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Haitian Vodou: “Pwen” (Magical Charge) in Ritual Context

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Haitian Vodou: “Pwen” (Magical Charge) in Ritual Context HAITIAN VODOU: “PWEN” (MAGICAL CHARGE) IN RITUAL CONTEXT by Kimberly Ann Greenough-Hodges APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ___________________________________________ Thomas P. Riccio, Chair ___________________________________________ Monica Rankin ___________________________________________ Antoinette Sol ___________________________________________ Richard Brettell ___________________________________________ Charles Hatfield Copyright 2020 Kimberly Ann Greenough-Hodges All Rights Reserved HAITIAN VODOU: “PWEN” (MAGICAL CHARGE) IN RITUAL CONTEXT by KIMBERLY ANN GREENOUGH-HODGES, BA, MA DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HUMANITIES - AESTHETIC STUDIES THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS May 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To begin, I humbly thank God, Jesus and Mary, the Saints, the ancestors, and all of the lwa of Haitian Vodou for granting me the determination, fortitude, and tenacity to see this project from conception through its completion. I also would like to thank the numerous people I have met over the span of 15 years who helped make this project possible. The most important person to me during this process has been my initiatory mother, Mambo Racine of the Roots Without End Society. (Ono ak Respe Mambo!) Mambo Kathy initiated me, educated me, sang for me, taught me Creole, taught me about Haitian culture, translated for me, allowed me to interview her and photograph her peristyle in Jacmel, Haiti. For all of this and much more, I thank you. Additionally, I owe much to the Haitian Roots Without End Society membership for my proper ceremonies, Vodou education, and complete acceptance into their house. I also would like to thank my initiatory siblings: Mambo Margaret for keeping me sane, Mambo Kineta, for the knowledge you passed to me and fun Vodou adventures together in California and in Massachusetts, Mambo Ke Kontan, for all the Vodou Jeopardy texting and always being grounded, pithy, and helpful. I really could not have done this without your generosity. Antoinette Sol, thank you for introducing me to the beautiful and fascinating genre of French Caribbean literature and always being positive and encouraging. Monica Rankin, thank you for assigning me the Haitian Revolution as my “first” historical presentation as a doctoral student at UTD, helping me get work writing encyclopedic entries for your book, and always being ready to help. Rick Brettell, thank you for believing in me and this project and funding two field work trips to Haiti. Thomas Riccio, thank you for all the support and tremendous amount of time and energy you have put into me and this project. It is genuinely appreciated. I would like to thank iv my friends and family, especially my husband, Will, and my four children, Solange, Aidan, Asa, and Max, who have given years of love, support, encouragement, and made many sacrifices, so that I could complete this very important endeavor. April 2020 v HAITIAN VODOU: “PWEN” (MAGICAL CHARGE) IN RITUAL CONTEXT Kimberly Ann Greenough-Hodges, PhD The University of Texas at Dallas, 2020 Supervising Professor: Thomas P. Riccio ABSTRACT The central focus of this dissertation “Haitian Vodou: Pwen (Magical Charge) in Ritual Practice” is to elucidate a central component of Haitian Vodou ritual, known as pwen, which literally means “point” or magical charge. This query begins with a theoretical discussion of what pwen is and is not. Common characteristics are outlined and serve as a means by which pwen is defined. All discussion about pwen returns to the strongest and most elaborate pwen in Haitian Vodou, which is the initiation ritual, called kanzo. Uniquely, my position is that of participant- observer, as I am an initiated practitioner of Haitian Vodou. The second chapter establishes historical context as pwen (objects, spirits, and ceremonies) are traced from their West and Central African origins through space and time to modern Haitian Vodou practice. Focus was placed on pwen that transferred from Africa to Haiti, relatively unchanged and is easily identified in ritual. The third chapter examines pwen through a Roman Catholic lens, where Catholic venerations and devotions for the Virgin Mary are compared and contrasted to similar practices for the Haitian Vodou Dahomian Queen, Erzulie Freda. Catholic traditions of saying the Rosary and the celebration that accompanies the feast day for Mary’s May Crowning are contrasted to the vi Haitian Vodou practices of “tying a pwen” (ritual binding activity), altar-building, and marriage to a specific spiritual entity. The fourth chapter transitions the reader to literature, which presents pwen and pwen-like manifestations in a brilliantly descriptive excerpt taken from the Haitian magical realism work, Les Arbres Musiciens, by Jacques Stephen Alexis. This study examines the people, spaces, and important pwen in Alexis’s fictional Vodou ceremony and compares them to real-life Vodou pwen. Chapter 5 is a detailed description of a wanga or magical work done by a medsen fey (“leaf doctor”) in Jacmel, Haiti during my fieldwork in December 2008. This chapter presents the important function of the medsen fey in vodouisant communities and relates details about training and professional practice. The magical work was done for my husband and I served as a surrogate. It was an elaborate and spectacular ceremony. Methods to realize this project were: learning Haitian Creole, learning Haitian Vodou, going through a kanzo (Vodou initiation), traveling to Haiti on two different occasions for field work, interviewing and recording dozens of international and Haitian practitioners, attending Haitian dance workshops, attending Haitian drum workshops, and attending public ceremonies when possible. Upon completion of this research, it is the author’s opinion that Haitian Vodou: (a) reflects the dynamic evolution of Haitian history, while retaining an African core, (b) offers significant stability to the majority population of Haiti, as the country has been and continues to be plagued by lack of infrastructure, economic and political instability, and natural disaster, (c) is grossly misunderstood and merits accurate and unbiased explanation to those unfamiliar with it, and (d) should be universally recognized as a legitimate religion. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xvi PREFACE ................................................................................................................................... xvii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO PWEN IN ACTION .......................................................... 18 Interview with a Mambo ........................................................................................................... 29 What is pwen? ........................................................................................................................... 30 What can Pwen Do? .................................................................................................................. 30 What are Examples of Objects that Hold Pwen? ...................................................................... 31 How Long Does “Created” Pwen Stay? ................................................................................... 31 In Haitian Culture, is Pwen Conceived of as Positive or Negative? ......................................... 31 Can a Spirit be Harnessed into a Pwen? ................................................................................... 32 Tell me about Pwen in the Haitian Revolution ......................................................................... 33 How Does Pwen fit In? ............................................................................................................. 33 Can you Think of Direct Reference to Pwen in Songs and How to Explain the Meaning to Non-initiates? ............................................................................................................................ 34 Can Pwen Exist in Found Objects? Or What Folkloric Beliefs Are There in Haiti About Pwen? ........................................................................................................................................ 36 Can Clothes have Pwen? ........................................................................................................... 38 What Other Unusual Folkloric Beliefs Involving Pwen Have you Heard? .............................. 38 Who Knows the Formula? ........................................................................................................ 38 What are the Darker Aspects of Pwen? .................................................................................... 38 Why Would Someone Want to Create Such a Ferocious Spirit Worker? ................................ 39 Are There any Other Natural Objects with Pwen?
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