Happy Tuesday, one and all! :-) I am reposting this blog about ceremonial clothing because for awhile my mother-in-law, the talented and wonderful Eileen, was unable to do the apron and scarf sets because she had a double knee replacement. She is all healed and back in the garden and at the sewing machine! ;-) So for those of you who have been waiting to order, she is available again for your orders.
Love,
Mambo Sam
Hello everyone! As many of you already know, we have recently begun to sell New Orleans Voodoo Apron and Scarf sets. :-) These are made as a collaboration between my lovely mother-in-law, Eileen, and myself. Many of you already know Eileen from the conventions! Some of you have seen her other handiwork in the Erzulie Voodoo Pillows (which we will be offering up again soon!). She is extremely creative and talented.
Many questions have come up surrounding the apron/scarf sets – how to use them, why, what do they represents, do you need one or more than one or any at all, etc.
Let's first just talk briefly about ceremonial clothing in general. Needless to say, Voodoo isn't the only religion or practice with ceremonial clothing. Nearly every major religion has some form of ceremonial clothing, though most of the time this garb is used by the clergy within the religion. Voodoo is a bit different in that everyone who practices ritual or serves the Lwa (Voodoo Spirits) is entitled to wear certain ceremonial clothing.
In Haitian Voodoo, there are many different types of ceremonial clothing – white clothing for Rada ceremonies, red clothing for Petro ceremonies, different color combinations for different events! In fact, different Houses may have different colors that they use when going to public events, such as Rara, to distinguish themselves from each other. Ceremonial clothing is used to honor sometimes all Lwa, one Lwa, or the House from which you come.
In New Orleans Voodoo, we tend to wear a lot of white! I have a theory that mostly that is because it gets so gosh-darned hot there! LOL. Of course, the same is true of Haiti, so that might shoot a hole in my theory. Let me just say that in all my years of growing up going to rituals, almost all the time it was with everyone dressed in white. The exception was the usage of brightly colored aprons! I was taught that the aprons were an homage to the slaves and houseworkers and hair dressers, etc., that brought us and shared with us their beautiful religion. Naturally, we also honor the Lwa in wearing these aprons and head scarves.
At www.spellmaker.com, we have taken these aprons a step further in trying to make them as beautiful as possible and to honor individual lwa through the use of colors, patterns, and decorative items on the apron. For instance, the Erzulie Freda apron below was made especially for the lovely Khouzhan Avery and it is a beautiful violet-pink luxurious material. An applique of a beautiful butterfly (as a nod to Ogoun Feraille) is on the bodice, and it is trimmed in gold for Erzulie's love of golden things! The head scarf has three golden rings (an homage to her three husbands) attached to one end so they will fall down Khouzhan Avery's back of the neck when the scarf is tied. The pictures don't really do the aprons justice because it is hard to show the little details!
When an apron/scarf set is ordered, the first thing we do is see what we know about the person! If you are our regular customer, that is pretty easy since we get to know you pretty well! :-) If you are not, I may email you and ask you a few questions to get a feel for what your personal preferences are. Next, Eileen and I go through material, beads, buttons, trim and decorations. I start out by asking the particular lwa you have picked to guide me and show me what s/he wants or likes. It is funny how readily they vocalize their desires! Both Eileen and myself have felt immediate likes and dislikes! They have their ways of guiding us, that is for sure!
Once we decide on everything for the apron/scarf, I consecrate every item she will be using, even the thread. :-) Then off to work she goes to do her magick! Once the apron is finished, I consecrate the finished product in your name and the name of the Lwa for whom you have asked the apron/scarf to be created. The set is then shipped to you!
The set can be used for any Voodoo magickal endeavor you are doing – spell work, adjunct work, etc. Even if that particular lwa is not usually involved in that particular work it is okay to still wear your apron/scarf and ask them to assist your work and bring their blessing into it. I certainly do not see any wrong way you could use it. Some folks have reported just wearing the apron and scarf when they were meditating, or working on computer projects at home that had nothing to do with voodoo, etc. They felt help from the lwa and felt they concentrated better and were more productive!
One person was having migraines and put their apron and scarf on and just laid down for awhile and ask for the lwa's help, fell into a deep sleep, and woke up feeling wonderful! I think there are just a million creative ways you could use your apron and scarf. In fact, once more people have them, I will ask everyone to please let us know and we can post that!
Hunky and talented Khouzhan Menfo kindly shared this picture of him in his set for Capitaine Agwe. There is more than a nod in this set to Agwe's wife, LaSirene! There is a tiny lighthouse charm on one corner of the head scarf. The material was patterned with whales and Eileen and I could not buy it fast enough when we saw it! We were giggling like little school girls, especially when from the shelf above the material a roll of silver trim FELL OFF right into Eileen's hand! LOL.
Our sweet and lovely and wonderful and adorable (oh how I can go on!) Sister Bridget, shared pictures of her aprons on her Facebook Page. Her is a picture of her Gran Bwa apron (of course it has a matching headscarf!) It has cool beading and there are buttons that are leaf shaped on it. She also has a beautiful apron to Ogoun Badagris on her Facebook page.
All in all, these aprons and head scarves are a labor of love and much time is spent in the planning of them and choosing things to go with them. :-) If you have any questions, please let us know!
Love, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield
www.spellmaker.com