#kalfou

VeVe (Symbol)

This is one type of veve for him.

Kafou O!

Se ou ki mama mwen, Se ou ki papa mwen

Kafou O!

Se ou ki mama mwen, Se ou ki papa mwen,

Se ou ki ba mwen tete,

Se ou ki ba mwen lavi,

Pa kite mwen wont O,

Devan sobadji lwa yo.

One of the important lwa in the Haitian Vodou. He is the Master of the Crossroads, Met Kalfou is the Kryeol version of the French word “Carrerfour” which means crossroads. He is one of the most universal of all the lwa. Where four roads emanate from a single point, there is Kalfou, be that two roads crossing, or the crossing of two tracks, or paths, that is the manifestation of Kalfou.

Sometimes his work takes place bat night. He works with The Baron, Legba or Simbi.

Mèt Kafou is indeed the lwa of the crossroads and is also the embodiment of the crossroads, so going going and drawing a online veve at a crossroads may get you something that might say their Kafou by someone or something that is not. So don't stand at the crossroads and call for a spirit they don’t have the authority to bother might be a bad idea…but that is also buying a WHOLE LOT of trouble.

Color: Kalfou is a strong and powerful Petro lwa. He is served in the red with black accented and this tells you how strong, hot and powerful this spirit is. Red and black is also the colour manifestation of two of the secret sosyetes within Haiti, both of which are focused on the manifestation.

Offerings: Being a hot spirit he eats only blood from his sacrifices, but as an offering he also accepts other foods, such as cakes and red apples, and these are used sometimes to “cool” Met Kalfou down after working with him. Whatever food is given to Met Kalfou, should be red or black or both. He gets pleasure from looking at these offerings as anything else.

Make sure they are aesthetically pleasing and presented in an even number and a multiple of 4. If you are offering him apples, offer him 4 or 8 or 12 or 16 apples, never 3 or 5 or an uneven number.

Drink: is a special Vodou mixture called Kiman. Kiman is a drink that has white rum, and other herbs are then added. The exact recipe for Kiman may vary from my house to other house's, but this drink is common drink given to lwa of the Petro nation because it is hot and fierce and heats them up to do work.

The spirit Met Kalfou is often mistaken as the “Devil” or with some kind of demon or being evil. This is most common misconceptions of him. That he's evil or that he is involved with evil. He's not evil but he is a gate keeper and holds the keys to the gate for low vibrational energies, (Evil Spirits) This is a misconception that comes from manifestation in magical workings when someone is using Kalfou who is the essence of real magic, he is the force were all magic flows, or to put it another way, all magic, be it for good or bad, passes through the crossroads.

The crossroads is the point upon which magic manifests, doesn't matter which lwa Spirit) is helping. It is not Kalfou that directs negative magical work but again he does hold the keys, he is simply part of the way that it travels, and he allows it to travel without judgement.

Example (Think of it this way: a crossroads does not stop a car from passing through because it does not like the colour of the car, the crossroads can be a detour a part of the journey and cars use it to get to where they are going. It's the same is true of magic, Met Kalfou does not judge that magic that passes through him, he simply does what he is called upon to do.)

Met Kalfou however is a good sorcerer in his own right. To popular belief, he is not obsessed with or associated with black magic but most people who does black magick does call apon him. But with all the spirits, they are bound by the knowledge that as humans we have, by God's Divine Will, the manifestation of free will.

Basically you have to go through Legba first. Lega opens the positive forces while Met can opens the negative forces.

He is seen as having the cross. He bears the transgressions of evil doers. He is a advocate for them or acts as there lawyer.

When people do bad things karma comes then they might call on him to help with that karma.

In Vodou there is no hell like describe by christians. But there is spirit world called guinea and that's where Legba holds the keys to and is divided into different areas low vibrations and high vibrations. Met Kalfou holds the keys to where the bad spirits are, another reason why he's also considered to be like satan. Some consider Met and Lega to be twins because they have the similar jobs both crossroads spirits but they both have different positions. This is not true they are not related.

So, over on Facebook and Instagram, one of my siblings started a conversation about what priests in Haitian Vodou see over and over and over again: the internet telling people that Legba is served at the crossroads. My sister posed the question: in what part of Haiti is this traditional? What lineage holds this? Who has legitimate information about this? She wrote a great blog post about the conversation and what a lot of us have had to say about it here.

What she calls out in that post is painfully true: Sosyete Facebook (aka the information shared there and otherwise with little accuracy attached) has taken the place of actual learning in the tradition that is passed within the religion, which is having a specific teacher communicate how things are passed in a lineage that you are committed to learning from. The internet has born out this idea of a pan-Vodou practice that pulls from all different sources outside of the religion, from sources that are blatantly incorrect or misleading about the religion, and/or from people who are not empowered to speak on what they are trying to communicate. 

In truth, the idea of Legba being at the crossroads is based in other practices like Orisa religions, which Esu or Eleggua is perhaps found at a crossroads, in Southern folklore where pacts can be made with the Devil at the crossroads, or in European-based practices where you meet the Devil or the Man In Black there as well. In Haitian Vodou, we have a specific spirit who is at the crossroads and who is the literal embodiment of the crossroads. His name even means ‘crossroads’ in Kreyòl!

The crossroads are a dangerous place. My sister quoted a little bit about what I said in her blog post: In Haitian Vodou, if you are going to the crossroads and you do not have the heat in your hands and on your head (ie, you are not kanzo), you do not have the authority in both right and power to call upon Kafou (the spirit of the crossroads in Haitian Vodou) there and you cannot guarantee that, if something answers you at all, it will be him that responds. You don’t have the skill or authority to discern that, nor can you discern if it is simply something that is happy to be called Kafou (or Legba, if you really insist on trying it there..). A lot of stuff hangs out at the crossroads, and almost none of it is nice. In Haitian Vodou, you can find the wandering dead (not Gede) there, lougawou (essentially souls cursed to cause harm), and all sorts of malevolent spirits that would be happy to make a snack out of you. I mean, Kafou himself is dicey to deal with even for seasoned priests; when things are not done to Kafou’s liking, his response can range from ‘I am not going to allow this ceremony to happen’ to ‘I am going to kill you for your disrespect’. 

For vodouizan, it’s pretty clear where Legba stands: Legba, ouvre barye pou m, ago e. Legba Atibon, ouvre barye pou m, ouvre barye pou m, ouvre barye pou m pase. Legba, open the gate for me. Legba Atibon, open the gate for me, open the gate for me, open the gate for me to pass. Legba states at the gate and decides who comes and goes.

And yet, Sosyete Facebook persists. The desire to claim a narrative that does not fit or respect the religion overrules the desire to meet the religion where it is at--to meet Legba at the gate--and so people go to a crossroads with veve on paper and candy and leave trash there to the point where we have all heard at least one story of someone almost getting hit by a car or hassled by police (In Vodou, we go to the crossroads at night and do our best not to get seen...). I like the internet for a lot of things, but sometimes...

I’m not sure why it took me so long, but finally in January 2009, I flew over to Haiti <3.  I had always wanted to go since 80′, but lack of funds, or lack of guts, or both deleyed it :D.  The trip was amazing, the people were amazing, the beaches were amazing, the ceremonies were amazing, the markets were amazing, tje food was awesome, the cemeteries were amazing (I’ve always thought the various Barons are pretty wonderful), and even the “bus” lol, trip through the mountains was amazing!

Most folks go for the Asson and initiation route.  However, I was more interested in Makaya ;).  I have been a practitioner of Western magics since 89, so the workings which included some spellwork elements were definitely up my alley.  Also, Makaya includes the more fierce and firey (how I perceived things anyways) Lwa whom I love.  Well actually includes the other Lwa as well, but does focus on some of the Lwa which seem to be less emphasized or even left out in other areas.  

Haiti is an interesting place, there were many Bokors, who also had the Asson, and most definitely practiced both.  I also got to visit a couple of cemeteries including the giant amazing one in Port Au Prince!  I loved how there were folks who just spend the day there, with the fires going, doing the work and the honourings.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Some of the Art Cards for CNCPPD 2017

Hello!

As a default, for someone who serves their spirits in a Ginen lineage, the rosary is good for all lwa as an act of devotion as are standard Catholic prayers. You should speak to your teacher if you have specific questions regarding how the lineage you are learning from treats Kafou.

The internet has a lot to say about Kafou as a/the devil, and that’s all a general mis-read and misunderstanding of who Kafou is and what he does, which leads to folks saying that Kafou is never prayed with as you would other lwa. Kafou is exacting and can punish pretty severely for mistakes, so if someone does not have the guidance of a priest it’s better to let Kafou be. 

A spirit walking with you also does not mean they are actively speaking or working at all times or needing things from you, it can just mean they are in your orbit. For example, Kafou showed in my spiritual court very early for me but didn’t speak to me for quite awhile..until after my kanzo, and even now he is very particular about his communication. I had questions about this--shouldn’t I have been hearing from him?--and I got good advice that I hold onto years later: the lwa speak when they are ready to and/or when they need to, and some of them will not speak before that moment for any reason. 

I have found a lot of the Petwo lwa are like that--they are not very chatty because they are constantly working and they come with purpose. For me, Kafou is very like that--he says what he wants/needs to be very deliberately, and he says it once and then he is off somewhere else.

Bit of a ramble, but I hope this helps. TL;DR: the rosary is fine as a devotional tool. Speak to your teacher about questions about what you should be doing with/for specific lwa, if anything. Don’t bang on doors if your don’t have a chaperone, and remember that they speak in their own time.

Asmodeus Belial ; Asmoday Belial

Asmodeus Lucifer - Asmoday Lucifer