24274: Ferere: (reply) Ayizan Velekete (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Gerard and Nancy. Ferere. <gernancy2@hotmail.com>




Dear Professor Beckett,

Responding to a request forwarded to me by email, I am pleased to send you the following information about Ayizan:

In Nancy Turnier Ferere's soon to appear trilingual, French - English - Spanish art book, VEVE: L'Art rituel du Vodou
haitien / Ritual Art of Haitian Vodou / Arte ritual del Vodu haitiano, which contains the pictures of 36 of her Veves
paintings collection, one can read the following:

Ayizan cognomina: Ayizan Belekou, Ayizan Keke, Ayizan Imamou, Ayizan Velekete, Manbo Ayizan.

Attributes: patroness of hounfos, houngans, manbos, and hounsis.

Main rites: Danwonmen, Kongo, Petro, Rada.

Pictorial icon: Saint Lucy.

Favorite colors: white and silver, white and light yellow

Ayizan is symbol of purity and eternity.  She dislikes all corruption and noxious influences.  Because of the Gedes'
vulgarity, she does not want them in her ceremonies.  Her sacred tree is the royal palm, to which she has granted the
power to chase away bad spirits.  During her services, the hounfos are decorated with palms fronds, and the
participants wear some over their heads and clothes.  Notice their presence in the Veve.  Ayizan plays an important
role in the initiation rites during the ceremony known as Chire Ayizan, the ritual shredding of palm fronds, to make
them emblematic of the Lwa's hair.  Later on, they carry the shredded fronds into the djevo and place them on top of
Ayizan's Veve.

Also, in the book's introduction by Gerard A. Ferere, there is a short discussion of Haitian Vodou's iconography.

Best personal regards,

Gerard A. Ferere, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Saint Joseph's University