Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Hurston Zora Neale

Author:Hurston, Zora Neale [Hurston, Zora Neale]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

“Har’au Va Erique Dan, Sobo Dis Vou qui nan

Ce’bon Die qui maitre, Afrique Guinin, tous les morts

Hai’ ’an Va erique dan.”

The body of the dead man sat up with its staring eyes, bowed its head and fell back again and then a stone fell at the feet of Dieu Donnez, and it was so unexpected that I could not discover how it was done. There it was, and its presence excited the hounci, the canzo and the visitors tremendously. But its presence meant that the loa or mystere which had lived in the dead man and controlled him was separated from him. He could go peacefully to rest and the loa would be employed by someone else. If the spirit were not taken away from the head of the dead, then it would have to go and dwell at the bottom of the water until this ceremony is performed. Some say that the spirit of the houngan must pass one year at the bottom of the water anyway. When the ceremony is finished, after the man has been buried, the two chairs are dressed with the saddle cover, but are otherwise unoccupied except in a spiritual way, if you want to look at it like that.

Dieu Donnez then addressed the dead spirit in the African jargon called “langage.” That is a private matter with each houngan and it varies with each time he employs it because different loa dictate different things to him. So that is always new. But the opening prayer which is taken from the Catholic church remains fixed. No one knows what was said to the dead man to get him to relinquish the mystere but he had sat up, bowed his head with its unchanging eyes and laid back down and the stone had fallen at the feet of Dieu Donnez St. Leger. Now he produced a fish hook made of zinc and passed it through the flames three times. This is the “Zinc” of the dead that is his no longer. The power it held will pass on to his successor, which in this case was his son.

Then all of the assistants began to march around the two dressed-up chairs, each with a flaming pine torch in his or her hands, and it was a most impressive sight. Mambo Etienne rattled her ascon and began the singing. The whole crowd sang lustily and well. The two Petro drums began their rhythmic march from Guinea across the seas and the three Rada drums answered them in exultation.

The chickens cooked in olive oil without salt were placed on a white plate and Dieu Donnez offered them to the dead with tremendous earnestness and dignity. After that the plates were paraded around the two chairs and buried with the food on them.

It was then the thing of terror happened. There were some odd noises from a human throat somewhere in the crowd behind me. Instantly the triumphant feeling left the place and was succeeded by one of fear.

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