by Mambo Racine Sans Bout

Erzulie Dantor is a Petro lwa — fierce, protective, the defender of women and children, patron of single mothers and those wronged in love. She is imaged as a dark-skinned woman in a blue robe carrying a brown child, represented by the Catholic icon of the Mater Salvatoris or Santa Barbara Africana. Unlike her sister Erzulie Freda, the elegant Rada spirit of romantic love, Dantor speaks in the language of direct action: the KE-KE-KE that only initiates can translate. Her weapon is a knife. Her justice is swift.

Most Vodou magic is proprietary, known only to the priests who perform it. But some rituals belong to the whole community. Mambo Racine Sans Bout posted this ritual for Erzulie Dantor to alt.religion.voodoo in September 2008, offering it explicitly to non-initiates who have no houngan or mambo nearby. It uses materials available in any home — silverware, copper wire, a candle, and hard candy — along with the image of Dantor available at any botanica. The ritual is intended for those who have been wronged in relationship: a woman seeking justice from a man who has hurt her, or a man seeking protection from a woman's righteous anger.

Most Vodou magic is proprietary, by which I mean that the magician will do the work for you, but she or he will not tell you how to do it yourself — you have to pay the magician.

But here is one that most people in Haiti know.

What You Will Need

• A knife, fork, and spoon
• A yard or two of bare copper wire
• A white candle
• An image of Erzulie Dantor (available in Hispanic botanicas as either the Mater Salvatoris or Santa Barbara Africana — a black woman in a blue robe and wearing a crown, against a gold background, carrying a brown child in a pink robe who also wears a crown)

The Work

This magic is usually done by women against men who have offended them, or by men who know they have done something wrong to a woman and want to ward off her aggressive magic.

Put the knife and fork together vertically. Put the spoon across them horizontally to make a cross. Wrap the copper wire around and around at the midpoint, to hold it all together — and while you are wrapping, say what is bothering you.

Then put up the image of Erzulie Dantor, but upside down. Light the candle and lean the silverware up against the image: that is Dantor's weapon. Also, give her a few yellow candies — butterscotch hard candies — if you want.

Tell Dantor what the problem is and what you want her to do, and be sure to say, "Thank you in advance!"

Then let the candle burn out.

Colophon

Written by Mambo Racine Sans Bout (Karen McCarthy), founder of the Roots Without End Society and mambo asogwe of Haitian Vodou, initiated in Jacmel, Haiti. Posted to alt.religion.voodoo on September 17, 2008.

This ritual is one of a small number of non-proprietary Vodou practices that Mambo Racine shared publicly for non-initiates. It reflects the broader tradition of lay service in Haitian Vodou — the recognition that the lwa may be approached by anyone who comes in sincerity, not only by the initiated clergy. The inverted image of Dantor is a classic Petro posture, signaling the reversal of harm or the activation of Dantor's protective aggression.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: c3e2f22c-1427-47d1-b6d1-fe1981075f4b@m44g2000hsc.googlegroups.com.

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