Introduction to Houngan Kris

My name is Houngan Kris or Koraj Ginin Edeyo Soulage Minfo Bon Houngan which is my given spiritual name (Which means Courage of Ginin (Ginin is a world between heaven and earth where most higher elevated spirits reside, we refer to these spirits as Lwa) –Edeyo Soulage minfo translates as- help them feel better with strong hands; in essence it can be interpreted as working efficient and hard) Bon is the creole word for “good”, meaning we always fight for the “good” and Houngan is my title, that means I have passed through a two weeks initiation ceremony called Kanzo and I am an acknowledged priest of Haitian Vodou.

I responded to my calling in Vodou as in 2003, this is when first I started to serve the Lwa. I received my first initiation in 2006 and my second one in 2009; in Labelle Deesse Dereale Vodou temple located in Meyotte in Haiti.

Our temple is run by Labelle Deesse Sr, Soulage Minfo bon Mambo and Edeyo Soulage Minfo bon Mambo her daughter also known as Labelle Deesse Jr. (whom also are crowned ATI (or heads in Vodou ruling Canada and New York by Max Beauvoir (Vodou Chef supreme and founder of KNVA – Konfederasyon Nasyon Vodou Ayisien-) these are are my initiators, mentors and spiritual mothers in Vodou.

I was actually fortunate enough to be able to live with my mother Labelle Deesse Sr. and the family in her house and temple located in Canada Montreal in 2012 where I reside for 7 months, which was a tremendous opportunity and experience for me and led me to learn a lot and become even closer tied to my spiritual mother. I consider my spiritual family as my own blod. Let me tell you it’s something incredible to have strong bond with someone spiritually (which lead my thoughts to why you have to be careful who you initiate with, but that is another subject in itself that I will talk about another time) I am also given the title as International representative of our Vodou temple, meaning I am in charge and responsible for our international initiates of our temple.

However, my spiritual journey started way before I got initiated. Readers, psychics and healers have been in my family line for generations and this is something I was born with as well.  My line from my mother’s side is traces back all the way back to Egypt, where my peoples traveled upwards, trough Israel, Syria, Romania, Ukraine and eventually settled in Poland. My fathers like is also Gypsie, more specific Romani, but was more centered on Europe and Scandinavia. So a lot of different cultures and spiritual beliefs were adopted on the way.

Already when I was a child I always been extra sensitive and emphatic, I always perceived information about other people which channeled through me naturally, sometime I could tell more about a person then they knew about themselves, why things was happening and even predict occurring events. I didn't call myself by any term back then, psychic, medium or anything like that, it was just a part of who I was. The understanding of the terms came later, when I in the end of my teen years started to investigate more.

People wonder sometimes why I chose Vodou? Well, the religion and culture is very fascinating and rich, it’s real and it traces back to our roots. However, this is not primary why you would chose Vodou, we believe the spirits chose you not the other way around. Haitian Vodou is a mix of various peoples mainly of African origin, and at one point it has to be in your spirit and blood for you to be chosen; someone somewhere have had to had practiced, and the ancestors will call you back to where they want you to be. It has to feel right.

After my initiation it was like the final piece of the puzzle was put in place, I felt complete and my religion has given me the tools to be able to understand and work with my abilities and the mysteries.

I now am blessed to be able to work fulltime as a Houngan, conducting readings, guiding people and doing spiritual work.