Sacrifice In Voodou

SACRIFICE IN VOODOU

Courir Le Mardi Gras

New Orleans Voodoo Tarot

Sally Ann Glassman, Artist

From The Dictionary:

• sac·ri·fice /ˈsakrəˌfīs/
  
  Noun: an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure
  
  Similar: ritual slaughter, hecatomb, immolation, offering, oblation, self-sacrifice, self-immolation
  
  VERB: offer or kill as a religious sacrifice.

The Etymology:

• Sacer = Latin for "holy"
  Facere = Latin for "to make"
  Thus, "Sacrifice" = "To Make Holy"

The popular interpretation of this is that offering

Sacrifices can result in making us Holy.

Now, according to certain ignorant religious zealots - "Everybody knows" all Voodouists  sacrifice babies, eat their flesh and drink their blood.  

Yeah, sure ...
(Dangerous Lie, anyone?)

All Vodouisants do make sacrificial offerings to the Lwa, as well as to the Ancestors. 

Some Voudouists, as most Haitian practitioners do, sacrifice certain animals and fowls.  Blood is the acknowledged carrier of life ... it carries and distributes nutrition, fluid and oxygen throughout the body.  Thus, offering such bloody sacrifices are considered, in part, to be a way of "feeding the Lwa."

The resulting meats aren't wasted, nearly always being cooked and made into food for those folks attending such Rites. 

Destitution being a fact of life in Haiti, meat is hard to come by for many people.  Thus these post-celebration feasts are considered very positive - even necessary - occasions.

There are an increasing number of American Voodouist Vegetarians and Vegans, who - mostly for social-conscious reasons - cannot abide by the ecologically unsound, animal rights ignorant Killing Industry.

Thus, Mange sec offerings are becoming more and more popular in Voodoo society.

I think one source of the popularity of Mange sec appeared in the brilliant New Orleans Voodoo Tarot,  In which such offerings are listed for each of the Lwa honored in the book and deck.

Now, having said all this, although I'm essentially Vegan, there are times when I am lead to include a little blood as a component of a specific sacrificial offering.

Some Voudouists offer the fluids from processed store-bought animal products.  For me, this isn't an option: it supports the Killing Industry.  

• A Happy Coincidence of my being a diabetic required to perform finger sticks for Glucose tessting, is that I can occasionally offer a little of my own blood.
  
  And the pain of those finger sticks (don't let anybody tell you, "Oh, they don't hurt" - they do, at least enough to count) can be a contributing factor to the potency of the Sacrifice.  So I am able to offer something desired by those Lwa who are particular in their taste for blood offerings.
  
  This idea was inspired by a discussion with my Mambo, Joleen Jackson, years before my diabetes diagnosis,  wherein she mentioned that some Voudouists add bit of their own blood to some offerings.

The specific objects and products offered to the Lwa are very important.  Like us, the Lwa have traditionally established tastes and preferences.

We wouldn't make the mistake of baking a chocolate cake for a dear friend who loves vanilla.  So it is with the Lwa ...

For example, Bablu Aye is popularly known as a Santeria Orisha and is also a Lwa in many Voodou Houses.  

He loves Beans & Rice dishes, grains, roasted or popped corn, rum or dry white wine, tobacco, lit yellow and purple candles. He hates peanuts or sesame seeds -- so they are considered absolutely taboo.  

Now, in Voodou, along with making regular offerings, we also make a Friendship Offering when requesting supernatural assistance from a Lwa.  

And we promise to give a specific offering at a precise time and date in gratitude for assistance given.  Like us, the Lwa anticipate such fore-promised gifts. 

• When I was a child, Ventriloquism was a favorite hobby.  The only toy on my 9th Christmas List was an "almost professional" Jerry Mahoney dummy - the kind with a hole in the back, where you could put your hand inside, and control the head, mouth and eye movements.
  
  Mom and Dad promised Santa Claus would bring me that present.  But what I got was a smaller, stuffed "doll" with a string coming out the back of the thing's neck to control only its mouth.
  
  I was SO disappointed!  And having a hair-trigger temper, I angrily rejected the doll altogether, imprisoning it in the back of the closet, and never playing with it.

Even as adults, we are very childlike about such transactions.

This is how it is for the Lwa: not being given a promised Gratitude Offering and/or not at the promised time & date can sorely disappoint the offended Lwa.  This often results in the withdrawal of the supernatural assistance obtained as well as potentially mental and physical disturbing retaliative manifestations.

Thus it not only behooves us to be careful what we ask for, but also from whom we ask for it, as well as being absolutely conscious about sacrificial promises made during our transactions the Lwa. 

You'll have to excuse me now - I have a baby in the oven that needs basting!  (J/k)

Bondye Ou,
Dieudonne Bokor

Copyright © 2019, Dieudonne Bokor (aka W.A. Ryan)