This is Not Okay.

(I see your asks and I am working through them, promise)

In the last few years, I have generally kept quiet on the amount of unpleasantness that has come bearing the title of Haitian Vodou. I am not the Vodou Police and people have a right to be wrong and make (sometimes terrible) mistakes. Additionally, people genuinely do not want advice or feedback when their mind is made up and they have found what they think is the real deal for them, and that's okay. I don't need or even want to get involved since folks are presumably adults making adult decisions, and I don't need to invite myself to any/every fight where my name is not invoked...or even when it is!

And yet.

Sometimes, it's too much to stay quiet because silence can get people really hurt, or worse. While folks are entitled to their mistakes and entitled not to educate themselves or do due diligence on the people they are granting access to their heads, there's just something that doesn't sit right with me when it's egregious. Long time followers know I have only spoken directly once or twice.

This is egregious, and it's going to get someone killed:

I have received this at least 5 different times today and have had folks genuinely seeking the lwa ask if this is a solid option. I do not know the person behind this and I would hope this is some sort of massive misunderstanding on their part. However, even so, this is awful.

Let's break this down a bit.

Advertising an initiation right off the bat with how many spots you have available says that you are not concerned with who comes in the door or why they are there. Advertising initiation as something to buy is weird even without the bargain basement 'FIVE SPOTS AVAILABLE'. Sosyetes do not need to advertise and recruit; folks come by reputation and general attraction to what the sosyete does.

The fact that there is no information about what sosyete is mounting this is a red flag. No one can undertake initiation alone. It's impossible because the very mechanics of initiation require folks from outside your lineage to come and verify that the work is being done completely and in accordance with the general principles of the religion.

Trying to cast doubt on other places as a way to build credibility is gross, and it is super ironic that they are advertising this as an answer to scams and people who do gross things. Do those things happen? Absolutely. Is this the way to solve it? No. Grift cannot neutralize grift. This is grift.

The big blinking neon red flag sign is the kwakwa/asogwe hybrid initiation. This is not possible and communicates several things, the largest of which is that this person has not received appropriate guidance in either rite because even the most barebones education tells you that this is not possible and could never be done.

Further, this communicates a lack of respect for both rites. The balls it takes to decide that you are going to take it upon yourself to change a religious practice and throw a bunch of stuff in a blender to come up with something new is WILD. This is outright spiritual arrogance that ignores the place of elders, culture, history, and the actual revolution that birthed these things.

Claiming that a person will receive everything they need in one step is lacking in clarity and breaking from the culture of Haitian Vodou, tchatcha and asogwe lineages alike. That is not how initiation works; the process of initiation unfolds over days and weeks and the process of becoming a competent manbo or houngan unfolds over years and even a lifetime. No initiation is a drive through endeavor and should not be treated as such.

'Without the worries of ties to a spiritual house' tells me this person lacks rootedness and perhaps ties to a spiritual house of their own, which is sad. It is not possible to be a manbo or a houngan in any lineage without ties to a specific lineage/spiritual house. It's not possible. Every lineage of Haitian Vodou is based on the lakou, or the compound or yard that a family and community is built around.

What lakou we are associated with tells our stories and gives us our roots, whether we are Haitian or not, or related to our lineage head or not. These stories are vitally important, we cannot function without them and we cannot take Haitian Vodou out of the context that it exists in. We are collectively built from the story that our spiritual ancestors told themselves when they dreamed of liberation and undertook the truly revolutionary action of revolt against French colonizers.

Trying to undo that to package initiation as something unrooted and without community is a slap in the ancestral face and is impossible. It's not Haitian Vodou. We do not stand alone. If you have no community, who will endorse you as a houngan or manbo? How will anyone know you actually are one? I can give you the names of a dozen priests who were active participants in my initiation and can confirm that I have the right to hold the asson. If you have no spiritual community, you do not have that...and you do not have the right to hold the asson.

Learning is different in Haitian Vodou; we learn as we develop and there is no initiation that grants you the immediate access to the inside of your initiator's head. Info farming is not a thing. We learn as we develop, which is why relationships and community are so important. Going through an initiation doesn't give you all the knowledge. Initiation doesn't even teach you things, you learn after because during the process you do not have the right yet to know. Framing all of this as withholding information shows a lack of cultural fluency. Do people withhold in ways that can be harmful? Sure, because there is fault everywhere....but this is not how you solve that, at all.

Most asogwe receive their po tèt; some take it home and some choose to keep it in the temple they were initiated in. Some houses have specific regleman around that, and there are individual circumstances that would keep someone from having theirs but those are instances that people would work out ahead of time. Further, if someone is not comfy with what the lineage they are initiating into does with po tèts, that it something to work out before they initiate, which is why discernment is so, so important.

There are not multiple kolyes given during initiation. In an asogwe lineage, a kolye is made during the initiation process for you specifically and it is large and worn on the body in most places. We do not receive kolye for individual lwa nor are they consecrated in separate ceremonies; this is directly taken from Orisha traditions.

A kwa kwa and a bell are not an asson, and genuinely only a fool would try to bring that to Loko, the progenitor of all asogweman. You cannot mash things together and say they are an asson because you want them to be, or that Loko will give it. I can't even be charitable about this, it's straight up wrong and completely unethical. No one does this. No one.

'Head seals' is wild and someone is going to get hurt. The job of protecting the head is with the lwa, not in the hands of someone doing work. Further, a correct and complete initiation precludes the possibility of problematic possession because the lwa are there to sort that out. Additionally, taking it upon yourself to 'seal' the head a child of Ginen in the name of Ginen is awfully arrogant...are you really going to say you can overstep the lwa and/or do a better job than them?

The work of initiation is incredibly delicate because you literally have someone's head in your hands. People can die when things are done incorrectly, either in the moment or in a long and winding road of calamity. Every single manbo and houngan I know has a story about this. We know what happens when things like this are undertaken because we've either watched the fallout or had people come to our doors in deep suffering because incorrect and inadvisable things have been done to them.

Paying for any initiation through Etsy should speak for itself. That is not how houngans and manbos do business.

What is unsaid in this blurb is that this is undoubtedly happening in the US, because it would never be allowed to happen in Haiti. This says a lot and it's a giant can of worms to open, but when have I avoided that? Initiation does not happen in the US for a lot of reasons. Some folks want to say it can, but it really can't. This is not the post to get into why and I can write more on that later, but that's the long and short of it.

Perhaps finally, my friend Sankofa made a really astute point in another forum: beware anyone in any African Traditional or African Descended religion trying to sell you something ceremonially unique. Our ceremonies are largely the same for big reasons, and an individual saying they are doing something new, like mixing tchatcha and asson or initiating you to your dead ancestors and putting ancestors on your head, is a massive red flag. This is not how culture and traditional religion function. This is not what the ancestors built for us, and this is not what we pass down.

Please, please be careful with your heads. I meant it when I said that people will die because of stuff like this. Please be discerning about who you trust with your head and your life. Take your time and see lots of ceremonies. Pray. Listen for the voice of the lwa which can sound a lot like your intuition. And, for the love of Ogou and Metrès Danto, don't buy initiations on Etsy.

I hope the person behind this post can reflect on what they are doing and re-evaluate their choices. In a perfect world, they would consult with their elders and their mama/papa kanzo for guidance and really, really listen. If they don't have elders and/or an initiator, they should refrain from offering things like this until they do. Different choices can always be made, but spiritual work done out of ignorance, malice, or greed that harms someone can never be taken back.

Hello!

I do have plenty of time for spiritual work.

Yes, pakèt Kongo can be made for any spirit regardless of initiation status. Pakèt Kongo strengthen the influence and energetic presence of the lwa it is made for and/or kind of install the lwa into your spiritual court. Having a pakèt made for a lwa is nice offering for them that benefits you.

A pakèt for Kafou can be made for a non-initiate. It may be made differently than what is prepared for someone undergoing initiation, but the work is done the same way with the same effects for the owner of it.

Happy to chat via email if you're interested in adding some pakèt to your table! Hounganalex@gmail.com

Hi,

So, an iliminasyon is not a general lamp. It is a powerhouse of a prayer service done over a lamp. Different lineages do it different ways but it involves construction of a lamp with multiple wicks, ranging from maybe seven wicks all the way to 21 wicks depending on the need, and a series of prayers done over it. Sometimes the prayers are extemporaneous and sometimes they are the litany of prayers that is broadly called the priye Ginen*, or the prayer of Ginen, that calls Bondye, all the saints, all the ancestors, and all the lwa to hear the needs of the person doing the iliminasyon, whether for themselves or on behalf of someone else.

Some basic offerings are generally prepared, or more elaborate offerings can be made, again depending on the need. The iliminasyon can remain as a lamp or can be used to make a life saving treatment in the case of dire circumstances like an illness resisting treatment or death that is known to be coming to someone.

So, it's kind of a big deal.

Why would a priest prescribe it? It's a way to draw a lot of attention to a cause or question in a way that brings a lot of heat and light, which is important in our relationships with our lwa. Lamps are the backbone of Vodou; most priests have one going on their table at all times. An iliminasyon is kind of the dynamite lamp to blow things open with a big blast of heat and light.

The iliminasyon does discern what the lwa want or are trying to communicate, even if they don't speak in a way we understand. Like, a situation may resolve in the way we are asking or if we are asking for specific help that help may come. It isn't something more convenient for sure; it is definitely work. A reading is much easier and less time consuming.

They may prescribe it because the issue is complicated or because they think it goes beyond what a reading can give, or maybe that readings have not addressed the issue for you. Sometimes they may prescribe it simply because the lwa tell them to. That's something that happens quite often with folks I work with; it comes up in a reading or in a dream or the lwa tell me in another way, and I communicate that on so the person can decide what they want to do.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a preference but more a prescription. She is probably seeing or being told that something could really benefit from that particular work, especially if it has come up multiple times.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

If there is no one else in your family that you know of that practices, I suggest reaching out to a priest for a reading to see what the lwa and potentially your grandmother have to say. You are not in an unusual position and a huge amount of the folks who I see for divination and spiritual work have similar situations. What we do is do the leson/reading and then talk through the prescriptions the lwa and ancestors may give.

You can also reach out to your grandmother via prayer. Light a white candle and set out some fresh water and speak to her about what's on your heart and what you are looking for.

Happy to connect if you're interested in chatting about more details or linking up for a reading!

Hi,

It depends on what it is and what the purpose of it is. If I prepare food for my lwa at home just as an offering, I don't eat what I place for them. I might eat leftovers from cooking if there are any but what goes on the altar is for them only. Often there is a prescribed amount of time for it to sit there, either as informed by the lwa or as a standard thing, and then food is disposed of. Letting it rot sometimes is a prescription (and a good one!), and sometimes would be wholly inappropriate, like for Ezili Freda, Danbala, and most of the Rada lwa and a bunch of others.

An example of what might happen with food is what Gede asked of me recently. Food was prepared for him for his fet, and he came and ate it and enjoyed it...but he also wanted me to have similar done for him in Haiti and told me I could not dispose of his food here until I had the work done in Haiti. I was to take his food home, place it with his things, and keep it there until the work was completed. It took a minute to coordinate money, seek out what he likes to eat since it is different than what most Gede eat, and then have our folks down in Haiti prepare it in our lakou and deposit it. So, I had a basin of rotting manje Gede that I couldn't get rid of until I received the confirmation that it was done by my adopted son. I was kinda grossed out, this particular Gede was very amused by my distaste. When it could be disposed of, it went into a bag and into the trash.

In Haiti, food that won't be eaten would traditionally get deposited under a tree but that's often hard to do in the US if you don't have a yard. I don't, so what I do is place everything in its own plastic bag and then place it in the trash for disposal.

A sometimes exception is fresh fruit or vegetables. For example, I just did our household service for Kouzen and gave him a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables. The service is finished, the prescribed period is over, and the fruit/veg is still good so it will go into our kitchen to eat. Kouzen is not going to ask me to sacrifice food I can eat.

Hope this helps!

Thank you!

I don't think pòmdetè in Haiti are different from the potatoes we have in the US. I know I have seen/eaten white brown-skinned potatoes in Haiti (usually as French fries or some other fried potato thing or salad Ris, which is a Haitian potato salad with Bert's and often peas, it's usually bright red from the beets and absolutely delicious. That's probably one of the more well known potato dishes. Pòmdetè au gratin and mashed potatoes are done in Haiti as well, but I haven't seen it too many places outside of restaurants.

What is called patat in Haiti is a red skinned sweet potato, and that is prepared often as patat ak let; or sweet potato boiled in milk with spices. Pen patat is a sweet potato pudding served for dessert...and very tasty!

Yanm in Haiti is an African yam; much larger than what we would think of as a yam and white inside with a kind of woody skin.

Totally depends on what I am eating! I am a banan peze person when I am eating lanbi or griyo or similar. I am a banan dous person when I am feeling snacky. I have become a banan bouyi person when eating food with sauce or even with eggs for breakfast. I also like fig/what are called bananas in the US...my fave is cut into cereal.

Hi,

I have seen those videos and I am not sure what to think. It looks unusual to me, but I have been taught and specifically approach things from the viewpoint that the lwa come as they will and sometimes that defies our understanding. I like to leave room for mystery and grace. And, it is difficult to really assess something when you are not in the room. Even then, I would be unwilling to point fingers because, frankly, that's rude and lacking in that grace.

I think what is a little confusing for me, and it really is a me thing, is that this is operating in a context outside of Haitian culture which is not unsurprising...they are all the way in Brazil! I do know that there is a community in Brazil that is being guided by Haitians who are trustworthy and knowledgeable but I am unsure if it is this community.

What I will say is what I have seen said on social media is pretty uncharitable and honestly hurtful, if the folks in that video came across the comments. Critique is one thing, but cruel and crass comments are something else entirely. And, to be perfectly blunt, more than a few folks I saw making comments are not in a place to be casting judgment about what is real/fake or wrong when they themselves have very publicly done things wildly out of pocket and/or wrong in the sense that they have lacked the education to do something correctly, thoroughly, and with cultural sensibilities and general prensip yo in mind. Those folks are not in a place to help, so don't hurt...especially when you yourself are not above very valid criticism.

So, I look at the situation with grace. The lwa move in mysterious ways and they seek their people out wherever they happen to be. Could things be very wrong? Absolutely. Do folks who want to serve the lwa need the guidance of competent priests and the enthusiastic participation of Haitians, as without Haitians there is no Haitian Vodou? Yup. And yet...we don't have the whole picture, so we operate with grace and assume good things, versus being the very definition of a low bar.

Hello,

Maryaj lwa can certainly happen on a short time frame, but it costs, requires specific items, and each lineage does it differently; some lineages will not marry Legba. It is possible to have it done quickly, but it is difficult re: items needed and money.

I don't recommend New Orleans for Vodou.

I would recommend a reading to discern more about your situation and determine what other lwa are in play, as people very rarely marry one lwa only for spiritual reasons, and certainly not Legba alone. I do those readings; feel free to contact me here either by PM or leaving me a way to contact you, or email me at hounganalex@gmail.com, I have availability this week.

Ogou, a project finally finished, and upcoming possibilities!

The calendar has gotten ahead of me, and here we are again on a jou fet/feast day for Ogou. It's been quiet around these parts for a minute (more on that below..), and it feels like that kind of timing that puts you in exactly the right place at the right moment. Funny how divine providence works.

If you've hung around for a minute, you know the story I'm going to tell. Maybe I sound like an old person who walked barefoot up a hill in three feet of snow to go to school, but it's something that stuck with me and it's something that really did change my life.

Today is St. George's feast day, which is a day given to at least one Ogou for most if not all vodouizan; it's probably one of few overarching pieces of sameness that you can find country-wide in Haiti. Ogou is central to Vodou; it was Ogou Feray and Ogou Je Wouj who sprang up during Bwa Kayiman and who stoked the revolutionary spark that made the first free Black republic a reality. He is probably more central than he is given credit for; he is certainly overlooked at times in favor of others.

I've had the grace to not be able to overlook Ogou. He made sure of that when he (among others) brought me to my spiritual mother and the lineage named after nasyon Nago, the family of Ogou.

He also made sure of that when I was careening down a very bumpy road towards kanzo. It was 8 years ago now (!!) that I was sitting in an apartment that I would end up abandoning not knowing how in the hell I was going to get everything in order for kanzo just a few months later. I didn't have the money, I didn't have the stuff I needed, I don't even think I had my passport at that point. I was in serious trouble, and I knew it.

So, I did what I could and sat and made a small service for Ogou. I bought what little I could put together, made it pretty, and presented it to him. In retrospect, it's kind of cute what I thought I knew and must have been like a small child presenting you with the product of their toils: the spiritual equivalent of a mud pie with dandelions stuck in it and a macaroni necklace.

But, I did it and I told Ogou that I knew I had made a promise, I knew that I was in trouble, and that I would do whatever he told me if it got me into the djevo. I lit the match and gave it to him, he set the fire and burned my life down.

Within two weeks, I abandoned the apartment I had and packed my car to make a couple of trips into Boston to live in a teeny tiny rented room that was close to my job that Ogou would direct me to quit. I sold my car, any possessions I had that were worth money, and took my stacked vacation time money from the job I quit, all while working up until a few days before I needed to fly to Haiti and hustling at night with whatever side gigs I could find. I bought my flights to/from Haiti before I prepared anything else or even had the money I needed in my hands because I figured that it would be pretty awkward if I had to fly to Haiti and just...hang out when I had been planning to kanzo all along.

It looked like things were going to work out. I was barely sleeping, but the money was coming in and I had the things I needed to go to Haiti with....but what would things be without a last minute twist?

Two days before I left for Haiti, I found out that the way my rent was going to be paid while I was in Haiti fell through. So, I spent two days moving what I could into a friend's basement and abandoned the rest of my belongings, again. I had some boxes, a couple bags of clothes, my suitcase to go to Haiti with...and that's it. Everything else was gone, and I found myself in an airport unsure of where I was going when I got back.

I made it to Haiti after delayed and canceled flights and some crying in a corner, and the rest is history. Ogou (and all my lwa) held me up during the process, and held me up afterwards while he helped me rebuild the life I gave him to burn down. Literally everything I have now descends from the hands of Ogou and my lwa. Career and professional success, home, relationship, spiritual opportunities...all of it down to the last little piece. Nothing is without his/their influence, and my life has become worth living because of it. He saved me, and it all really started on this day 8 years ago. It's been a wild ride the last 12 years with the lwa, and I genuinely couldn't ask for anything better.

'Gratitude' is not a sufficient word because it cannot encompass how I hold all these things inside of me. It is beyond language and verbalization, and when I find myself in front of Ogou and wanting to thank him yet again for all that he has done for me, words are insufficient. I look at him kind of despairing to explain, and he just nods. He knows.

And here I am. Like I said, a wild ride. I looked at a calendar the other day and it really has been 12 years since I got dropkicked into Vodou. So much has happened and so much is to happen and to become. I am not yet the reflection of what I believe the lwa want for me, but I do believe I am climbing closer each day.

I've been pretty occupied in the last year with big stuff; I wrote previously about the completion of my husband's immigration process FINALLY which has him in the US with me permanently (and back and forth to Haiti as life allows). After that, a rather large project occupied most of my time/energy.

Details about that and upcoming stuff behind the cut.

No, female Legbas are not present. Legba comes with his wife, who is by the gate with him. Labre and Drogo are not saints found within Haiti, really. Haitian Catholicism and Ginen are very specific for a variety of reasons.

St Francis is usually venerated only in church, but specific lakou may have different relationships. I know of one lakou near Leogane who have a unique relationship with St Francis.

Images of the child Jesus are not used super often. The infant of Atocha walks with Jean Petwo in the lineage I am initiated in.

No, those saints are not given to Agwe as they have no real presence in Haiti. If people want an image of a saint and can't find a paper one easily, they'll paint them or commission them.

Hi,

I'm assuming you mean the set-up of bathrooms and what using the bathroom might be like.

If you are staying in a hotel or in a home in a well to do neighborhood with Western style homes, it's probably very similar to what you might be used to in any Western country; a flush toilet, a shower with running water, and a sink with running water. Water pressure and flush power can fluctuate and usually isn't the same as you would see in the US.

Basically everywhere else, water is brought by buckets and barrels from cisterns. Flushing the toilet is done by pouring a bucket of water into the toilet, and usually paper is not flushed. Your shower is a bucket of water which you pour over yourself with a cup or a dipper, which is super refreshing when it's hot.

More rural areas will have an outhouse kind of set-up with no central plumbing and neighborhoods that are extremely poor often have channels on the side of the road that may take solid and liquid waste away from homes. This has its challenges, as that can affect local water supply.

The water you bathe with is not what you would use to brush your teeth or drink, even if it is coming out of a faucet.

I hope this answers your question!

There is no overarching regleman of what saint is present with what lwa; it is largely very specific to lineage. Osanj does not walk with St Michael in large swaths of Haiti, that would be a very unusual occurrence for a number or reasons.

All archangels are not necessarily represented. Some folks will give Agwe the image of Raphael with the fish, but again that is lineage specific and the lwa can have very strong opinions when a saint image is placed with them that they do not associate with in the lineage someone is learning with or born from.

The lineage I am initiated in does not utilize cardinal directions. Cardinal directions are not really utilized too much in Vodou, though there are certainly things that look like that.

Those other images of St Joseph are not often used. It's possible someone does somewhere, but it's not common practice and I imagine most folks would feel pretty unsettled about transmitting a saint who is with Loko on to others.

We don't assign saint images based on what we might think might match; the lwa and saints are pretty specific about how things line up.

St Francis does and does not walk within Ginen, and it depends on where you are and whom you are learning from if he does.

I don't know that I would make that rendition!

How and why saints are present with lwa is one part mystery and one part history, in that it is largely something specific to lineage, locality, or specific lakou so it's less about selecting images to use and more about embracing what is transmitted to you by your lineage elders.

Various images of Christ are given to Bossou and Linglessou/Kriminel, among others.

Part of the mystery is that not all saints are present and we don't get to decide who is/is not present. There are Reasons and reasons that get revealed over time as we progress with our lwa.

Hope this helps!