Erzulie

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, the inspiration typically used in the depiction of Erzulie Dantor

Erzulie (sometimes spelled Erzili or Ezili) is a family of loa, or spirits in Vodou.

Maîtresse Mambo Erzulie Fréda Dahomey

Erzulie Fréda Dahomey, the Rada aspect of Erzulie, is the Haitian African spirit of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. She wears three wedding rings, one for each husband - Damballa, Agwe and Ogoun. Her symbol is a heart, her colours are pink, blue, white and gold, and her favourite sacrifices include jewellery, perfume, sweet cakes and liqueurs. Coquettish and very fond of beauty and finery, Erzulie Freda is femininity and compassion embodied, yet she also has a darker side; she is seen as jealous and spoiled and within some Vodoun circles is considered to be lazy. During ritual possession, she may enter the body of either a man or a woman. She enjoys the game of flirtation and seduces people without distinguishing between sexes. In Christian iconography she is often identified with the Mater Dolorosa, as well as another loa named Metres Ezili. She is conceived of as never able to attain her heart's most fervent desire. For this reason she always leaves a service in tears. Common syncretizations include Iyalorde Oxum as she relates to the Yoruba Vodu goddess of erotic love, gold and femininity.

Èrzulie Dantòr

Erzulie Dantòr is the Queen of the Petro nation and the mother of "Ti Jean Petro", she is often depicted as a fearsome black woman, protectively holding "Ti Jean Petro" in her arms. She is a particularly fierce protector of women, children and the neglects of society. She is the Lwa Pwen, in contrast with Èrzuli Freda who will bless you with material riches, Èrzulie Dantòr will give you the Spiritual Knowledge needed to navigate through this material reality. Èrzulie Dantòr's wealth lasts and can be passed on from one generation to another, whereas Èrzuli Freda, in any of her jealous fits, can deprive overnight of the gains she helped you to achieve.

She is often portrayed to resemble the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, as she is represented as being dark-skinned with two scars on her face. Her colours are red, black and blue. Her favourite sacrifices include black pigs, griot (seasoned fried pork), blood (seven stabs of the sword), and rum.

Ti Jean Petro is her son and Jean Petro is her lover or husband.

Erzulie Family

Similar spirits in the pantheon

• La Sirène or Mami Wata is associated with Erzulie and sometimes is displayed in Erzulie's roles as mother, lover, and protector. Her husband is Agwe, the King of the Sea and patron of sailors and fishermen.
• Marinette Bras-Chêche or Marinette Bwa Chech ("Marinette of the Dry Arms"), a Kongo Loa, is similar to Erzulie Dantor. She represents revolt and misfortune and is prayed to either to placate her wrath or to direct her fury at another. She is in the form of a skeleton or rotting corpse and is syncretically represented by the Anima Sola ("Forsaken Soul").
• Mai-Louise is an Ibo goddess.
• Ti-Quitta / Ti Kitha, a Loa of sexuality and fertility, is one of the Quitta Loas. One of her aspects is Ti Quitta Demembre (Dismembered Quitta).
• Maman Brigitte ("Mother Brigitte"), is a Guede goddess who is the wife of Baron Samedi and protector of gravestones or funerary markers. She is syncretically represented by St Brigit.
• Tsillah Wedo is associated with Erzulie. She is depicted as a beautiful virgin of great wealth.

Erzulie in popular culture

Music

• Erzulie nennen O, a song in honor of Erzulie Freda that was composed in the 1890s by Kandjo, continues to be played in Haiti as part of its folkloric repertoire.
• A 1991 song on the album Rising Above Bedlam by Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart. Released by Oval Records in 1991. The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 1992 Mercury Prize.
• A 1988 solo album by free-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor is called Erzulie Maketh Scent.
• "Mistress of Erzulie" was the first track on Alannah Myles' 1995 album A-lan-nah.
• Erzulie (Freda) is also a character in the Broadway musical Once On This Island as the beautiful goddess of love.
• In the Steely Dan song "Two Against Nature" (the third track from the album of the same name), the narrator describes Madame Erzulie as a succubus who "bangs you silly but leaves a nasty bite."

Literature

• A powerful swamp witch/voodoo woman in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Witches Abroad is named Erzulie Gogol. She is the lover of Genua's former ruler, Baron Saturday (Baron Samedi).
• In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic Past Lives, part 4, Erzulie is invoked to clear a room of all magic.
• Erzulie, Papa Legba and Baron Samedi all appear in the WildCats original comic series, assisting Voodoo.
• There is discussion of a portrait of Maitresse Erzulie in Zadie Smith's 2005 novel On Beauty.
• In Kira Saito's Arelia LaRue series, Arelia is blessed by Erzulie as a baby. Erzulie is Arelia's main protector and one of the loa called upon the most throughout the series.
• Erzulie is a love goddess in House of Whispers, in the current run of The Sandman comics series.

Television

• In The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, "Ezili" is the surname of the villain Calypso, a voodoo practitioner who had no last name in the original comics.

Broadway

In the Broadway show Once On This Island, Erzulie is one of the 4 main gods that guide and influence the main character. Once On This Island came to Broadway from 1990-1991 and had a revival from 2018-present.

Notes