Vodou Culture 101: Farming

Vodou has an entire family of farmers, the head of which is Kouzen. Farming does not tend to get people excited as a topic, primarily because most of us are long removed from such an intimate relationship to the world around us. It is easy to forget, sitting in a climate controlled room with electricity providing light on demand, that we have much to do with the seasons outside our window, other than to pay the bills to keep our home at our preferred, comfortable temperature—assuming we can afford it.

We forget that we have a relationship to the land, to nature and the wheel of the seasons.

I’ve posted prior to this series that a surprising amount of witchcraft involves hiking. It also can involve hunting and foraging, but the rest involves a bit of farming. There’s a number of reasons this is a useful skill to have if you intend to be involved in vodou, but one of the most important is that growing things gives us a more direct connection to nature: we have to pay attention to the seasons, the weather, the sun, and the soil. We need that connection to help us remember that the life we live is largely artificial. We have to sweat and more importantly, to feed the land itself, which is the essence of what we have forgotten, living more comfortably.

We have forgotten that we must feed the land to be fed.

The spirits often encourage people to keep a garden, even a plant or two in a pot, to help us remember our relationship to the world around us. Keeping things alive helps us to remember to live ourselves.

I spent yesterday planting with two other priests, forearm deep in the soil. We blessed the garden after planting it.

A bit later, I will post an herb garden picture. If you know a bit about magic, you’ll likely recognize many of the plants in the picture.

We are working witches, the other priests and I. No witch is going to get too far from a garden.