by Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen

This post, shared in March 2005 as part of a teaching unit on the lwa La Sirene, addresses one of the most fundamental and most misunderstood aspects of Haitian Vodou theology: its monotheism. The document responds directly to the common accusation — widespread among Haitian Protestants and Catholics — that Vodouisants "serve Satan." Mambo Racine explains that Haitian Vodou is rigorously monotheistic: the lwa are powerful spiritual beings, but they are subordinate to God, and they themselves acknowledge this in their songs.

The teaching centers on a Vodou song for La Sirene — the whale-spirit who rules the seas, patron lwa of the Roots Without End Society — in which La Sirene declares: "There is nothing greater than God in the country." Mambo Racine uses this line to illuminate the structure of Vodou spiritual authority: God is supreme; the lwa act only "si Bondye vle" (if God wants); and the highest form of devotion to La Sirene is to deepen one's devotion to the One God.

The document also provides a rich description of how La Sirene arrives during ceremony — the preparation by initiates, the blue kerchiefs, the buckets of water, the champagne and ceremonial food, and the maternal generosity with which she distributes her offerings back to her children.

Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen was an American-born mambo asogwe of Haitian Vodou, initiated in Haiti, where she ran a peristyle in Jacmel, Southern Department, and trained initiates from the United States, the United Kingdom, Trinidad, and other countries. Her Usenet posts provide one of the most detailed publicly available records of authentic diaspora Haitian Vodou practice in the English language.

As Vodouisants, we believe in only One God. This God is all-powerful, all-knowing. We believe that this One God is the same God served by both Roman Catholics and all the various types of Protestants, although they do not agree with us. In Haiti, both Roman Catholics and Protestants practice hate speech against Vodouisants. They slander us with the assertion that we "serve Satan," but nothing could be further from the truth.

The lwa are not God. They are lesser beings, and can only act with the acquiescence of God. This belief is so strongly rooted in Haitian psychology, no one says, "See you tomorrow," without adding "si Bondye vle" — "if God wants." If a man says "See you tomorrow," and does not say, "...if God wants", the person to whom he is speaking is apt to add it for him, since omitting this phrase is tantamount to tempting God!

Almost any statement about the future requires this qualifier. "Bef mwen ap met ba demen, si Bondye vle" — "My cow will give birth tomorrow, if God wants."

This does not mean that Haitians, or Vodouisants, are fatalists. If a person is victimized by ill fortune or by the aggressive attack of another, no one thinks that God has willed it so. Attacks, physical or magical, upon innocent people are a sin. However — and this is a big "however" — in rural Haitian communities, feuds over land, over women, over past attacks, can go on for generations. Sometimes it is not clear who is innocent and who is not. In these cases, Houngans, Mambos and bokors will all be working wanga, enthusiastically engaging in magical wars.

Under such conditions, a peristyle is a place of refuge, where the initiate children of the house are protected and nourished. And a lwa such as La Sirene, beneficent and powerful, is an excellent choice for a peristyle's ruling lwa. She is the loving Mother of All, the wealthy Queen of the Seas.

In our peristyle, the Roots Without End Society, La Sirene is a frequent visitor. She is served in the Rada portion of a Vodou ceremony, and when it is time for her songs and her dances, my initiate children are more than happy to prepare for her arrival! They make ready buckets of water with which to drench and cool her (and I suspect they get a kick out of rendering their disciplinarian Mambo soaking wet!), they place her offerings on the altar surrounding the poto mitan (centerpost), they tie their heads with beautiful pale blue satin kerchiefs. Anyone who has temporarily drifted away to the bathroom, or to chat with friends, immediately comes back into the ceremonial space, and all the initiates present draw closer together before the drums.

When La Sirene appears, she kisses and hugs and caresses her children. She drinks her champagne or anisette, and if her ceremonial food has been prepared she eats it, but she gives the greater portion of her offerings to her children, just as a good mother takes the food from her own mouth to insure that the needs of her children are satisfied.

There are many songs about La Sirene. In one of the most significant, the first line announces the name of the lwa, and then proceeds as if the lwa herself were singing — which is often enough the case! La Sirene is the Whale, the powerful mammal, the nursing mother that lives in the depths of the sea and knows its secrets. "I am the Whale," she affirms.

The next line is most significant. "There is nothing greater than God in the country," says La Sirene, before she goes on to announce, "I am the Whale, I command." In other words, La Sirene commands "if God wants"!

Therefore, those who make a service to La Sirene are encouraged to increase their devotion to God. Spend as much time serving God as you do serving the lwa, for only by the permission of God can the force and power of La Sirene affect your life.

Learn a prayer to the One God, if you do not already know one. The Lord's Prayer is a good choice. A Jewish person might say the "Shema", which begins, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." You may serve God as Goddess, but make sure you understand this to be the One Most High, the Almighty!

Colophon

Written by Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen (Kathy Grey), a mambo asogwe of Haitian Vodou, founder of the Roots Without End Society, posted to alt.religion.voodoo, alt.religion.orisha, soc.culture.haiti, and alt.pagan in March 2005. Originally part of a teaching unit on La Sirene conducted on the Vodou Arts online forum; cross-posted to Usenet for wider readership. Mambo Racine ran a peristyle in Jacmel, Haiti and trained initiates from multiple countries for over two decades.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected]

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