Subscribe to PostsQuestion:
: Check this out, folks – : : Now I’m getting personal e-mail from OyaPomba. Now. After all the public : invitations I’ve extended to her to enter into the Vodou tradition if she : wishes, after all the times that I have publicly and privately advocated : patience in dealing with her, after all the times I and others have warned : her that her actions can not but have consequences…. now, she e-mails : me, she wants me to call her. But just take a gander at what she Are you posting email? Did you have permission? Posting email to usenet is considered extremely rude and a violation of netiquette. Pan
Response:
Dear friends, may Gran Met, the ancestors and the lwa bless you all, Newcomer to the Net that I am, I asumed that all electronic communication fell into the same domain. I’ve been informed that some people think it’s bad manners to re-post e-mail to a newsgroup. So – I repectfully and humbly apologize to all concerned. I’ve taken the step I should have taken in the first place – I’ce called AOL, explained the situation, received instruction on how to turn off e-mail from an Frankly, the stuff I posted was the least offensive of the text I received, and my objective was to put an end to offensive communication coming to me from this source, but – the right tool for the right job. Now that the e-mail is blocked, the public forum is the only one left. Maybe that won’t stop abusive language from OyaPomba, God knows she’s tossed enough prarie patties at others, but at least it will be public. Thank you all for your patience, Mambo Racine Sans But
Response:
: Sadly, most of the Houngans and Mambos with whom I discussed this topic : did not believe in reincarnation. Even my own initiatory Houngan, Luc : Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, could not be persuaded of it. To him, : one dies, is reclaimed through the ceremony of "retire mo nan dlo" or : through conversion into a lwa Ghed, and that’s it. I never could shake : him on this point, although my own hopes are somewhat different. So there’s some room for discussion and debate in Vodou — it’s not a "One True Way" orthodoxy at all. That’s about what I would have expected, given the intensely personal relationship with the lwas and the ancestors. I find it interesting that there’s debate on the matter of reincarnation. Am I correct in assuming that one’s personal rituals to various lwa may vary tremendously — and may well include elements from other cultures and other spiritual practices? (As opposed to an orthodox ceremony, which appears to be every bit as structured as a Catholic Mass). Since Vodou is largely a magical religion (and thus a religion which honors _results_), I would expect a practitioner to use anything which helped make his personal rituals more effective. Peace Kevin Filan
Response:
: Now I’m getting personal e-mail from OyaPomba. Now. After all the public : invitations I’ve extended to her to enter into the Vodou tradition if she : wishes, after all the times that I have publicly and privately advocated : patience in dealing with her, after all the times I and others have warned : her that her actions can not but have consequences…. now, she e-mails : me, she wants me to call her. But just take a gander at what she *sigh* Looking at some of my earlier postings, I see that I too am slipping up again. (I’m a Taurus — and bulls get enraged when needled repeatedly). It’s obvious at this point that Mad, Lara, et al have nothing to contribute to this debate but abuse. It’s also obvious that I’m not going to be able to keep myself from posting the occasional zinger when the opportunity presents itself… So I have a better solution: Mad and Company: you wanted the last word; now you have it. You can post whatever garbage you like. Lara can answer all my posts with her misspelled insults. Madison can go on and on about how I’ve "threatened her child" and how Cliff and I are "harassing" her. The rest of your US Party Pals can join in the fun too. My killfile has lots of room. The lwas gave you a chance to come to them and learn. But you couldn’t come as a student; you had to arrive as a leader and an "authority." And so the lwas turned away. To steal a line from Cliff Low: the greatest tragedy of all is to spend your life entangled in fantasy and mumbo-jumbo and never to know REAL magick. Peace Kevin Filan
Response:
J.Frater, BA in English, Two years Teaching, published Writer and Business owner L.Lasner, BA in English, Soon to Have MA in Education. Published Poet and currently working for a law firm and tutors English.
Congratulations, sincerely. Just for the record: Mambo Racine Sans But, B.S. in General Science, M.S. in Molecular Biology, 15 credits toward Ph.D; Teaching Certificate, 3 years experience in Bilingual Education, proposed and founded adult education program for Haitians in Palm Beach County, Florida; published journalist (Miami Herald incl. front page articles, Pentagon Early Bird, Hong Kong Times, Boston Globe, Valley Advocate, Hampshire Gazette, etc.; short stories (Spectrum, etc.); scholarly articles; exhibited art objects and photographs, and lectured on Vodou at colleges and universities in Northeast including University of Massachusetts; appeared on The Learning Channel educational TV. (And that ain’t all! :-) ) Thank you for your time and attention. May God/Goddess, the ancestors, and the lwa be with you, Mambo Racine Sans But
Response:
writes: There is no clearinghouse : & no seminary & the variations are immense. With this in mind, anyone who : claims to be an absolute authority, (be they Mambo, Houngan, Pope or : whatever.) on the "one true real way" to practice Vodou, is at best a : pompous fool and at worst lying to you.
Then, dear sister, how is it that you make these pronouncements? Pretentious posings and ungracious posings are not the mark of a priestess. Now, despite Kevin Filan’s gentlemanly defense of me, the shoe doesn’t fit, so I won’t put it on. It doesn’t matter what you think of me personally. I think in some sick way you even get gratification from having the Internet pagan community baying, "Fraud, fraud," after you on every thread that you post. Maybe you like the attention. But I warn you, Madison, if you ever dare to call my sacred name, Mambo Racine Sans But, and use the word "liar" in the same sentence with respect to me, I’ll have you in court so fast your head will spin worse than it would after an episode of possession by the lwa Baron himself! My lawyers, both in the United States and in Haiti, are already researching this case, and do you know what, Madison? Since you are using the Internet to defame this religion and claim false authority therein, and since you and I live in different states, it will be a case for the Federal courts. This is not a person who merely has an interest in the religion who is talking to you, Madison, this is an ordained MAMBO OF THE VODOU who is talking to you. I’m not playing with you, woman, and if you think I am you just try me. There it is, and so be it. No wonder your nickname is "Mad." For solid information about the Vodou way of death, the whole family of ancestral lwa comprising Baron, Maman Brigitte and the lwa Ghede, and an account of Fet Ghede, the Feast of the Dead, as it is observed in Haiti, see "Vodou Lessons – Leeson 2. Part 1 is already posted, Parts 2 and 3 are coming up. For information about some of the branches of African-derived religion in the Western Hemisphere, see "Hoodoo and Vodou", which contains some excellent postings by Ms. Catherine Yronwode. For information and discussion on the historical presence of Vodou in the United States, see "In the tradition of Marie Laveau?", which also contains a lively piece by Kevin Filan concerning his personal relationship with the lwa Legba. For discussion of personal practice and the lwa, see the new thread, "Stories of serving the lwa – how do you serve?" May God/Goddess, the ancestors, and the lwa bless you all, Mambo Racine Sans But
Response:
The Barons, death in NYC Vodou.
What a coincidence. As a courtesy, I sent OyaPomba an advance copy of "Vodou Lessons – Lesson 2, Part 1", which deals with the Vodou way of death. I got an e-mail back, as follows: I have saved this & will get it to Madison to read asap–unfortunately, that may be a while. Jon Frater. Then, wonder of wonders, OyaPomba comes out with a screed which consists of a pastiche of various authors, some well versed and some not, along with a generous admixture of misinformation and misconceptions, on guess what? – death in Vodou. Okay, here we go: "In Vodou, death is not feared. It is seen as a spiritual transformation from a mortal existence to that of an ancestral spirit," Nonsense! Rubbish! In Vodou, death is the most feared event that can happen to a person. If you don’t believe me, just go to Haiti and watch the panic stampede the next time gunfire breaks out in the streets. That is why the bones of dead individuals are considered to have great magical powers, that is why every effort is made to reclaim whatever possible of the departed ancestor and lovingly install it in a govi, that is why one of the most popular protection wanga (spells) in Vodou uses human bones and confers protection against an ‘anvwa mo", a ’sending of the dead’, meaning a magical invocation of the spirits of dead people against a living person, who will thereupon shortly die. And that is why zombification, a sort of ‘death in life’, is the worst possible punishment which can ever be inflicted by the secret societies of the Shanpwel. "The Vodoun’s belief that life comes from the reincarnation" Sadly, most of the Houngans and Mambos with whom I discussed this topic did not believe in reincarnation. Even my own initiatory Houngan, Luc Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, could not be persuaded of it. To him, one dies, is reclaimed through the ceremony of "retire mo nan dlo" or through conversion into a lwa Ghed, and that’s it. I never could shake him on this point, although my own hopes are somewhat different. "The ancestors are the first to be honored & fed at any Vodou service." Not so, not so at all. An orthodox Vodou ceremony begins with the priere Guinea, the first part of which is the Lord’s Prayer, and the first verse unique to the priere refers to the Virgin Mary. The first lwa to be honored is Legba. The ancestral entities, Baron, Maman Brigitte, and the lwa Ghede, are honored after the entire Rada pantheon and prior to the Petro portion of the ceremony. (When people who don’t know what they are talking about persist in talking anyway, the results are predictable…..) "The Gede/Barons are not the spirits of the dead. They are the spirits of death itself." The lwa Ghede in the head of my initiatory Houngan, Ghede Arapice la Croix, informed me that he was once a black Haitian man, who had been born in the Bel Air district of Port-au-Prince on Nov. 2, and who had been murdered. Another lwa Ghede frequently seen in the Cite Soleil district of Port-au-Prince, who speaks Spanish in addition to Kreyol, tells us that he is the spirit of a man from the Dominican Republic who died in Haiti, but nevertheless liked the country and decided to stick around. (OyaPomba claims the lwa Ghede are not spirits of the dead. Two lwas Ghede themselves say that they are. I sure know who I believe…..) "As stated in my previous articles, I can only speak from my own research & my own personal experience," Since Madison has never been to Haiti and does not speak Kreyol, (not to mention her lack of initiation) what possible personal experience can she have of the beliefs and practices of people in Haiti? "The Barons do not come in judgment as the Anglo aspect of death so often does." To the contrary, Baron is the divine judge to whom final appeals in matters of life and death are taken. If a person is about to die unjustly of magickal wanga, Baron may refuse to ‘dig the grave’. There is a song about Baron which we sing in particular circumstances (said circumstances pertain to the secret societies of the Shanpwel, which I may therefore not reveal, if I want to live long enough to post again) which goes, "Hold that man, Heavenly Jedge, don’t let him go….." I’m getting weary. For solid information about the Vodou way of death, the lwa Ghede, and the celebration of the Feast of the Dead in Haiti today, see "Vodou Lessons – Lesson 2", Part 1 of which is already posted. Parts 2 and 3 are on the way. May God/Goddess, the ancestors and the lwa be with you all, Mambo Racine Sans But
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Vodou is not Mexican. Most of us here know this. It’s odd that you don’t. Kevin is correct, of course. The claim is klaughable. I would like to add that there is a desire in some people to make correlations between religions. But before you accept thse correlations, ask yourself why the person making the claim is doing so. Sometimes it is done to endorse the "universality" of certain concepts, other times to endorse a "pre-Columbian diffusionist" viewpoint, and yet again, sometimes to endorse a Jungian or "archetypal" paradigm of religion. Whatever the reason underlying wany writer’s attempts to force syncretism onto all religions, the effort, if taken to the level given here, results in disfigurement and dishonouring of the "absorbed" culture. In this case, Mexico has its own culture and has had it for centuries. Maximon — the modern transmutation of an ancient Mayan Lord of the Underworld who is often seen in 19th century European-style clothes in Mexican folk art — is NOT a Baron or Gede. He is Maximon.
I think it’s that old "Monotheism" in action again. Most ancient "Pagan" cultures, so far as I can tell, wouldn’t have a problem with accepting that people from different cultures had different gods. Certainly the Romans didn’t feel obligated to try identifying Hera with Cybele and the Egyptians didn’t feel obligated to equate Hathoor with Aphrodite. : my moral character, spiritual validity, or anything else.) I don’t : have the time & I have nothing to prove. Once the New York Vodou community becomes aware of what you’re doing, you may well find it necessary to defend yourself… and your lovedc ones. Peace Kevin Filan Kevin, you go too far with that one. Using an unknown group to which you do not belong to make a veiled threat against the safety of a person’s family is highly infammatory and also, ironically, quite foolish. Signing off with "Peace" after such a threat is a mark of hypocricy or a severe lapse of logic.
Madison has shown herself more than willing to use her family as shields in some pretty twisted ploys for sympathy. (Forging death threats against her daughter in a couple different situations, etc.). While gloating might be a tiny bit unpleasant, given the situation I hope everyone involved will forgive me. (I suspect if I forge a "death threat" in your name and then post YRWONDE THREATENS CHILD!!! all over creation you might feel rather like I do…) For the record: I don’t hope that Madison dies. I don’t hope that her child dies. I don’t even hope that Lara dies, although I may hope her modem shorts out. But I have to say this; from this point on, Madison’s wounds are self-inflicted. Peace Kevin Filan
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – : : J. Frater, L. Lasner, : Joshua Rivers : : great people to use for citation : J.Frater, BA in English, Two years Teaching, published Writer and : Business owner And how does this make him a scholar concerning Vodou? : L.Lasner, BA in English, Soon to Have MA in Education. Published Poet : and currently working for a law firm and tutors English. *BWAAHAHAAHHAAAHAAHAAAA!!!!!!* You tutor English!?!?!?! That’s almost as funny as Madison tutoring Vodou! Peace Kevin Filan (who sincerely hopes she doesn’t tutor spelling or grammar)
As funny as Kevin Filan as an expert. Sorry Joshua, I couldn’t stop myself.
Response:
Check this out, folks – Now I’m getting personal e-mail from OyaPomba. Now. After all the public invitations I’ve extended to her to enter into the Vodou tradition if she wishes, after all the times that I have publicly and privately advocated patience in dealing with her, after all the times I and others have warned her that her actions can not but have consequences…. now, she e-mails me, she wants me to call her. But just take a gander at what she "Look, I’m not going to discuss my initiation with you because it’s pretty obvious that whatever I tell you you will denounce as "false"" Why would I denounce it as false if it’s not false? "your mind is sealed up tighter than a clam’s you-know-what. You have nothing but the accusations of two people on the internet to go by " How picturesque! Actually, what I have to go by, OyaPomba, is YOUR postings. "You do a great deal of talking about things you have no actual knowledge of." ROTF/LOL!! Which one of us talks about things we have no knowledge of? Shall we let the readers of alt.pagan, and alt.religion.orisha take a vote? :-) "Otherwise, go on writing your articles & bragging about yourself and leave me alone….. This whole thing is a waste of my time. Good bye." Bragging? Leave you alone? Have I been sending rude postings to your threads or your e-mail address? Again (and again and again), you are welcome to enter the Vodou religion. You do not speak for the Vodou religion. You are not initiated. I am not the only authority on the Vodou religion, any Houngan or Mambo with the same initiatory grade and level of knowledge as I, may speak with the same level of authority. I am indeed proud to be a Mambo, because of the chain of Houngans and Mambos before me, because of their work and sacrifice, their blood and their love. Yes, indeed I am very proud to be the recipient of their faith and trust. Good bye to you too, I regret to say that many of us are relieved. Now we can get down to real work and study, and discuss differences in a civil environment. In my opinion, the new threads, "Hoodoo and Vodou" and "In the tradition of Marie Laveau?" are perfect examples of this. Now, I suppose we can killfile each other, or you can learn some courtesy. May the lwa notice you, Mambo Racine Sans But
Response:
COPYRIGHT RESERVED Part 2B – MAMAN BRIGITTE Maman Brigitte, surprisingly enough for a Vodou lwa, is British in origin, descended from Brigid/St. Brigit, the Celtic "triple goddess" of poetry, smithcraft, and healing. She must have come to Haiti in the hearts of deported Scottish and Irish indentured servants. There is even a song we sing in ceremonies which goes "Maman Brigitte, li soti nan anglete", ‘Maman Brigitte, she comes form England…’. (I think that Brigid was more Scottish than English, but in Haiti perhaps at one time the word ‘anglete’ represented all the British Isles.) Nowadays, Maman Brigitte is considered to be the wife of Baron, Master of the Cemetery and chief of all the departed ancestors, known as ‘lwa Ghede’. The grave of the first woman buried in any cemetery in Haiti is consecrated to Maman Brigitte, and it is there that her ceremonial cross is erected. She, as well as Baron, is invoked to "raise the dead", meaning to cure and save those who are on the point of death from illness caused by magick. Here is a song about Maman Brigitte sung in Vodou ceremonies (Kreyol, and English translation): Kreyol- Mesye la kwa avanse pou l we yo! Maman Brigitte malad, li kouche sou do, Pawol anpil pa leve le mo (les morts, Fr.) Mare tet ou, mare vant ou, mare ren ou, Yo prale we ki jan yap met a jenou English- Gentlemen of the cross (deceased ancestors) advance for her to see them! Maman Brigitte is sick, she lies down on her back, A lot of talk won’t raise the dead, Tie up your head, tie up your belly, tie up your kidneys, They will see how they will get down on their knees. (Meaning, tie up your belly, ‘gird up your loins’ to prepare for the strain of work, we will make the people who did this evil spell get down on their knees to beg pardon and receive their punishment.) Maman Brigitte, like the rest of the Baron/Ghede constellation, is a tough-talking lwa who uses a lot of obscenities. She drinks rum laced with hot pepper, so hot that a person not possessed by a lwa could never drink it. She also is known to pass hot Haitian peppers on the skin of her genitals, and this is the test to which women are subjected when they are suspected of "faking" possession. She dances the sexually suggestive and remarkably artistic ‘banda’, and the virtuosity of her dancing is legendary. Maman Brigitte and Baron are the "mother and father" who reclaim the souls of the dead and transform them into lwa Ghede, removing them from the mystic waters where they were without cognizance of their own identity and naming them. There is a plaintive song about the condition of souls in the mystic waters, which is also sung when an initiate is being prepared for the period of seclusion, ritual death, and rebirth of the initiation cycle: Haitian Kreyol – Dlo kwala manyan, nan peyi sa maman pa konn petit li, Nan peyi sa, fre pa konn se li, dlo kwala manyan. English- Water kwala manyan (not Kreyol words), in that country a mother does not know her child, In that country a brother does not know his sister, water kwala manyan. For discussion of the lwa Ghede, please see Lesson 2, Part 2C
Response:
: The Barons, death in NYC Vodou.
[long snip] : Most commonly the Barons appear both in art & in ritual life in : top hats, sunglasses, (Sometimes missing one lense.) tail coats : with canes and/or cigars in hand. (There are modern day variations : of this, both in Haiti & America.) Many Americans are quite : familiar with representations of the Barons & the Gede through the : popularity of Mexican folk art & the graphic memorabilia of the : band, The Grateful Dead. Vodou is not Mexican. Most of us here know this. It’s odd that you don’t.
Kevin is correct, of course. The claim is klaughable. I would like to add that there is a desire in some people to make correlations between religions. But before you accept thse correlations, ask yourself why the person making the claim is doing so. Sometimes it is done to endorse the "universality" of certain concepts, other times to endorse a "pre-Columbian diffusionist" viewpoint, and yet again, sometimes to endorse a Jungian or "archetypal" paradigm of religion. Whatever the reason underlying wany writer’s attempts to force syncretism onto all religions, the effort, if taken to the level given here, results in disfigurement and dishonouring of the "absorbed" culture. In this case, Mexico has its own culture and has had it for centuries. Maximon — the modern transmutation of an ancient Mayan Lord of the Underworld who is often seen in 19th century European-style clothes in Mexican folk art — is NOT a Baron or Gede. He is Maximon. And as for the Grateful Dead — their chief symbolist was the late Rick Griffin. A surf and car cartoon artist in his youth, Griffin studied the arts and religious symbolism of all ages. He was particularly intriugued by the Navajo and Hopi art he had been introduced to in his childhood when his dad worked in Arizona, and by the great 19th and early 20th century commerical illustrators (Remington, Mucha, Wyeth, Parrish, et cetera) whose works he assiduously collected when they could be bought for pennies at yard sales. His interest in symbology and typography was sparked by the Dover reprints of works like Koch’s "Book of Signs" and he also investigated the symbolism of ancient Egyptian religion through popular reprints of the time. His knowledge of Mexican Day of the Dead art and symbolism was quite detailed because, like many Californians, he travelled into Mexico regularly in search of socio-cultural novelty. However, what Rick Griffin knew about voodoo was probably limited to popular accounts of the life of Marie Laveau in New Orleans and a sketchy understanding of the Haitian loa, possibly as popularized in fiction or travelogues, which he also collected for visual reference. If Rick Griffin saw something he liked the look of and felt it was a powerful symbol, he incorporated it into his art — and he also created a personal symbol system of his own, some of it inspired by visions he had while on drugs. Thus we see in his Grateful Dead art and other contemporaneous pieces a melange of skulls, roses, daggers, black and white magnetic scotty dog toys, the bleeding torn-crowned sacred heart of Jesus, Nazi and Viking helmets, cute animated sperm cells, Navajo yei (messenger gods), the flying eyeballs of the 1950s custom car painter Von Dutch, dolphin embryos, light bulbs, and the City of Jerusalem as described in the Book of Revelations. This is not voodoo or anything like it. It is brilliant, visionary artwork, but it is essentially commercial art, produced in service of The Grateful Dead or Bill Graham Presents concert venues — and no syncretist on earth will convince me otherwise. [long snip] : I will not be personally responding to any accusations (Regarding : my moral character, spiritual validity, or anything else.) I don’t : have the time & I have nothing to prove. Once the New York Vodou community becomes aware of what you’re doing, you may well find it necessary to defend yourself… and your lovedc ones. Peace Kevin Filan
Kevin, you go too far with that one. Using an unknown group to which you do not belong to make a veiled threat against the safety of a person’s family is highly infammatory and also, ironically, quite foolish. Signing off with "Peace" after such a threat is a mark of hypocricy or a severe lapse of logic. * Lucky W Amulet Archive * The Sacred Landscape * Karezza and Tantra *
Response:
COPYRIGHT RESERVED VODOU LESSON 2, Part 2 Baron, Maman Brigitte, and the lwa Ghede This lesson got a bit longer than I expected as I was writing it. To respect the limits of posting while still providing accurate information on this aspect of Vodou, I have divided it into Part 2A, 2B, and 2C. Part 2A – BARON The ‘head of the family’ of ancestral lwa is Baron. He is Master of the Cemetery and guardian of ancestral knowledge. He has many aspects, including Baron Samedi, Baron Cimitiere, Baron la Croix, and Baron Criminel. In all of his aspects, he is a masculine lwa with a nasal voice who carries a walking stick or baton, uses profanity liberally, and dresses in black or purple. He is considered the last resort against deaths caused by magick, because even if a magickal spell should bring a person to the point of death, if Baron refuses to ‘dig the grave’, the person will not die. Baron, with his wife Maman Brigitte, is also responsible for reclaiming the souls of the dead (see Lesson 2, Part 1) and transforming them into lwa Ghede. Baron may be invoked for cases of infertility, and he is the divine judge to which people may bring their appeals, singing: Haitian Kreyol – O kwa, o jibile (repeat) Ou pa we m inosan? English – Oh, cross! Oh, jubilee! Don’t you see I’m innocent? The grave of the first man buried in any cemetery in Haiti, whether the person in life participated in the Vodou religion or not, is dedicated to Baron, (not Ghede) and a ceremonial cross is erected on the spot. In family compounds in the countryside, a family may erect a cross to Baron for their own lineage, and no peristyle is complete without the cross of Baron somewhere on the grounds. Baron may be invoked at any time, and he can appear without being called, so powerful is he. He drinks rum in which twenty-one hot peppers have been steeped, and which no mere mortal could swallow! His ceremonial foods are black coffee, grilled peanuts, and bread. He dances the remarkably improvisational ‘banda’ with great skill, and sometimes puts his walking stick between his legs to represent a phallus. Baron is a very masculine lwa. One day, I saw a Baron possess a homosexual Houngan. A passing woman teased Baron that he was a "masisi" (faggot, disrespectful term for a homosexual man.) Baron reared up and roared at the woman, "I am Baron! This Houngan, my Houngan, he is a faggot, yes, but I, Baron, I’m no faggot, I f*ck the beautiful woman Maman Brigitte!" And he stalked off in high dudgeon, swinging his baton most threateningly. The Feast of the Ancestors, Fet Ghede, is considered the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, much as in the European Wiccan tradition. Any debts to Baron, Maman Brigitte, or Ghede must be paid at this time. Baron Criminel sings to his debtors: Haitian Kreyol – Bawon Kriminel, map travay pou ve de te yo, m pa bezwenn lajan (repeat), Bawon Kriminel, O! Lane a bit o, map paret tan yo. English – Baron Criminel, I’m working for the worms of the earth (lowly, poor people), I don’t need money (repeat), Baron Criminel, oh! The year has ended, oh, I’ll appear, to wait for them. Maman Brigitte will is discussed in Lesson 2, Part 2B; the lwa Ghede in Lesson 2, Part 2C.
Response:
: The ‘head of the family’ of ancestral lwa is Baron. He is Master of the : Cemetery and guardian of ancestral knowledge. He has many aspects, : including Baron Samedi, Baron Cimitiere, Baron la Croix, and Baron : Criminel. In all of his aspects, he is a masculine lwa with a nasal voice : who carries a walking stick or baton, uses profanity liberally, and : dresses in black or purple. He is considered the last resort against : deaths caused by magick, because even if a magickal spell should bring a : person to the point of death, if Baron refuses to ‘dig the grave’, the : person will not die. I recently dreamed of Baron Samedi; he said to me, "I’m everything you fear." I got the feeling he enjoys scaring people — and that he can be very dangerous if you anger him. Is that in keeping with the Haitian legends concerning him? Also: according to one TLC documentary on Voodoo, "Papa Doc" Duvalier was on pretty close terms with Baron Samedi. (I remember Leonard Nimoy pointing out that Duvalier always dressed like an undertaker and that the Tonton Macoutes wore mirrored sunglasses because Baron Samedi has mirrors for eyes). In my dream Samedi said Duvalier "served him well" — he seemed pleased that Duvalier brought lots of suffering and death. I’m not sure if Baron Samedi was serious or just trying to see how much he could scare me; I’ve noticed that the lwas often tend to play tricks on you or otherwise "size you up" when introducing themselves. (That from my experience and the experience of others). : The Feast of the Ancestors, Fet Ghede, is considered the end of the old : year and the beginning of the new, much as in the European Wiccan : tradition. Any debts to Baron, Maman Brigitte, or Ghede must be paid at : this time. Baron Criminel sings to his debtors: : Haitian Kreyol – : Bawon Kriminel, map travay pou ve de te yo, m pa bezwenn lajan (repeat), : Bawon Kriminel, O! Lane a bit o, map paret tan yo. : English – : Baron Criminel, I’m working for the worms of the earth (lowly, poor : people), I don’t need money (repeat), : Baron Criminel, oh! The year has ended, oh, I’ll appear, to wait for : them. Could you explain a little further the differences between the various faces of the Barons? (i.e. what is the difference between Baron Criminel and Baron de la Croix or Baron Samedi?) I know that in Santeria Ellegua is considered to have twenty-one "paths" or "aspects" — is this something similar? Peace Kevin Filan
Response:
COPYRIGHT RESERVED Part 2C – THE LWA GHEDE The lwa Ghede are an enormous family of lwa, as many and varied as were the souls from which they originated. Since they are all members of the same family, spiritual children of Baron and Maman Brigitte, they all have the same last name – La Croix, ‘the cross’. No matter what other name they bear, their signature is always La Croix. Some Ghede’s names include: Ghede Arapice la Croix, Brav Ghede de la Croix, Ghede Secretaire de la Croix, Ghede Ti-Charles la Croix, Makaya Moscosso de la Croix; and such sad and degraded sounding names as Ghede Ti-Mopyon Deye la Croix (Ghede Little Crab Louse Behind the Cross), Ghede Fatra de la Croix (Garbage Ghede of the Cross), Ghede Gwo Zozo nan Crek Tone de la Croix (Ghede Big Cock in Pussy by Thunder of the Cross) and so on. There is a reason for these odd names, which will become clear as we go along. The vast majority of Ghedes are male, but there is at least one female Ghede which I have seen, called "Ghedelia". Her name is also emblazoned on a few buses in Port-au-Prince, but I have not determined whether she is a well known Ghede who may appear in almost any peristyle, or whether she is a unique "family" Ghede. Ghede may possess anyone, anytime, even Protestants (to their enormous embarassment and displeasure.) I have a woman friend in Haiti who one day was observing a group of women possessed by Ghede, cavorting and dancing the banda. She said something like, "Look at those disgusting whores, they have no respect for themselves." On the spot, a Ghede possessed my friend, threw her to the ground, and declared from her prostrate body that he would take her to join her ancestors forthwith! Pleading and intercessions from her family members finally pacified the Ghede, who promised to relent – on the condition that the woman become a Mambo. Mambo Delireuse now practices in a rural area near Petite Riviere de l’Artibonite, in central Haiti! The Ghedes are very much transitional figures, standing as they do between the living and the finality of death, between the ancestors in Gine and the living men and women of Haiti. Perhaps this is why the Ghede are honored midway through the full orthodox Vodou ceremony, after the Rada (primarily Dahomean and Yoruban) and before the Petro (primarily Western Hemisphere). The Ghedes dress much like their father Baron – black or purple clothes, elaborate hats, dark glasses, sometimes missing a lens, a walking stick or baton. They also dance the banda, but they retain more of the individual personality of the person from whom they originated. For example, the Spanish-speaking Ghede I have already discussed (see Lesson 2 -Part 1) turns his baton around and holds it like a guitar. He pretends to strum as he sings love songs to "una mujer". This is a bit atypical, but many Ghedes proclaim their geographic origins – "I come from Thomazeau", "I’m a Port-au-Prince guy". The Ghede family, including their father and mother, Baron and Maman Brigitte, are absolutely notorious for their use of profanity and sexual terms. There is a reason for this – the Ghede are dead, beyond all punishment. Nothing further can be done to them, so the use of profanity among the normally somewhat formal Haitians is a way of saying, "I don’t care! I’ve passed beyond all suffering, I can’t be hurt." In a country where disrespect for authority figures was until recently punished by torture or death, this is a powerful message. There are some very stately and dignified songs sung for Ghede, particularly the older, "racine" or root aspects such as Brav Ghede. Nowadays however, the accent is on the sexual and obscene humor the Ghede lwa provide. Here is a popular song sung for Ghede in public celebrations and Vodou peristyles: Haitian Kreyol – Si koko te gen dan li tap manje mayi griye, Se paske li pa gen dan ki fe l manje zozo kale! English (hold on to your socks, folks) – If pussy had teeth, it would eat roast corn, It’s because it has no teeth, why it eats peeled penis! In the same vein, Ghede is said to be a thief. It is true that he appropriates what he likes from streetside vendors, but once the seller accedes to Ghede’s demands his pilfering is usually limited to a few scraps of coconut meat or a bit of roast corn. At Fet Ghede, most peristyles cook food especially for the hundreds of Ghedes which appear and wander through the streets. Here is a song that a crowd of Ghedes sang as they went to the house of a well know and particularly generous Mambo in the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince, named Lamesi (La Merci, "the thanks"). Haitian Kreyol – Ting ting ting ting kay Lamesi, Whoi mama, Kay la Mesi gen yon kochon griye, Whoi mama! English – Ting ting ting ting Lamesi’s house Whoi mama, Lamesi’s house has a whole roast pig, Whoi mama! For a description of Fet Ghede as it is celebrated in Haiti today, see Lesson 2, Part 3.
Response:
: : J. Frater, L. Lasner, : Joshua Rivers : : great people to use for citation : J.Frater, BA in English, Two years Teaching, published Writer and : Business owner And how does this make him a scholar concerning Vodou? : L.Lasner, BA in English, Soon to Have MA in Education. Published Poet : and currently working for a law firm and tutors English. *BWAAHAHAAHHAAAHAAHAAAA!!!!!!* You tutor English!?!?!?! That’s almost as funny as Madison tutoring Vodou! Peace Kevin Filan (who sincerely hopes she doesn’t tutor spelling or grammar)
Response:
: : You’re still a fraud, Madison. : : And you’re still an Idiot Al. But at least I don’t claim initiations that I don’t have. Madison is unable to document any valid initiations into Voudou and we all know that they’re required in the religion for people trying to fill the roles she is trying to fill.
Response:
You’re still a fraud, Madison.
Response:
J. Frater, L. Lasner, Joshua Rivers great people to use for citation
J.Frater, BA in English, Two years Teaching, published Writer and Business owner L.Lasner, BA in English, Soon to Have MA in Education. Published Poet and currently working for a law firm and tutors English. P.S. Do I know you? Because for some reason you make it appear that you know me. Sorry, actually never met Joshua Rivers.
Response:
: The Barons, death in NYC Vodou. : Without thier approval & support no undertaking can be successful or : productive. The only spirits whose importance compares with the ancestors : for ritual purposes are the gatekeepers, (Papa Legba, Eleggua, Exu & Pomba : Gira.) who are honored & fed directly after the ancestors. A typical : Vodou ancestor offering consists of liquor, coffee, food or objects liked : by a particular ancestor/s in life. Noticeable offerings in NYC Vodou are : oranges, hellnotes and/or actual money, candy, tobacco products, jasmine : flowers, beer, poems, candles & photographs of living descendants. *sigh* Could you explain where in Vodou we find "Pomba Gira," "Exu" and "Ellegua?" Your "NYC Vodou" borrows liberally from Santeria and Candomble, doesn’t it? It’s odd that Racine — an initiated Mambo — says she’s not qualified to comment on Santeria… and yet you have no problem doing so. : The Barons & the Gede family differ from the ancestors although they : are sometimes confused with them. The Gede/Barons are not the spirits of : the dead. They are the spirits of death itself. Before I expand on this : I would like to reveal a little bit about the Gede Baron’s possible human : origins. I’m hoping to shed some light on the entire process which : creates the public Loas/Orishas/Orixas/Orisas/Gods & Goddesses of Vodou. : The Gede family was an ethnic group conquered by the royal family of : Dahomey. Most of the Gede nation were shipped to Saint Domingue & were : systematically absorbed & obliterated into the machine of slavery, sold : into bondage by thier fellow Africans. Wiped out of Benin, the name of : the Gede people became synonymous with death. It has been postulated by : anthropologists & people in the religion that this re-naming was the : Dahomean people’s way of making "karmic amends" to thier conquered enemy. : Public Loa such as Shango, (Or even Marie Laveau to hear some tell it.) : are very often long deceased mortals whose Anges have been preserved by a : combination of powerful personal energy & notoriety. This is how the Loa, : (Orishas, spirits, etc.) develop surnames such as Erzulie Freda, Ogou : Feray or Pomba Gira Maria Padhila. A good example of this process at work : in modern American culture would be the deifying of Elvis Presly. Are we to assume that "NYC Vodou" will be calling on the spirit of Elvis soon? What are you going to offer — peanut butter & banana sandwiches and _Weekly World News_ cutouts? : through possession & engage in salacious, comical & prankish behavior. : They make obscene gestures, dance the banda, (A very lewd dance.) tell : dirty jokes and steal food from offering plates to other Loa or Egun. : They approach people & make demands which are considered very unwise to : refuse. The nature of the demands, much like the nature of the pranks are : not harmful. Instead the aim is always to mock, embarrass, or : inconvenience the target. The Barons see all mortals as truly equal & : mortal pride is thier favorite object of attack. : Most commonly the Barons appear both in art & in ritual life in top : hats, sunglasses, (Sometimes missing one lense.) tail coats with canes : and/or cigars in hand. (There are modern day variations of this, both in : Haiti & America.) Many Americans are quite familiar with representations : of the Barons & the Gede through the popularity of Mexican folk art & the : graphic memorabilia of the band, The Grateful Dead. Vodou is not Mexican. Most of us here know this. It’s odd that you don’t. : say that his aspects are "too numerous to count." Each aspect is : associated with a different function & plenty of houses will disagree on : the particulars, some quite viciously. This leads me to an important tip : about Vodou. It is a highly varied religion from Country to country, : state to state, city to city & house to house. There is no clearinghouse : & no seminary & the variations are immense. With this in mind, anyone who : claims to be an absolute authority, (be they Mambo, Houngan, Pope or : whatever.) on the "one true real way" to practice Vodou, is at best a : pompous fool and at worst lying to you. As stated in my previous : articles, I can only speak from my own research & my own personal : experience, initially in Baton Rouge Louisiana and expanded in New York : City, hence the qualifier, "NYC Vodou." I’m no high ranking anything, I’m : only a Gris Gris Lady whose head is ruled by a relatively Egun-like spirit : in the grand scheme of things. (As opposed to one that is closer to Ginen : & Bondeye.) I never claimed to be anything more. I assume you mean Racine when you refer to "pompous fool(s)." I’ll leave her to defend herself. As for me, I recognize Racine as a properly intitiated mambo. When she wields the asson she speaks with authority — and she obviously knows her stuff. You do not. You know the saddest part of this, Madison? The lwas and ancestors have given you a _golden_ opportunity to be initiated as a Mambo. But it’s more important for you to be seen as an "authority." You’re throwing away a chance at real magic for mere ego-props. I almost pity you. : In Cuban, Brazilian & other expressions of Yoruba other Loa, Orishas, : etc. are involved with the graveyard as well. For instance Oya, (Or : Yansa.) is said to have authority in the cemetery & aspects of the : Exu-woman Pomba Gira, (Such as Pomba Gira Do Cruzeiro.) are reputed to do : much of thier dwelling & working in the cities of the dead. Pomba Gira is : approached at the first cross one sees in the graveyard to symbolize the : crossroads which are her primary dwelling. In Brazil & America these : aspects of Pomba Gira work very closely with Oya/Yansa whenever they are : approached. Santeria/Candomble are not Vodou. This should be no big secret : Oya/Yansa likes offerings of Graveyard dust, rocks, eggplants & special : bean cakes. Pomba Gira Do Cruzeiro likes Anisette, cigarillos & red : roses. And yet AGAIN … : Never defend yourself. Your friends do not need it and your enemies : will not believe you anyway. : I have decided to go on posting Vodou articles, circles and offering : help to those who ask. : Attacks on my character, my "credentials," (Vodou has no clearinghouse : and no seminary.) and just about everything else have been going on and : will probably continue. : I’m sorry about that. It’s a waste of time. Take it up with the authors. : I will not be personally responding to any accusations (Regarding my : moral character, spiritual validity, or anything else.) I don’t have the : time & I have nothing to prove. Once the New York Vodou community becomes aware of what you’re doing, you may well find it necessary to defend yourself… and your loved ones. Peace Kevin Filan
Response:
The Barons, death in NYC Vodou. I’d like to thank the following people, some of whom I’ve had the privilege to work with, others whose research has helped tremendously with my own & some to whom both apply. I most especially would like to thank those whom I quote in this article. (I do so very obviously with "" marks.) S. Glassman, A. LeClech, L. Martinie, A. Rogue, L. Desmangles, J. Murphy, L. Hurbon, J. Frater, L. Lasner, M. Deren, C. Jacobs, A. Kaslow, Z. Hurston, M. Herskovits, T. Neto & my "Godparents" Zeke Ortiz, Lunday Ortiz, Zelda Ortiz & Joshua Rivers. (Four of them. Go figure. There, I’ve revealed who initiated me. Big deal. My life has not changed. My vailidity has not changed. I only hope that no one will bother them like they have my other friends in Louisiana. If anyone mature would like to ask me questions about myself please call the botanica at 212-532-7272. I’m hardly ever near the computer these days & I’m not about to give information about myself to millions of strangers. If a customer needs me the conversation will be cut short.) In Vodou, death is not feared. It is seen as a spiritual transformation from a mortal existence to that of an ancestral spirit, (facilitated if a re-claiming ritual is performed.) It is also seen as a natural re-absorption of life energy into the universe. Death is not "desired" or sought as a result of these beliefs. However, it is embraced as a positive process as natural as birth. While many neo-pagan religions have a similar perspective of death on paper, the treatment of the subject & the spiritual activity surrounding it is sometimes portrayed as "dark" or "negative." For example, I have seen the Morrigan, Hela, Pluto & Hecate in comic books, articles & even rituals cast in a negative or even "evil" light. This strikes me as being both unfortunate & misleading. All life is sacred so all death is also sacred. The dead go into the ground & eventually into the water deep beneath the ground. (Forgive me for not going into Ginen in this article. It is primarily about the Barons & less so about the "afterlife.") The Vodoun’s belief that life comes from the reincarnation following the act of death makes for the comparisons between the ocean & the womb. They are both places of water & salt where the dead Egun reside until they are re-born. "The waters of creation." Cemeteries of course, are also sacred ground. Slave era missionaries were fascinated by the slave’s energy & enthusiasm for funerals. The slaves practically took over the mass, burial & wake. The bemused clergy most often stood back & allowed them to do so. Funerals were the only places that the slaves were allowed to congregate & worship freely & openly. The death of a community member during that point in history, (& often in the present day) was seen as an end to a limited mortal existence & a blessed beginning of a more powerful and sacred existence. Part of the Ange or soul goes on to another human existence. The other part, containing the personality & ego, remains as an ancestral spirit. "The ancestors are the ground we walk upon." Think for a moment of all of your ancestors. All of them, stretching back beyond memory. Back to the beginnings of the human race in the fertile crescent. Back to what there was before that. Consider this, if a single, solitary one of those millions of people were missing from that chain, you would not be here today. Every single ancestor is important. "We are heir to a largeness that knows no end and is touched by no beginning. The names of our ancestors walk within our heads. They taste with our lips. They walk with our feet. All that we are, they were. All that we will be, they will become." Family, tribe, nation, people, temple or house. All of these can be counted as ancestors. In praising our ancestor’s names, we praise our own. The ancestors are the first to be honored & fed at any Vodou service. Without thier approval & support no undertaking can be successful or productive. The only spirits whose importance compares with the ancestors for ritual purposes are the gatekeepers, (Papa Legba, Eleggua, Exu & Pomba Gira.) who are honored & fed directly after the ancestors. A typical Vodou ancestor offering consists of liquor, coffee, food or objects liked by a particular ancestor/s in life. Noticeable offerings in NYC Vodou are oranges, hellnotes and/or actual money, candy, tobacco products, jasmine flowers, beer, poems, candles & photographs of living descendants. The Barons & the Gede family differ from the ancestors although they are sometimes confused with them. The Gede/Barons are not the spirits of the dead. They are the spirits of death itself. Before I expand on this I would like to reveal a little bit about the Gede Baron’s possible human origins. I’m hoping to shed some light on the entire process which creates the public Loas/Orishas/Orixas/Orisas/Gods & Goddesses of Vodou. The Gede family was an ethnic group conquered by the royal family of Dahomey. Most of the Gede nation were shipped to Saint Domingue & were systematically absorbed & obliterated into the machine of slavery, sold into bondage by thier fellow Africans. Wiped out of Benin, the name of the Gede people became synonymous with death. It has been postulated by anthropologists & people in the religion that this re-naming was the Dahomean people’s way of making "karmic amends" to thier conquered enemy. Public Loa such as Shango, (Or even Marie Laveau to hear some tell it.) are very often long deceased mortals whose Anges have been preserved by a combination of powerful personal energy & notoriety. This is how the Loa, (Orishas, spirits, etc.) develop surnames such as Erzulie Freda, Ogou Feray or Pomba Gira Maria Padhila. A good example of this process at work in modern American culture would be the deifying of Elvis Presly. Between November 1st & November 3rd the Haitian countryside has a festival atmosphere very similar to that of the Day Of The Dead festivals near the Yucatan area of Mexico. (All Saints & All Souls.) Picnic gatherings of families & sometimes entire villages are held in cemeteries. Graves, family altars, shrines, Bagi, Pegi & other forms of altars are decorated very elaborately with flowers & offerings. The attitude of these days in Haiti, Mexico & America, (Where they are observed.) is not one of sorrow. It is one of rejoicing & honor of the deceased. On these days the Barons roam freely. They manifest spontaneously through possession & engage in salacious, comical & prankish behavior. They make obscene gestures, dance the banda, (A very lewd dance.) tell dirty jokes and steal food from offering plates to other Loa or Egun. They approach people & make demands which are considered very unwise to refuse. The nature of the demands, much like the nature of the pranks are not harmful. Instead the aim is always to mock, embarrass, or inconvenience the target. The Barons see all mortals as truly equal & mortal pride is thier favorite object of attack. Most commonly the Barons appear both in art & in ritual life in top hats, sunglasses, (Sometimes missing one lense.) tail coats with canes and/or cigars in hand. (There are modern day variations of this, both in Haiti & America.) Many Americans are quite familiar with representations of the Barons & the Gede through the popularity of Mexican folk art & the graphic memorabilia of the band, The Grateful Dead. IMPORTANT NOTE: Gede, Gudeh or the Baron is probably the most complex character in Vodou folklore. He has more than thirty known aspects. Some say that his aspects are "too numerous to count." Each aspect is associated with a different function & plenty of houses will disagree on the particulars, some quite viciously. This leads me to an important tip about Vodou. It is a highly varied religion from Country to country, state to state, city to city & house to house. There is no clearinghouse & no seminary & the variations are immense. With this in mind, anyone who claims to be an absolute authority, (be they Mambo, Houngan, Pope or whatever.) on the "one true real way" to practice Vodou, is at best a pompous fool and at worst lying to you. As stated in my previous articles, I can only speak from my own research & my own personal experience, initially in Baton Rouge Louisiana and expanded in New York City, hence the qualifier, "NYC Vodou." I’m no high ranking anything, I’m only a Gris Gris Lady whose head is ruled by a relatively Egun-like spirit in the grand scheme of things. (As opposed to one that is closer to Ginen & Bondeye.) I never claimed to be anything more. The Barons are generally believed to be the rulers of the Gede family. Gudeh is believed to be the king of the cemetery. The first man buried in any graveyard is that graveyard’s Gudeh & the first woman buried there is his wife, Manman Brigette. Manman Brigette is an extremely powerful spirit to appeal to in matters of justice. If approached earnestly she will plead your case in any court. The Barons like offerings of rum & phalluses. Gudeh likes rum, cigars, phalluses & various food items. Manman Brigette likes Nettles, graveyard dirt, graveyard rocks and sometimes molasses & yams. In Cuban, Brazilian & other expressions of Yoruba other Loa, Orishas, etc. are involved with the graveyard as well. For instance Oya, (Or Yansa.) is said to have authority in the cemetery & aspects of the Exu-woman Pomba Gira, (Such as Pomba Gira Do Cruzeiro.) are reputed to do much of thier dwelling & working in the cities of the dead. Pomba Gira is approached at the first cross one sees in the graveyard to symbolize the crossroads which are her primary dwelling. In Brazil & America these aspects of Pomba Gira work very closely with Oya/Yansa whenever they are approached. Oya/Yansa likes offerings of Graveyard dust, rocks,
… read more »
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Barons, death in NYC Vodou. I’d like to thank the following people, some of whom I’ve had the privilege to work with, others whose research has helped tremendously with my own & some to whom both apply. I most especially would like to thank those whom I quote in this article. (I do so very obviously with "" marks.) S. Glassman, A. LeClech, L. Martinie, A. Rogue, L. Desmangles, J. Murphy, L. Hurbon, J. Frater, L. Lasner, M. Deren, C. Jacobs, A. Kaslow, Z. Hurston, M. Herskovits, T. Neto & my "Godparents" Zeke Ortiz, Lunday Ortiz, Zelda Ortiz & Joshua Rivers. (Four of them. Go figure. There, I’ve revealed who initiated me. Big deal. My life has not changed. My vailidity has not changed. I only hope that no one will bother them like they have my other friends in Louisiana. If anyone mature would like to ask me questions about myself please call the botanica at 212-532-7272. I’m hardly ever near the computer these days & I’m not about to give information about myself to millions of strangers. If a customer needs me the conversation will be cut short.) In Vodou, death is not feared. It is seen as a spiritual transformation from a mortal existence to that of an ancestral spirit, (facilitated if a re-claiming ritual is performed.) It is also seen as a natural re-absorption of life energy into the universe. Death is not "desired" or sought as a result of these beliefs. However, it is embraced as a positive process as natural as birth. While many neo-pagan religions have a similar perspective of death on paper, the treatment of the subject & the spiritual activity surrounding it is sometimes portrayed as "dark" or "negative." For example, I have seen the Morrigan, Hela, Pluto & Hecate in comic books, articles & even rituals cast in a negative or even "evil" light. This strikes me as being both unfortunate & misleading. All life is sacred so all death is also sacred. The dead go into the ground & eventually into the water deep beneath the ground. (Forgive me for not going into Ginen in this article. It is primarily about the Barons & less so about the "afterlife.") The Vodoun’s belief that life comes from the reincarnation following the act of death makes for the comparisons between the ocean & the womb. They are both places of water & salt where the dead Egun reside until they are re-born. "The waters of creation." Cemeteries of course, are also sacred ground. Slave era missionaries were fascinated by the slave’s energy & enthusiasm for funerals. The slaves practically took over the mass, burial & wake. The bemused clergy most often stood back & allowed them to do so. Funerals were the only places that the slaves were allowed to congregate & worship freely & openly. The death of a community member during that point in history, (& often in the present day) was seen as an end to a limited mortal existence & a blessed beginning of a more powerful and sacred existence. Part of the Ange or soul goes on to another human existence. The other part, containing the personality & ego, remains as an ancestral spirit. "The ancestors are the ground we walk upon." Think for a moment of all of your ancestors. All of them, stretching back beyond memory. Back to the beginnings of the human race in the fertile crescent. Back to what there was before that. Consider this, if a single, solitary one of those millions of people were missing from that chain, you would not be here today. Every single ancestor is important. "We are heir to a largeness that knows no end and is touched by no beginning. The names of our ancestors walk within our heads. They taste with our lips. They walk with our feet. All that we are, they were. All that we will be, they will become." Family, tribe, nation, people, temple or house. All of these can be counted as ancestors. In praising our ancestor’s names, we praise our own. The ancestors are the first to be honored & fed at any Vodou service. Without thier approval & support no undertaking can be successful or productive. The only spirits whose importance compares with the ancestors for ritual purposes are the gatekeepers, (Papa Legba, Eleggua, Exu & Pomba Gira.) who are honored & fed directly after the ancestors. A typical Vodou ancestor offering consists of liquor, coffee, food or objects liked by a particular ancestor/s in life. Noticeable offerings in NYC Vodou are oranges, hellnotes and/or actual money, candy, tobacco products, jasmine flowers, beer, poems, candles & photographs of living descendants. The Barons & the Gede family differ from the ancestors although they are sometimes confused with them. The Gede/Barons are not the spirits of the dead. They are the spirits of death itself. Before I expand on this I would like to reveal a little bit about the Gede Baron’s possible human origins. I’m hoping to shed some light on the entire process which creates the public Loas/Orishas/Orixas/Orisas/Gods & Goddesses of Vodou. The Gede family was an ethnic group conquered by the royal family of Dahomey. Most of the Gede nation were shipped to Saint Domingue & were systematically absorbed & obliterated into the machine of slavery, sold into bondage by thier fellow Africans. Wiped out of Benin, the name of the Gede people became synonymous with death. It has been postulated by anthropologists & people in the religion that this re-naming was the Dahomean people’s way of making "karmic amends" to thier conquered enemy. Public Loa such as Shango, (Or even Marie Laveau to hear some tell it.) are very often long deceased mortals whose Anges have been preserved by a combination of powerful personal energy & notoriety. This is how the Loa, (Orishas, spirits, etc.) develop surnames such as Erzulie Freda, Ogou Feray or Pomba Gira Maria Padhila. A good example of this process at work in modern American culture would be the deifying of Elvis Presly. Between November 1st & November 3rd the Haitian countryside has a festival atmosphere very similar to that of the Day Of The Dead festivals near the Yucatan area of Mexico. (All Saints & All Souls.) Picnic gatherings of families & sometimes entire villages are held in cemeteries. Graves, family altars, shrines, Bagi, Pegi & other forms of altars are decorated very elaborately with flowers & offerings. The attitude of these days in Haiti, Mexico & America, (Where they are observed.) is not one of sorrow. It is one of rejoicing & honor of the deceased. On these days the Barons roam freely. They manifest spontaneously through possession & engage in salacious, comical & prankish behavior. They make obscene gestures, dance the banda, (A very lewd dance.) tell dirty jokes and steal food from offering plates to other Loa or Egun. They approach people & make demands which are considered very unwise to refuse. The nature of the demands, much like the nature of the pranks are not harmful. Instead the aim is always to mock, embarrass, or inconvenience the target. The Barons see all mortals as truly equal & mortal pride is thier favorite object of attack. Most commonly the Barons appear both in art & in ritual life in top hats, sunglasses, (Sometimes missing one lense.) tail coats with canes and/or cigars in hand. (There are modern day variations of this, both in Haiti & America.) Many Americans are quite familiar with representations of the Barons & the Gede through the popularity of Mexican folk art & the graphic memorabilia of the band, The Grateful Dead. IMPORTANT NOTE: Gede, Gudeh or the Baron is probably the most complex character in Vodou folklore. He has more than thirty known aspects. Some say that his aspects are "too numerous to count." Each aspect is associated with a different function & plenty of houses will disagree on the particulars, some quite viciously. This leads me to an important tip about Vodou. It is a highly varied religion from Country to country, state to state, city to city & house to house. There is no clearinghouse & no seminary & the variations are immense. With this in mind, anyone who claims to be an absolute authority, (be they Mambo, Houngan, Pope or whatever.) on the "one true real way" to practice Vodou, is at best a pompous fool and at worst lying to you. As stated in my previous articles, I can only speak from my own research & my own personal experience, initially in Baton Rouge Louisiana and expanded in New York City, hence the qualifier, "NYC Vodou." I’m no high ranking anything, I’m only a Gris Gris Lady whose head is ruled by a relatively Egun-like spirit in the grand scheme of things. (As opposed to one that is closer to Ginen & Bondeye.) I never claimed to be anything more. The Barons are generally believed to be the rulers of the Gede family. Gudeh is believed to be the king of the cemetery. The first man buried in any graveyard is that graveyard’s Gudeh & the first woman buried there is his wife, Manman Brigette. Manman Brigette is an extremely powerful spirit to appeal to in matters of justice. If approached earnestly she will plead your case in any court. The Barons like offerings of rum & phalluses. Gudeh likes rum, cigars, phalluses & various food items. Manman Brigette likes Nettles, graveyard dirt, graveyard rocks and sometimes molasses & yams. In Cuban, Brazilian & other expressions of Yoruba other Loa, Orishas, etc. are involved with the graveyard as well. For instance Oya, (Or Yansa.) is said to have authority in the cemetery & aspects of the Exu-woman Pomba Gira, (Such as Pomba Gira Do Cruzeiro.) are reputed to do much of thier dwelling & working in the cities of the dead. Pomba Gira is approached
… read more »
Response:
You’re still a fraud, Madison.
And you’re still an Idiot Al. Mistress of Evil and Bowling
Response:
J. Frater, L. Lasner, Joshua Rivers
great people to use for citation
Response:
The Barons, death in NYC Vodou. I’d like to thank the following people, some of whom I’ve had the privilege to work with, others whose research has helped tremendously with my own & some to whom both apply. I most especially would like to thank those whom I quote in this article. (I do so very obviously with "" marks.) S. Glassman, A. LeClech, L. Martinie, A. Rogue, L. Desmangles, J. Murphy, L. Hurbon, J. Frater, L. Lasner, M. Deren, C. Jacobs, A. Kaslow, Z. Hurston, M. Herskovits, T. Neto & my "Godparents" Zeke Ortiz, Lunday Ortiz, Zelda Ortiz & Joshua Rivers. (Four of them. Go figure. There, I’ve revealed who initiated me. Big deal. My life has not changed. My
The full question was who, where, and when. vailidity has not changed.
*ROTFL* That’s for damn sure. I only hope that no one will bother them like they have my other friends in Louisiana. If anyone mature would like to
So you’ll reluctantly and petulantly reveal who initiated you, but you ask that people not check for verification? How strange, on both counts. — Daniel B. Holzman — Love does not subtract, it multiplies. — All acts of love and pleasure are Her rituals. — An it Harm none, do what you Will. — They took my name and stole my heritage, but they didn’t get my goat. — The word is all of us. — Remember the Twelth Commandment and keep it Wholly.
Leave a reply