Serving your ancestors

Your ancestors are your foundation, in Vodou we say that “we are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors” because the foundation they build before us, good and bad, is still part of who you are today. This can be of materialistic value, moral value, cultural value, skills, religion, and faith to mention some things that you might have inherited.

An example is that you inherited a house, which the ones before you had to really sweat blood and tears over to build. It might even go generations further back, where your great great grandfather who was a poor miner had to put pennies aside to pay of a little piece of land that he bought, where he built a cabin.. where now today is seated with big house.

Maybe you didn’t inherit anything materialistic at all, but throughout your line of making the same mistakes over and over again someone finally broke that cycle by conquering the problem and this way elevating your line. Proceeding to fight for that which is good and pass those teachings of good moral to her or his children and eventually, you.

My point is that who your ancestors were, what they did, what they achieved, what they didn’t achieve, their mistakes, the lessons they had to learn, their hard work, their mind, their heart, their actions.. Even if you are your own person, you wouldn’t be the one you are today if it wasn’t for the once before you.

You ancestors are in your blood, in the same way as DNA, and cell memory works, that is stored, re-produced and passed on, throughout generations.

To remember, give respect, and honor the ones before us is a very important part of it all, but it goes deeper than this as well. Because when we serve our ancestors we don’t just serve a memory or image of who they were. We acknowledge their existence back then, and their existence still now, but now present in another form, and that we can call and communicate with that form of existence, that is spirit.

An Important thing about serving your spirits that few people pay attention to that I think is important is the timeframe after someone pass away. It’s one thing to serve your great grandfather who you know passed away for years and it’s another thing to serve your grandmother who just passed away a few months ago. In the spirit world there is no concept of time, but you don’t want to be evoking someone who is dead instead of invoking their spirit.

Now what is the difference between a dead or a spirit? well it’s a term used to define a person that died that still doesn’t know that they are dead, meaning they are still attached to materia in this world, and might not even know that they are dead.. So by calling someone who passed recently you can risk of actually entrap the recently deceased on earth (If the dead even hears you at all) and we don’t want to entrap nobody that is not what a spiritualist does. In Vodou we give the person at least 1 year and 1 day (1:1) before we call on their spirit.

How to serve your ancestors?

There are different ways of doing it, but I am going to give you a basic example. Now based on your background, culture, and religion first gather information about your ancestors. Names, pictures, objects that belonged to them, symbols, religious and/or cultural connections, flags, sword, shields, you personalize it accordingly to what you know they liked in life. If you don’t know anything about your ancestors, maybe you were adopted you can make it as basic as you want, anything you know and also type or you can try to sense your way through. You don’t need to overflow you alter with objects; give it time for the spirits to come to you and speak to you. The most basic is a white alter cloth, a white candle, a bowl of water (the spirits travel through water) and you sit down and you talk to your ancestors as you would talk to any other living person, like they are there, present with you, even if you don’t feel anything.

You light the candle and you can say something like “In the name of my ancestors, you who are in my blood, my roots of who I come from, who watch over me, who guide me, who helps me, I call you to acknowledge your existence, to pay my honor and respect and to let you know that I am ready to serve you. May we connect; speak to me, come into my dreams, let me get to know you more, let me hear you let me see you, sense you, understand you, so I can even serve you better.”

This is the way I would do it, you don't have to go exactly by my words, you can- but the more it comes from your heart, the better.

In Vodou we serve our ancestors on a Monday, the beginning of the week. But you can go talk to them whenever you feel like it. When you in joy, when you in sorrow, when you in pain, when you in a good mood or bad mood. Remember to at least attain contact with your ancestors once a week, so every time you light that candle and speak you feel the connection gets stronger and stronger. Eventually they will respond. 

Have a notebook by your bed, pay attention in your life you will see they will give you signs and direct you.

Then after a few times when you feel a little more connected you can start giving offerings, like coffee, drinks (like alcohol vodka, rum – remember alcohol is a fluid as well and spirits travel through fluid – you ever considered why alcohol is called “spirit”? Think about that), food from your culture, share food once in a while from your dinner, this is service. This way you involve them and invite them to take part of the physical world, but you don’t entrap them, they are free to come and go as they please and you will see that your life will improve in many different ways.

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. 

Introduction to history of Haitian Vodou

The history of Haitian Vodou is vast and fascinating, rich with culture and tradition.  Practitioners are referred to as “servants of the spirits”.  The Hatian Creole word Vodou harkens back to an Ayizo word that refers to the mysterious forces, energies, and powers that rule the world and all of those who live there.

Prior to 1685, the African divine principles of the Nana Buluku (also known as the God-Creator) and the Voduns (also known as the God-Actors) traveled from Africa to the Caribbean due to the European colonialism and the transport of those being enslaved from Western Africa.  During that time, the Europeans attempted to suppress the Vodun, however, the foundation of the religion was impossible to eradicate.

After 1685 through the late 1700s, Catholicism began to influence the Voduns due in large part to the rules of Saint-Domingue requiring all enslaved people be converted to the Catholic faith within eight days of arrival.  Those who practiced Hatian Vodou began to move their practice underground to avoid the control of the colonial authorities, however, they also began to incorporate their own images and rituals into the Catholic religion.  

Voduns began to replace their own lost prayers or rituals Catholic prayers and rituals as a means to maintain the connection with the spirits they meant to serve. The end result became a religion that was the results of many different cultures and ethnicities of people who had been uprooted from their own homes and moved into Haiti.  The Hatian Voduns relied heavily on their ancient traditions and rituals to maintain their connection with their ancestry.

However, the greatest and most important Haitian Vodou ritual of all came in 1791 with the Bois Caiman ceremony in which the spirit of Ezili Dantor possessed a priestess, received a black pig as an offering, and began the Haitian Revolution.  During the ritual, all those present vowed to fight for their freedom and ultimately resulted in the liberation of the Hatians from the European colonial rule.  In 1804, they achieved their liberation and continue to inspire strength and pride by imagining their ancestors’ courage, strength, and unity.

The same strength in unity, courage, and servitude in the spirits that allowed for the freedom of the Haitians once again was forced into the underground in 1835, when the practice of Vodou was made punishable.  The practice moved into a more underground role, but never lost its heavy influence among the people.  Even today.  The former president of Haiti, Papa Doc, worked hard to elevate the status of Vodou back into the spotlight and solidified its place as a national doctrine.  Haitian Vodou is not only practiced in Haiti, but in the United States, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas and parts unknown.

It is important to understand and reject the idea that Haitian Vodou is a Satanic practice or that it involves the use of Voodoo Dolls or black magic.  Such misconceptions were created and used by the Europeans as a means to instill fear and ostracize those who did not adhere to the prescribed religious model.   This fear and misinformation continues today through stereotypes and the media.  The practice of Haitian Vodou is one of spirituality, servitude, and respect that has ties to both its West African roots and the influence of the Catholic religion it was blended with in Haiti.