Mange Lwa: favorite food recipes

Here are a collection of a few recipes. Of course spirits like Papa Legba likes his grilled foods or roast chicken, but these are typically cultural that are also associated with Lwa, beyond giving say a mango or red beans and rice (riz au pois) to an Ogun. Gran Bwa, of the forest and of herbal medicine, is partial to peanut cakes, bread, and cornmeal, and he is the only vegetarian Lwa.


Rice, Yucca (the cassava, tapioca plant), Yams and Corn are very important crops and staples along with tropical fruits such as mango and bananas or plantains. Corn and Yucca are appropriate dishes to give the Taino and indigenous Lwa. Akasan is a corn flour shake typically taken at Haitian services and on Sunday morning.


http://www.dadychery.org/2012/03/10/akasan-for-sunday-morning/

Corn is just one of the substances we use to feed veve and other items, a very important plant.

Jou Mou: Pumpkin Soup 

This soup is traditionally eaten at New Years in Haiti, to celebrate during initiations, and the freedom which came from their revolution against the French. It was once forbidden for slaves to eat this Sunday Soup during slavery. The Petro and the Simbis are celebrated particularly around New Years and the iconography of the three magi. It is served in a banquet with other dishes such as spaghetti.

http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/Soup-Joumou-Recipe

FuFu: Mashed Yams with Palm oil

Made during Mange Yam fet to feed Lwa and community after harvest festival. Given to Ogun, Azaka, and the Ghede, as well as Simbi. Often also Tchaka and yucca or cassava dishes is made at this time. Still also eaten and celebrated in Ghana and Nigeria, either in September, October or Nov 24-26th in Haiti. Dried fish boiled into this mash, or mashed yucca with garlic and lime juice is also incorporated (Yucca con ajo). As this is a thanksgiving, usually the spirits of the land such as the patron saint, as well as indigenous peoples and ancestors are honored and Indio Lwa. Yucca is a Taino cemi spirit of the sun and sky god Yocahu.

Tchaka: Beef or Pork Pumpkin Stew

Called also Chaka or Tyaka, it is the favorite food of the hard working agricultural Lwa Azaka and gives you strength. If you make it for him be sure you do not taste it first, he will think you are stealing....
It is so delicious! The habanero surprisingly does not add much heat.

http://www.haitian-culture.com/haitian-food/haitian-recipes/tchaka

Griot: Fried Pork for Erzulie Dantor

Also called griyot or griyo. A well loved popular Haitian dish served with pickled veg.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017276-haitian-pork-griot
She also eats the Diri black mushroom rice, and takes black coffee with sugar.

Ti Malice Hot sauce

The legend of sos Ti-Malice (also spelled sauce Ti-Malice) is that a gentleman named Ti-Malice served the extra spicy sauce along with a meal to keep his friend Bouki from eating everything up. Ironically, it turned out that Bouki loved the sauce most of all, and he went on to rave about it to everyone he met. And so, this tangy onion condiment for fish and grilled meats remains popular in Haiti to this day.

Some associate Ti-malice with the wily creational spider spirit Anansi from the Ashanti tribe, or Ghede Zaina spider Lwa. Most Ghede and Petro love hot pepper sauce or peppers added to their foods.

http://www.whats4eats.com/sauces/sos-ti-malice-recipe

Arroz con dulce or sweet rice, candied coconut rice

Many cooler Lwa who like white foods prefer this recipe, such as La Siren, Dhambala and Aida Wedo, Agwe, Erzulie Freda or Metricili as well as the Marassa Lwa pictured as 2 twin children. If you make it for the Marassa make sure you make 2 plates with the same amount, or a dish with 2 divided portions, or they will get upset and bicker. You do not want that in your life.

This recipe is also popular in Puerto Rico, who as a Caribbean island shares some culinary similarities.

http://latinfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/Arroz-Con-Dulce-Recipe.htm

I also like to serve Puerto Rican foods at important Sanse temple events.
Eating the foods bring you closer to the culture and people who we share our spiritual family and lineage with. It is great to celebrate with. There are tons of blogs and websites out there committed to Puerto Rican and Haitian or Dominican cooking,

An easy chicken soup can be made with cubed yucca and yellow rice instead of noodles. The yuca does take awhile to cook so I usually boil them for a bit first, then add them in again after the other veg and chicken cooks after the broths is added. This is like a sanocho or stew.

My godparents gave me an easy recipe they call Puertorican pizza:
grill yellow plantains in a pan until browned, remove from heat and slice not quite all the way through the middle to open them up a bit. Saute up some onions and add your ground meat such as beef. Top the plantains with this and some mozza cheese, bake in oven until melted. You have to try this it is so yummy.

The green plantains, a starchy like banana are good for being smashed and fried as tostones.

Metricili also likes sliced bananas lightly fried with some sugar.

Horchata:
Mexican version
A great Christmas and winter warm up drink, yet still refreshing.
You can also add rum or cheat and buy rumchata at the liquor store
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/horchata-recipe1.html

Coquito is the puerto rican version,
I usually make a hybrid so its dairy free with coconut and vanilla cashew milk
http://latinfood.about.com/od/beverages/r/coquito.htm

from the travel bite

We like to drink this when we make our Christmas and New Years baths
We also make alot of mulled apple cider in the winter months.
Mama Juana a Dominican and Indio drink is a drink at this time as it keeps cold away and has alcohol and spices, it also cleanses inside and is medicinal infusion of roots and leaves.

Because we have Paleros in our house we also make Chamba: a rum infused with roots, peanuts, spices and secret ingredients.

Yamboso is infused with herbs that the congo spirits like. Azaka takes rum infused with wormwood, while Ghede take rum or gin with 21 hot peppers called Piman. The Petro and Kalfu take Kiman, which also has its secrets.

Riz Djon Djon: Black mushroom rice

Also called Diri, given during Mange Mo and Fet de Ghede to feed the dead. The Baron will typically take black beans and rice with hot sauce as well. Djon Djon is a black mushroom fungus that you can buy dried packets of to make this dish by reconstituting them in boiling water first, and remove from heat until soft, a little will expand to make a large amount. This mushroom is also served at other special occasions: Christmas, birthdays and weddings along with pork or fish. Ghede also take black beans and rice with hot sauce.

https://www.getmecooking.com/recipe/black-mushroom-rice-riz-djon-djon

Pan de Muertos: bread for the dead, and day of the dead

In espiritismo, as well as all African Diasporic traditions and worldwide most indigenous spiritual traditions venerate the ancestors. In spiritualist misa a pan espiritual liturgical bread can be made which is prayed over and blessed by the spiritual currents present in seance mass. A portion is tasted, and shared with the dead.
Bread has associations with prosperity and alchemy. A store bought loaf of bread will do in a pinch. A sourdough is traditional in espiritismo as well. You can put a piece of buttered bread on the ancestor altar, along with water and a white candle. Of course anything from your culture, that you ancestors or spirits like can be offered. Guava and pork are just some foods associated with the dead. After misa or service we will take in a small meal to replenish and recover our energy.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7224/pan-de-muertos-mexican-bread-of-the-dead/

from a woman sconed, skull, or sun, cross buns designs

If you have a coveted pan espiritual recipe please send it to me I would be grateful.
http://www.spiritofststephens.org/members/ministry-schedules/84-ministry-instructions/529-liturgicalbreadrecipe

Cassava: Casabe bread:
I use use the cassava flour without the hoop
http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/cassava-bread/
This can also be bought at ethnic and Dominican grocery

I really hope you enjoy these recipe ideas. Did I make you hungry?

Do you know of any other cultural recipes that are associated with Lwa, or cultural events associated with Vodou or espiritismo? I would love to learn more if you want to share below in the comments or message me on facebook.
~Sancista Siete Encruzhiladas~
you can follow my facebook here
or email sancista7crossroads@gmail.com

The dead can feed off the living

Recently I have seen some pretty irresponsible "blood magic" in which individuals give their own blood to various spirits such as the random dead.

In one of these public cases their apprentice suffered organ failure and left as one of the reasons. In another case the person practicing hoodoo and supposedly Haitian family Voudou lineage doesn't believe that the dead can decrease your life force, but published conversations with their neopagan friend stating how they are an energy vampire feeding off others, and church functions. As well this person who works with the general dead had situations where a spirit held down their husband in bed. In another case, a well practiced individual does this responsibly with Goetic spirits and has a way to seal this connection off involved in contracts. So what is the mechanism for attack besides a malevolent dead slapping, tripping or scratching a person directly or just influencing their mind? If we believe a living human can take others energy why cannot the disincarnate.

It is generally well documented how ghosts can physically manifest and attack the living. Rarely deaths are attributed besides manipulating the victim. Some people claim they have white hairs at a young age from ghost fright. It is also a widely held belief that ghosts can feed off of negative energy or emotions and thus provoke fear in the individual. It has been evident that ghosts can use electrical equipment, or batteries as a power source to grow stronger and use this energy to manifest or communicate. So the dead can also use neutral or positive forms of energy such as a candle, or an excited crowd at the stadium.

While this post is not about blood offering, animals are given in african traditions and I have never seen or heard of people otherwise using their own blood. I have seen a video of a man who sung to a chicken in West Africa and it died as the spirit was taken. Personally I know that there is a song sung in Palo for the spirits to come and take the rooster without having to cut it in sacrifice over the nganga spiritual cauldren, also called a prenda. Pets that inadvertently touch it have been known to occasionally die. This is a taking of life and thus life force.When blood or food is offered to spirits, they eat the energy of it, not physically unless in physical mediumship of the body of the practitioner, but I have seen water glasses appear as if they have been drank from. The community then may eat the animal that was sacrificed if it has not been used for cleansing a person.The spirit does not necessarily drink blood like water, but the life energy on it, such as bringing life to or raising the dead.

Voudou is not for cursing as it is a religion of light, but there does exist an african practice of what can be considered folk magic of sending out the dead: known as envoi mort, expidition expedite to the Haitians. This can be done for any number of reasons both positive such as healing, somewhat neutral such as information gathering or negative. This is usually done under one of the Barons of the ghede, the more congo sorcery based Bokor traditions, the nfumbe in Palo or working with the anima sola or intraquil dead.

Taken from the bohemian blog

Oya/Yansa with Chango

As afro spiritualism such as Espiritismo combines the foundation of Kardecian euro spiritism, there are shared philosophies. It is believed that the soul can seperate from the personality. The spirit if earthbound is desperate and needs an energy source to maintain itself or face dissolution, and is unlikely to receive veneration. The energy field or peri-spirit envelope of the medium is used or some borrowed or siphoned by the dead to better come through and be able to communicate made up of spiritual fluids from the universal fluids of which the ghost and incarnate is made up from. Mediumship can be an exhaustive practice such as very active dreams or physical trance mediumship aka"possession". There is a saying of 3 drops of blood, that some of your life is taken by this practice. Healing hand passes also work on the principle of magnetism and adding or removing energy on ones body.

 Marefun Shango

Some people, especially physically active projective men have an abundance of virile magical life force or what they call in the Yoruban traditions "ashe" and may not notice this slow drain or as it becomes replaced or as some have an energy work practice of a way of storing and raising it in their spiritual bodies. Keeping the central channel strong, clean and centered or balanced also affords one some protection, as part of many cultures energy practices. The young, elderly, household animals or sick are thus more vulnerable.This could be partially why there are some taboos against working with certain spirits while woman are menstruating as the blood is attractive, a ready source, and prolonged bleeding or pain can result.

When one is said to have a spirit attachment what then is the mechanism of attack? Ill health is said to result from attacks such as diagnosable or especially undiagnosed or unimproved medical conditions as the underlying problem. The teeth have to be properly cared for, such as using good oral health care and coconut pulling to prevent this opening via cavities and gum bleeding. The teeth are symbolic as a mechanism of defense, and the ability of an organism to take in sustenance, feeding or nutrition for life. Any conditions such as mental problems can result or be aggravated impacting daily life.

The intestines or gallbladder and liver area may show signs of attack. The visceral organs of sacrificed animals were removed and divined as a seat of spirit after sacrifice by the Babylonians, Grecoromans, and Britons by reading the messages, energies and conditions. The Chinese also view this as an area symptomatic of spiritual attack. It is known to the Vedics as the solar plexus and point of distribution of life and spiritual energy. The Nahuatl in MesoAmerica view this energy as solar and linked to the parts of the soul, temperature and heat, life force in the blood, disease, aging and death called tonalli which resides and is divided into several areas of the body, such as the crown of the head, the heart and blood, the liver, and every living thing as well as ritual objects. Nicholas Frisvold on his blog serpent shed states, "and ihiyotl, the life force, resides in the liver, and is very much the province of La Negra", referring to an aspect of La Santisma Muerte. As the victim loses the ability to sustain themself, they lose energy, are lethargic, and further lose the ability to defend themself if the disease state and vampirism progresses. It can be difficult, especially for the lay person to remove a serious spiritual attachment.

The "aura" or energy shield around a person can indicate vitality, energy type and health of a person by those who have clairvoyance or the sight. It can be developed and strong, or weak. We actually have layers of energy bodies, but most people have heard of the astral body or dream body. This moon area is corresponded to the genital area. Although the dead are not strictly astral, some of them can hang out in the lower realm of it. Some cultures do associate the moon with the dead, as it is the heavenly representation at night, the opposite of life; the sun by day.

Sleep paralysis might just be part of a abnormal process of the sleep state. However many report presence of an entity or entities or implied malevolent spiritual source such as shadow people. This has been mythologically associated with succubus and incubus or witches sitting on the chest. It is viewed as spiritual attack and domination. The spirits can also feed off of sexual energy. Poltergeist activity is enhanced around sensitive people, repressed negativity, and teenagers when their hormones and sexual energy is potent and they are still relatively open and undeveloped. Life and life force is undeniably linked to sexual energy. The shape-shifting astral or dream attack can be symbolized as a bat, a vampiric, night flying creature. Some may say, these are not necessarily living or dead humans, but there is little spiritual difference. The dead can change their appearance at will. What some call demons are just different classes of spirits, including the dead who are misunderstood or angry, appearing and acting daemonic.

Some people have felt cold or hot energy spots or chills in the environment, and attribute this commonly to presence of the dead. Spirits actually show up as hot spots using heat readings of ghost hunting equipment. Like when you put on your jacket too long before going out in the winter, or coming out of a hot shower, the surrounding temperature feels colder than it is. The ghosts draw off energy and it feels cold as you lose energy like condensation of water of the outside of a cold glass in warmer ambient temperature like swamp coolers. When you feel hot or agitated the spirit is actually even more very close to you and overlapping your energy fluids and body.

When there is ritual tattoo, scarification or cutting, it impacts the spiritual body as a marking. There needs to be an opening or a carving or hollowing out of a space for something to be placed within. And such is also true on crowning or when the head is opened and then closed for spirit placement in initiations. The Yorubans have this Orisha and concept of the head and consciousness as Ori as a seat of luck and guidance, also connected to divination of the kola nut Obi. Later some people changed this to the coconut shell rounds instead.

By creating an open wound or cut upon the body, and then inviting and opening oneself up to the malevolent dead, disastrous consequences can result. Some people want to give their blood to their ancestors, but are often not informed to cleanse and dedicate the space to only the good elevated ones. Connecting to the ancestors I suppose can be done someway with blood safely, but as a continual practice of offering, I personally feel it is inappropriate. There needs to be a trained way to close the door to the random unelevated dead, and their access to you. Banishing pentagrams are seen as an astral practice as I was taught in ceremonial magick, and thus ineffective against the dead.

Malevolent dead can masquerade as other spirits, and even advanced mediums can be wrong. Giving your own blood to spirits is a European idea in terms of pacts, and would as offerings also historically sacrifice animals. Human blood is not given to the Lwa in Voudou, or our spiritually evolved disincarnate spirit guides in spiritualism or Espiritismo, such as La madama commission group of spirits. Traditions where this was possibly practiced in the past have now taken vows against this or evolved to now take animals or plant substances as sacrifice. I cannot speak for Palo Mayombe, but if this is done it is likely the very very extremely minuscule small minority, such as sporadically seen in South America with drug lords and not a standard practice. Like dogs that have to be put down once they have killed and tasted human blood uncommanded, why do you want to look like a tasty cheeseburger to the spirits? We bear responsibility to our spirits as well as ourself for elevation. In spiritualism we believe negative spirits are suffering and need charity and compassion as well as a firm hand and personal boundaries.

Intranquil dead, anima solas"lonely souls", zombie astral, or earthbound spirits can be increasingly demanding and cause harm to you and people around you, and working with them at all is very dangerous unless you are highly trained to work with them. They are the dead who likely died in violence or suicide, or cannot move on due to perceived wrongs or willful placement. Most highly trained people who do this will not do this work in their home lest they become a haunted person or have items or their house contaminated. Novices who dabble in such dirty work or neopagan authors who put out superficial information do not even know or teach how to cleanse themselves or teach safety about the cemetery or necromancy for prevention around these acts. Being baptised or initiated in these african traditions, and having the head sealed and connected to higher spirits affords us a measure of protection, or an understanding with the dead. We still take precautions and have our good spirits as protection. Some people are born or have anima solas in their spiritual court or frame that aren't necessarily evil, but they must be assisted and dealt with.

Note: I am not a Palera nor an initiate in the Lucumi faiths, I am trying to illustrate the spiritualist viewpoint, specifically afro spiritualism of Espiritismo and Sanse using my interpretations of these cultural expressions, so please ask a priest/ess in those aforementioned traditions for more religion specific questions or clarifications.

Until next time,
S7X