Voodoo in Haiti

by Alfred Métraux

  The hungan, using his fingers, puts bread soaked in wine and other foods in each huño’s mouth and between the big and second toe of his left foot. In fact it is the god who eats this offering since the person receiving it is possessed. The song which is now sung explains the meaning of the rite: ‘The saints [that is to say the loa] want something to eat. Kneel down. A loa in a pot is incapable of eating; you must eat instead of him.’

  THE CEREMONY OF THE ‘BURNING-POTS’

  The bulé-zin ceremony which takes place on the Saturday evening, closes the retreat and precedes the grand ceremonial exit on the morning of Sunday. I shall base my description of this on what I saw at Lorgina’s in 1949.

  The bulé-zin begins—as custom demands—by invocations of Legba, ‘opener of the barrier’, and by libations in front of the drums and the poteau-mitan, these rites being first carried out by Lorgina and then by all the dignitaries present. Then comes the long series of salutations between priests, hunsi and mambo, and finally between hunsi and hunsi who, equal facing equal, ‘twirl’ each other simultaneously. Then comes the parade of standard-bearers, with the la-place in front. One by one, with great ceremony, they salute their flags and present them to be kissed by members of the humfo society.

  Suddenly a man bursts into the peristyle. He is loaded with necklaces which he wears round his neck and arms. It is the confiance or the hungenikon who has been to fetch the necklaces of the hunsi-kanzo and who, from contact with the sacred ornaments, has been made drunk (saoulé) by the power emanating from them. He staggers, totters and regains his balance, like a ballet dancer imitating a drunk. The mambo shakes her rattle and the orchestra of three rada drums adds a ceaseless rolling to the clear sound of the ogan. The carrier of necklaces falls to his knees and the mambo relieves him of his burden.

  Each hunsi comes and kneels before the mambo to receive her necklace. The mambo picks out the right one from the pile without hesitation and puts it on her, crossing it over each shoulder. She also adjusts her awèssan (silk band).

  The mambo is brought a plate of flour and a lighted candle and after a few ritual movements, she traces out, all round the poteau-mitan, the vèvè of the various loa honoured in her humfo. Circles, near the symbols of each loa, show the positions of the zin.

  A song calls the hunsi who go into the sanctuary in a group to fetch the things they will need for the ‘service’ from the foot of the altar. There, on a mat covered with white stuff, everything necessary for a meal has been arranged—pots, plates, dishes, large wrought-iron nails, calabashes, small pinewood sticks, wreaths of mombin and lalo (Corchorus olitorius leaves), chickens with tied feet, maize meal, grilled peanuts, acassan, oil, wine, liqueurs. Of course, it is really a magico-religious meal since the pots, nails and sticks are all decorated with small crosses and symbolic designs done in chalk. They have already been ‘cross-signed’, at a consecration ceremony during which the protecting spirits of the sanctuary were called. The number of zin—globular clay pots—may vary but the cookery section of a bulé-zin must include a small cast iron pot consecrated to the loa of the Nago nation, and to its most celebrated representative Ogu-fer or Ferraille.

  The earthenware pots are regarded as living pots with the exception of two consecrated to the dead. Each object is orientated towards the cardinal points before being given to a hunsi who receives it on her knees and who prostrates herself—‘kisses earth’—as a sign of respect.

  Carrying their burdens either on their heads or in a fold of their skirts, they form a long procession which advances towards the peristyle under the guidance of the confiance or the hungenikon. The latter holds two chickens which he waves above his head and whirls rather as a drum major whirls his staff. The movements of his outstretched arms by which he raises and lowers the birds, while giving small flicks to his wrists, is known in the language of the liturgy as ventaillé and has a ritual meaning. The person at the head of the file leads it swiftly, keeping in time to the ever increasing tempo of the drums. This progress is almost a farandole, particularly when the confiance, juggling with his chickens, does an about-turn and, three times over, by means of sudden feints compels the hunsi to retreat or change direction thus throwing their ranks into disorder. These gallopings-about often result in outbreaks of near-trance which never quite mature into fully fledged possession. Many hunsi are seized with giddiness though none of them actually succumb to convulsions.

  At a signal given by the drums the hunsi, jumping and bounding as though at the sound of wonderful news, and crying ‘abobo’, kneel, facing the vèvè, and lay down their burdens. Carefully they place each pot in its allotted circle, facing the emblem of the god to which it has been pledged. They prostrate themselves and kiss the ground before the mambo. The latter is seated on a little chair and raises each for three little pirouettes.

  The dignitaries present come and sit on chairs placed near the vèvè. The mambo, with one hand over her eyes to help her collect her thoughts, and the other clasping her rattle, begins to recite the ‘prayer of Africa’ (priyè Ginê). This begins with three Paters, three Aves and three Credos; then come Catholic psalms followed by a long enumeration of widely assorted saints, whose names finally flow into, and get muddled up with the loa, now finally invoked. The name of each divinity is framed by words in langage: Heyá...sindyòe and the litany is punctuated by other words in this mysterious language—the sound of lisadolé zo, zo, zo recurring most frequently. (Here let us remember that zo in Fon means ‘fire’ and Lisa is one of the great divinities of the Dahomey pantheon.)

  The hunsi who have taken their places on mats or chairs remain motionless with eyes closed and only bestir themselves to say over and over again ‘é zo, é zo, é zo’ and to prostrate themselves whenever there is mention of a loa venerated in the humfo. When the mambo recites prayers in langage, adding many incomprehensible syllables which are bits and pieces of Fon and other African languages, the hunsi provide responses.

  A few terse blows on the drums herald the end of the African prayer. The hunsi, after new prostrations, come and get themselves ‘twirled’ by the mambo and the dignitaries present. Then, to cries of ‘abobo’, they resume their dancing round the poteaumitan.

  The dignitaries who have come to help the mambo and who are to become ‘the servants of the zin’ take off their shoes. The hunsi who are to help them do the same. First a glass is taken and filled with a mixture which includes water, wine, syrup, grains of maize, peanuts and bits of biscuit. Then to the rhythm of drums and of the song:

  E plâté pòto, Papa Legba, o

  Plâté pòto e, Papa Legba, e.

  Hé, knock in the nails, Papa Legba o.

  Knock in the nails, Papa Legba, e,

  they take three pegs and having orientated them, drive them into the ground in a triangle: these nails are to be the tripod-base for the pots. On each side of the triangle a handful of ritual food is placed and over it three libations are made with the mixture described above and a lighted candle is placed in its middle. The servants sit on their chairs and using their bare feet raise the bulé-zin, placing each on its respective support. The sticks, having been presented to the four points of the compass, are lighted and put beneath the zin. In some humfo they are given to the hunsi who dance for a few minutes by torchlight. Water is poured into the zin as well as a little mixture from the glass. The so-called ‘living’ pots get a few grains of salt.

  The ‘servants of the zin’ take the two chickens, ‘orientate’ them, ‘cross-sign’ them with flour, then, having broken their wings and legs, pull their heads off with one quick twist. In the twinkling of an eye the chickens are plucked, singed, ‘drawn’ and cut up. The pieces are washed, rubbed with sour oranges and given to the ‘servants of the zin’ who, having passed them three times over the pots, plunge them into the boiling water. When the meat is cooked the hunsi in charge of the kitchen, soak their hands in a mixture of oil and wine and take out the bit which they put on the mombin leaves, repeating the whole m
anoeuvre three times. Maize meal is added to the soup. The iron pot, zin nago, only gets akra (maize balls).

  Meanwhile the novices are waiting. Since dawn they have been ready for the evening ceremony. They have washed themselves as usual in hot water and have drunk sedative infusions. Repeating in a low hum the songs which the hunsi are intoning under the peristyle, they wait for the moment when they will be fetched. Their entry is very impressive: entirely covered with a white sheet which makes them look like ghosts or huge cocoons, they walk leaning on the dignitaries of the humfo who with bent backs advance slowly, dancing. The hunsi take care during this progress to see the sheets don’t get lifted and so reveal to the public the identity of the novice beneath.

  The rites to which the initiates are subjected during the bulé-zin are carried out in the middle of the peristyle, but are hidden from the eyes of the curious by sheets and coverings which the hunsi stretch over the mambo and her assistants seated in front of the pots. One by one the novices are put into this improvised tent.

  Having soaked their left hand in a mixture of oil and wine and amasi (a mombin infusion) and placed it three times flat down on the ground, they now close it three times in succession round a handful of hot maize-flour. Since the oil constitutes a thick layer of insulation the risk of being burnt is slight. The same is not true however of the fritters drawn from the boiling oil in the nago pot. These would cause grievous burns were they not lolloped up and down until cooled off. Finally each initiate has to pass his left hand and foot through the flame which rises from the zin.

  These rites, which are compulsory for initiates, are not regarded by Voodooists as tests of courage; in their eyes they are magical procedures which endow novices with a supernatural power (nanm), health and good luck. Once the initiates are back in the sanctuary the hunsi and spectators who have passed through the kanzo are invited to come and take their turn at handling the little balls of hot maize and so benefit from the powers of the flames. Those who are willing to do this, have their eyes bandaged but are not hidden under a sheet.

  The last episode of the ceremony is the bulé-zin proper. The ‘servants’ having retired, still with bare feet, remove the pots from the fire and clean them with mombin leaves and using a brush made from feathers of the sacrificed chickens, smear the insides with a thick coat of oil. The pots are put back on their stands and a little oil is poured into each. As many sticks as possible are placed beneath them so as to get up a good blaze. The mambo and her colleagues recite prayers and incantations and sound their rattles. The hunsi sing and run round the peristyle: here is the text of a song sung on this occasion:

  Atchasu bâ mwê zê

  Pòté li tu maré (his)

  Atchasu bâ mwê zê

  Zê-lâ tu fèlè (his)

  Atchasu bâ mwê zê-là

  Zê-là tu mare

  Atchasu give me the pot

  Bring it all wrapped up

  Atchasu bring me the pot

  That pot is all cracked

  Atchasu give me that pot

  That pot is all wrapped up.

  When the flames leap up high and vivid, excitement does the same. The hunsi prostrate themselves, ‘kissing earth’, and resume their wild circling of the zin. Possessions break out among them at this moment but they are only partial as before. The priests take care the women are no more than ‘tipsified’ by the god. The hunsi, standards in the lead, go into the sanctuary to fetch the head-pots, the govi, the necklaces and the paquett. These objects are passed rapidly through the flames and then taken back to the altars.

  The peristyle is lighted entirely by the flames leaping up from the zin. Dancing wildly, the white-clad hunsi disappear in the murk only to reappear for a few moments in the field of light. They stagger and everything suggests that many of them are tipsified by the loa. When the moment comes for the nago zin to burn, and the rum, tipped into the fire, throws out its bluish flames, excitement increases and a number of hunsi totter or roll on the ground in a state of trance. But those possessed return to the dance after a few convulsions.

  Once the fires have died down the hunsi, with their bare feet, remove the pots, some of which have split under the stress of the heat. A vèvè is traced out with a circle in the middle: this circle is the circumference of what is soon a hole. The inside of it is ‘cross-signed’ and consecrated with libations of water and liqueur. The sacred food wrapped in a white cloth is laid out on mombin leaves. The zin and the pegs are broken up and the fragments thrown into the hole. The hunsi, grouped round, fill it in by hand and then tread it level in time to the music; Guédé is called in a song:

  Dya rélé, dy dya kékékéké dya dya rele dya

  Gédé-nibo, dya ké ké ké ké dya

  Barô-Samdi, dya ké ké ké ké dya.

  The ceremony ends on a gay note. The hunsi possessed by the Guédé carry out the loa’s favourite dances: the banda and the crabinié. Suiting their movements to the character of the gods whom they incarnate, the hunsi swing their hips and amuse the audience with their licentious gestures and obscene attitudes. When the loa have left their ‘horses’ the hunsi kneel and their necklaces are removed. After a few salutations and a quick turn round the poteau-mitan, the standard-bearers and the la-place go back into the sanctuary. But in the peristyle dancing goes on till dawn.

  THE EXIT OF THE INITIATES

  The exit of the initiates takes place on the Sunday morning, a few hours after the end of the bulé-zin. In the interval they have made a big effort with their appearance and are wearing clothes of spotless white. Over the kerchiefs which cover their heads, they wear broad-brimmed straw hats. The fringes of the aizan disguise their faces. They hold in their hands bunches of flowers or platefuls of offerings.

  During their time in the initiation room the mambo has grouped them into pairs. Two people thus associated regard themselves as bound by particularly close bonds and so come out side by side. The procession of neophytes, headed by the la-place and the standard-bearers, threads its way under a sheet which the hunsi hold up with outstretched arms as a sort of panoply. The initiates move towards the sacred trees, beginning with that of Legba. Having paid homage to the loa of the sanctuary they return to the peristyle where the mambo once again lists the advantages of their new condition and reminds them that the sanctuary is from now on their second home. She warns them finally of the serious consequences of any failure in their duties towards the ‘mysteries’.

  In the afternoon, dressed in their finest clothes, the neophytes make another exit not less solemn than the first. Escorted by the mambo, the la-place and the standard-bearers they prostrate themselves before the gates of the sanctuary, the poteau-mitan, the drums and the humfo dignitaries. Candle in hand they are led before an altar which has been put up in the peristyle and decorated on either side with curtains. A père-savane, called in for the occasion, reads a few Latin and French prayers. Then each initiate, escorted by his godmother or godfather, is baptized by the père-savane and sprinkled with a leafy branch soaked in a glass of water. It is then the hunsi get the title of kanzo. The godfathers and godmothers can from now on call themselves compère and commère.

  After the baptism dancing goes on till the middle of the night. The mambo calls upon the loa maît’-tête of the new hunsi and the latter are thereupon possessed by them. The congregation breaks up but the novices, exhausted by their long day, rest for a few hours in the peristyle. At dawn they once more put on their white clothes and each goes off on his own account to perform devotions in neighbouring churches and at the foot of the various calvaries. They return to the humfo in the evening but leave again next morning to make pilgrimages in different directions. Until the Friday evening they are allowed to do nothing. But on the Friday a loa comes down into the mambo or some other member of the humfo society and gives them permission to go home. They go in small groups and as self-effacingly as possible.

  THE DESCENT OF THE NECKLACES

  For forty-one days after their coming
-out—that is to say until the ceremony of the ‘descent of the necklaces’—the initiates remain in a weakened condition which lays them open to various dangers of a supernatural kind. They protect themselves by carefully obeying the prohibitions and by disciplining themselves to a pure and calm life. They do no work and do not leave their houses. They avoid the sun and the evening dew. They keep off pig meat, cold foods and iced drinks.

  On the eighteenth day of this semi-retreat, they go to the market, equipped with a basket, to beg. With the alms which they receive, either money or produce, they buy a meal which they offer to the poor. This ends with an issue of old clothing, tobacco and soap. The beneficiaries of these gifts pray for the initiates.

  The ceremony of the descent of the necklaces brings initiation to an end. The novices clothed in white, wearing large hats and carrying their kanzo necklaces under their shirts, go to the sanctuary where the priest has traced out on the ground the vèvè of their maît’-têtes. Under the guidance of experienced hunsi, they repeat for the last time dance-steps and salutations. Then, facing the symbols of their loa, they prostrate themselves, at the first rolling of the drums, three times over. In turn, they go and kneel in front of the mambo who removes their hats, their awessan, their aizan and their necklaces which she puts on the vèvè of their maît’-tête. She shakes her rattle quite close to their faces and raising them to their feet ‘twirls’ them three times over. Then there is an interminable interlude of salutations between hunsi.