaction when I saw this book was that I really could not justify buying another “101” level book. However, I quickly changed my mind once I took a look inside. First of all, this book includes a lot of pronunciations of Haitian words, which is invaluable for those of us who don’t speak Kreyol. (Now, I would absolutely have LOVED to have this a few years ago!) I was already sold at that point, and then discovered that the author also included some Haitian recipes for dishes you can serve to the lwa. I’ve only just started reading this book, but so far I  like it a lot. The author emphasizes respect for the lwa and for the culture and people of Haiti.

Mark of Voodoo: Awakening to My African Spiritual Heritage by Sharon Caulder. I would like to see this book included in a Vodou class, even though it’s not about Haitian Vodou. I enjoyed this book so much because it felt like I was reading an interesting novel. It’s the firsthand story of the author’s journey to Benin to learn about Voodoo from Supreme Chief Daagbo Hounon Houna. Learning about Vodou’s African roots was interesting and gives one a broader perspective of the lwa.

So these are my beginner’s recommendations as of this date. I am sure there are other good resources out there, but I am just including books I’ve read or am in the process of reading here.

Additional reading (updated as I read more books):
Sevis Lwa: Crossroad of Vodou (Volume 2) by Mambo Vye Zo Komande la Menfo. Published April, 2018. A companion piece to her earlier book, this volume contains detailed instructions and information for those continuing to serve the Lwa.

La Sirene

I’ve received a request to post some info about La Sirene. This lwa does walk with me, and I’m embarrassed to say I’ve been a little negligent of her and Met Agwe (her husband) lately. I need to make it up to them, and honoring the request to  post more info about her is a good start. I am also purchasing a beautiful spirit bottle for her from my friend Slinky in the near future; pics will be posted at that time.

I’ll start off with the quoted book info and then add some more personal stuff.

From Répertoire Pratique des Loa du Vodou Haïtien by Déïta:

She is Master Agouet Aroyo’s wife. Goddess of fresh and salt waters…She is the twin sister of “La Baleine” (The Whale).

SYMBOL: Gold comb and Horn of Plenty.

COLORS – CLOTHING: Pink.

OFFERINGS: Rice pudding; vermicelli with milk, corn-heart gruel, sugar-coated almonds, candies, pink cake and the roasted flesh of a white pigeon.

DRINKS: Sweet almond syrup.

(Note: This book also includes an image of La Sirene’s veve, which I don’t see often).

From The Hatian Vodou Handbook by Kenaz Filan:

La Sirene (literally “the Siren or “the mermaid”)…is as changeable as the sea, capable of great love and great cruelty..

In Haiti, many Vodouisants will avoid putting their heads beneath water while swimming in the ocean. They believe that if they do they may be captured by La Sirene, who will take them to Gineh. There they will stay for years, if they come back at all. When they return they will be powerful  magicians….

…La Sirene loves images of beautiful mermaids. If you want to create a shrine to La Sirene, be sure to include some mermaid imagery. Like Agwe, La Sirene also enjoys nautical materials and items. Seashells, driftwood, sea glass, sea floaters , and other things that have been taken from the sea or that are connected with marine or ocean imagery…You should also give her a comb and a mirror–the finest you can afford.

La Sirene likes sweet things, particularly cakes with white and light blue-green icing…You can also give her champagne, orgeat syrup, or other liqueurs.

From The Little Book of Vodou by Leah Gordon:

…a mermaid who possesses the wisdom of the water’s depths. She is said to make an eerie music on the floor of the ocean, and is held to be the patron of musicians.

Colors: Blue-green

Symbols: Mirror, comb, trumpet, shells

Offering: white doves, perfume, mirrors, sweet white wine

Catholic Counterpart:  Nuestra Senora de la Caridad and St. Martha

My own experiences with La Sirene go as far back as I can remember. For one, my favorite number was always her number, seven, and it used to follow me around. I’d look at a phone number and it would be full of 7’s, or I’d be standing in a public restroom and it would have 7 stalls. You get the idea. These days, the number 3 (Legba’s number) is the one that seems to follow me the most, but back then it was all 7’s.

When I was a child, I also had dreams where earth was a water planet, and we could breathe underwater and swim everywhere. As an adult, I’ve noticed her and Met Agwe’s presence is often indicated in dreams by the appearance of beautiful turquoise water. (See Dogs and dreams of water for more details.) She has also appeared to me a couple of times, wearing a blue and white dress. (See Unraveling the mysteries of personal lwa and the blue dress and What is it with the blue dress? for detailed accounts.) And of course, there was the mirror incident.

I also recommend the following link, which includes her veve:

http://www.sosyetedumarche.com/html/siren_balen.html

Some info on the lwa Bossou

One of my readers recently asked me to post something about the lwa Bossou. The reason you do not read much about him or some of the other lwa here is because I tend to write mostly from personal experience. My experience with Bossou is limited to the second-person variety, as he does not walk with me.

I have seen him possess the local Mambo, however, and when he does, her face becomes fierce and she will snarl and charge into people. On that note, rather than rewrite what others have written, below are some excerpts and a link to info about Bossou:

From Répertoire Pratique des Loa du Vodou Haïtien by Déïta:

Loa of the Rite Petro, he is called Maitre Brise. Healer and exorcist…Representation of the materialist forces, he helps the mambo or bocor to remove the spirits of the dead who have attached themselves to someone.

SYMBOL: The skull of the bull with its horns.

COLORS – CLOTHING: Red and yellow.

OFFERINGS: The flesh of the sacrificed bull and boiled roots vegetable.

DRINKS: Rum and “clarin” (Sugar cane Fire Water.)

CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT: Saint Sebastian.

From The Hatian Vodou Handbook by Kenaz Filan:

Although his origins are clearly Dahomean, he is served in both the Petwo and Rada rites…Those who classify Bossou as Petwo may do so because of the violence of his possessions. Those who are ridden by Bossou will frequently be tossed about like they are getting gored by a mad ox. Others will ram their heads into the Poteau-mitan or any other hard object…

Bossou’s bottle is red and has two large cloth horns sewn onto the fabric…He is served with kleren or rum…

Bossou is also a great protector of those who honor him…You can set up a small table for him. [And here the book suggests one of the saint images associated with him, a Buddha or a bull or minotaur picture or figurine.] Place a red scarf on the table; run a red candle when you wish to speak with Bossou. (In Haiti, he is typically honored on Tuesday.) You can occasionally feed him beef or chicken; Bossou likes his food spicy, with a red sauce.

From The Little Book of Vodou by Leah Gordon:

Bosou is a mighty bull spirit, represented with two horns. He is an unpredictable spirit, and, like his secular bestial counterpart, has a fiery and torrid temper. Bosou is associated with the fecundity of the soil…[he] is the earth, the fruit, and the seed, and is also associated with male virility.

Colors: Red, black, white

Symbols: Bull’s head, horns

Offering: Fried beef

Catholic Counterpart:  St. Vincent de Paul

For more in-depth info on Bossou, all three of the above-mentioned books have decent sections on him.

I also recommend the following link:

http://www.sosyetedumarche.com/html/bossou.html

Thoughts about possession and white guilt

I am nearly finished reading “Drawing Down the Spirits” by Kenaz Filan and Raven Kaldera. It’s an interesting book, although I find I have mixed feelings about it. The book discusses possession from both Afro-Caribbean and modern Pagan perspectives.

Before reading the book, I had no idea that modern Pagans were even practicing possession. I haven’t been in touch with the Pagan community for well over ten years (and even when I was in touch, it was only marginally), and apparently a lot has changed during that time. I was taught that, whatever you did, you did not allow yourself to be possessed at any cost. And now it seems that some Pagan groups are practicing deity possession as part of their rituals. This appears to be mostly a positive thing. Pagans, like Vodou practitioners, can benefit greatly from intimate contact with those they serve.

I particularly enjoyed the section in Chapter 3 titled “Pagan Perspectives on Gods and Spirits.” The authors describe modern western Neo-Paganism as “less a coherent faith than a collection of vaguely similar faiths all trying to fit under one umbrella.” They go on to define the three major belief camps: polytheism, pantheism and archetypism:

Polytheism is distinct from pantheism in the sense that in polytheism, deities are highly distinct . . . Although a deity may appear under different names, all love goddesses are not one goddess, and so forth . . .

Pantheism is the belief that although there may be more than one manifestation of deity, they are all part of one larger Godhead . . . The simile often used to describe pantheism is that the Godhead is like a many-faceted jewel: the kind of divine being that approaches you is based on which facet is turned to the light…

The third point of this triangle we refer to as archetypism. This is a form of atheism (or, perhaps in some cases, agnosticism) that believes that divine archetypes are either psychologically rich internal structures that are spiritually useful for self-improvement or specific flavors of universal energy that can be “worked with” or even “commanded” in order to gain personal power . . . Archetypism also tends to be found where Neo-Paganism borders with demographics interested in psychology, self-help, and New Age spirituality, although the last group also tends to be high in pantheism.

When I was Wiccan, I fell into the pantheist camp. If I was still Wiccan, I think I’d be leaning more toward polytheism these days. In my Vodou studies, I’ve heard the lwa described both as energies and as specific entities with individual personalities.  I subscribe to the latter description, although it is my subjective opinion based on my own experience, and the experiences of others may differ. The five lwa I currently serve are each very different from the other. I am particularly fond of Papa Legba, and have difficulty thinking of him as an aspect of a Godhead, an energy form or an archetype. He is, quite simply, Papa Legba.

I mostly enjoyed this book, but do not like it as well as Filan’s “Haitian Vodou Handbook.” I think this is partly due to my personal preference for Filan’s writing style (although for having two authors, this book flows pretty well). Also, the use of the word ‘horse’ to describe Pagans who host deities during possession rituals bothered me a little bit, although I suspect the word was used for practical reasons (why have two words to describe the possessed when one will do). The use of the word ‘horse’ for the possessed is very specific to Vodou, and using it in a Western context felt a little like appropriation. But since I can’t think of a better alternative word, I’m not going to dwell on that.

Here’s a marginally related side note: Filan has a blog in which he discussed “white guilt.” I’m not going to discuss his blog per se (if you want to read it, Google is your friend), but I got to thinking about how much I don’t like that term. A person should not feel guilty because they are born white, and that’s what the term suggests to me. While some  white Americans may be descendants of those who committed atrocities against people of color, I don’t think those individuals should feel guilt about that exactly. Shame and horror, yes, but shame as a nation and not as an individual.

I propose to replace the word “guilt” with “responsiblity.” So then you have “white responsiblity,” but that still doesn’t quite work. So then I propose to replace “white” with “American.” And there you have it.

Everyone who lives in a society should take responsibility for shaping that society. So rather than feel guilt, we instead acknowledge the shame of past mistakes, learn from them, and take action to create a better society. All members of a society should set good examples for each other, and this certainly is not limited to white people. This can be accomplished by working for positive change and simply by treating each other with decency and respect.

I’m not actually an idealist, this minor spike will wear off momentarily. *smirks*

On a final unrelated note, I found out yesterday that I sold another sculpture at my art show. So that brings the total  pieces sold for this show to 7.  Ayibobo!

Vodou art and books

On Wednesday, prior to meeting a friend downtown for Cajun food, I stopped by Edge of the Circle Books in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood. After witnessing all the possessions at Saturday’s Rada fet, I was hungry to read up on the subject. I wanted to see if the store had a copy of “Drawing Down the Spirits” by Kenaz Filan and Raven Kaldera, and sure enough they did (I LOVE this store–it’s the only one in Seattle I know of that keeps and regularly stocks a Vodou section). I probably won’t get to read it for a couple of weeks due to some pending art-related deadlines and a few remaining chapters I still need to read in “Mama Lola.”

This is the second book I’ve bought of Filan’s, the first being his “Haitian Vodou Handbook,” one of the very few Vodou-related books that has any hands-on information in it. I had the chance to talk to a visiting houngan at last Saturday’s fet, and he and the visitng mambo are actually initiates of the same house that Filan is from (Societe la Belle Venus). Mambo C and Houngan D, on the other hand, are initiates of Mambo Racine’s Roots Without End Society. At the moment, the two houses are not getting along, so I thought it was very cool that Mambo C, Houngan D, and the guest mambo and houngan were willing to work together and distance themselves from house politics. My respect for all of them grows.

Lastly, a friend of mine turned me onto the work of Hersza Barjon, an artist from Haiti who paints beautiful portraits of the lwa. I really love her portrayal of Agwe, and of course my curiousity was piqued when I noticed that she mentioned his Inuit counterpart, Kul. I am not familiar with Kul and have only found a few brief descriptions of him online. This warrants more research. In the meantime, enjoy! Divine Haiti: Portraits of the Lwa by Hersza Barjon.

Anticipation and a possible answer

This morning Mambo C and I finally set a date to meet on Wednesday afternoon. I am very excited and a little nervous. Excited because I have so many questions. Nervous because this is very important to me. Not too nervous, though. I have a very positive impression of the Mambo from her emails.

Also, I may be a little closer to verifying the identity of the old woman spirit who my friend Angel sensed near me. On Sunday I tried one of the simpler readings with the Buckland tarot deck: the 12-card astrological circle spread. My question was about the identity of the old woman.

I’m not going to describe the entire reading here, as that would be tedious for me to write and for others to read. But here are what I consider the significant highlights:

Th first card represents the querent (in this case, me). It was the 4 of Chivs, which indicates a “colorless” person with deep desires that, along with his feelings, he keeps well hidden.

The third card represents education, communication, and short journeys. It was the Knight of Koros (Cups), which can indicate a message, invitation or proposition. I was recently invited to a Fet Gede, which could mean significant progress in my Vodou studies.

The ninth card represents religion, philosophy, spirituality, long journeys. It was the Hierophant, reversed, which can indicate unconventionality, unorthodoxy, and openness to new ideas. I have never really been a conventional anything, so it will be interesting to see how this Vodou journey turns out. Some practitioners I’ve encountered tend to be rather rigid in their beliefs, and I am very non-rigid. In the Buckland deck, the hierophant is portrayed as a blacksmith shoeing a horse. This is interesting because, in Vodou, a possessed person is referred to as a horse. When a lwa possesses a person, they are “riding the horse.”

The twelfth card represents secrets, secret friends, secret enemies, and is also the last card in the spread, which I take to represent the answer to the question. It was number 11 of the Major Arcana, Justice. In the Buckland deck, justice is represented by the Romani kris, the Gypsy Court of Justice. I didn’t really see how this related to the identity of the old lady, but I’m learning to step back and wait when things do not immediately make sense.

This morning I was reading a Vodou discussion board, where one of the members referred to Baron Samedi as a judge. In Kenaz Filan’s The Haitian Vodou Handbook, the Baron’s wife Maman Brigitte is described as “the consummate judge, and those who have been wronged will often go to her cairn of stones seeking justice.” In the Buckland tarot, the High Priestess (which so closely resembles the spirit that Angel saw) is described as “the arbitrator of disputes,” in other words, a judge. The name Brigitte is similar to the impression that Angel had of the old woman’s name (see post “Lwa connections“):

Angel:  It’s almost like Rita.. but not.. just has that sound in it . . .  I think there is a sound before that. Something ITA . . . the name definitly had that ITA sound. Or RITA. Not sure and something in front of it.

I’m not feeling one hundred percent certain that it was her, but it’s possible. This may turn out to follow the general pattern of my connecting with the lwas: They make contact, either I or someone close to me correctly guesses their identity, I second-guess the information, and then it turns out to be correct. Time will tell, but I do have a sort of pre-existing fondness for the Baron and his wife. At this point in time, I’m not sure how many model skulls and skeletons I own.

Getting started, and fun on eBay

I’ve been really enjoying reading Kenaz Filan’s “The Haitian Vodou Handbook.” Of the books I’ve read so far, I’ve found this one to be the most helpful regarding the practical aspects of serving the lwa. I feel ready to approach Legba soon, and want to set up a small altar area for him.

I was searching everywhere online for some type of representation of him that resonates for me (and hopefully for him as well). After searching through my entire personal library of bookmarked occult and Vodou shops, I ended up on eBay and was considering a bright red and black doll made of clay, fabric and wood. I liked its brightness and the folk-art look of it, but wasn’t sure if I would like it once I saw it in person (the photo is a little fuzzy). So I took a break from eBay for a while. Then I came back and ran another search, and found an image of him on a card that I really liked.

It turns out the card is from the game VTES (Vampires the Eternal Struggle). I found this highly ironic for a number of reasons. I have never played any customizable card games or role-playing games (live or otherwise). However, the artwork on the card is nice. I also found a nice metal frame at Goodwill to put it in when it arrives.