Lwas Flashcards
Lasyrenn
Fleeting presence
Shows your reflection but with deeper meaning, than in every day mirror
Ezili Freda
Beautiful, Love, Romance Largely associates her self with upper class haitians
Is Danto an evil spirit?
Alourdes said some have bad danto some have good. Bad is not inherited, rather they are purchased by the envious and greedy.
What does alourdes say about danto?
Treat with care and respect, the constructive parts of dantos energy and anger can then be put to good use. Also treat with caution
Dantos maternal anger?
Maternal anger that is put in to play when a mother must protect a children is what turned Danto in to a women warrior during the slave revolution
Saut d’ea -Danto
Where celebration festivites for danto are held, light rainfall here is heavily interpreted as a sign from danto. But also sudden deluges than often result in death.
Ezili and Haitian culture
Haiti is a mysogynist culture, ideal of male supremacy is fierce. But with the use of the ezili voudou empowers women to a larger extent than the majority of the worlds religions
What do the Ezili do?
Sort out, by acting out, the conflict feelings and values in a given life situation. By interacting with the faithful, all the spirits clarify the opinions in peoples lives; the ezili do this especially well for women.
Who is Oguo
Warrior that condenses and represents Haitian voudou
Why has Ogou subdivided?
Haitians have loaded him with so much life experience that he has cloned a small army to help sort the lessons of that experience and represent them to the people
Through ogou possession…
performances occur that make haitians remember their paradoxical and political history. They preserve its lessons and apply them to places in their own lives where power is an issue
Who is Azaka?
a mountain man- peasant farmer
What are azakas functions?
To remind devotees of their roots, need for family and connection to the land - Haitian farmers bury family on land, inheriting land means inheriting relationships with spirits served by ancestors
What does azaka reinforce?
Enduring old social bonds in urban context which inevitably break in search of new more profitable ones in city life
Azaka and urban tendencies
Places urban tendencies toward elaboration of ritual and creation of religious hierarchies in tension with a viewpoint that most strongly values simplicity and immediacy