#azaka mede

[iartsysam]

In the garden: Azaka Mede, Kouzen Zaka, Oko

Agriculture is the source of our food supply.

Arguably the most crucial aspect of agriculture is that it's the source of the world's food supply.

No matter where or what you are eating, the ingredients in your meals come from somewhere. All roads lead to agriculture.

Good farmers produce an abundance of healthy food and many other valuable goods.

Farmers take care of the soil, conserve water resources and wildlife, and they're the caretakers of mother nature.

Farmers play a significant role in community life.

Minis Azaka (Minister of Agriculture) is a praise name and aspect of the Lwa (Vodou spirit/energy) Azaka Mede, an agricultural spirit known for his folk wisdom and "country" dialect.

Very popular throughout Haiti, Kouzen Zaka, or Azaka, is the lwa of harvest and agriculture.

He is responsible for protecting the fields and the work there and promoting harvests and livestock.

He is a very good-natured man in the mountains, gentle and respected by all for being a hard worker; he enjoys the most simple things in life.

Kouzen Zaka is a master in treating diseases with leaves and herbs and is known for keeping his most essential herbs in his djakout (straw bag).

In some ways, he is also the living memory of Haiti; he carries the weight and knowledge of subsistence farming and how to survive with very little.

He is the reminder of where many Haitians come from and what Haiti used to be: a more rural island where farming and agriculture ruled over most other businesses.

He is often referred to as a lwa travay/work lwa for his unwavering work ethic.

Kouzen knows what it is to be hungry and to suffer, so he works all the time to make sure he never has to suffer again and that his family and those that he loves don’t suffer either.

[rockofeye]

Curious about your opinion on AI as a creator/artist and houngan.

I've spent a lot (A LOT) of time thinking about this, particularly as I have seen AI show up in space where Vodou is discussed and presented.

As a creator and artist, I don't like AI. What makes art art is the humanity that lives within it no matter what the subject is. It is how we see life within the work and how it translates what the artist has conceived on the inside into something that is on the outside available to view. AI is a function of a machine that has digested an unreal amount of art, assigns keywords and descriptions on its own algorithm, and then amalgates that into an image based on the text directions someone types in. It is devoid of what makes us human and what makes us artists. We give up our artistic ability to a machine to reproduce for us instead of us taking part in the process of creation that is art.

There has been a lot of commentary from folks who utilize AI that roughly equals out to '...but I don't know how to draw/paint'. Well, learn. It's a challenge and requires time and practice, but it is not hard in the long run.

AI also brings up deep ethical questions about fair usage because it mines work that already exists. It doesn't always mine actual art, either. I have seen works created in the name of lwa where AI has clearly pulled from photos of actual people, to the point where they are recognizable as individuals I myself personally know, and that feels really ugly because the person certainly did not give their permission to be reproduced in that manner. There's been a lot of talk this week and last week regarding news stories that sourced works that AI pulled from for text creation, and a whole lot of authors have had a lot to say about their copywritten works being used in that manner.

I think all of that leads me to my feelings on AI as an artist-houngan, and that is that AI is directly opposed to the principles that Kouzen Azaka Mede, lwa of work and labor and, in some specific ways, creative works, teaches us. Kouzen is an example of fair pay for fair labor, and there is no fair pay for fair labor with AI. AI creates only when it has something to take from, which means it creates off the backs of other artists and their work.

Instead, AI really typifies the type of toxic capitalism that takes advantage of Kouzen and values more what it may take than who it takes from. Artists in general are a class of creators who are consistently taken advantage of, and doubly so for Black and immigrant artists, and there is no good outcome for being part of that process.

Kouzen also teaches us the value of our labor, in that the value of what we create increases via the process of creating it. When you work for something, you value it more and the process is part of the reward. Is the process for creating art easy and easy to learn and execute? No, but the process itself has value inherently and value to the lwa. I have watched the lwa delight in the art that people create, even if it isn't art that we personally feel is good or meaningful or our best work...but it is something that we put energy into and perhaps a lot of time. We stitched each bead or painted and painted until it was the best we could do after days or weeks or months.

I don't think anyone can look at AI and think 'this is the absolute best I could give the lwa' because there is no inherent value because there was no labor exerted to make it and because it was not created, it was amalgamated.

Those are my thoughts, and I hope they make sense. I'm sure some folks will not be pleased by them, but...what can you do?

[vudutarot]

#azaka #mede #cuzin #jeje #candomble #africa #vodou #vodun #vudutarot #umbanda #tarot #vudu #project #illustration #art #artstagram #espiritismo #mythology #lwa #haiti

[muscadin-blog1]

Azaka mede

[siryl]

The middle piece the triptych Azaka, Agro Rex by Edouard Duval-Carrié.  Azaka (also called Zaka Mede) is one of the Lwa Travay, a class of deities in Haitian Voodoo who aid mortals in their labors.

Scanned from Migration of the Spirit.

[rockofeye]

It’s Kouzen Season: More about Kouzen Zaka and His Family

As I wrote recently, the month of May is a special time for Kouzen and his family. Kouzen’s fet/feast day is May 1 and May 2, but fetes for Kouzen are held all through the month of May in Haiti and the Dyaspora.

In English, ‘kouzen’ translates to cousin and is a title that we address Kouzen as. He comes with a lot of different names: Azaka Mede, Azaka/Zaka Si, Azaka/Zaka La, Zaka Krib, Zaka Toné, Kouzen Mòn, and many others. He also is very, very close with his wife Kouzin, and there are a whole variety of children in fanmi Kouzen as well.

Kouzen is most well known as the minister of agriculture and work, and this is reflected in how we address him sometimes as Minis/Minister. He is vital to life in Haiti, as it is him that makes the crops grow and ensures there is enough food for the lakou to survive, as well as oversees business and money. It’s often said that even Haitians who don’t serve the lwa always give for Kouzen, because he determines success or failure and can answer hunger.

In some ways, he is also the living memory of Haiti; he carries the weight and knowledge of subsistence farming and how to survive with very little. He is a master medsin fèy (literally ‘leaf medicine’, refers to a practioner of bush medicine), and is often called upon to treat illness especially for folks who can’t afford a Western doctor or even a medsin fèy in the community. He is the reminder of where many Haitians come from and what Haiti used to be: a more rural island where farming and agriculture ruled over most other businesses. It’s not a coincidence that his month of May is also Haitian Heritage Month.

He is often referred to as a lwa travay/work lwa for his indefatigable work ethic. Kouzen knows what it is to be hungry and to suffer, so he is working all the time to make sure he never has to suffer again and that his family and those that he loves don’t suffer either. His fetes are often utilized as means to determine how the next year will go; if Kouzen comes happy and enjoys himself and eats, it will probably be a good year with normal challenges. If he comes angry or upset and refuses his food and the special marketplaces made for him, that’s potentially a forewarning that there are difficulties ahead and a lot of work goes into appeasing Kouzen to change the flow of luck.

Kouzen is also intimately involved in things like immigration. He can help (or harm!) an immigration process, and can be a huge ally in getting those papers moving. 

He is always very concerned about being taken advantage of. He comes as a poor peasant, and so folks often underestimate him or try to rip him off when he loans money or offers a good deal. He is incredibly sensitive to this and is paranoid that someone will steal from him. It’s not unusual for him to arrive at his fet and unpack his makout to make sure everything that was there last time he came is still there. He’ll count crumbs. Anything missing will need to be accounted for.

A well-known story from communities I am close to tells of a time when someone did a maryaj lwa in a temple and had brought things from their own table at home to place on the table built for the ceremony. When packing up at the end of the night, someone mistakenly packed the bottle of Kouzen’s liquor that belonged to the temple in the makout of the Kouzen the person married. It went unnoticed until that temple’s fet Kouzen rolled around.

Kouzen arrived and found that his bottle was not in his bag. He asked for it and when it could not be found, sat down on the floor and cried. He refused to let anything else happen until his bottle was located. Some fast thinking and a lot of luck had the person who did the maryaj at the fet and they had a eureka moment and drove home quickly. She lived locally (thank everything) and soon returned to the fet with the bottle. Kouzen had to be consoled and many promises and assurances made because even though the bottle had been returned and it was a genuine error and not a theft, he was so upset that his things had been taken.

He is an expert deal maker that negotiates for his best interests. Something common at most fet Kouzens is that a marketplace will be set up for him. It’s usually a large layout of fruits, vegetables, and maybe some special items for him to look over and offer up for sale. He is very, very shrewd and downright stingy. I’ve seen him refuse to select what he is willing to sell until someone presents him with money, and then he will pick what he thinks is a fair exchange. One evening, I watched someone give him a $20 bill, and he looked for a moment, selected a banan/plantain, and snapped it in half. He gave one half to the person who had paid him $20. 

He’ll often walk around holding his chapo/hat and asking for money. Most folks will come prepared with a little cash in their pocket, but pity the person who brings their wallet. Someone had the misfortune of coming to Kouzen’s fet with a significant amount of their rent money in their wallet. Kouzen asked him for money, and when he took out his wallet and opened it, Kouzen reached in and took all the cash. He refused to give it back, and so that person made a nice gift (willing or otherwise) of several hundred dollars.

It’s often said that Kouzen is the one who works and it’s his wife Kouzin who manages the money. Kouzen may want to account for every dollar, but it is Kouzin who keeps track of where it all goes. 

Folks always make him out to be greedy, full stop, and he certainly can be, but as Kouzen has known suffering he can also be very generous. I’ve watched him give money to people who were in great need and clearly say that he only needs to be remembered each week and that they don’t need to pay him back. I’ve seen him loan money to people in dire circumstances (but that money better be paid back on the terms he negotiated). 

One of the most poignant moments I’ve seen with Kouzen came at his fet when someone who had sacrificed a lot to be there came to talk with him and brought him a little money. They had been struggling with finding work for a little while, and so it was a really hard trip as they did not live locally. Kouzen refused their money and told them to keep it, because he knew they needed it. Some folks thought that was extremely negative coming from Kouzen, but it was a gift. He followed up by giving them a specific lamp recipe to find work, and less than a month later that person had a job.

With all of these very important things on his shoulders and in his makout, you’d think Kouzen would come as something other than a peasant...but he doesn’t. I think that’s really important because it reinforces how close Kouzen and all the lwa are to us; even the ones who are literal royalty.

For me, in addition to all of the above, I also experience Kouzen as a source of a lot of creativity and creative drive. My relationship has developed in such a way that he oversees a lot of my art and art practice. He doesn’t care so much what kind of art or if it even turns out good, but more that I do it and keep my hands moving because that’s good for me. He has definitely been the push to put some paint on paper or beads on fabric when I really don’t want to or don’t have any internal motivation. I will feel him eyeing me and I’ll drag myself to my studio space and do something. Or, if I’m really too busy to make art or there’s some other barrier to me actually sitting down, he’ll push me to resolve it so I have space to get my hands dirty.

In terms of what someone could do for Kouzen without getting into trouble or having him be upset is to do charity in his name. If you can, donate money to a cause that supports providing for folks who are hungry, that supports agriculture that supports self sufficiency in developing countries, or even that aids folks who are homeless or unhoused. If you can donate your time and labor, even better! Kouzen values labor and hard work, and there are plenty of places that need help these days: packing food at food pantries, distributing and delivering meals, volunteering to serve meals in homeless shelters, even volunteering to help vaccine efforts would be looked on favorably by him, as it assures further survival.

I caution folks against preparing food for Kouzen without guidance; even looking at his food in the wrong way or thinking it’s delicious can make him upset and jealous, and he’ll refuse it or spoil it. There’s specific ways to even taste his food for seasoning to make sure it will taste good...don’t risk it!

I hope this is helpful; please let me know if there are questions.

[rockofeye]

Out of the depths.

It is somehow appropriate that a re-emergence and re-alignment comes with the beginning of the month of May. May is a big month for vodouizan; we celebrate Kouzen and all his family this month and, for people from Jacmel, it is a month devoted to celebrating Jacmel's heritage, which is tied closely to Kouzen. It is said Jacmel is where Kouzen was from before he went to more rural areas; it's not a coincidence that fet Jacmel and fet St Jacques e St Philippe (the patrons of Jacmel) are celebrated on the same days as fet Kouzen (May 1 and May 2).

I've been thinking about Kouzen a lot lately. It's been a difficult year in a lot of ways, but not a bad year. COVID has really permanently changed how things in my professional field work, and with the help of Kouzen and a few of my other lwa, I managed to leverage that into a position using all my professional strengths with the org that has been my target for employment for years. Landing that has not only been life-changing and future-solidifying, but really reinforces that I know what I know and that I am an expert at what I do.

That's a lesson that comes from Kouzen, and it's one that I struggle to learn and remember in my life. Kouzen shows me balance: he is the expert worker in his field (literal and figurative), but you might never know that from how he does his work. Underestimate him and you'll find out, but how he carries himself keeps his mastery of work and growth and agriculture from being the first thing that you see.

I'm pretty okay with that part, but that's the part I get tripped up about. I don't find anything fulfilling professionally or personally about illustrating what I know,, but there is a difference between going about your business and actively hiding from those moments where you can insert who you are and what you know.

I'm a hider. It might sound kind of funny coming from someone who has been writing a blog in the internet for close to a decade, but it's true: I am actually pretty shy and private and being the center of attention--professional or personal--is kind of horrifying to me. I've reached the point in my life where I don't feel I have a lot to prove because I know what I know, but in many ways that's just not possible for me. I don't work in a field where I can just close my office door and have it all be fine, and the lwa have made clear time after time that I cannot just ride off into Ginen with them and live a private life.

This has something that is always a struggle for me because I am introverted and like my alone space and time. It comes back to the good ol' lessons the lwa want me to learn over and over: balance and vulnerability. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes I react like a cat thrown into a bathtub full of water. The lwa win some, I lose some.

I had to get my ass in gear with the notions of balance and putting myself out there and being vulnerable in knowing my worth and demanding (politely) that it be recognized when I found myself completely dissatisfied with my job(s). I was working two jobs (houngans and manbos know about that hustle...) and making good money, but I was ready to work one job and free up time for spiritual work and projects.

I took a chance and applied for a job that was juuuuust within my experience. It was definitely bigger than what I was doing and while it was within my experience level, I honestly wasn't perfectly qualified....but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, so I buffed up the resume, sent it off, and sat with my lwa about it. I told them that if this was where I was supposed to go next, I knew they would clear the way.

I didn't get it.

I made it through two rounds of interviews, but ultimately there was an incumbent with 10 more years of experience than I have, and that's almost always a losing equation. I was okay with it because I still had work and at the end of the day, I don't have to love my job to cash the paychecks.

BUT....the lwa had another plan. The team of interviewers liked me, and so I got headhunted for a position that was very, very in line with my professional experience and goals. I spoke with them several times about it and they made me an offer....and it was so low I almost rejected the offer outright.

I was both angry and scared at the same time; angry because the salary offer was ridiculously offensive based on my career history and scared because I have never been in a position to turn down a job offer or, honestly, negotiate.

This time was the first time in my life that I was planning to leave a job because I wanted to. I grew up in a upper working class home and as an adult have spent too much time jobless and underemployed to discount steady work and a regular paycheck. It was scary as hell to be staring down the possibility of kicking the steady paycheck to the side in favor of taking a step into the unknown.

When I got the offer letter, I sat down with the lwa and literally cried because I was so burned out with my other job that it was affecting my performance, but here I was getting a bullshit offer for a hugely involved job. It felt like a loss if I took it and affirmed that both my experience and what they were asking of me was only worth what they were offering. It felt like a loss if I didn't take it, because those opportunities do not come alone like that very often.

It was such a moment of unique despair. Like, I was not hurt or anything tragic but that feeling like I was painted into a corner and that the choices in front of me would leave me at a loss was HUGE and real. For me, when I feel like that it's hard for me to turn on the part if my brain that's analytical. I just need to sit in my misery for a minute (or more) until I get it together enough to figure out what to do.

That is where the blessing of Kouzen (and really all the lwa) came in. He told me to go back to the table, creat another option, and ask for my worth. Like, not swing my proverbial dick and be an asshole, but go be vulnerable and say that the offer was disappointing and that I expected more. So weird because it makes so much sense, right? And yet there I was totally sold that I was either going to be worked like a mule for less money than I was making already, or I was going to remain in The Bad Place until something else came along.

So I did. Even if I felt pessimistic about it (I did) and thought they would say no (convinced of it), I did what I was told because at the end of the day I agreed to sèvis lwa because I believe in the vision the lwa have for me. Some days I say that through gritted teeth, but that's my guiding principle and they have never let me down.

I sent in my counteroffer and waited for the 'we're sorry, but..' email. It was fucking scary. My agency is a behemoth in my field and has been around forever, so pushing back felt a little bit like David versus Goliath, and I didn't have the benefit of a sling and a rock.

It took two days but they got their offer almost to what I asked for, so I took it and it was a huge relief. I am sure that somewhere in the background Kouzen maybe did a quiet fist pump of 'Alex learned a thing' before going back to his work.

In all seriousness, that's a lesson I have struggled so hard with and it was a moment where I had to put it all into practice and rely on what the lwa have taught me as being an ultimate truth. Knowing my worth is not enough; I have to be able to communicate that in a way that both opens doors and doesn't get me used as a doormat. Not doing that seems like it would be almost offensive to Kouzen because, at least in this case, it would be essentially leaving money on the table and wasting it. My Kouzen is very rational about money, but the idea of not trying to set up my financial future makes his eyes bug out and would probably result in Having To Have A Conversation, which I avoid at all costs. Nothing like the lwa reminding you not to fuck up your own blessings.

Getting settled into this particular blessing has been what has been occupying my time the most these days. I came back from Haiti and went right into this job. I have finally clawed my way into administration and, in a very Kouzen twist, am responsible for managing several million dollars worth of grants and spending them both quickly and wisely. I work closely with the person in the position I originally interviewed for and am really happy I didn't get that job, as I am able much better fit where I am.

What else? In late January, I turned in a final draft of a chapter I was tapped to write for a book detailing the experiences of people who are converts to African Traditional and Diasporic religions. I'm excited to see the book when it comes out; I was the only writer on Haitian Vodou, and so it is chock full of other experiences from people from all different places who converted at some point in their life to a huge variety of African and African Descended religions and cultural practices. It's a project that has been in the works for several years, and it was interesting to see personal growth during my involvement in it and while tracking and detailing my journey from a fairly conservative Protestant upbringing to where I am now as a sèvitè lwa.

My living situation has changed up in the middle of this and I am once again at a point in my life where I have a dedicated space for my lwa. Living in one of the most expensive cities in the US has meant roommates and keeping my lwa in a closet in my room (my most recent roommate lovingly referred to them as the Closet People), but the lwa managed to swing it so I have a room dedicated to my spirits.

I have longing for that for so long...it's been years since that was a reality, and now it's finally a thing again. I always have the room for my lwa as my studio space too, since they are a creative force behind a lot of it, and it make my heart so full again to have room to spread out. It's such a gift for me. No more sitting down to pray and having my roommate start to have sex with their partner on the other side of the wall....I cannot tell you how many times that has happened.

Recently I listened to my mother tell some folks how to make tchaka/Kouzen's favorite meal. The regleman/ritual food is one of the most important parts of both ceremony and personal relationships with the lwa, and Kouzen reminded me that it had been quite awhile since I made him tchaka and boy his stomach would feel so much better with some tchaka in it and I already had a lot of the ingredients and wouldn't it be delicious to make some doumbrey for the tchaka too?

...so I went shopping for what I would need for tchaka for my beloved Kouzen because I have clearly neglected his stomach for too long. Living in a city with a huge Haitian population is great because the Haitian grocery store I went to had joumou/Haitian pumpkin, lalo sèk/dried jute leaves, tritri/tiny dried shrimp, djondjon/Haitian black mushrooms, fresh kowosol/soursop(!!!!!), and fresh lam veritab/breadfruit(!!!!!!!!!!).

It is so rare to find fresh kowosol and lam up here in New England because it def doesn't grow here and it doesn't last well when it's shipped....but it looked great today. The kowosol is going to be for me...ji kowosol ak lèt is a favorite, ESPECIALLY with a little Barbancourt poured in...and Kouzen will either get some tomtom or at least boiled lam veritab with his tchaka. Also have the makings of some bonbon siwo, so this husband is gonna eat GOOD. He deserves it.

And then...? Our live-on-Zoom socially distanced fet Kouzen will be sometime late in May. Making our fets available for folks to 'attend' at a distance has been surprisingly cool. I was not thrilled about the idea because of my personal hangups (I hate being on camera) but it's been really wonderful and has been a way for people who can't get to the temple to be able to share energy and get a taste of what a real Haitian fet is like. COVID isn't going away anytime soon, so we'll probably keep doing our fetes this way for awhile.

And...Haitian Summer is coming. I could write another whole post on what's going on down in Haiti, but I am very much looking forward to our kanzo and fet cycle this summer. My very favorite ceremonies are part of kanzo, and I love the opportunity to see the lwa in their home in the temple. I've been so lucky to be able to travel safely to Haiti several times during this mess, and it has fed my soul. It's safer for me and many of my family members now that we are vaccinated, so one less thing to worry about.

With Kouzen's month and the season of spring, I hope for growth in new directions for each of you, complete with all the blessings that Kouzen can bring: fertility and fecundity, inspiration, energy, commitment, rootedness, solid partnerships, and wise investments in self, community, relationships, and business ventures. May the fresh breeze bring you health with every breath and wealth with every exhale.

[rockofeye]

Join us for a virtual Fet Kouzen!

Sosyete Nago will once again be hosting a Zoom event while we celebrate Kouzen and his family. May 22 is the date, and the details will be at the link below....hope you'll join us!

Sosyete Nago's Fet Kouzen Zoom event invite and ticketing info

I personally wasn't super excited about the idea of a livestream happening during our fetes but I am happy to be proven wrong...it's really been nice, and I am kinda enjoying it.

[rockofeye]

Alaso Kouzen!

Today is a big day for vodouizan; it is May 1, which means it is fet Jacmel and fet St. Jacques and St. Philipe (the patrons of Jacmel), but it is also fet Kouzen Azaka Mede. Jacmel is considered Kouzen’s birthplace or hometown, so it’s extra special and important for those vodouizan who have roots in Jacmel.

Andre Pierre, Salutations des Espirits Couzin, 1970s, Port-au-Prince

Kouzen is a special and often overlooked lwa in Haitian Vodou, largely because he is not very glamorous and because he is extremely picky and can be very hard to please (and very easy to displease, with disastrous results). He and his wife Kouzin are associated heavily with agriculture and physical labor, and so they are key to the survival of society in Haiti where primary food sources are farmed food. They represent some of the grounding principles of life in Haiti through farming and through Kouzin’s navigation of the market and her negotiation skills. As a wise brother of mine says, san yo, bouch nou patap konnen manje/without them, our mouth would not know food. 

Often known for being down on his luck (or saying that he is..), Kouzen is very concerned with making sure his money stays with him and that he is not taken advantage of. God help the person that steals from Kouzen, whether it be an actual theft of money, belongings, or food, or only perceived theft. He has no patience and almost no patience for people who deal with him in ways that he feels are not forthright, and he can turn someone’s luck inside out without even trying hard. When he arrives at fets, he most often will ask immediately for his djakout/special style of Haitian bag and will dump everything in it out to make sure everything that was there the last time he examined it remains there, down to the last crumb.

Kouzen is also the embodiment the cultural memory of Haiti. He is often portrayed as someone with no refinement or savoir faire or broader modern intelligence, which is a deep misread of who and what Kouzen is. Instead, Kouzen is the ultimate throwback to traditional Haitian culture where modernity was still something that had not taken deep root, or at least not as deep as Kouzen’s roots go. Farming is still the main method of food production, but Kouzen is the reminder that everything used to lead back to the tilled field and that this is where all life emerges from.

For me, I find Kouzen to be a spirit who is interested in my art and the making thereof. It’s not really too surprising, as Kouzen is all about the fecundity of life and production overall, and so I find him in that spark of inspiration and the drive to create. When I struggle with what comes next, I can look for him to give me that kick in the butt to get moving. He reminds me that if I dig in and get my hands dirty, there is always new life that will spring up. He’s done a lot for me.

Alaso Kouzen Azaka Mede, neg peyi a, neg mòn lan, minis travay. Le nou mache toupre w, nou pa malerè e nou pa malonènt. Neg kay m e neg kè m, w banm kouraj e fòs pou m règle tout zafè m e fe lavi m byen. Le m travay, m konnen wap travay plis pou m. Alaso!

[rockofeye]

Bonswa, houngan Alex! Since it is a special season for Kouzen, is there anyway that those of us who have him can better serve or honor him this month at our spirit altars?

Hello!

I had a whole post written for you, and then the page reloaded and it was gone and I pulled at my hair a little bit. But, that’s okay.

The main thing I wrote re: specific offerings for Kouzen is that it’s best to inquire with your teacher re: what is best to offer Kouzen and how to offer it. Kouzen is very particular about some things and how his food and offerings are prepared is one of them; I had a whole lesson in how to make tchaka/tyaka, his favorite food, and it’s something that I do carefully even now.

May is the month Kouzen is celebrated, both because it is a month for agriculture and planting and because it is Haitian Heritage Month and Kouzen is the embodiment of the cultural memory of a largely agrarian society. What many vodouizan do during May is acts of charity it Kouzen’s name. In Haiti, it’s very common to prepare a big vat of tyaka and then distribute it to the poor who are begging for food or money to survive.

Given the current state of the world, committing to an act of charity in Kouzen’s name is a great way to honor this spirit that anyone can do without worrying about offending him or doing it wrong.

In Haitian Vodou, we say that without Kouzen we do not eat. In Haiti, a country that has largely survived on subsistence farming, that has been very literal for a very long time. Right now in the midst of the COVID19 crisis, food insecurity has become a huge issue among communities that have historically been marginalized in the US. Food pantries are struggling to keep up with demand and orgs that serve communities that feel the reality of systemic oppression are being hit hard. 

With these things in mind, one way to honor Kouzen is to donate money or time to these orgs directly. Money is often preferable, as food banks can directly purchase food, but many sites that employ volunteers to pack and distribute food are struggling as well as people are understandably reticent to volunteer for anything right now.

To find local food banks, check out Feeding America or FoodPantries.org. Call your local orgs and ask how you can donate money or time.

Additionally, YMCA and YWCA branches are often distribution points for meals for school-age children who are no longer receiving meals at schools. Call and ask how you can help.

Mutual Aid networks have sprung up and are being used in city and state-wide efforts. Mutual Aid networks are doing contactless dropoff of meals and food for elders, formerly homeless folks, and other folks who are struggling right now. A Facebook search is a good way to get hooked up to either donate or volunteer.

Homeless orgs that provide meals are struggling to find donors and struggling to support guests who are COVID19+. Homeless services are the most underfunded human service field in the US and desperately need the means to help folks right now. In my city, there has been an effort to test every single person who is homeless (which is somewhere around 3000 individuals officially, and probably around 4500 unofficially) and upwards of 50% of those tested are positive with nowhere to go to isolate and recover. My city is progressive and has a lot of medical support for them, but many cities are not. Find your local orgs and give them money.

Kouzen also values his children highly, and right now his children in Haiti are poised to suffer a lot. Despite early aggressive measures to limit the spread of the virus, COVID19 is taking hold--as of today, there are somewhere around 500 confirmed cases which means there are probably five to six times that amount of people actually ill, as testing is very limited and many people are reticent to be tested. Donating to reputable NGOs and Haitian-led initiatives gives the folks on the ground the means to a) support and treat those who are ill and need to isolate, b) provide masks, gloves, and cleaning supplies to prevent spread, and c) continue with public health campaigns to spread information about how to prevent transmission. Here’s a list of reputable places to donate:

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders is the premier medical organization in the world that provides free non-sectarian medical care in disaster areas and during emergencies. They have set up isolation units where they serve in Haiti and have been working hard on media campaigns around prevention. They have been in Haiti a long time and do really good work.

Health Equity International primarily supports and administers the St. Boniface Hospital in Fond-du-Blancs in the Sud department of Haiti. This is a comprehensive hospital that provides free care that can’t be found in other places (surgery, spinal cord injury rehab, dental care, etc) and training to Haitian doctors and nurses.

Youthaiti is a grassroots org in the Grand Anse department of Haiti that provides training to youth around sanitation and hygiene best practices and gives them job skills to bring back to their community. They work not to overwrite indigenous Haitian knowledge and practice around hygiene and sanitation, but to provide complimentary information that can be used to strengthen what is already in place. As much of Haiti does not have potable water and plumbing sufficient to remove the risk of the contamination of water with human waste, this is super important work. Their Facebook has a lot of information about their current COVID19 efforts as well.

Grown in Haiti is a small grassroots project that I really love. They focus on increasing biodiversity in food and small-scale farming to increase the ability for families to sustain themselves on re-created food forests and employ local youth to increase output and teach skills. As Haiti is increasingly deforested (charcoal is the primary affordable fuel there), this is a multi-faceted future-forward endeavor. Their Instagram documents their current efforts and projects.

A lot of arts-related NGOs have turned their efforts from producing art for sale to producing masks for medical personnel in Haiti and for Haitians. One in particular is Peace Quilts, which employs Haitian women artisans in Lilavois to produce art and handicrafts for fair and ethical wages. They’ve turned their production efforts entirely to masks right now, and donations are allowing them to purchase more mask-making material. They also provide regular updates on Facebook.

Anyone who verifies a donation (receipt or donation letter) to an org to support food security and/or efforts in Haiti to limit the spread of COVID19 can book a leson/reading with me for $10 off for the rest of May and for the entirety of June.

I hope this is helpful! Alaso Kouzen!!

[rockofeye]

If you have been wondering how to support Haitians directly and have a lasting impact on efforts to help small localized communities achieve stability long-term, this is a great opportunity to have a little money go a long way.

Houngan Sebastien is my brother and dear friend, and he is heading up this project to help with long-term hurricane recovery and revitalization in/around his home village in Haiti. Replacing coconut trees (to start..) brings back a food source, a source of medicine, opportunities for business development, and helps stabilize soil layers and reduce deforestation impacts. This has a direct effect on the local community of individuals living there.

He’s almost at his goal...throw a few dollars his way and help a Haitian community enrich itself.

[rockofeye]

Because there have been Kouzen/Azaka questions and today is Kouzen’s day, here are some videos from fetes for Kouzen, or fetes where Kouzen has come.

This is from a fet Kouzen, and shows what happens when a spirit starts to come down enmasse. Kouzen is arriving/trying to arrive in multiple heads, and quite a few folks are getting possessed or experiencing what we call a pase, where a spirit passes through their head but does not stay. Amidst the melee, people are saluting Kouzen with a candle and sometimes a bottle or the kwakwa, which is a rattle used to salute some of the lwa (the asson is not used for Kouzen, as the asson is not as common in more rural areas). A Kouzen who has already arrived is helping bring himself into other heads by placing his hat on their heads as they begin to be ridden.

This is from another fete in the same temple in the US, and specifically Kouzen Azaka Krib is arriving; notice how he is scratching all over his body and his legs. Once the chwal is seated on the floor and Kouzen is yelling, he is fully in the head of the chwal. He is clutching his belongings--his macoute, which is a specific style of Haitian bag, and his bottle--and is given his chapo/hat and his tchaka, one of his favorite meals which is a bean-based stew with a lot of vegetables and different meats in it. You can hear another Kouzen yelling in the background another couple Kouzen wandering through the frame. Kouzen sings a song he wants to hear at one point, and the crowd begins to echo him.

Kouzen Azaka Mede in Haiti. The video opens as he has just arrived. He indicates who he wants to greet by throwing his hat to them (which I find hilarious..haven’t seen him do that much, if at all), sprays a few folks down with his drink, and then a priest brings him into the badji/back room, likely to eat a little or do some work for the house. When he comes back out, his feet are itching him, and then he dances for awhile (those are traditional Kouzen dances) before leaving his chwal just as the video ends.

Alaso, Azaka Mede, Zaka Krib, Kouzen Tonnè, Minis Azaka, e tout Kouzen yo. Minis de agrikilti e travay, gwo neg de Jakmel, e gwo neg de kè m!

[rockofeye]

Do you have any experience with or know any lore around any Azaka other than Mede?

Onè respè!

I’ve met a few different Zakas out of the hefty group of them that make up the Djouba nasyon. All Zakas are focused in some way on work, agriculture, and protecting their investments. They are extremely thrifty to the point of being cheap (will argue with you over threads, crumbs, a piece of dirt, etc) and can be very suspicious and demanding, particularly when they think someone is stealing from them, not paying them well (which is also a form of stealing for Zaka), not meeting agreements (stealing), eating his food (stealing), and taking him for granted (stealing). 

In general, Zaka’s food is not tasted or even looked at too closely while it is being prepared–if you are looking at it and thinking it looks tasty or something, he often assumes you are going to steal from him–and it shouldn’t be tasted while being prepared. Likewise, he tends to get tricksy when he comes and takes his food and his other offerings; if he starts offering food without having eaten any himself or starts offering vegetables etc from his market and isn’t asking for or won’t take money, it’s probably a trap. He likes a bit of extortion at times. I once saw him charge someone $20USD for half a plantain.

Most Kouzens are addressed as Kouzen (Cousin) as a term of respect and familiarity.

Kouzen is always hungry and ALWAYS protecting his investments. At the fet Kouzen this past summer down in Haiti, there were shouting matches between Kouzens over who had more beans in their tchaka or more moushwa in their bags. Some of them did (gentle) battle with hoes and scythes to protect their stuff, several of them grabbed things and ran from the temple to prevent other Kouzens from getting it (whole trays of candles, tobacco, etc). One wore five hats. One remembered where two of the ti fey of the house had left their cell phones and stole them and shoved them in their bag. 

In some ways, Kouzen will be a beggar–he begs for money from fet attendees, can get upset when you don’t have any, and might just sit down on the ground and pout until he gets what he thinks he deserves.

Many Zakas have the same characteristics; a lot of the differences in name can speak to place of origin in Haiti (he has large roots in Jacmel, but also out in Abricots, in the mountains, and in more rural areas) and can be very tied to place in that the Zaka(s) associated with a lineage may be specific to where that lineage is from in Haiti. 

Minis Azaka (Minister Azaka) is often a Zaka in charge of business administration affairs, like a farmer might oversee a larger field production. Zaka Krib is a Zaka who arrives manifesting symptoms of a parasite that is common among farmers in Haiti, and he sits on the ground and scratches his legs until he is given a bouji with which to apply heat to the parasites, which calms the itching. Zaka Tonnè is a more Petwo manifestation of Zaka and it’s said he sometimes will arrive with big thunderstrikes. Zaka Mòn is a more rural Zaka from the mountains.

Kouzen often speaks Kreyol in dialects found among more rural folks, and/or in a high nasal pitch which can be difficult for anyone who is not super fluent to understand…and even then, it can be a challenge. He is an excellent ally to have by BOY HOWDY do you not want to make him unhappy.

One of my favorite Kouzen stories is from a big spiritual feeding for Kouzen done down in Haiti a few years ago. The particular Kouzen that this was for was in a pretty nasty mood, and so as soon as all the food that was set on the ground for him–which makes it his–was put out, it went visibly bad. Like, smelled sour and looked off. We’re talking several goats worth of meat, cooked vegetables, kwi/half hollowed calabash gourds used as bowls filled with tchaka, his favorite dish made with beans, beef, sometimes chicken, and sometimes crab….and all of it has turned. No one saw it right away, and no one saw it until it was too late.

Kouzen came and was kind of nasty and essentially expressed his displeasure by dragging his butt across the ground (which is liking wiping your ass on all surfaces) to sort of lay down his spiritual scent, as it were. It’s worth noting that no one had done anything to displease him or done anything incorrectly, he can just be kind of a dick sometimes.

So, he came and ate some of his food and then began offering it to people to eat, which is normal for him and it’s a blessing under average circumstances. Every single person who ate his food got violently, messily ill for at least a week. EVERYONE. Even people Kouzen has a real affection for. It didn’t matter whether you got a single bean or a bowl of tchaka, you went down for the count. The only people who did not get sick was the person who Kouzen had mounted and one person who didn’t eat anything because of some food allergies. My husband had the extraordinary shits for an entire month before Kouzen relented, and he was not the only one. Kouzen does not play around.

And that’s storytime!

If you have more questions about Kouzen, I’m happy to answer them!

[rockofeye]

Minis Azaka n'ape di'w bonswa!  O bonswaaa-o Minis-o!  Kouzen Zaka n'ape di'w bonswa!  O bonswa-o Minis-o!  Azaka Mede n'ape di'w bonswa... Azaka Gweliye n'ape di'w bonswa... Zaka Kwesi n'ape di'w bonswa... Kouzen e Kouzin n'ape di'w bonswa! O bonswaaa-o Minis-o!  Zaka ki kote'w prale?  Minis Zaka ki kote'w prale la? Azaka Mede m'pral nan pakoti-e move tan'n bare mwen!

[rockofeye]

ALASO, Kouzen gwo neg m.

[rockofeye]

ALASO, Kouzen Zaka gwo neg m. W te fe gwo mirak pou m, w sevite piti. Gras a misericorde!