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Erzulie
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia
Erzulie, also called Irzulie or Ezili, is one of
the deities or lwas (loas) worshipped in the religion of
Voudou (Voodoo).
While her name derives from the Dahomey serpent goddess Ezi-Aku, her aspects
and character are most reminiscent of the Benin goddess (or orisha)
Osun, who is worshipped as Oshun in the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santeria.
Like Osun, Erzulie is the goddess of love and beauty, with many different avatars.
Of chief concern to members of the gay community are two of her most popular
avatars, Erzulie Freda (or Erzulie Freda Dahomey) and Erzulie Dantor (or
Dantour).
Erzulie Freda is usually represented
as a white woman, very wealthy, heavily perfumed, and loving luxury.
She is coquettish, flamboyant, fickle, and flirtatious. In Haitian
Voudou, male homosexuals are seen as under her protection, and most of
her male priests, or houngans are gay. While homosexuality
is not entirely accepted in Haitian society, service to Erzulie Freda does
allow gay men who are feminine or flamboyant to express themselves
freely and openly, since their behavior is seen as emulating that of their
patron lwa.
Erzulie Dantor, by contrast, is much
fiercer in nature. She is a black woman, bearing tribal scars on
her cheeks and wielding sharp knives, of which she is very fond.
Followers of Voudou both fear and respect her power. This aspect
of Erzulie is the protector not only of newly initiated priests and priestesses
(mambos), but also of lesbians. She also protects and
avenges women against domestic violence and rape. Erzulie Dantor
is married to two male lwas, Ti-Jean Petro and Simbi Makaya, but is still
spoken of as sometimes lesbian herself.
Curiously, though they are essentially
different forms of the same goddess, Erzulie Freda and Erzulie Dantor are
said to be enemies and to fight frequently. This may be an echo of
the racial and class tensions between black Haitian slaves and their rich
French masters, which eventually led to the Haitian Revolt of the 1790s.
It could also be symbolic of the tensions which sometimes arise between
gay men and lesbian women. Some gay men do express a certain
degree of sexism and misogyny, which can be rather rankling to lesbian
and bisexual women. And some issues of importance to lesbian
feminists, especially pornography, can be quite divisive with male members
of the gay community.
Another of the lwas, Aida-Wedo, wife
of the serpent lwa Danbhalah or Damballah, is seen by some as another avatar
of Erzulie. This is rather interesting from a gay standpoint, as
Aida-Wedo is none other than the Rainbow. External links: ERZULIE DANTOR - The divine goddess Thousands make voodoo pilgrimage Entry revised 15 October, 2004. All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details). |
