The Ancestors, and the
Vodou way of reclaiming the dead.The ancestors, zanset
yo in Haitian Creole, are ever with a Vodouisant. He/she lives, breathes and
acts with the awareness of their presence. The national anthem of Haiti begins,
"For the country, and for the ancestors, we walk united...".
In the countryside of Haiti, each family compound includes a
family graveyard. The tombs of family members are as elaborate as the family can
afford. Some resemble small houses built above ground, with the crypt below. The
structures built for wealthy families may even comprise a small sitting room,
complete with a picture of the deceased and good quality chairs. When a newcomer
enters the family compound for an extended visit, courtesy requires that her or
she make a small libation of water at the tombs, so that the ancestors will
welcome the person. Family members and guests may also, at any time, make an
"illumination". Candles or beeswax tapers are lighted, placed on the tombs, and
a short prayer is said.
In the city, the law requires burial in the city graveyard. Again, structures may be quite elaborate, and large padlocks and other security devices are used to prevent graverobbers from making off with the metal coffin findings, bones, or other articles of the dead person.
The bones of dead individuals are considered to have great magical powers, particularly if the dead person was a Houngan, Mambo, or in any other way notable or distinguished, for good or ill.
A Vodouisant is buried with Roman Catholic ceremony, and a wake is held for nine nights after the death. The ninth night is called thedenye priye, the last prayer. After the last prayer, the Catholic part of the death ritual is closed.
At some point either before or after the Roman Catholic ceremony,
the Vodou ceremony of desounin is held. In this ceremony, the component
parts of the person's soul and life force, and the primary lwa in the head of
the person, are ritualistically separated and consigned to their correct
destinations. The desounin of a well known and highly respected Houngan, such as
my initiatory Houngan Luc Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, may be attended by
hundreds of white robed, weeping mourners. It is at this time that the inheritor
of any family lwa liberated from the deceased is usually revealed, as the chosen
individual becomes briefly possessed.
One year and one day after the death of the individual, the ceremony retire mo nan dlo, take the dead out of the water, may be performed. The spirit of the dead person is called up through a vessel of water, under a white sheet, and ritually installed in a clean clay pot called a govi. The voice of the dead individual may speak from the govi, or through the mouth of another person briefly possessed for the purpose. The govi is reverently placed in the djevo, or inner room of the temple.
Sometimes the spririt of a departed ancestor may return of it's
own accord, as a 'lwa Ghede' . My own initiatory Houngan had in his head a Ghede
named Ghede Arapice La Croix, who revealed to me that he had once been a black
Haitian man, born on Nov. 2, All Souls' Day, in the Bel Air district of
Port-au-Prince. His outspoken nature and inability to tolerate injustice got him
murdered by a neighborhood strongman at the age of 21. Then followed a long
spritual odysse. One day, he saw Luc Gedeon in the woods with the govi of
another lwa, Kanga, working on a cure for a sick person. Arapice asked Kanga for
permission to enter the govi with him, but Kanga refused, and made Arapice hang
around immaterially outside Luc Gedeon's peristyle for another year. Then Kanga
required a ceremony of installation for Ghede Arapice la Croix.
When Luc Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, became possessed for the first time by Ghede Arapice la Croix, Arapice demonstrated his power and his loyalty to Luc by sitting down in the middle of the huge ceremonial bonfire. Screams of fear from the congregation and tears of terror from Luc's family did not dissuade him - and in a moment the terror turned to wonder as not a hair of Luc's head nor a thread of his clothes was burned. Arapice then entered the peristyle and was reverently installed in his very own govi, where he remains until today, manifesting through one of the younger relatives of the late Houngan.
In the countryside of Haiti, each family compound includes a
family graveyard. The tombs of family members are as elaborate as the family can
afford. Some resemble small houses built above ground, with the crypt below. The
structures built for wealthy families may even comprise a small sitting room,
complete with a picture of the deceased and good quality chairs. When a newcomer
enters the family compound for an extended visit, courtesy requires that her or
she make a small libation of water at the tombs, so that the ancestors will
welcome the person. Family members and guests may also, at any time, make an
"illumination". Candles or beeswax tapers are lighted, placed on the tombs, and
a short prayer is said.In the city, the law requires burial in the city graveyard. Again, structures may be quite elaborate, and large padlocks and other security devices are used to prevent graverobbers from making off with the metal coffin findings, bones, or other articles of the dead person.
The bones of dead individuals are considered to have great magical powers, particularly if the dead person was a Houngan, Mambo, or in any other way notable or distinguished, for good or ill.
A Vodouisant is buried with Roman Catholic ceremony, and a wake is held for nine nights after the death. The ninth night is called thedenye priye, the last prayer. After the last prayer, the Catholic part of the death ritual is closed.
At some point either before or after the Roman Catholic ceremony,
the Vodou ceremony of desounin is held. In this ceremony, the component
parts of the person's soul and life force, and the primary lwa in the head of
the person, are ritualistically separated and consigned to their correct
destinations. The desounin of a well known and highly respected Houngan, such as
my initiatory Houngan Luc Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, may be attended by
hundreds of white robed, weeping mourners. It is at this time that the inheritor
of any family lwa liberated from the deceased is usually revealed, as the chosen
individual becomes briefly possessed.One year and one day after the death of the individual, the ceremony retire mo nan dlo, take the dead out of the water, may be performed. The spirit of the dead person is called up through a vessel of water, under a white sheet, and ritually installed in a clean clay pot called a govi. The voice of the dead individual may speak from the govi, or through the mouth of another person briefly possessed for the purpose. The govi is reverently placed in the djevo, or inner room of the temple.
Sometimes the spririt of a departed ancestor may return of it's
own accord, as a 'lwa Ghede' . My own initiatory Houngan had in his head a Ghede
named Ghede Arapice La Croix, who revealed to me that he had once been a black
Haitian man, born on Nov. 2, All Souls' Day, in the Bel Air district of
Port-au-Prince. His outspoken nature and inability to tolerate injustice got him
murdered by a neighborhood strongman at the age of 21. Then followed a long
spritual odysse. One day, he saw Luc Gedeon in the woods with the govi of
another lwa, Kanga, working on a cure for a sick person. Arapice asked Kanga for
permission to enter the govi with him, but Kanga refused, and made Arapice hang
around immaterially outside Luc Gedeon's peristyle for another year. Then Kanga
required a ceremony of installation for Ghede Arapice la Croix.When Luc Gedeon, Bon Houngan Jambe Malheur, became possessed for the first time by Ghede Arapice la Croix, Arapice demonstrated his power and his loyalty to Luc by sitting down in the middle of the huge ceremonial bonfire. Screams of fear from the congregation and tears of terror from Luc's family did not dissuade him - and in a moment the terror turned to wonder as not a hair of Luc's head nor a thread of his clothes was burned. Arapice then entered the peristyle and was reverently installed in his very own govi, where he remains until today, manifesting through one of the younger relatives of the late Houngan.
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