Jean Baptist did a divination, and confirmed that Mambo Jolene Jackson had correctly identified my Lwa Met Tet, on the occasion of my Lav Tet in California.
I'm not going to tell you who that Lwa is. It's considered a confidential secret, kept closely-guarded by most authentic Voodouisants.
He also told me that Babalu Aye (a Lwa in some Voodou Socyetes, but more widely known as a Santeria Orisha) was standing next to me.
Prior to this, the only reference I had to Babalu Aye was Ricky Ricardo singing Babalu Aye! on television's I Love Lucy!
But I was wrong. Jean-Baptist showed me a postcard picture of Bablu, and I was floored!
Back in my Elementary School days, I made myself a Halloween costume, in what Mom called one of my "crazy-kid moods" - covering my entire body with long sheaths of raffia ... probably inspired by Thing in the Addams Family cartoon books and TV program.
I looked very much like this:
This is Babalu Aye!
We worked together, played together, we danced and we planned together ... and oh, how we planned! ...
We planned on going home to beautiful Haiti. I say home, because that would be the best place for us together, despite the intrinsic harshness of life there.
Jean-Baptist had become fairly a well known (and feared by some) Bokor in his neighborhood because of his successful Vodou-centric Magickal help giving folks their yearnings, desires and needs.
His Magick was usually on the "Light" side of the spectrum between so-called "White" and "Black" Magicks. Like American Hoodoos and Conjures, he had no problem dealing with violent spouses, throwing terrible curses back on the ones who sent them, and so on. The fact that such Magicks had positive intentions for the ones requesting the Works had a lot to do with his willingness to help.
On that note, it is good to be aware that some of the darkest Magicks were stirred up to incite and strengthen the Haitian slaves' Revolution against their oppressors.
Jean-Baptist never became involved in the more terrible of the Zoobop, Bizango, or Sanpwel Socyetes - especially because of his firm resolve never to participate in the taking of human life, or the slavery of Zombification of persons or souls separated from their bodies in death.
This was the aspect of Vodou Bokorism he strongly advised me to also refuse.
His Magick was usually on the "Light" side of the spectrum between so-called "White" and "Black" Magicks. Like American Hoodoos and Conjures, he had no problem dealing with violent spouses, throwing terrible curses back on the ones who sent them, and so on. The fact that such Magicks had positive intentions for the ones requesting the Works had a lot to do with his willingness to help.
On that note, it is good to be aware that some of the darkest Magicks were stirred up to incite and strengthen the Haitian slaves' Revolution against their oppressors.
Jean-Baptist never became involved in the more terrible of the Zoobop, Bizango, or Sanpwel Socyetes - especially because of his firm resolve never to participate in the taking of human life, or the slavery of Zombification of persons or souls separated from their bodies in death.
Zombie Troll
This was the aspect of Vodou Bokorism he strongly advised me to also refuse.
Together in Haiti, we would settle-in as partners in the business of providing an even larger menu of Bokor services while living together openly as Spouses (a possibility no longer easily attainable in Haiti, thanks to the onslaught of evangelical "Christians" and their relentless proselytism, starting after the Earthquake, thank you very much).
We also dreamed of somehow healing the rifts between the various Peristyles - their Leaders and congregants - knowing that in the transcendent there is always room for variations of beliefs, practices, and benign competition. We even came up with a name for that effort: "The Integration Creation."
We also talked about the idea of grounding a new Voodou Socyete, based on the combination of American Creole Voudou and Haitian Vodou.
It was to be called Sosyete Du Grot nan Lespri Sakren® (Society of the Grotto of Sacred Spirits) - even registering and protecting that name so it couldn't be co-opted and used by unscupulous, money-hungry self-proclaimed Voudou "leaders".
While Bokors as Sorcerers are essentially independent, Jean-Baptist had retained very friendly connections with the Makaya Socyete wherein he had received training and Kanzos previous to becoming an independent Bokor.
Before leaving Haiti to come to me, he had arranged with the Mambo of that Peristyle to preside at a rarely-performed Vodou Marriage Seremoni, when we came to dwell in Haiti.
A Sidenote:
Makaya is one of the many different and unique Vodou traditions of Haitian Voodou.
The Makaya practices - including initiation processes - are less uniform than most other denominations of Vodou, with a stronger emphasis on Magick than on Religion. Their Works of Magick, in behalf of those in need, is their greatest service to the Lwa.
In this rite, Kanzo (initiations) are less elaborate and the priest or priestess does not receive the Ason (sacred rattle) as a symbol of priesthood (as well as a kind of Power Tool). A Makaya priest isn't called an Houngan, rather being called a Bokor, with the priestess referred to as Mambo, or Sorceress.
Jean-Baptist eventually received Asogwe status in the above-mentioned Socyete, so he became that kind of Bokor.
There is another kind of Bokor too ...
This kind of Bokor is an independent expert in both malevolent and benevolent Magicks, using his abilities to provide vitality, love, healing, even to to restore life, as well as to cripple, harm and unfortunately, too many Bokors are believed to have caused the end of life. (Example: Many Haitians believe that Zombies are always made by Bokors).
This type of Bokor's relationship with the Lwa is unabashedly vibrant - with the walls of their domicile often displaying drawings, names and praises to certain Lwa - both "hot" and "cool". Their relationships with the Spirits are very personal and rarely discussed others, except when instructing a client on their participation in obtaining the desired goal.
The Asson (sacred rattle) is sometimes taken-up - not as a traditional symbol of priesthood, but for its other use, as an intimately-connected living tool for generating, modulating, focusing and magnifying Magickal Forces of Power wielded by the Bokor.
That kind of Bokor is essentially a for-hire Specialist of Sorcerery and, because they deal with Magicks both dark and light, actually more feared than respected.
We also dreamed of somehow healing the rifts between the various Peristyles - their Leaders and congregants - knowing that in the transcendent there is always room for variations of beliefs, practices, and benign competition. We even came up with a name for that effort: "The Integration Creation."
We also talked about the idea of grounding a new Voodou Socyete, based on the combination of American Creole Voudou and Haitian Vodou.
It was to be called Sosyete Du Grot nan Lespri Sakren® (Society of the Grotto of Sacred Spirits) - even registering and protecting that name so it couldn't be co-opted and used by unscupulous, money-hungry self-proclaimed Voudou "leaders".
While Bokors as Sorcerers are essentially independent, Jean-Baptist had retained very friendly connections with the Makaya Socyete wherein he had received training and Kanzos previous to becoming an independent Bokor.
Before leaving Haiti to come to me, he had arranged with the Mambo of that Peristyle to preside at a rarely-performed Vodou Marriage Seremoni, when we came to dwell in Haiti.
A Sidenote:
Makaya is one of the many different and unique Vodou traditions of Haitian Voodou.
The Makaya practices - including initiation processes - are less uniform than most other denominations of Vodou, with a stronger emphasis on Magick than on Religion. Their Works of Magick, in behalf of those in need, is their greatest service to the Lwa.
In this rite, Kanzo (initiations) are less elaborate and the priest or priestess does not receive the Ason (sacred rattle) as a symbol of priesthood (as well as a kind of Power Tool). A Makaya priest isn't called an Houngan, rather being called a Bokor, with the priestess referred to as Mambo, or Sorceress.
Jean-Baptist eventually received Asogwe status in the above-mentioned Socyete, so he became that kind of Bokor.
There is another kind of Bokor too ...
This kind of Bokor is an independent expert in both malevolent and benevolent Magicks, using his abilities to provide vitality, love, healing, even to to restore life, as well as to cripple, harm and unfortunately, too many Bokors are believed to have caused the end of life. (Example: Many Haitians believe that Zombies are always made by Bokors).
This type of Bokor's relationship with the Lwa is unabashedly vibrant - with the walls of their domicile often displaying drawings, names and praises to certain Lwa - both "hot" and "cool". Their relationships with the Spirits are very personal and rarely discussed others, except when instructing a client on their participation in obtaining the desired goal.
The Asson (sacred rattle) is sometimes taken-up - not as a traditional symbol of priesthood, but for its other use, as an intimately-connected living tool for generating, modulating, focusing and magnifying Magickal Forces of Power wielded by the Bokor.
That kind of Bokor is essentially a for-hire Specialist of Sorcerery and, because they deal with Magicks both dark and light, actually more feared than respected.
Copyright © 2019, Dieudonne Bokor (aka W.A. Ryan)