Incantations

Vodou tè a ee salou e! (Earth Spirit, hail to you!)

Vodou dlo a ee, salou e! (Spirit of Water, greetings to you!)

Vodou lè a ee, salou e! (Spirit of the Air, greetings to you!)

Vodou zo a ee, salou e! (Spirit of Fire, hail to you!)

Manzé & Lòlò Beaubrun

Vodou is shaped by the belief that discord can disrupt physical and mental well-being. In this sense, the pursuit of balance enables one to master the challenges of everyday life and connect with the spiritual forces of the ancestors, who are believed to govern human existence. In this opening blessing, Vodou practitioners, musicians, and political activists Lòlò and Manzé Beaubrun invoke the loa (spirits) of earth, water, air, and fire to ask for balance and to reconnect with the knowledge and powers that made the original gathering at Bwa Kayiman possible.

Dutty Boukman, Cécile Fatiman, and their comrades also played a crucial role, as they led the troops into the mangrove forest where the ceremony took place in 1791. Boukman was captured shortly thereafter and subsequently murdered by French colonial troops. He is still regarded as a national hero in Haiti, which inspired the Beaubruns to name their band, founded in 1978, Boukman Eksperyans. As founding members of Boukman Eksperyans, Lòlò and Manzé Beaubrun pursue their revolutionary mission in both social and spiritual terms, supported in this endeavor by their son, Ted Beaubrun.

• Part of Bwa Kayiman: Crossing the Mangrove.