Ayizan

Initiation, markets, dignity

Ayizan, often called Ayizan Velekete, is the lwa of initiation and markets in Haitian Vodou. Served in the Rada rite, she is held to be the first mambo, the one who opens the way to ritual knowledge: no initiate crosses the threshold without her. Her emblem is the shredded palm frond, the fey palmis, whose white fibres hang at the entrance of the peristyle and are worn during the kanzo, the initiation ceremony. She purifies, she protects consecrated places, and she watches over markets, those other crossroads where words circulate as much as goods. Wife of Papa Loko, she forms with him the couple who guard the temple and hand down knowledge. She is served with simple offerings, without luxury: she is a lwa not of adornment but of dignity. Catholic imagery has linked her to Saint Clare. Her colours are white and silver. Her name points to the region of Allada, in Benin, and to Velekete, a market on the coast: the memory of the Bight of Benin is held in this single name.