#asson

Digital art

hasta la vista birdy 💍🔥🥰🖕👨‍🍳💃🤡🎰🔇

Hi there,

So, in general, there are prohibitions about blood and bleeding in Haitian Vodou. You mentioned the taboos around menstruation, so let’s chat about that for a moment first.

Folks who menstruate by and large should not touch most ritual implements--the asson, drums, etc--or get involved in specific ceremonies until they are finished menstruating or have taken appropriate ritual measures (there are leaves used that sort of cancel out the spiritual effects of menstruation). Part of this is energetic on the part of the person menstruating since it is often a time of lower energy. Other reasons directly relate to general taboos on blood/bleeding in the religion.

In general, human blood and bleeding is tabooed in the religion because it creates an environment that it spiritually unclean and it can create a spiritually dangerous situation with lwa who take animals/blood for offerings. We never, ever give the lwa our blood, as that would mean we are the sacrifice. That may sound all romantic and spooky, but that’s a bad thing as it would result in our life force being sucked away. Humans are not meant to feed the lwa in that manner.

And...it’s messy. Like, if we have cut ourselves or something, do we really want to get blood all over the stuff that belongs to our lwa? If we are at ceremony, do we want it all over our clothes or other people in a crowded temple? The answer should be no.

With that in mind, any injury resulting in bleeding should be taken care of before approaching the lwa for service. Doesn’t matter what happened, really...the result is what is significant. Clean your wound, bandage it up, and wait until the bleeding stops before beginning service. In ceremonies, someone who gets cut/scraped/etc (sometimes things happen) needs to step back and address that quickly. At the very least, the bleeding must be covered and contained before taking an active part in the ceremony. If a priest is bleeding, they should pass on accepting the asson for a salute until the bleeding has stopped.

Hi there,

I can definitely see where that could be a valid read of what she has written. She employs a lot of the cultural assassination techniques that are present in coded anti-Semitism, specifically around money and how she portrays Haitians regarding money. It goes without saying that these are harmful and hurtful statements and, you know, aren't true...but, like outright anti-Semitic statements, she uses these things to create, control, and illustrate a particular narrative that leaves her looking like she is pulling back on a curtain what is a deceitful culture.

Like anti-Semitism, none of this is actually true...it's exploitative and about control. She can wield it like a bat and spew lies and folks who have not had any exposure to Haitians or Haitian culture will swallow it because it exploits a desire of many folks, particularly BIPOC folks: to find a spiritual home where they can embrace all of who they are and belong.

It's devious because it takes a lot of unpacking to really expose the decay at the center of it all, and the folks front this sort of stuff are invested in people NOT looking past the initial candy coating. When folks start to push back, tactics change to threats (these folks are going to be spirit food), attempts at humiliation (tell folks how Ogou smacks you around), attempts at misdirection (you Black folks are all mad at me, but do you know this is a white person talking, this is all just white tears), self-martyring (endless posts about self-fragility, rising above, etc), straight-up removal of posts, and outright public relations spin (post after post of apparent/supposed emails from folks who love the Instagram and it's supposed truthiness, screencap after screencap of comments made in support of perceived truthiness). The goal is to overwhelm and bury the ugly stuff in the hopes of folks forgetting it existed, which allows this thread of cultural assassination to stand.

It can be really hard to look past what looks like reasons why folks have not been able to find what their hearts have sought, and it puts folks in an a spot where they are left doing the work of unwittly engaging in character assassination by scapegoating a whole lot of people.

It thrives on the same basic principle that anti-Semitism originally thrived on: lack of exposure. It's easy to agree that something is fake or damaging when you have never seen it. That's why I have started posting videos and historical documentation...we cannot be responsible for what we do not know, but when we have opportunities to see and then choose otherwise we are complicit in this cultural assassination.

Like anti-Semitism is not new for Jewish folks, this isn't new for Haitians, either. Folks have said stuff like this or similar things for ages as a means of evoking feelings to manipulate an outcome and reinforce stereotypes of Haiti and Haitians. Same song, same dance, Instagram provides new packaging. It's something to be aware of when viewing depictions and narratives about Haitian Vodou.

Bonswa Papa Loko, gwo oungan m.

Salye Loko, Antre Kanzo 2018

Kay Manbo Maude/Sosyete Nago, Jacmel

Loko is a lwa intrinsic to the kanzo process in that no houngan or manbo asogwe can be made without him. He is the gran poto mitan, the spirit that holds up the priesthood, and if he is against you...well, live your life in such a way that he would not find reason to be against you. 

Loko was the first houngan and, along with his wife, Ayizan, is responsible for the fundamental aspects of kanzo for an asogwe. Loko confers the asson (or not) and empowers the asogwe to initiate others. He gives, but he can also take away and so our lesson from him is to behave with respect and dignity towards our initiatory parent, our siblings who have walked the road before us, and towards him and the lwa in general who have allowed us to get where we are.