Erzulie Freda

Ezili O! we sing in the peristil. Ezili is the Vodou Goddess of love, beauty and elegance. She walks in an atmosphere of luxury and wealth. The slaves saw their colonial masters in trappings of gold and pearls, and knew they they could not attain such wealth. So they transferred it to Ezili in the heavenly realms.

Erzulie Freda Dahomey personifies all the unattainable ideal. All rituals reflect the society they arise from. And within those rituals are often deities who reflect the culture of that society as well. Erzulie reflects the Creole culture of refinement, elegance and leisure. She is a mulatto mistress, a kept woman who does not work or soil her hands with menial tasks. When she manifests, she greets all the men with ebullient joy and gestures, but snubs the woman present, offering them only her pinky in greeting. She will demand her gifts and toiletries - perfume, powder, a dress, jewelry. She represents the ability to always achieve more - one dress is not enough, another one with more lace and bows! One bottle champagne? She wants two! Dance with me, sing for me! But all this desire has a dark side as well.

Erzulie maybe the lwa of grace and beauty. But she is also a mistress, who will never attain the role she covets so badly. She inevitably leaves her horse in tears, weeping inconsolably for what she can never have. From Vodou Visions: "Erzulie looks into mirrors and dreams of perfection. It is this dream that leads to her dissatisfaction and disappointment, and which brings on the tears that are the source of the Waters of the Abyss." The mirror is an illusion of what Erzulie thinks could be. The Her tears create the waters of Psyche, the soul. Erzulie often is accompanied by a small boat. This rides the surface of the waters, symbolizing earthly possessions, material goods. The water that supports it is the psyche, showing the depth and substance of Erzulie

I always think of Erzulie as showing the possibilities that can be attained through focus, through hard work and effort. It's only when we fail to give ourselves the breadth of our soul do we cry in despair over the perceived loss. Erzulie reminds us that there's always another chance to make good on the promise of tomorrow.

Make fabulous altars for Erzulie, Drape them in lavish fabrics, beads and candles. Offer her pink roses, perfume (Anais Anais especially), light cigarettes (like Virginia Slim), makeup, mirrors and lace. She also likes pink champagne, white wine, bananas fried in sugar, rice cooked in sugar and cinnamon, pastries, iced cakes in pink and white, and jewelry. The image of the Mater Dolorosa is the Catholic image most often associated with her.

An altar to Freda from a recent service at Sosyete du Marche