7989: A Lave Tet - An important Haitian Vodou Ceremony (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Racine125@aol.com

What is a Lave Tet?

A lave tet (from the French laver tete, to wash the head), is just exactly 
that, it is a ceremonial washing of the head.

The purpose of a lave tet is to spiritually cleanse the head.  This may be 
done in order to make possessions easier and less violent for an uninitiated 
person who has lwa, it may be done during a kanzo ceremony at the end of the 
cycle to cleanse the head after all the sacrifices that have been made and 
all the ceremonial activity directed at the initiates' heads, it may be done 
for a person, initiated or not, who has in some way offended their lwa, or it 
may be done for any person who merely wishes to "refresh" their head.

A lave tet in and of itself is not an initiation and it does not make a 
person a member of a peristyle or a Vodou society.  Only initiation can do 
that.  A person may in fact have a lave tet from one Houngan or Mambo, and go 
on to initiate in another society with another Houngan or Mambo.  Also, lave 
tets are sometimes performed by "kwakwa" practitioers, "Houngans djakout", 
who are traditional practitioners who are nevertheless not initiated.

A lave tet is generally performed in the following way - early in the morning 
the person is taken to the peristyle, where water with certain herbs and 
other substances has been prepared and consecrated.  The ingredients of the 
water may vary from house to house and are usually considered the 
professional secret of the Houngan or Mambo or kwakwa practitioner in charge.

The person is seated, as are the Houngan or Mambo and any assistants, on low 
chairs characteristic of Vodou service.  At some time the Houngan or Mambo 
may stand.

The Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed are said.  The 
Priere Guinea is recited, often with particular emphasis on the Rada lwa.  Of 
course a kwakwa practitioner may be less fluent in the Priere than a Houngan 
or Mambo asogwe, but not always!

The person's head is then washed.  The person may be dressed in white, or in 
old clothes, or they may be naked to the waist.  (In Haiti women may expose 
their breasts in certain contexts in the same way that men remove their 
shirts - when bathing, when doing laundry at the river, and so on.)  However, 
nakedness is never a pretext for sexual behavior,which is strictly prohibited 
during the lave tet, the night before, and the night after.

The person's head may be washed once, three times, or seven times, depending 
on the house and the degree of cleansing considered to be required.  The last 
washing may take place at the Cross of Baron in order to invoke the 
assistance of the ancestors and the magical power of Baron.

After the washing, if the person is not dressed in white already they are 
then so dressed, and their head is wrapped in a white kerchief.  They are 
made to lie down and rest on a mat covered with a white sheet, and should 
remain in the peristyle for the remainder of the day.  They should not be 
permitted to kiss, embrace or shake hands with anyone to avoid contamination 
and malevolent magic.

The person is then put to sleep in the djevo on a white bed or a white mat.  
Sometimes a white chicken is sacrificed for the person, and the meat of that 
chicken fed to the person and the lwa, along with other typical food 
offerings including yams, sweet potatos, rice and beans, and boiled bananas.

A "perpetual lamp", a wick floating in oil, is illuminated, and the person 
sleeps in the djevo alone, although sometimes guarded by peristyle members.

The next morning the person is free to put on normal clothing and go about 
their usual activities, although sexual abstinence is encouraged and 
sometimes required for three or seven days following the lave tet.

Following a lave tet a person very often recieves a "garde", a magical work 
which invokes the protection of a particular lwa and involves the person 
either drinking certain magical substances or undergoing light cuts on the 
arm into which powdered magical leaves and other substances are rubbed.  A 
"garde" is done with Petro ritual, red clothes are worn, and so forth, so a 
garde is never performed on the same day as the lave tet.

During the January 2001 Kanzo, Houngan Salbadja Menfo prepared for the 
initiates a "gad vant", a "stomach garde".  This garde was drunk rather than 
rubbed into the skin, and was made under the patronage of the lwa Kanamayen, 
a Baron which Houngan Salbadja serves and whose point is given to Roots 
Without End End Society Members when they return to feed their kolye, the 
sacred necklace they make and wear during their initiation ceremonies and for 
forty-one days after.  I had not received this garde, and was very glad to 
drink it!  According to Houngan Salbadja, the garde provides protection 
specifically against poisoning, and if any of us eat or drink any poison, we 
will immediately vomit it back up so that it can do no harm.  I hope that 
Houngan Salbadja will return from the Dominican Republic in time to make this 
garde for the members of the July 2001 Kanzo!

Peace and love,

Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen

"Se bon ki ra" - Good is rare
     Haitian Proverb

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