This image, variously known as the Mater Salvatoris and as Santa Barbara Africana, is used in Haiti to represent Erzulie Dantor. Scanned and digitally altered by Mambo Racine Sans Bout. Greetings in the name of God, the ancestors and the lwa! I invite you to perform a service for the lwa Erzulie Dantor!

Erzulie Dantor is a Petro lwa, and she is one of the most widely served lwa in the Petro group. She is fiercely protective of those who serve her. She can be aggressive toward outsiders and dangerous to enemies, but she is sweet as honey to her children. Magical ability and material wealth are both in her power to grant. She is invoked to grant these things, and also to avenge wrongs done to those who serve her. Women invoke her in cases of domestic violence and rape, and Dantor is widely considered the patron lwa of lesbian women. Yet men serve her assiduously as well, for the sake of the protection she grants them.



This is a Petro drum, made by Haitian craftsmen and painted with designs originated by Mambo Racine Sans Bout. This service will be about protection, and about retribution for wrongs and abuse. You may choose to ask for magical protection against enemies, material wealth, or vengeance against a rapist or abuser.

Roots Without End Society members are initiates of Mambo Racine and have been taught how to do a more compex ceremony which recognizes their status as Houngans and Mambos and hounsis kanzo, and their ownership of sacred objects such as pakets and kolyes and assons. But even a non-initiate can make a powerful and effective service for Erzulie Dantor - especially if the non-initiate has the materials, the bath and the songs provided in the Erzulie Dantor Instructional Package.

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Dantor's colors are navy blue and gold, and since she is a Petro lwa her altar can include this color as well..

Thus, begin by covering your altar with a golden yellow or navy blue cloth. Add smaller cloths of the contrasting color, red ribbons... make your altar beautiful! Place in the middle of the altar a beautiful goblet of water to keep Dantor cool. Then add any of the following items:

Yellow and blue flowers, knives, the Tarot images of the Queen of Pentacles; silver rings and necklaces, Creme de Cacao. Place on your altar one golden yellow or navy blue candle.

The vever of the lwa Erzulie Dantor is a heart pierced by a sword. Other design elements have meaning, and these meanings are known to initiates of the Roots Without End Society.

You can give Dantor food and drink offerings - the Creme de Cacao mentioned above, kleren (known as "aguardiente" in Hispanic areas), grilled pork, sweet potatos, rice and red beans, cake with blue and yellow. Here in the United States it is unlikely that you will be able to sacrifice and cook a black pig, but that is what we use in Haiti.

Dress in navy blue and gold clothes, and tie your head with a navy blue or golden yellow kerchief.

Dantor is represented by the image of the Mater Salvatoris. Most botanicas sell this image, although sometimes they call it "Santa Barbara Africana" despite the fact that the words "Mater Salvatoris" are clearly written on the image.

Dantor's vever is a heart pierced by a sword. It is drawn with many different elaborations, and one version of this vever is included in the Erzulie Dantor Instructional Package. Put it on the wall behind your altar or pin them to the altar cloth where it hangs down in front of the altar.

Begin as usual with the Lords' Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed, or if these prayers are not appropriate for you because you are Jewish or of some other faith, address in prayer the One Most High God. At this time light your white candle.

Then invoke Legba. Say this:

Papa Legba open the gate for me!
Atibon Legba open the gate for me!
Open the gate for me, Papa, so that I can pass,
When I return, I will thank the lwa.

In the case of a Petro lwa especially, the more carefully you can prepare for the service, the better. For more information on a more elaborate opening ritual, see Vodou Ceremonial Service, and begin your ceremony with the songs and activities provided there. Now speak to Dantor. Pour out a little Creme de Cacao three times on the ground, and pour some on the food offerings, the knives and silver chains, or anything else you have provided for her. Light your candle.

Say "Erzulie Dantor! Mama! Wife of Ti-Jean Petro, wife of Simbi Makaya! Mama Dantor, my protector, come and help me, I need you! Come here I beg you and eat this food!"

You can put a small yellow or navy blue candle in each food offering, and present it individually. Breathe on the food, touch it to your head, heart and pubic area and put it on the altar. Light the candle in the food offering.

Dance vigorously! If you know Vodou songs about Dantor sing them, otherwise sing songs about strong women, broken hearts, and loving mothers. There are songs for Erzulie Dantor included in the Erzulie Dantor Instructional Package.

Then say, "Erzulie Dantor, my mother, you see this food? You see this Creme de Cacao? You see ME? Please give me... " (and here you will ask for whatever you want, whether it is magical power, protection, strength against an adversary, or revenge.)

If you specifically want money, put a candle in the middle of a boiled sweet potato and pour Creme de Cacao on it. Light the candle and ask for material wealth.

As we go further in this unit, we will have a special discussion of Makaya magic, and you will learn a magical ritual invoking Erzulie Dantor in the Makaya manner, for vengeance against someone who has abused you.

If you are seeking magical ability and protection against negative magic, give Dantor a beautiful silver necklace. Tell her, "Erzulie Dantor, I am giving you this necklace so that you will teach me to do magic - make me powerful! Keep away any bad magic from me, remember that I am your child and I have given you this necklace, so if you let me fall, who will pick me up?"

Mambo Andreli, a member of the Roots Without End Society, is a faithful servant of God and after God, of the lwa Erzulie Dantor. Dantor is particularly offended by domestic violence or sexual assault. If you have been a victim of these abuses, tell Dantor! She will come to you in dreams and embrace you, nurture you and heal you. Your abuser will be punished - in Haiti women believe that if they do certain magic under Dantor's patronage against a rapist, the rapist will hang himself!

Now sit down and spend some time in front of your altar. Do divination if you want to. You can read cards or throw coconut or use cowries or whatever you usually do.

When you are ready, leave the room and let the candles in the food offerings burn to the end. Sleep alone in blue or golden yellow pajamas on blue or golden yellow sheets if you can. The next morning throw the food offerings away in the woods under a bush where no one will find them, or into a fire. Keep the Creme de Cacao on your altar, along with the knife and silver jewelry.

Watch and see what happens!



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