#ethnically jewish being a distinct category at all. these people are either white or they arent

[sangfielle]

this feels like an offensively bad way to divide these things

[writingwithcolor]

Patrilineal Jewish girl, Sephardic culture

@feminismandsunflowers said:

hi! my character is a patrilineal Jewish girl in the usa, she didn't convert but still considers herself Jewish. her mom is Christian. her g-grandmother/father were undocumented refugees from Europe (antisemitism) and her g-grandmother was v closed off abt her origins but my character's dad thinks she said something abt being Sephardic. her fam has a fair amount of Sephardic culture. but could she claim Sephardic culture to any extent if they don't know? trynna get a handle on how to present her.

"My character's dad thinks she said something about being Sephardic"

and

"her fam has a fair amount of Sephardic culture"

are inconsistent statements. 

The first statement sounds like the only indication Dad has of which Jewish culture they are is a statement he's not even sure about ("thinks"?) and the second statement sounds like Dad considers himself Sephardic and practices Sephardic traditions.

So, to me personally, this would depend on the level of Sephardic cultural practice she grew up with. If she grew up with those traditions and Dad sharing them with her, then yes, that's who she is. If Dad isn't even sure he's Sephardic and what she practiced in her upbringing wasn't distinctively Sephardic in any way, I have a hard time seeing why she should claim the culture if she's not even sure if her ancestors were Sephardic.

Disclaimer that the Reform position is to 'count' patrilineal Jewish people as long as they were raised in the traditions. This is not the Orthodox position but I am Reform.

--Shira

I'm also a bit confused about this situation. I think it would be helpful if you start by specifying where in Europe the family comes from and what anti-Semitism they were fleeing from. I'm Ashkenazi and not the most knowledgeable about Sephardi history, but as far as I know it wouldn't make sense for a Sephardi family to be seeking asylum from the pogroms in Russia or Poland, for example. I guess it could make sense if they were from Spain, France or Italy, but we would have to know more, and I'm wondering if this isn't a 'trace your logic' situation. Why do you want them to come from Europe? *Quickly cracks open a Claudia Roden book* Sephardi Jews have origins in many North African and Middle Eastern countries, such as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Syria, Iran and Iraq just to give a few examples. If you want Sephardi characters, why not represent those cultures instead of re-hashing the same Euro-centric Jewish stories?   

In terms of whether she could claim Sephardi heritage of any sort if they don't know, I'm interested in what Sephardi followers think. Religion-wise, I don't think there would be too much of a problem with it. Yes, Sephardim are more lenient on some things and stricter on others, so by picking the wrong one she may be following some of the rules wrong, but that's just a matter of tradition really. If someone was a ba'al teshuva and had no way of finding out which population their family came from, I imagine a rabbi would advise to choose one and stick to it without worrying too much about which one. I don't know 100%, though. 

Culture-wise, I don't know if this is what Shira was getting at but I wonder if it would be cultural appropriation due to Ashkenazi Jews being more likely to be white-passing and getting more media representation. Is Jewish lineage enough to claim Sephardi traditions and culture, or do you need to know for sure that you're Sephardi - that will be for Sephardi followers to decide. 

To build on Shira's disclaimer:

I'm Modern Orthodox and I would describe your character as someone who is not halachically Jewish, i.e. not in Jewish law. In most situations, this would be a technicality for me and I wouldn't hesitate to treat her as Jewish if she identifies as such. In particular, with her family history it makes sense that she considers herself ethnically Jewish and the legacy of discrimination is part of her identity - that's not something we can erase or overlook. It would be different if my kid wanted to marry her, I think (not that I ever plan to be one of those parents who would disown their kid or something for marrying out but I'm not going to pretend I completely wouldn't care, either). Then I might be hopeful that she may formally convert, especially if she had always lived as Jewish anyways.

 Other things she may experience if she hangs out in Orthodox circles: a few people might act like jerks and be iffy around her like she's 'not really Jewish', probably the same people who are pro-Trump and mansplain why women's exclusion from parts of Orthodox worship is actually protecting us. On the subject of women's exclusion, if you have any male characters with a similar parental background, they can't get an aliyah in shul or count towards a minyan - the character you're describing couldn't anyway, though. 

Hopefully if your other Jewish characters are nice people, they take to heart the teaching that you should rather throw yourself into a fire than humiliate someone else in public. When I was a student, there was a patrilineal man in our community who once entered the shul just in time to be the tenth man, making a minyan. A Chasidic man in the congregation quickly stood up and said "Oh no, I left the gas on!" and left. That way no one had to make a whole song and dance about the other guy not being allowed to count. Patrilineal Jewish followers, feel free to add more! 

-Shoshi 

I'm going to add some things here, about the terms Sephardi and Ashkenazi, that I think might be partially tripping the author up.

Sephardi and Ashkenazi are terms used to describe the traditions that a person follows. Those traditions are heavily linked to the land where they rose up, and to parentage, as people are typically encouraged to follow the traditions they grew up with. However! Converts exist, and converts are usually encouraged to join in on the traditions in their community. So, as an example, a person can be from anywhere in the world, of any racial or ethnic background, convert in a Conservative synagogue, and follow Ashkenazi traditions. A person can be from a place that is usually seen as very Ashkenazi-heavy, like Germany, and then end up converting in an esnoga (synagogue) in Spain, and practice Sephardic traditions. Either of those converts might have children, and those children will take on their minhagim (traditions), and will be a part of the culture their parents joined just like their parents were.

It can be confusing for many people because the terms are so often conflated with ethnicity, which is in turn conflated with genetic lineage. The trouble is, the groups they describe are older than the modern, western conception of race, and ethnicity,  and we don't completely fit into these categories. Ashkenazi Jews don't all come from Europe, even their ancestors might not. In the US it's been estimated that at least 12-15% of American Jews are Jews of Color, and those JoC are very, very often Ashkenazi. Some converted, some didn't, but they are still following the traditions, and are still Ashkenazi.

So it's fair to say that the traditions of Sephardim grew in the Iberian peninsula, and North Africa, but they also moved along with those Jewish people as they dispersed, and were expelled. Jews from Portugal fled to the Azores, but also to the Netherlands, where there is a large Sephardic presence, right in the middle of a space that is assumed to be all Ashkenazi! Scores of Jewish people from Morocco moved to France. Then too, people marry folks from other groups. Often they will pick one family's traditions to follow, but sometimes they mix and match, and sometimes they end up moving somewhere else and taking on those traditions.

Because so many people have traditions that match their genetic background we've begun using the term Ashkenazi to mean strictly white, European Jewish people. Sephardi we have taken to mean strictly white, Iberian Jewish people (which doesn't even include the massive number of North African Sephardim). We've forgotten entirely to cover Mizrahim (a tradition associated with the Middle East), or the Romaniote, or Cochin Jews, or any number of other groups. Yes, genetic background accounts for a large portion of those people, but it doesn't map completely, and it's important not to forget that.

This complexity is why the statements Shira drew attention to:

"My character's dad thinks she said something about being Sephardic" "her fam has a fair amount of Sephardic culture"

Don't make sense. You would know you are Sephardic, because it's something you do first, and may be, secondarily, directly linked to something in your ancestry.

Finally, since you are showing a patrilineal Jewish person, I really encourage you to show them consistently engaging with their Jewishness, and actively participating in Sephardic culture. I'm the Conservative one here, and my movement, and Sephardi tradition (there are no movements for Sephardim, just varying observance) don't allow patrilineal descent to give a person Jewish status halachically. This is not something I endorse. Patrilineal descendants really struggle outside of Reform communities, to be seen as Jewish, and often to just be treated with respect, so it's important that you give this character every opportunity to participate, and show who they are.

-- Dierdra

[antlerqueer]

hi megan, another argentine here (my name is lucía if you must know) as well because i saw the answer to the q you just posted, i don’t want to get too involved in the discourse because i don’t know what to say to it, but i resent what you included about no distinction between nationality & race/ethnicity with no discrimination based on race/ethnicity in argentina specifically. especially since those are the opinions of white argentinos i live in salta, have lived here my whole life. i'm (1/5)

not a white argentine, i am considered zambo by argentine race standards. my mom is afro-argentine, my dad is ava guaraní. argentina is very racist, white argentinos take pride in their whiteness. our former president declared there are no black argentines (there are), that brazil has “that problem”. a high level government official who went to a nightclub told the bouncer that he did not “want any negroes here”. black and indigenous argentines are seen by the white population as dirty,  they frequently refer to us as “grone”, “groncho”, “cabeza”, “indio” (all slurs). the government encourages immigration, but only from white countries. my primary school had the phrase in classrooms, as a means of pride, “we are the people of the boats” (in spanish ofc). the reason many argentines are discriminatory to bolivians, paraguayans, and peruvians is because those are largely indigenous countries in comparison to the rest of south america (and especially argentina). 

i’m not jewish myself, cannot speak for jewish argentines experience, but to my understanding anti-semitism is very bad here too. the fact your sources are spanish-argentinos and italian-argentinos makes things very biased, they do not experience the racism and discrimination or see the segregation we argentines of color experience everyday. so what i want to say is you’re wrong by saying only national discrimination exists in argentina, it’s also racial and ethnic 100% and latin america, especially argentina, does have an understanding of ethnic and racial categories too. there are so many distinctions made in argentina on what you cannot and can do based on your ethnicity, white argentines take pride in being german/spanish/italian and look down on their non european counterparts. i'm sure that one you talked to with italian citizenship feels they are much higher up and of a higher class than me simply because they are euro.  

one last thing (hi still lucía here, i just forgot to send it with my others). i want to make clear salta is even a very diverse and multiracial city compared to much of argentina, around a fifteenth of our population is either black, indigenous, mestizo, or zambo. yet my family and others in salta still face these issues. I’m also only talking from the argentina perspective, i cannot give insight on mexico. 

hi lucía! thank you for sharing. i’ve copied/pasted everything you’ve sent me into one post so folks can easily follow along.

i am really sorry i upset you with my post, and i appreciate you messaging me! i definitely see what you’re talking about: it’s a privileged view that ethnicity and nationality aren’t distinct. if you’re okay with me sharing some of this in the original answer, feel free to either IM me (if you’re comfy with that!) or send me another message on anon and i’ll link back to this post directlly.

it was definitely an oversight for me to not consider the race of the folks speaking and how that may affect their perspective.

[socialistsephardi]

In case y'all need a reminder, the insistence that the baseline/core Jewish ethnicity is racially white stems from people who argue that all semites are white - it's a highly antisemitic and lowkey anti-arab belief pushed by new-athiests and their sock accounts posing as black hebrew israelites. With the exception of recent-memory white Jewish converts, it's extremely safe to assume that the cause of the white-passing appearance some Jews, particularly ashkenazim, have been subjected to thousands of years of violence which means that 1. those who looked less white were murdered before they could have kids and 2. white men resulted in partially white children who would be extremely lucky to not get murdered anyways for being mixed, who would have to leverage the non-jewish blood to argue having a "purer soul" that could be "saved" in order to flee outright murder. In socially aware circles it is commonly understand that the effects of long term oppression of that nature results in forced assimilation over time and that the groups overall appearances will change over time. The only reason people seemingly refuse to extend this logic to Jews is because they do not want to admit that Nazi Germany didn't invent antisemitism.

That said, this does not erase the need for a distinction between Jews and JOC. This distinction is important for 1. Jews of backgrounds that are mixed with 'other' POC and face intersectional oppression over it, 2. to point out the massive colorism within our communities and the internalized bigotry that has seeped in, and 3. to specifically point out the highly recent development of some Jews being able to pass and the varying degrees of semi-voluntary assimilation that has come along with that development. There is an issue though regarding how these dyamics play out globally and where exactly the lines are drawn for who constitutes POC outside the west - my answer to that in to examine the current goings of imperialism and to look into the history of people’s and regions, as those largely give away the dynamics

On the personal note of where that leaves me - My father is a white Jew. My mother is not. Neither of them are explicitly Jews of color. In my personal experiences, I've pushed myself to reject the assmilation and really undo my internalized antisemitism esp re: how I view my own Judaism. As a result of my vocal sephardiut and certain traits I inherited from my mother that are not as pronounced on her, I've been told repeatedly that I look more Jewish than my parents, yet also been told repeatedly than I'm less of  Jew because being sephardi makes me "like a latino infultrator" or "crypto-muslim" (sephardic Jewry descends from Muslim Spain). I don't claim to be Latine or Arab at all, but I'm familiar with racialization and I am aware that I am racialized significantly more than either of my parents despite genetically being "less Jewish". For those of you who don't get what I mean by that, allow me to explain. Races themselves are an entirely made up construct, arbitrarily drawn at certain cut off points to justify things like genocide and slavery and imperialism. What is and isn't a particular race is not an objective reality. Racialization is when someone decided that you (individually or collectively) are or aren't part of a race- notable from a position of power over you. Mixed people tend to be subjected to racialization on an individual basis pretty often. Collectivive racialization is the process by which a group becomes designated x race or y race. These also are not always consistent or static over time. If I don't disclose my Judaism, most people can't really tell. The moment I do disclose it, suddenly my Jewish ethnic features aren't so hidden. That's not to say I don't have those features, I do, but they selectively ignore them if they think I'm one of them, and selectively overemphasize them if they want to distance themselves from me. I also experience this within Jewish circles when they discover I'm sephardi - interestingly enough, it's usually the same features they comment on with the exception of the shnozz, so I think that says something about internalized antisemitism and colorism in the ashkenazi community.

also because i know someone is gonna pick around about conversion - In Judaism, conversion isn't really the correct word to describe what happens. It's more of a communal adoption. In fact, it's often been compared to trans-racial adoptions or semi-acculturation. These processes are only automatically harmful within Israel where Jewish culture is dominant and actively suppressing other ethnicities and engaging in genocide, as a stooge for white supremacist fueled imperialism. For diaspora Jewry, it's a massively different dynamic.

TLDR there's a few layers - the very, very small amount of truly white Jews, Jews who've atleast partially assimilated or are recovering from a background of atleast partial assimilation, JOC, and JOC who are intersectionally of color. I would say I'm firmly in the second category of the four.

[scarletwitching]

I'm curious about Wanda's whitewashing controversy. Especially with the X-Men and Gifted buzz, you don't see nearly as much criticism over Erik or Lorna not being played by Jewish actors, or "Peter" being more whitewashed than either MCU twins. It's really jarring to see someone censure Elizabeth Olsen in one post while hyping Fassbender or McKellan in another. Obligatory "I know you don't like MCU questions," but do you think you could shed light on what seems to be a prevalent double standard?

I have no clue why people didn’t care when it came to Quicksilver in the X-Men movies. I saw someone say once that it was fine because Evan Peters “looks Southern European” and ummmmm………………. 

As for Magneto, I have some thoughts.

I think the big answer is here is “the US-American view of race,” if that makes any sense. The US view on things tends to be treated as default in English language fandom, and viewing goywashing (is that the term? I think that’s the term) as different to whitewashing is a very US-American view.

You’re assuming that Ashkenazi Jews and the Roma/Sinti occupy identical or interchangeable places in the great nonsensical mess that is race… stuff. I don’t want to get too deep in the weeds on this because it’s way above my paygrade and people tend to end up here when they try, but it’s not necessarily hypocritical for people to view different groups differently. Whitewashing takes more than one form, and a person might think one example is unacceptable, whereas another is a “missed opportunity.”

Plenty of people put Wanda in the “missed opportunity” category too. And others say that casting an actor who isn’t Jewish as Magneto is automatically not okay. The latter group tend to not be in X-Men movie fandom because it’s been twenty years and he still hasn’t been played by a Jewish actor.

Then there are people who are begrudgingly okay with Magneto being played by non-Jewish actors thus far, but would be extremely annoyed if they cast another Magneto who still wasn’t Jewish. (I’d say I’m in this camp.)

There are also people who think Magneto should be Sinti because he was for a time and none of these characters have backstories that make sense.

Putting all that aside, there are other mitigating factors, such as:

Magneto is established as Jewish in the first scene of the first X-Men movie. Unlike Wanda, who has three giant crosses on her bedroom wall. The obvious counterargument is that they can just make Wanda Roma or Sinti and Jewish at some later date, but 1) that seems to be firmly in Emma Stone in Aloha territory, at least to me and 2) Olsen herself is… yeah. She was cast half a decade ago and still doesn’t understand what her character’s ethnic background is. She’s never bothered to learn anything about any of this. She doesn’t care. Even if you think it’s okay for a hypothetical WASP-y white person to play a character who is Jewish and Roma or Sinti, I think this WASP-y white person has disqualified herself.

There have been Jewish creators behind the camera, shaping the direction of Magneto’s story in the films since the beginning. One of the reasons people want actors cast who are the same ethnicity as the characters is the cultural insights they can bring and the way that affects the overall product. While it’s not the same thing, having people behind the camera who are from that culture is also important. You may not like Singer or Kinberg or the choices they made (I don’t), but at least, they’re there. There are no Roma or Sinti creators deciding what happens with Wanda. Bendis and Loeb were on the creative committee back when Age of Ultron was being made so that’s two Jewish voices theoretically in the conversation at the beginning, but 1) I doubt the creative committee had much say and 2) it’s Bendis and Loeb. The guy who made everyone hate Wanda by making her commit a genocide, and the guy who made everyone hate Wanda by making her fuck her brother.

There are several other Jewish actors who have been/are currently in superhero movies, playing some of the most recognizable characters in the genre. Having other Jewish actors in the mix, even if they aren’t playing explicitly Jewish characters, takes the sting out to some extent. (For some people, not everyone.) There are no Roma or Sinti actors in any superhero movies. That voice is absent from the genre, on and off screen.

Then there is the second biggest thing, which is the performance. Whether or not people like the performance and the character overall affects how they view these things. The movie version of Magneto is generally well-liked, even though he murdered millions of people. Fassbender and McKellen have an easy confidence in the role that elevates even bad movies.

That said, my appreciation for Fassbender went way down when I learned certain things about his personal life. I feel uncomfortable with uncritically supporting him or movies he’s in. Why do people keep doing it? I don’t know. No clue.

Olsen has trouble imbuing her characters with personality. They tend to be defined by what happens to them, rather than internal characteristics. They don’t usually feel distinct from one another. Some of that is the writing, both in and out of the MCU, but it’s also her performances. That’s not me saying she’s a bad actor. Acting is an art. There are variety of skills involved. It’s not just columns of “good” or “bad” actor that you sort each person into. You can be talented in some areas and fail in others. In this genre, crafting a noticeable personality is key. 

(There’s an argument to be made here about MCU Bucky and how he’s supposed to seem empty for much of his screentime and the ways that’s different and also the same, but this post is NOT getting any longer.)

For me personally, there are other things that make a difference. Whedon copy-pasta’d Wanda’s background in the MCU from an Azeri-Iranian character in Millar and Hitch’s Ultimates 2. You can’t take elements from a character of color’s life and give them to a white character in the adaptation like you’re grave robbing a corpse.

…

Okay. Yeah, I guess you can do that, but you shouldn’t.

There’s also the issue of how the US military is handled in the MCU. That’s my biggest sticking point and why I don’t like posting about these movies. There is enormous cowardice in the way Wanda’s arc in Ultron is constructed. Some of Iron Man’s victims finally get a voice. That’s theoretically a good thing. But any scenes that acknowledge the US military’s involvement were cut. And Whedon chose to cast, not just an actress who isn’t Roma, but the blondest, palest actress he could find. And any mentions of their status as an ethnic minority were cut. And they do evil things that make no sense for no reason. And the movie does not care to explain their thought process. And they can only be redeemed by joining Iron Man.

The real problem here is the MCU can’t have brown people saying, “Iron Man is bad,” and explaining why they feel that way and not murdering random people to get back at him. The MCU won’t contextualize its main character. It won’t talk about the crimes he committed (war crimes), who he committed them with (the US and other military powers), and who he committed them against (mostly people of color).

So, if Wanda is going to represent his victims, she has to be white, evil for no reason, and act in completely nonsense ways. And that makes all of this even worse than regular examples of whitewashing.

[santookoorisha]

Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou, called Sevis Gineh or “African Service”, is the primary culture and religion of the approximately 7 million people of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. It has its primary roots among the Fon-Ewe peoples of West Africa, in the country now known as Benin, formerly the Kingdom of Dahomey. It also has strong elements from the Ibo and Kongo peoples of Central Africa and the Yoruba of Nigeria, though many different peoples or “nations” of Africa have representation in the liturgy of the Sevis Gineh, as do the Taino Indians, the original peoples of the island we now know as Hispaniola. Haitian Vodou exists in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, parts of Cuba, the United States, France, Montreal, and other places that Haitian immigrants have dispersed to over the years. Other New World traditions it is closely related to or bears resemblance to include Jeje Vodun in Brazil, La Regla Arara in Cuba, and the Black Spiritualist Christian churches of New Orleans. Haitian Vodou also bears superficial resemblances in many ways with the Nigerian Yoruba-derived traditions of Orisha service, represented by La Regla de Ocha or Lukumi, aka “Santeria”, in Cuba, the United States, and Puerto Rico as well as Candomble in Brazil. While popularly thought of as related to Haitian Vodou, what is commonly referred to as “voodoo” in New Orleans and the southern US is a variant of the word “hoodoo”, also called “rootwork” or “root doctoring”. This is a folk magical tradition from Central Africa in the Congo region in which roots, leaves, minerals, and the spirits of the dead are employed to improve the lot of the living, often including the reciting of Psalms and other Biblical prayers. Rootwork also incorporates Native American herb lore and European and Jewish magical traditions. As a folk magic tradition, New Orleans “voodoo” and southern “hoodoo” rootwork are distinct from the RELIGION of Haitian Vodou and its siblings and cousins. Haitian Voodoo History Vodou as we know it in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora today is the result of the pressures of many different cultures and ethnicities of people being uprooted from Africa and imported to Hispaniola during the transatlantic African slave trade. (1) Under slavery, African culture and religion was suppressed, lineages were fragmented, and people pooled their religious knowledge and out of this fragmentation became culturally unified. In addition to combining the spirits of many different African and Indian nations, pieces of Roman Catholic liturgy are incorporated to replace lost prayers or elements; in addition images of Catholic saints are used to represent various spirits or “misteh” [“mysteries”], and many saints themselves are honored in Haitian Vodou in their own right. This syncretism allows Haitian Vodou to encompass the African, the Indian, and the European ancestors in a whole and complete way. It is truly a “Kreyol” or Creole religion. The most historically important Vodou ceremony in Haitian history was the Bwa Kayiman (Bois Caiman) ceremony of August 1791 near the city of Cap Haitien that began the Haitian Revolution, led by the Vodou priest named Boukman. During this ceremony the spirit Ezili Dantor came and received a black pig as an offering, and all those present pledged themselves to the fight for freedom. This ceremony ultimately resulted in the liberation of the Haitian people from their French masters in 1804, and the establishment of the first and only black people’s republic in the Western Hemisphere, the first such republic in the history of the world. (2) Haitian Vodou came to the US to a significant degree beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the waves of Haitian immigrants under the oppressive Duvalier regime, taking root in Miami, New York City, Chicago, and other cities mainly on the two coasts. Core Beliefs of Haitian Vodou Vodouisants believe, in accordance with widespread African tradition, that there is one God who is the creator of all, referred to as “Bondje”, from the French words “Bon Dieu” or “Good God”. Bondje is distant from his/her/its creation though, and so it is the spirits or the “mysteries”, “saints”, or “angels” that the Vodouisant turns to for help, as well as to the ancestors. The Vodouisant worships God, and serves the spirits, who are treated with honor and respect as elder members of a household might be. There are said to be twenty-one nations or “nanchons” of spirits, also sometimes called “lwa-yo”. Some of the more important nations of lwa are the Rada (from Allada in Dahomey), the Nago (from Yorubaland), and the Kongo. The spirits also come in “families” that all share a surname, like Ogou, or Ezili, or Azaka or Gede. For instance, “Ezili” is a family, Ezili Danto and Ezili Freda are two individual spirits in that family. In Vodou, spirits are divided according to their nature in roughly two categories, whether they are hot or cool. Cool spirits fall under the Rada category, and hot spirits fall under the Petwo category. Rada spirits are familial and mostly come from Africa, Petwo spirits are mostly native to Haiti and are more demanding and require more attention to detail than the Rada, but both can be dangerous if angry or upset. Neither is “good” or “evil” in relation to the other. Everyone has spirits, and each person has a special relationship with one particular spirit who is said to “own their head”, however each person may have many lwa, and the one that owns their head, or the “met tet”, may or may not be the most active spirit in a person’s life. The lwa are all said to live in a city beneath the sea called Ile Ife or Vilokan. Except for Agwe and his escort, who live in a different city below the waters. Pantheon in Haitian Vodou All of the lwa of Haiti are initiated manbos and houngans. Many are also Masons. Some of the more important spirits are as follows. RADA Pantheon in Haitian Vodou Papa Legba Atibon – He is imaged as an old man, St. Lazarus is used to represent him in the hounfo or temple. He opens the gate to the spirits, and translates between human languages and the languages of the spirits. Marasa Dosu Dosa – They are twin children, either in twos or threes. Imaged with Sts. Cosmas and Damien, or the Three Virtues. Papa Loko Atisou and Manbo Ayizan Velekete – The prototypical priest and priestess of the tradition. They confer the office of priesthood in initiation. Danbala Wedo and Ayida Wedo – The white snake and the rainbow, together they are the oldest living beings. Danbala brings people into the Vodou. St. Patrick and Moses are used for Danbala. Ogou Feray – He is a fierce general who works hard for his children but can be moody and sullen at times as well. Ogou Badagri – He is a diplomat, and is Ogou Feray’s chief rival. Ezili Freda – She is a mature light-skinned woman who enjoys the finest things, jewelry, expensive perfume, champagne etc. She is said to own all men (or she thinks she does) and can be very jealous. She gives romance and luxury. She is so pure she must never touch the bare ground. Her main rival is her sister Ezili Dantor. Agwe Tawoyo – He rules the sea and those who have crossed the ocean, and is symbolized by his boat named “Imammou”. St. Ulrich is his saint counterpart. PETWO (Petro) Pantheon in Haitian Vodou Gran Bwa Ile – His name means “Great Wood”. He is a spirit of wilderness. He is fierce and unpredictable, and a section of the grounds of a Vodou temple is always left wild for him. St. Sebastian is used to represent Gran Bwa. Ezili Dantor – a Petwo lwa, she is a strong black single mother. She does not speak, but makes a “kay kay kay” sound in possession. She is nurturing and protective but is dangerous when aroused, even to her own children. Her image is the Mater Salvatoris of Czestokowa. She often uses a dagger or bayonet, and her colors are often red and dark blue. A little known fact is that she is actually a hermaphrodite, and takes both men and women in marriage. Ti Jan Petwo – the son and lover of Ezili Dantor. Simbi – the Simbi lwa live in fresh water rivers and are knowledgeable in the areas of magic and sorcery. The Bawons – they rule the cemetary and the grave. There are three – La Kwa, Samdi, and Simitye. The Gedeh – The Gedeh spirits are all dead spirits who rule death and humor and fertility. They drink rum steeped with 21 habanero peppers and bathe their faces and genitals with this mixture also, to prove that they are who they say they are. They are sung for last at a party for the spirits. Chief of the Gedeh is Gedeh Nibo, with his wife Maman Brijit. St. Gerard represents the Gedeh. Role of Clergy in Haitian Vodou In serving the spirits, the Vodouisant seeks to achieve harmony with their own individual nature and the world around them, manifested as personal power and resourcefulness in dealing with life. Part of this harmony is membership in and maintaining relationships within the context of family and community. A Vodou house or society is organized on the metaphor of an extended family, and initiates are the “children” of their initiators, with the sense of hierarchy and mutual obligation that implies. Most Vodouisants are not initiated, referred to as being “bosal”; it is not a requirement to be an initiate in order to serve one’s spirits. There are clergy in Vodou whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole (though some of this is the responsibility of the whole community as well). They are entrusted with leading the service of all of the spirits of their lineage. Priests are referred to as “houngans” and priestesses as “manbos”. Below the houngans and manbos are the hounsis, who are initiates who act as assistants during ceremonies and who are dedicated to their own personal mysteries. One doesn’t serve just any lwa but only the ones they “have”, which is a matter of one’s individual nature and destiny, and sometimes a matter of which spirits one has met and who take a liking to oneself. Since the spirits are individuals, they respond best to those whom they know or have been personally introduced to. Which spirits a person has may be revealed at a ceremony, in a reading, or in dreams. However anyone may and should serve their own blood ancestors. That said, there are a few spirits or groups of spirits that have a particular relationship with humankind such that, it is not unreasonable to say, anyone might approach them with some confidence if a few basic forms and preferences are known, among these being Papa Legba Atibon, the gatekeeper of the spirits, Danbala Wedo, who is said to own all heads and is the oldest ancestor of all life, and Papa Gedeh, who gives voice to the spirits of the dead, and everyone has Dead. I leave it to the reader to investigate the identities of these spirits further from other sources such as the Vodouspirit Yahoo! forum. Also the Catholic saints are all very approachable to anyone who asks for their help, such as St. Anthony or St. Michael. Standards of Conduct in Haitian Vodou The cultural values that Vodou embraces center around ideas of honor and respect – to God, to the spirits, to the family and sosyete, and to oneself. There is a plural idea of proper and improper, in the sense that what is appropriate to someone with a Danbala as their head may be different from someone with an Ogou as their head, for example — one spirit is very cool and the other one is very hot. I would say that coolness overall is valued, and so is the ability and inclination to protect oneself and one’s own if necessary. Love and support within the family of the Vodou sosyete seems to be the most important consideration. Generosity in giving to the community and to the poor is also an important value. Our blessings come to us through our community and we should be willing to give back to it in turn. Since Vodou has such a community orientation, there are no “solitaries” in Vodou, only people separated geographically from their elders and house. It is not a “do it yourself” religion – a person without a relationship of some kind with elders will not be practicing Vodou. You can’t pick the fruit if you don’t start with a root. The Haitian Vodou religion is an ecstatic rather than a fertility-based tradition, and does not discriminate against gay people or other queer people in any way. Unlike in some Wiccan traditions, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression of a practitioner is of no concern in a ritual setting, it is just the way God made a person. The spirits help each person to simply be the person that they are. Way of Worship in Haitian Vodou After a day or two of preparation setting up altars, ritually preparing and cooking fowl and other foods, etc., a Haitian Vodou service begins with a series of Catholic prayers and songs in French, then a litany in Kreyol and African “langaj” that goes through all the European and African saints and lwa honored by the house, and then a series of verses for all the main spirits of the house. This is called the “Priye Gineh” or the African Prayer. After more introductory songs then the songs for all the individual spirits are sung. As the songs are sung spirits will come to visit those present by taking possession of individuals and speaking and acting through them. Each spirit is saluted and greeted by the initiates present and will give readings, advice and cures to those who approach them for help. Many hours later in the wee hours of the morning, the last song is sung, guests leave, and all the exhausted hounsis and houngans and manbos can go to sleep. On the individual’s household level, a Vodouisant or “sevite”/”serviteur” may have one or more tables set out for their ancestors and the spirit or spirits that they serve with pictures or statues of the spirits, perfumes, foods, and other things favored by their spirits. The most basic set up is just a white candle and a clear glass of water and perhaps flowers. On a particular spirit’s day, one lights a candle and says an Our Father and Hail Mary, salutes Papa Legba and asks him to open the gate, and then one salutes and speaks to the particular spirit like an elder family member. Ancestors are approached directly, without the mediating of Papa Legba, since they are in one’s blood. If a person feels like they are being “called” or approached by the spirits of Haiti, the first thing a person should begin to do is to serve their ancestors, perhaps beginning with an ancestor novena (see the links below). Monday is the day of the ancestors in our house, but ideally one speaks to their ancestors daily. If you do not honor your ancestors first, they may get upset and stand between you and other spirits. The second thing is to seek out a competent and trustworthy manbo or houngan for a reading or consultation. It may take some time of prayer, patience and effort to find a suitable person. Travel may even be necessary. They can help determine what spirit(s) if any may be involved and what if anything might need be done. Expect to pay some sort of fee for their time – unlike many Neo-Pagan traditions, in Haitian Vodou “manbo e houngan travay pa pou youn gwan mesi” (“The manbo and the houngan don’t work for a big thank you”) (3). This is true of other African-based traditions as well. Role of Initiation into Haitian Vodou Initiation in Haitian Vodou is a serious matter, and it is advised to not run off to Haiti with the first person you encounter, on the internet or elsewhere, sight unseen or otherwise, who says they will initiate you. Take the time to get to know your prospective Maman or Papa in the Vodou, and the members of their society. Attend ceremonies in person, ask questions, learn, check references. Serve your ancestors, cultivate patience, and wait. Pay attention to dreams or other messages from the spirits. For most people initiation is totally unnecessary. It may be advised to research (as you would anyone else!) and weigh carefully, but perhaps not necessarily discount out of hand, anyone actively promoting initiation into the Haitian Vodou priesthood with marketing slogans and New Age buzzwords. Haitian Vodou does not proselytize and it is not for sale although even valid initiations do cost some money, due to the time, people, materials and travel involved. If you think of the time and care it takes to make the best choice when you invest in a car or a home, or to hire a babysitter for the kids, how much more important are one’s concerns of the Spirit? At the end of the day, reputations and rumors are less important than an honest answer to one question however: “Will I be happy and satisfied having this person/these people in my life? Is this a community where I can learn and grow in a positive way?” Only the seeker can answer that question for themselves, with God’s help. And the help of the Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame (see the links below). Also there are other options besides initiation in Haitian Vodou to become closer to the spirits. While the concept of initiation gets a lot of airplay among outsiders, far more common among the Haitian community is the “maryaj mistik”, or the mystical marriage, in which the Vodouisant literally marries one or more lwa, in a ceremony complete with bridal dresses, rings, cakes, and a priest. In return they gain special protection and favor from the spiritual spouse. This is generally in exchange for one day of sexual abstinence per week in which the human spouse receives the spirit in their dreams, and any other terms spelled out in the marriage contract. Initiation for its part creates a reciprocal bond between initiator and the new initiate with obligations every bit as serious as marriage, deeper even since it cannot be undone. Initiator and initiate become family with all the joys and burdens that may entail. It also entails certain promises, responsibilities and commitments with regard to the spirits. With persistence and patience, the spirits will lead a person to the house and elders that are right for them. Vodou is not a race, so every seeker can well afford to take their time. Personal relationships are the very foundation of Vodou and there is no substitute for the time it takes to cultivate them. I knew my houngan for three years prior to my own sevis lave tet (“washing of the head”). We were friends long before I had any interest in or notion of any connection to Haitian Vodou that I might have. Some of my god-brothers waited longer than that. This is how it should be. In Haiti these would all be people you grew up with and you would just know who is who or would know someone who knew someone. In the United States, those of us who are non-Haitian have a few more obstacles to overcome, but by the grace of God and the spirits they are not insurmountable. Regleman Gineh Initiate or not, once you belong to a house and have chosen an elder, it is important to follow the guidance they provide as to the way things are done in their house, called the “Regleman Gineh”. There is a diversity of practice in Vodou across the country of Haiti and the diaspora, for instance in the north of Haiti the sevis tet or kanzwe may be the only initiation (according to my elders from Haiti in three different houses) as it frequently is in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, whereas in Port Au Prince and the south they practice the kanzo rites with three grades of initiation — senp, si pwen, and asogwe — and the latter is the most familiar mode of practice outside of Haiti. Some lineages combine both, as Manbo Katherine Dunham reports from her personal experience in her book “Island Possessed.” Kay Aboudja, my own house, is one of these lineages. Although the general structure of ritual and practice are the same across Haiti, small details of service and the spirits served will vary from house to house, and information in books or on the internet may be contradictory. When in doubt, etiquette dictates that one consult their own Maman or Papa in the Vodou, and practice as they direct according to the regleman of their lineage, since “every manbo and houngan is the head of their own house”, as a common saying in Haiti taught to me by Houngan Aboudja states. While the overall tendency in Haitian Vodou is very conservative in accord with its African roots, there is no singular, definitive, One And Only True Right And Only Haitian Vodou ™, only what is right in a particular house or lineage. In other words, if you read something on a web page or a book, and it contradicts what your manbo or houngan says to do, go with what they say. This may seem restrictive on the surface from a solitary Neo-Pagan perspective, but since you have done your homework and taken the time to build a positive relationship of trust with your elder(s) ahead of time, this will not be the case in practice. A good parallel is the way everyone practices the same way in a Wiccan coven context. Ultimately everything comes from the spirits and the ancestors however. It is not a matter of personal preferences as it often may be in popular Witchcraft or other pagan traditions, and this reality becomes clearer with experience in the Sevis Gineh. This is the most basic overview of the Haitian Vodou religion imaginable; keeping in mind that I am by no means an expert compared to my elders after only a couple of years in the religion as an hounsi, I hope it gives some general idea and understanding of what Haitian Vodou is about, since it summarizes what I have learned from my own elders in a very condensed form. The most important thing I have learned from my elders however is this: Black, red, yellow or white, a person can find beauty and fulfillment serving the spirits in the Haitian religion – the Vodou is not a religion limited by race or ethnicity since ultimately, as science has proven, we are ALL the Children of Africa, and the waters of Gineh join us all