Information About Haitian Vodou & Loa Erzulie Dantor (Ezili Danto) (with two videos Of Jenndantors Des Gonaives)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about Haitian vodoun loa (lwa)* Erzulie Dantor (Ezili Danto).

This post also provides information about Haitian Vodou as well as information about the important Haitian city Gonaives.

In addition, this post showcases two videos of "Jenndantors Des Gonaives" along with selected comments from these videos' discussion threads.

* From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loa
" "Loa (also spelled lwa) are the spirits of Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo.[1]:229 They are also referred to as "mystères" and "the invisibles" and are intermediaries between Bondye (from French Bon Dieu, meaning "good God")—the Supreme Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels, however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for, and dependent on, a distant Bondye.[1]"...

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The content of this post is presented for cultural, religious, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to JENNDANTOR DES GONAIVES, the publisher of the two YouTube videos that are embedded in this post.Special thanks to yiehom for sharing information with me about the meaning of the videos' title "Jenndantors Des Gonaives".

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INFORMATION ABOUT HAITIAN VODOU
From https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vodou
"Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a religion practiced in Haiti. Vodou is a creolized religion forged by descendents of Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other African ethnic groups who had been enslaved and brought to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then) and Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. The word Vodou means “spirit” or “deity” in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin).

Vodou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion, is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), mystè (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic “Africa.” The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits; the spirits were made by God to help him govern humanity and the natural world.

The primary goal and activity of Vodou is to sevi lwa (“serve the spirits”)—to offer prayers and perform various devotional rites directed at God and particular spirits in return for health, protection, and favour. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. During religious rites, believers sometimes enter a trancelike state in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, give supernaturally inspired advice to people, or perform medical cures or special physical feats; these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the lwa within the entranced devotee. Vodou ritual activity (e.g., prayer, song, dance, and gesture) is aimed at refining and restoring balance and energy in relationships between people and between people and the spirits of the unseen world."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT ERZULIE DANTOR (EZILI DANTO)
(These excerpts are given in no particular order.)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezili_Dantor
"Ezilí Dantor or Erzulie Dantó is the main loa or senior spirit of the Petro family in Haitian Vodou.

Worship
Tuesdays are the days reserved to worship Ezili Dantor, practice which is normally done in solitary by the worshipper in front of an altar identified by the colours blue, green and red. Its most recurrent sacrifices consist in samples of créme de cacáo, jewels, specially golden rings and Agua de Florida. For its birthday a wild pig is normally the main sacrifice.

Ezili Dantor and the Haitian Revolution

Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
It is accounted that the slave revolt of 1791, started with a pact which followed a big feast in honour to Ezili Dantor. For this reason it is considered the national lwa. Considered to be the lwa of vengeance and rage, made it to be popular among single mothers during the 1980`s and 1990`s in Haiti and Dominican Republic.

The syncretic modern representation of this lwa is commonly associated to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa,[1][2] the patron saint of Poland. The original association of Ezili Dantor with this catholic icon is hypothesised to be from copies of the icon brought to Haiti by Polish soldiers sent by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, to subdue the then still ongoing Haitian Revolution. It is accounted that the Polish legion decreased significantly in numbers in contrast with the insurrected slaves, forcing the remaining captive soldiers to switch band to the side of the slaves. As a consequence of this action, during Jean-Jacques Dessalines's massacre, which took place short after the Haitian victory in 1804; the Poles where left alive and granted citizenship for the newly founded Republic of Haiti. The descendents of these soldiers are still living in the island, specifically in the locality of Cazale.[3]"....

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Excerpt #2:
From http://www.ezilikonnen.com/lwa-voodoo-spirits/ezili-danto/
"Ezili Danto
Mambo Ezili Danto (aka Erzulie Dantor)
erzulie-dantor-lwa- voodoo spirit ezili danto vodou

Mama Mambo Ezili Danto – Haitian Vodou Petro Lwa: Ezili Dantor (pronounced eh-zee-lee Dahn-tor) is by far one of the most popular female Petro Lwa. She can be a tough lady, a little wild, but before all she is a mother. She is the most perfect mother one could wish to have.Dantor is a mother who watches and cares for her children very much. She can be a disciplinarian, as she does not and will not tolerate children behaving badly. She will defend her children and family until the very end. Dantor will also help a person for very little sacrifice on their part.
Dantor is served with the Image of Mater Salvatoris, sometimes also known as Santa Barbara Africana, which is the image you see on the top left hand corner of this page. She is also associated with other Madonnas who hold a child such as Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Czestochowa. Other images include Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Danto is also considered a protector of children. As naturally as a mother would protect her own, Mama Danto will always go to extremes to ensure the safety of her children. She will stop everything she is in the process of doing in order to go to her child’s aid. She will always be featured with her child in any image.

[...]

Dantor is also associated with heavy rains that destroy things in its path.Dantor is sometimes referred to as Ezili Zye Wouj or Ezili Red Eyes. The fact is that this is a separate spirit, yet she walks so closely with Dantor that some consider it to be Dantor extremely mad. Ezili Zye Wouj does talk yet can be difficult to understand. The eyes of someone possessed by this spirit will usually become extremely red in a matter of seconds. This is considered a very dangerous spirit.

Sometimes people confuse the many Ezilis together. Dantor is a spirit that is separate from the others. Dantor has many sister spirits that walk with her, like most Lwa. Some of these are known as Ezili Ke Nwe or Ezili of the Black Heart, who spits black liquid when riding someone’s head. Ezili Mapyang, Balyan, and Mambo Zila are a few others.

There is a long time rivalry between Ezili Dantor and Ezili Freda. They are sisters and just cannot stand each other. Like many sisters in real life, there is powerful jealousy between them. As the story goes, Dantor and Freda were both courting a particular Ogou Lwa. Over this man they fought and never reconciled. During this battle, Dantor took her dagger, which she always carries with her, and stabbed Freda in the heart. One can see evidence of this in Freda’s saint image. A gold dagger is seen coming out from her heart. Freda, in turn, removed the dagger and cut Dantor’s face, scarring her. Thus you will see scars on the Santa Barbara Africana image. Although there are only two marks, these marks are often called “twa mak” or three marks. Facial scarring of exactly that variety can point to Dantor’s African roots, where such facial scarring is common."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN (OSHUN) (SAID TO BE A TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOURCE FOR ERZULIE DANTOR)
From http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/oshun.php
"Oshun is the Yorùbá Orisha (Deity) of the sweet or fresh waters (as opposed to the salt waters of Yemaya). She is widely loved, as She is known for healing the sick and bringing fertility and prosperity, and She especially watches over the poor and brings them what they need. As Orisha of love, Oshun is represented as a beautiful, charming and coquettish young woman. In some tales She is said to be a mermaid, with a fish's tail.

The Yorùbá clans inhabit parts of western central Africa, in present-day Nigeria. Oshun is the Goddess of the river of the same name, and She is especially worshipped in river-towns. During Her yearly festival, She is said to choose one or more women dancers to descend into (much like participants in Vodou ceremonies may be "mounted" or "possessed" by a Lwa). These women then take new names in honor of Oshun and are thereafter consulted as healers.

Oshun was taught divination with cowrie shells by Obatala, the first of the created Orishas, and then She brought the teaching to humans. She was at one time the wife of Shango, the Orisha of storms, as was Oya, the Orisha of the winds and tempests. Oshun is also said to be the mother of the birds or fishes.

With the African diaspora, Oshun was brought to the Americas, and adopted into the pantheons that branched out of the African traditions. In the Brazilian religion of Candomblé, which retains close ties with the Yorùbá religion, as well as in Cuban Santeriá, She is called Oxum. In Haitian Vodou She is an inspiration for Erzulie or Ezili, also a Deity of water and love."
-snip-
Italics added to highlight this sentence.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE HAITIAN CITY OF GONAIVES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gona%C3%AFves
"Gonaïves (Haitian Creole: Gonayiv) is a commune in northern Haiti, and the capital of the Artibonite department of Haiti. It has a population of about 300,000 people (2011 census). The city of Gonaïves was founded in 1422 by Indians who named it Gonaibo (to designate a locality of cacicat of the Jaragua). It is also known as Haiti's "independence city". The Bay of Gonaïves is named after the town.

In 1802 an important battle of the Haitian Revolution, the Battle of Ravine-à-Couleuvres was fought near Gonaïves.

Gonaïves is also known as Haiti's City of Independence because it was there that Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti, the former Saint-Domingue, independent from France on January 1, 1804, by reading the Act of Independence, drafted by Boisrond Tonnerre, on the Place d'Armes of the town. Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité, the wife of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, died here in August 1858."...
-snip-
Also, read my question and the response given after Video #1 below.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS:
Video #1: JENNDANTOTOR DES GONAIVES



JENNDANTOR DES GONAIVES, Published on Apr 29, 2018
-snip-
Here's the comment that I wrote in the beginning of September 2018 about this video:
"With all due respect, would someone please share what Jenndantor des Gonaives means? I looked up the meaning of Gonaives and found out that it is a Haitian city. that is known as Haitian's independence city. Is it also a sacred place in Haitian vodou?

However, I couldn't find any English meaning for Jenndantor or jenn dantor.

I'm African American and I love the singing and dancing but I'd love to know more about these Jendantor des Gonaives videos that I happened upon when I was looking for Haitian music and dance videos.

Thank you.

One love."
-snip-
Here's a reply from yiehom that was posted on September 21, 2018:
"You got the first part right by yourself. Now check for Erzuli Dantor (ezili danto), she is our queen mother who has been copied as mary by the christians, along with many concepts they now claim to be authors of. Jenn=jeune=young"

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Video #2: JENNDANTOR DES GONAIVES



JENNDANTOR DES GONAIVES, Published on May 26, 2018
Giving a new outlook on music and religion in the Haitian community.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers given for referencing purposes only). Google translations from Haitian Creole to English are also given. Please improve this comment's translation. Thanks!

1. Lavila Joseph, 2018
"Chak dimanch ,chak Mardi pa Chita lakay nu vinn Nan vodou bigot Kay bonapat neg lafrik ginen sa we laa pa anyen se Lew Al gade wap we pibyen felicitation medam yon gwo kout ayibobo pandan map gade video a la m santim ap vibre kotem kouche a"
-snip-
Google translate from Haitian Creole to English
"Every Sunday, every Mardi by Saddle home is coming In Voodoo Bigot Home Good luck guys that we have nothing to do is see Lew we pibyen felicitation women a great short ayibobo while map watch the video the cinema is vibrating"
-snip-
"Mardi"= French word for "Tuesday"

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2.Harold Daniel, 2018
"Haitian voodoo spirits powerful the best"

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3. Kechelet Germain, 2018
"ayibobo pou ginen an"
-snip-
Google translation from Haitian Creole to English:
Ayibobo for the Ginen
-snip-
Here's information about the Haitian Creole word "Ayibobo":
From https://www.facebook.com/Imhaitian/posts/did-you-know-using-the-word-ayibobo-as-it-is-more-commonly-used-among-vodou-prac/669468669769519/
I am Haitian. July 2, 2014 ·
"Did you know using the word Ayibobo as it is more commonly used among Vodou practitioners. Therefore "Amen" and Hallejujah or "Alelouya", in its creole spelling, are used by mainstream Christians and "Ayibobo" are for those that practice Vodou."

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From https://www.erzulies.com/haitian-voodoo-glossary-of-terms/
"Ayibobo- ritual word of Ewe origin meaning “amen” "
-snip-
*Ewe- West African ethnic group from (Ghana; Ivory Coast)
-snip-
Here's a quote about "Ginen" from the britannica.com article excerpted above:
"All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic “Africa.” The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits"...

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4. Colo Junie, 2018
"Ayibobo jenn dantor👏👏👏👏👏"

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5. Jean Abrege, 2018
"Se group kem remen anpil sim pat tro lwen se group sa ki pou ta vinn jwe pou mwn jou dans mwn 28 jwen"
-snip-
Google translation from Haitian Creole to English:
"This is a very good group so far is the group that would be able to play for my dance day 28 weeks"

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