The REAL "Nature of Pwen", from Mambo Racine
Mambo Racine Sans Bout
meaning in mundane speech, but which indicate something else with
regard to Vodou service. The word "pwen" is a case in... point!
A pwen (from the French "point", meaning in English "point", like the
point of a pencil or a point of departure) is an energy focus, at
least Mark "Aboudja" Moellendorf learned that much from me. But much
more of what he writes on his website in his screed "The Nature of
Pwen" just isn't true.
For example, Moellendorf writes:
<<A pwen can be as simple as a knot tied into a rope, called a sinp
(simple), used to halt someone’s progress, or inhibit their
movements...>>
The word for "simple" in Creole is written "senp". A pwen used to
halt or inhibit someone or something is called an "aret" (from the
French "arreter", to arrest or stop); not a "senp" or even a "sinp".
The progress of a magically induced illness can also be halted with
an "aret".
<<Here we must make a distinction between these “small”
pwen that an houngan, manbo, or bokò may create for a client..., & the
BIG pwen which reside in & serve as the guardians of our temples & our
sacred demanbwe, our gwan-n bwa ...>>
*Our* temples? *OUR* sacred demanbre? WHERE, if you please, is Mark
"Aboudja" Moellendorf's peristyle? I can't understand how Moellendorf
can refer to Haiti and Haitians and places in Haiti, and then say
"our", when he has never lived for any appreciable time in Haiti, and
has no peristyle there or anywhere else! Even I, who have lived for
fifteen years in Haiti on and off, would hesitate to say "our" with
such panache.
<<... our gwan-n bwa>>
I want to take this opportunity to tell a.r.o. and Mark "Aboudja"
Moellendorf a little about the spelling of Creole words. It seems
important - most of my international initiates are learning Creole.
In Creole, spelling is phonetic. Some words which would be written
with an "r" in the French, such as "roi" (king), are pronounced in
Creole with a "w" substituted for the "r", so that "roi" becomes "wa".
Other words written with an "r" are pronounced with the "r" sound,
just in the normal way. Changing every single "r" that occurs in
Creole into a "w" just makes a person sound like a siwwy wabbit.
Words like this include Rara, and Gran Bwa, the correct Creole
spelling of the words Moellendorf has attempted above. Gran Bwa,
which is also the name of a lwa, just means Big Woods, as in a big
forest, but not one single big tree, a tree is a "pye bwa" and a big
tree is a "gro pye bwa".
(By the way, a lot of people interested in Vodou really try to learn
Creole, which is wise. One good source for written Creole is the
newspaper Haiti Progres, which is published in the USA for a Haitian
and Haitian-diasporan distribution.)
Now, back to the topic of "pwen"! Moellendorf writes:
<<Such simple, or small pwen... properly referred to as wanga,
gris-gris, gad, & so forth, depending on their functionality, are the
most common sorts of pwen>>
"Gris gris" is a term particular to New Orleans Voodoo, it is not used
in Haiti. A "gad", from the French "garde", is just what it says, it
is a guard which protects the person. The general term "wanga" refers
to what we would call in English a "spell" or a "charm".
<<For example, an houngan or manbo might make a small packet or
sachet into which is placed certain roots, leaves, or powders, perhaps
a magnetic loadstone, money, etc. that is meant to draw money for the
owner. This is a pwen.>>
Inexperience will get you every time.
Details first - a lodestone, l-o-d-e-s-t-o-n-e. Now, on to bigger and
more basic concepts.
The word "pwen", ladies and gentlemen, is a very general term. It can
refer to the physical object which Moellendorf describes, although the
type of object Moellendorf describes is again more characteristic of
New Orleans Voodoo. But, more importantly, a lwa can be referred to
as a "pwen", and an object specifically made for the invocation of a
lwa can also be referred to as a "pwen".
For example, there are songs about lwa that call the lwa a "pwen",
here is one:
Gro lwa gro pwen m Simbi Nan Dlo,
Gro lwa gro pwen m Simbi Nan Dlo,
Gro lwa gro pwen m Simbi Nan Dlo,
Djab la rete bo rivaj lape gade
Simbi sa ou we, pinga ou pale.
(English translation:)
My big lwa, my big point, Simbi Nan Dlo,
My big lwa, my big point, Simbi Nan Dlo,
My big lwa, my big point, Simbi Nan Dlo,
That wild lwa stays by the waterside, he is watching,
Simbi what you see, don't speak of it.
If you would like to see an object specifically made for the
invocation of a lwa, an object which can properly be called a "pwen",
have a look at the photos in the Fet Gede folder in the Files section
of the Vodou Arts discussion board (
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Vodou_Arts ). There is a photo of the
ancestor altar, which includes the "pwen Kanamayen", the black object
with the cross sticking out of it. This object assists in the
invocation of the lwa Kanamayen, and by that I mean the induction of
possession by this lwa. It also assists in telepathic communication
among those who possess this pwen.
<<Within the package is a whole microcosm, the manipulation of which
is made to directly affect the macrocosm, thereby causing change in
compliance with the original intent. This is a pwen by the simplest of
description.>>
Does Moellendorf really mean to suggest that the simplest definition a
Haitian would give of a "pwen" would include what he has written
above?
<< I do not mean a spirit has been restrained against its will, though
such a pwen can be made.>>
No, it can't.
A "spirit", a lwa, is not a slave! It is possible to send lwa back
against the person who sent them, for instance if a Baron was sent
against someone to do harm to that person, then that person could send
that Baron back to the person who sent it in the first place. But no
one can bottle up a "spirit" and force it to do anything.
This is the thing Moellendorf doesn't understand - it's the nature of
the lwa. Once he has some experience, once he has seen enough work
being done, he will know what most Vodouisants already know, and that
is that working with the lwa is like playing. "The lwa are like
children", Haitians say this over and over. Invoking a lwa is like
drawing a child into play. They can't be forced, any more than true
play can be forced.
<<A piece of wood struck by lightening contains a HUGE amount of
force, called adjae>>
No, force is called "fos" in Creole. The Vodou-pop musical group
Boukman Eksperyans coined the term "Vodou Adjae" on an album cover and
that is where Moellendorf got it, but the term "adjae" is not used in
common Vodou parlance.
Furthermore, it is not just any old piece of wood struck by lightning
which has this "fos"! Right in the next piece of land to where I
live, there is a great tree that was not so long ago struck by
lightning, and everyone saw it, there is no question of which tree or
what happened to the tree or anything like that. But no one is
interested in the wood from that tree, it is not special in any way as
far as Vodou service is concerned.
<< How they are constructed will determine how they are to be worked.
They may have to be heated in fire, or anointed with alcohol or urine
or special oils at certain intervals. They may have to be offered
food, much as an lwa might be, & so on. “Working” the pwen
helps to maintain its force as may be necessary to accomplish whatever
goal it was created for to begin with. >>
Once a power object is created, it has the power with which it was
imbued. We do not "anoint with alcohol, urine or special oils", where
is Moellendorf getting this stuff? A pwen can be fed because it IS a
lwa, not "much as a lwa might be".
<< our Tayino & other Native Indian ancestors first discovered
“Koukouwi nan bwa” (fireflies, which represent Spirit)>>
Now Moellendorf is *Taino*? LOL! A little while ago he was Haitian,
now he is Taino? When will he be what he really is, a white guy from
Texas?
Fireflies are not "koukouwi", either, he's mixed up and I can
understand why. Check this out - fireflies are "kolombri". The song
goes "Se mwen menm kolombri, O! Se nan bwa m rete", which means, "It
is I the firefly, I live in the woods". "Koukou*wouj*", which is
sometimes pronounced with the "j" sort of turning into an "i" sound,
especially in southern Haiti, is NOT a firefly! LOL! It is an OWL.
WHooooooo! And of course owls represent spirits - they fly at night,
they have huge shiny eyes, I bet owls represent spirits in many
cultures, don't they? On top of all that, fireflies can represent
spirits too. It is interesting in this context that when I was a girl
growing up, we had fireflies where we lived, and we used to call them
"lightning bugs". We said that they were the spirits of the "Indians"
who had lived before us.
<<The demanbwe is a patch of land set aside & uncultivated that
represents the sacred bush.>>
What "sacred bush", the Burning Bush of Moses? LOL! This is just
bunk. But hey, don't take my word alone for it - on the principle that
I could be wrong too, I just asked medsen fey Loulou Prince, "How
would you define 'demanbre'?", and he responded, "A piece of land,
land which belonged to your mother or your grandparents, which has a
house on it."
<<“liminen”, which are sit down prayer-songs in the hounfò
with each hounsi having their own candle to illuminate their working,
& sing the songs for the Spirit. These songs are meant to call the
mistè from wherever they may be>>
Limited understanding produces assertions of limited value. An
"iliminasyon" does involve the lighting of many candles, but it does
not have to be done by hounsis! Anyone reading this can make an
"iliminasyon" (illumination) at their own house, or at the grave of an
ancestor or in any other place. Almost any ceremony which involves
the lighting of candles, song and prayer could be referred to in this
way. And ALL Vodou service is meant to call the "miste" ("mysteres"
in French, in English "mysteries", another name for the lwa).
<<these BIG pwen may have massive foundations of spiritual force, & in
every hounfò there will be several of these major pwen>>
There are no big pwen and little pwen. The object may be large or
small, the power of the lwa is not limited by the size of the object.
Look, here is how it is - on my peristyle grounds there is an Ogoun
point, a "pwen Ogoun", just like the ones on many other peristyle
grounds. It consists of an iron bar, a truck axle actually, stuck
vertically into the ground. We first dug a hole about two feet wide
and three feet deep, and placed objects and offerings sacred to Ogoun,
on a vever drawn in the bottom of the hole. We did other things too,
which are the secrets of my lineage and which I do not choose to
reveal here. Okay, so far so good. Then we planted the iron, with
appropriate ritual, again which I am not going to describe. The hole
is filled up, other things are done, and then a fire is built around
the iron.
Anytime there is a dance, a fire is built around Ogoun's iron, and if
the dance is for Ogoun or if Ogoun comes, activity tends to move away
from the poto mitan and center specifically around Ogoun's iron.
Ogoun's iron is a pwen, it is an energy focus. Ogoun *is* the pwen,
that filter, that electromagnetic lens that focuses the energy in
Ogoun's way.
>>In the Diaspora, where the house system is most common, one of the
main pwen will link the house directly to the root house in Haiti.
Thus, you can guess that this pwen will contain earth & other effects
from the demanbwe of the hounfò from which the lineage descends.>>
You can guess, Moellendorf, but you don't know. What you are talking
about is more like making a prenda in Palo.
<< All pwen... are the roots of our power. >>
No! No, this is wrong, wrong, WRONG! The root of our power, if we
have any, is the asson which we receive from the hand of Papa Loko.
And Loko, the Haitian manifestation of the Iroko which at one time was
the only living connection between Heaven and Earth, is in this way
parallel to the Christ of the Christian faith. In truth the root of
"our power" is God. That is why when we work, we say, "After God",
you know, "After God, I call on Papa Ogoun Feray, Neg Nago. After
God, give me strength..." and so on. I wonder how often Moellendorf
remembers God?
<<“family spirits” who do work inside the house only.
These particular pwen are commonly referred to as “lwa
travay”>>
::groan::
Work lwa, or lwa travay, are ANY lwa which work effectively when
invoked and directed toward specific material tasks. Azaka, for
instance, is a classic work lwa, because he is a farmer, he works hard
all the time. La Sirenee, who like the sea is never at rest yet is
never tired, is sometimes called as a work lwa.
<<A good example of this is Gwo Wosh of Jakmel>>
For the folks interested in Creole - there is no "sh" in written
Creole. The "sh" sound as we know it in English is written "ch" in
Creole.
Here in Jacmel, Haiti (on the southern coast) there was indeed a Gro
Roch, which means "Big Rock", but Gro Roch is not a pwen! He was a
Houngan, a living man, now he has passed but it's only been a few
years, and he is certainly not a lwa now!
<<All houngan & manbo who do work for others will have such pwen,
which they may have found (or more commonly, the pwen may have found
them)>>
This is just plain hyperbolic. The *LWA* in the head of the Houngan
or Mambo is their pwen! ANYONE who has a lwa has a pwen. Anyone who
has made a power object to assist in magical work has a pwen. An
altar is a pwen, in a very real sense.
<<Most houngan & manbo will not be limited to having a
“Rada” pwen only, but usually a Petwo & even Makaya or
Sanpwel pwen as well.>>
Sanpwel is not a religion! I don't know how many times I have to say
it. Rada and Petro are two important liturgical divisions in Vodou
service. Makaya is not a part of Vodou service, it is a separate
religion, like Baptists are separate from Episcopals. The Sanpwel is
not a religion at all, it is a police department, it is an
organization which enforces social norms and punishes behavior it
defines as criminal.
In the upcoming Magic Workshop, I will be teaching people, initiated
and uninitiated, how to make a variety of different pwen, and how to
use them. Each of you reading this has a lwa met tet, the lwa which
is owner of your head, and that is another pwen. Good luck!
;-}
Peace and love,
Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen
"Se bon ki ra" - Good is rare
Haitian proverb
The VODOU Page - http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html
(Posting from Jacmel, Haiti)