Episode 12: Erzulies and Haitian Voodoo
/Feel the love as we explore Haitian Voodoo and its unique family of love spirits, the Erzulie. We look at three Erzulie who specialize in romantic love, motherly love, and love gone wrong. Plus, more about Amanda’s and Julia’s eclectic childhood hobbies!
For just a taste of Once on This Island, check out their 1991 Tony Awards performance. Then imagine sixth-graders performing it.
If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and review us in iTunes to help new listeners find the show. Plus, check out our Patreon for bonus audio content, behind-the-scenes photos, custom recipe cards, and more. Every bit helps as we get our first season off the ground!
Our music is "Danger Storm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Transcript
AM: Welcome to Spirits, your boozy, biweekly dive into mythology, legends, and folklore from around the world.
JS: This episode's got so much folks. We'll give you a crash course into Haitian Voodoo and layout exactly who you want on your side when your love blossoms.
AM: And then when it goes south.
JS: We've also been having so much fun on Twitter. We recently had a happy hour Q&A thanks to Noisy Spirit, Pod Cake, the [inaudible 0:25], flashforward for reaching out to us.
AM: All our podcasts brethren, we love podcast Twitter. It is so much fun. And we so genuinely love all of the interactions we've been having with you guys. Special shout out to our Twitter MVPs from the past couple weeks, John Swindenger. Sorry, John. Jay Buffington, John Kosmos, Jeffrey Garner, Jim McDonald, Jeremy Child. I guess all men with J names are people who interact with us on Twitter.
JS: They're into it.
AM: And, as always friends of the show, Will Graham and Catherine Addington, we love hearing from you guys. This episode, we are drinking rum and coke. Shout out to our high school selves and...
JS: Whatever we can sneak out of the liquor cabinet.
AM: Terrible – terrible taste in liquor. We don't condone it. Sorry, mom and dad. My brothers and sister, don't, don't copy me. Anyway, and it's a bit of – a bit of a foreshadowing because, later on, we will discuss Rum [1:10], one of Hades Chief historical and Best Experts.
JS: So, sit back, relax, and we're going to take you to the sweet island of Haiti.
AM: Enjoy Spirits Podcast Episode 12: Erzulie.
Intro Music
JS: So, when Amanda and I were in sixth grade --
AM: Oh, no.
JS: -- we were in a play --
AM: Oh, no.
JS: -- called Once on This Island. Once on This Island is about a island in the Caribbean. Amanda and I both had speaking parts in that. I feel like I should mention that, because --
AM: I think I had like one line in the song.
JS: No, you were the storyteller in it.
AM: What?
JS: Yeah.
AM: I don't think – what?
JS: Yes. You absolutely were, because you were like the Greek chorus in the beginning and end of the play.
AM: Oh, shit. There were three of us, right?
JS: Yes.
AM: Oh, and we wore robes and --
JS: Yeah.
AM: It was – it was very exciting. Oh. Oh, man. I'm taking it back.
JS: So, a big aspect of that play is that the parts and characters are influenced by these four gods. Amanda, can you name the gods for me?
AM: Okay. I'm too drunk for this. Papa Ge.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Because we all laughed because it was Ge. Agwe.
JS: Yes.
AM: Julia's boyfriend, Jake.
JS: Yep.
AM: They met --
JS: That's the first time I met him.
AM: They met, folks, on the sixth-grade musical stage.
JS: He's such a fudge.
AM: And, now, he's a cryptozoology hobbyist.
JS: Yes.
AM: Oh, how things changed. There is Erzulie and Catherine's god, who I forget.
JS: Asaka.
AM: Asaka.
JS: Asaka, grow me a garden.
AM: Grow me a garden.
JS: Yep.
AM: Exactly.
JS: A lot of those characters are actually taken from Haitian Voodoo.
AM: Ohhhh.
JS: And, today, we're going to talk about the Erzulie.
AM: Are – there are more than one?
JS: More than one.
AM: Very exciting.
JS: Yes.
AM: I like this tie into our, our past.
JS: Yep. We're going to do it.
AM: Good job.
JS: We're gonna do it up real good. So, we're gonna break down Haitian Voodoo. We're gonna go through the supreme god, the spirits --
AM: Great.
JS: -- and then breaking it down to the Erzulies and what they represent.
AM: Let's do it.
JS: All right. So, Haitian Voodoo is the syncratic mix between Catholicism and a bunch of different African mythologies. So, it's a mix between the two. So --
AM: Oh, right, yes.
JS: It has different aspects of different myths.
AM: Sure.
JS: Because you have the slaves coming in from Africa.
AM: Yes.
JS: Then they're being introduced to Catholicism once they get to the island. The resulting religion that comes out of it is rooted.
AM: Awesome.
JS: And Haitian Voodoo specifically. Like, there’s French Voodoo. And there's Louisiana Voodoo. And there's a bunch of different ones. But this –
AM: We are in Haiti now.
JS: This specifically is Haitian Voodoo.
AM: Love it.
JS: So, practitioners are called, Voodooists.
AM: Okay.
JS: And, when you translate that literally, it means ‘servants of spirits’.
AM: Very interesting.
JS: Because – we're gonna talk about this. In voodoo, it is believed that there is this distant and unknowable god, who is a supreme creator. He's called Bondye.
AM: Good god?
JS: Yes.
AM: Ha-ha!
JS: Because it comes from the French word Bon Dieu, which is French for good god.
AM: My six months of high school French payoff sometimes.
JS: A+. Good job. Thank you, Mademoiselle Cathaliacus. Much appreciated.
AM: Thank you, Mr. Whatever Your Name was, who specialized in Catalan.
JS: So, the problem though with Bondye is that he really isn't involved in human affairs. He's kind of just like, "Oop! I made new people then I'm gonna just not care about anything that happens."
AM: Sure. So, the classic sort of idea that you get around the rise of Darwinism, which is like, oh, you know, how do we reconcile evolution with our beliefs in a creator? And the answer is, okay, well, maybe the creator like set up the whole world, set up evolution, set up the systems, whatever, and then sort of like stepped back to watch it happen.
JS: Right.
AM: Just maker, right? Is that what's happening?
JS: Oh, well – so, in the 18th century Deism --
AM: Oh, yes.
JS: It was what came out. And a lot of the founding fathers were deists. And it's basically the idea of the clockmaker God --
AM: Clockmaker God.
JS: -- which he puts everything into motion and then takes a step down.
AM: Let's go.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Boom.
JS: So, in order for humans to kind of have a connection to the spiritual world, there are the Loa.
AM: Okay.
JS: And the Loa are the spirits who are subservient to Bondye. Bondye created them specifically to deal with human affairs.
AM: Okay. So, sort of like an angel or jinn or kind of the other things you talked about.
JS: Okay. Yeah. But, unlike angels or like saints, the --
AM: Okay.
JS: -- the Loa are specifically designed to be served, not prayed to.
AM: Oh, okay. So, they're sort of like – they're like a – like a scarce or a limited resource on Earth.
JS: Yeah.
AM: And like there's only so many of them. They have great powers, but you have to sort of woo them in.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Like you have to serve them, make them feel like, you know, I am someone that you should help.
JS: Yeah. They're very human. So, they have these likes and dislikes.
AM: Like the big gods, right? Like they have the --
JS: Right.
AM: -- biases. And they have jealousies and all kinds of those stuff.
JS: Yeah. And, so, like the Loa all have like specifically like, "Oh, I like this dance. I like you to say this poem when you're talking to me. I like you to --
AM: As would I if I was a spirit.
JS: -- give me – I like you to give these gifts if you're setting up my altar.
AM: Great.
JS: That kind of thing.
AM: Give me goldfish and Jameson people.
JS: Like C.J. Cregg. They can be summoned – any of the Loa can be summoned by a priest or priestess or sorcerer who practices in voodoo.
AM: Okay. So, you have to know something about how to do this stuff.
JS: Right.
AM: Not everybody could just, in their bedroom --
JS: Right.
AM: You know, whatever, light a candle, whoever [6:41] they are.
JS: I mean like you can set up an altar and everything like that.
AM: Yeah.
JS: But it won't exactly summon the Loa.
AM: Okay. It takes some doing.
JS: Right. So, when they bring the Loa into a ceremony like that, the Loa takes a thing called riding the horse --
AM: Okay.
JS: -- which means they take human possession of someone who's in the practice.
AM: Oh, man.
JS: And that's really, really important because they're able to tell which – because sometimes things get mixed up. So, they're able to tell which god – the Loa that they have summoned is by like the way that the person is reacting during the human possession.
AM: Oh, sure. Like, you know, different, different Loa, I'm assuming different specialties and stuff.
JS: Right.
AM: So, like you want to make sure you summon the right one, and like how do you know.
JS: Also, like certain Loa react better if they're like given like the clothing that is associated with them.
AM: Oh. So, if someone dressed up to, you know, make it – make the most hospitable host possible.
JS: Right. So, like there's a loa that we're not really going to talk about, but his name is Papa Samedi, and he is associated with Papa Ge.
AM: Cool.
JS: Is a death God and his like signature clothing is like sunglasses, a top hat, and a cigar.
AM: Amazing.
JS: So, if you summon Papa Samedi, you gotta have those things in order to like win his favor over.
AM: He cosplays as the Sopranos.
JS: Yeah.
AM: A show I have never watched. And I'm pretty sure [inaudible 7:57].
JS: No one has a top hat.
AM: Oh, okay.
JS: And they have the other two things, but not a top hat.
AM: Okay. Fine. Fine.
JS: So, now that we kind of have that background --
AM: Yes.
JS: -- we're going to talk about the Erzulies.
AM: And they are a kind of Loa.
JS: They – Erzulies are a family of Loa.
AM: Okay. A literal family or like a – like a subgenre?
JS: Well, subgenre.
AM: Okay.
JS: There’s not just one Erzulie. There's multiple Erzulies, and they're mostly related to the topics of love and family.
AM: Erzulie, who will my love be?
JS: Yes.
AM: Check the show notes people.
JS: So, actually, we're going to start with the Erzulie that – the Erzulie that we know from Once on This Island --
AM: From Once on This Island.
JS: -- is inspired by.
AM: All right.
JS: And that is Erzulie Freda Dahomey.
AM: Cool.
JS: She is the spirit of – a lot of things here – love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers.
AM: Man, that shit all goes together. I like it.
JS: She's like the epitome of Valentine's Day.
AM: Exactly. That's perfect. Or, prom.
JS: Yes. She, she is prom Loa.
AM: She is the prom Loa.
JS: So, she actually wears three different wedding rings.
AM: Amazing.
JS: Because she has three husbands.
AM: Great. Player. Love it.
JS: She is married to Damballa, who is a snake-shaped God and the sky father.
AM: Sounds like a good lay.
JS: Agwe, who is the ocean God.
AM: Convenient.
JS: AKA my boyfriend.
AM: Yeah. Hunky has his own thing going on.
JS: And Ogoun, who is the Loa of warriors and craftsmen.
AM: That's awesome.
JS: Yeah.
AM: She has like three different kinds of men depending on what she's feeling like that night.
JS: Yeah.
JS: She's like, I want fish tonight. We're gonna hit up Agwe. I want like, a new bowl. We're gonna hit Ogoun.
AM: Love it.
AM: Yeah.
JS: I want the sky to look nice tomorrow. We're gonna hit up a – What's his face? – Damballa.
AM: The other one.
JS: The other one. I don't even remember his name. I have so many husbands.
AM: Three. Three is too many to keep track of. Like that Big Love guy, I don't know how he does it, man.
JS: There's too many.
AM: I can't keep track of one partner --
JS: There's so many.
AM: -- much less three different houses and multiple children. And like how do you share nights between three people when it's only seven days in a week, Julia? How does he do it?
JS: You have to – you have to be so rich for that shit.
AM: I know.
JS: I guess – I guess you divide it by the month instead of the week. And then you do like 10 days out of the month.
AM: I think what they did is they did Ogoun – what's the math here? Two nights per person each, and then the third night was like a swing night. And like it can change. It changed depending on the week.
JS: I was gonna be like, "Oh, man, it's like dealer's choice. Then you know who the favorite is."
AM: Exactly. It's terrible.
JS: That's really bad.
AM: And like Aaron Paul is dating your oldest daughter.
JS: Oh, no.
AM: Like it's so complicated.
JS: I didn't know that was a thing.
AM: Oh, he dates Amanda Seyfried. Amanda Seyfried is the oldest daughter.
JS: What? Oh, my god. Usually, this is the other way around where like I know something that you don't.
AM: I feel like --
JS: But this is like --
AM: I feel so in the know.
JS: What?
AM: Amanda Seyfried is the oldest daughter in Big Love. And she's like inappropriately hot.
JS: Wait. Wait. Is Big Love a fiction or not?
AM: Yes. It's a TV show.
JS: Oh, okay. I thought we were talking about like the TLC one where it's like the actual --
AM: No. It doesn't matter.
JS: Okay.
AM: It doesn't matter. No. No.
JS: I thought of like Amanda Seyfried was actually like the child of a --
AM: No.
JS: -- polygamous marriage. I was like, "Okay. Well, I didn't know that. That's interesting."
AM: That's, that's, that explains your shock. Anyway, we're getting way off-topic, but --
JS: I'm sorry.
AM: -- in the show, Big Love, Aaron Paul, in his TV debut, is like, you know, outside of Mormon, non-believing boyfriend to Amanda Seyfried. And the dad gets like inappropriately like possessive over his daughter --
JS: That sounds right.
AM: -- in a creepy way.
JS: Okay.
AM: Super creepy. Not cool at all. Anyway.
JS: Okay. Sorry.
AM: Back to voodoo.
JS: Getting back to the Erzulies and their crazy, polygamous lives.
AM: Right. There's only three wedding rings. Three husbands. Love it.
JS: So, her symbols are the heart, and her colors, because the colors are really important for some reason for the Erzulies --
AM: Symbols, plural.
JS: Her symbol is the heart, and the colors, which are like really important in voodoo, are pink, blue, white, and gold.
AM: Good combo.
JS: If she's getting sacrifice anything, it's going to be jewelry, perfume, sweet cakes, and liquors. So, you set it up as a – as an altar, you know.
AM: Yes.
JS: And then sort of like laid out for her.
AM: Right.
JS: Hey, come hang with us. Or, if you're doing a ceremony and you want her to come, these are the things that you would bring for her.
AM: Yeah. Awesome.
JS: So, she represents femininity and compassion. Whenever she takes – whenever she rides the horse so to speak --
AM: Right, aeaning coming into a human body.
JS: She's very flirty and loves like beauty and finery. And she'll also – it's really interesting because she's one of the few Erzulies that will take the form of either a man or a woman.
AM: Oh, cool.
JS: And she will like flirt indiscriminately.
AM: Love it.
JS: And like try and seduce anyone that it like does not matter to her.
AM: Awesome. Awesome.
JS: She's just like, "Oh, I'm a dude and I'm flirting with another dude. Whatever. It doesn't matter."
AM: Bi Erzulie, bring it.
JS: She does have like a little bit of a dark side too. She's also --
AM: I was just going to ask like most of the time we see, you know, passionate love sort of as a foil with jealousy and destruction, you know, and possession.
JS: Well, you got that just right. She's extremely jealous sometimes.
AM: Yes.
JS: But she's also depicted as spoiled and lazy.
AM: Okay.
JS: Like the other gods are like --
AM: Because she got a lot. Yeah.
JS: Yeah. The other Loa are kind of distracted. She – they think she's like easily distracted.
AM: Okay.
JS: And she's like, "You should be doing your job, but you're too busy like fawning over the fact that you have like beautiful rings and shit like that."
AM: Right. Interested in finery and sort of like small Earthly, you know, pursuits.
JS: Yeah. So, she is usually shown as never being able to attain her heart's desire, which I find really interesting for a love goddess.
AM: Yeah.
JS: So, when she does possession, whenever the possession ends, her, her horses always cry at the end of it.
AM: Oh, shit.
JS: Yeah, like they're really disappointed.
AM: That's no good.
JS: And, so, they cry at the end of the possession,
AM: But it makes a lot of sense because, you know, thinking about any kind of pop culture or books or whatever, like, you know, the pursuit of- of romance is not interesting.
JS: Right.
AM: But you're super fulfilled at the end of it. You know. like --
JS: Yes. I guess so.
AM: Yeah.
JS: But you would think that like a spirit and like something that isn't human – that's something above human would be able to like get what they want. You know what I mean?
AM: On the other hand, like why would they be interested in us, you know? Unless they had desires to be fulfilled.
JS: I get that.
AM: And whether that's, you know, desires like, "Hey, I want some liqueur. Oh, hey, look at these humans, they have the one that I like.”
JS: Yeah.
AM: Thanks, human, you know, or this more kind of like existential or soulful urge for a mate.
JS: Yeah. I think that's – yeah. I think that's pretty human. And I love seeing human ideas in gods --
AM: Gods.
JS: -- and spirits.
AM: Yeah. Right. And whether it's a – you know, a legit characterization of what these gods actually are or if you think about it more sort of like anthropologically, or historically, or culturally – whatever, you know, what about us? What about our lives compels us to make narratives out of it? You know, like, what about our lives do we think is so essential to- to living that we projected onto our gods?
JS: Exactly. So, going in a completely different direction is Erzulie Dantor.
AM: Okay. Different kind of Erzulie.
JS: So, Erzulie Dantor is usually shown as being the opposite of Erzulie Freda.
AM: Ohh...
JS: She is scarred and large breasted, and usually shown with like extremely dark skin where Erzulie Freda is usually shown a little bit more light skin.
AM: Yo, colorism --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- extends back.
JS: Yes. It's not so great.
AM: Way back.
JS: So --
AM: This is more of a matron God than it was more of like a maiden God.
JS: Yeah. It's actually interesting what Erzulie Dantor represents.
AM: Okay.
JS: So, she's usually shown holding a child. And she's associated with the mother Mary and like holding the baby Jesus --
AM: Okay.
JS: -- in that kind of synchronization.
AM: Huh.
JS: She is the protector spirit of women and children.
AM: Okay.
JS: And she's also the patron Loa of lesbian women. That's like a thing.
AM: So exciting.
JS: Isn't that so cool?
AM: And, in a world where lesbian women are often stereotyped as being masculine and barren, and, you know, anti-feminine, I love that this like mother or goddess is equated with lesbians.
JS: Yeah. She's fantastic. So, her colors are red, gold, and navy blue.
AM: Gryffindor. Great. In fact, Gryffinclaw, my house.
JS: Yes.
AM: A fusion between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
JS: Her symbol is also a heart, but her heart is pierced with either knives or swords.
AM: Bitches.!
JS: This is so good.
AM: Love it.
JS: So, so good. So, she is also associated with vengeance.
AM: This is dope.
JS: She will – there are stories where she will take possession of a woman, who was abused by like a family member or like a loved one.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And she will enact vengeance against that person.
AM: This is awesome.
JS: It's so good.
AM: I am so here for this.
JS: It is so fantastic.
AM: I love this image of like a wonderful, feminine woman like, you know, bulky with a heft behind her. Like a baby on her back and a sword in her hand.
JS: Yes.
AM: And like her wife is standing in the background being like, "Have fun, honey. Going to exact vengeance on men."
JS: I love it. Fantastic.
AM: Great.
JS: And where Erzulie Freda is all like – her sacrifices are all like dainty things and stuff like that --
AM: Right.
JS: -- Erzulie Dantor's sacrifices tend to be black pigs.
AM: Great.
JS: Spiced pork.
AM: Awesome.
JS: And rum.
AM: Oh, she's not fucking around.
JS: She does not fuck around.
AM: She's not fucking around.
JS: She is one of my favorites. I'm not gonna lie.
AM: She is like she's not here for your bland foodstuffs.
JS: No. She's just like, "Fuck it. Kill the --
AM: Bring me --
JS: -- kill me that pig. Let me swing some rum."
AM: Fuck the pink pigs. Bring me only your black pigs. Bring me only your spiced pork. Bring me only your spiced rum. Great.
JS: She's, she's amazing.
AM: Could we be friends?
JS: Yeah. I want to be friends with her. Don't you want to be friends with her?
AM: Amazing. She’s so great.
JS: I would, I would sign up for that possession in a frickin heartbeat.
AM: I want her to like teach me taekwondo and then like make rye bread with me in my kitchen.
JS: I love it. It's so good. Going to two of the more like lesser-known Erzulies now. Those are the two big ones.
AM: All right. Give me a moment to just mourn the loss of Erzulie --
JS: Dantor.
AM: Dantor. Thank you.
JS: So good.
AM: Thank you for being here for all of us.
JS: So, now, we're going to talk about Erzulie Balianne. She's known as the gagged Erzulie.
AM: Gag as in can't speak.
JS: Yes.
AM: Okay.
JS: So, she is help --
AM: Amanda, what other use of gag is there? I don't know.
JS: I don't know.
AM: Let's continue.
JS: The sexy one. I don't know.
AM: Also can't speak.
JS: Okay. So, she is known to help silence or heal the heart. So, she's like the --
AM: Huh.
JS: She's the Erzulie you go to if you like just suffered a massive heartbreak, but you don't want to like destroy them with Erzulie Dantor.
AM: That's awesome.
JS: Yeah.
AM: That's like the --
JS: Like no one thinks about that.
AM: Exactly. Because I mean that's, that's the advice that you should follow, right? It's like, after a major heartbreak, what do you do? You disconnect. You take some time for yourself. You, you know, mourn about and sort of think about the relationship until you're ready to move on. And that is – it should be a period of, you know, silence and contemplation and kind of like getting to know yourself. I frickin love this.
JS: She's the spirit that you tell the secrets of the heart too. And she's also the one that ensures those secrets won't be revealed. How cool is that?
AM: That's so cool!
JS: She's like your bestie in high school, who won't blab.
AM: She's the diary that no one will ever find.
JS: Exactly.
AM: Yes. She's the world's you, Julia.
JS: Oh, that's, that's really nice, Amanda. That's really cute.
AM: You got it.
JS: So, she helps people forget about past loves and helps them overcome overwhelming emotions. So, like --
AM: This is great. We all need one.
JS: So, it doesn't just have to be like love related.
AM: Yeah.
JS: It's- if something is like really causing you pain and like causing you suffering --
AM: Get it off your chest.
JS: -- she's the one you talk to about it.
AM: Awesome.
JS: So, when she rides the horse or takes over a body --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- the horse that she rides usually speaks as though they have a gag in her – in their mouth.
AM: So, like muffled.
JS: Like muffled. Like --
AM: Oh, shit.
JS: -- unable to speak, unable to get the words out kind of just --
AM: I love this, because so often, in sort of New England and American culture that we grew up in, you’re meant to like stoically bear your burdens, right, and not talk about them. You know, shoulder it and move on. Keep calm, carry on – whatever. But the idea that like your emotional pain causes you physical handicap, I love that.
JS: That's so beautiful, right?
AM: I love that we give – I love that we give our emotional pain, actual physical substance, and heft.
JS: It's gorgeous. I love these myths.
AM: This is so great, Julia.
JS: It's so good, right?
AM: So awesome. You should have a podcast to share these with the world.
JS: It's weird, right? Why don't we have that?
AM: Weird.
JS: Finally, the last Erzulie is Erzulie Mapiangue.
AM: Cool.
JS: She is known as the Suckler.
AM: Okay.
JS: She's the Loa that you are going to pray to- to help with pain of childbirth and help protect your unborn newborn babies.
AM: Awesome. From the Aswang.
JS: Throwback.
AM: Episode 3. Get in touch.
JS: So, her colors are red and gold.
AM: All right.
JS: She's usually portrayed as wearing crowns and velvet robes.
AM: Bitchen', because having --
JS: Like instead of --
AM: -- that makes you a literal queen.
JS: A literal queen. Like a goddamn queen.
AM: That's great.
JS: So, when she rides the horse so to speak, they tend to get into the fetal or birthing position.
AM: Okay.
JS: Therefore, representing either the mother giving birth or the child that is being protected.
AM: To be in the world. Yes.
JS: Exactly. So, that is the Erzulies.
AM: They are amazing.
JS: I- I never want this episode to end. And cover all of the topics of love and family that you could possibly want.
AM: Seriously. In all the phases of love, they're all okay. You have resources at all points. You have badass Erzulies to pray to and summon no matter what phase of life and love that you are in.
JS: I'm just imagining all of the like really angry teenagers probably pray to Erzulie Dantor when they should be hitting up Erzulie Balianne. But --
AM: Yeah.
JS: But --
AM: And like – but they're there to grow with you throughout your life, right? Like, as a, as a teenager you want vengeance. As a, you know, person in adolescence, you might not know that you honestly need to like learn to live with yourself and to be alone --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- and to like be happy on your own – whatever. And, you know, eventually, when you grow into a mother whether or not you like men, whether or not you have children. Like, there are people – Erzulie here to help you.
JS: Yeah. The Erzulie are just there for you no matter what.
AM: They're the sisterhood, 'yo.
JS: It's the best.
AM: Amazing.
JS: It's so good, right?
AM: Haiti, home of everything everybody loves.
JS: Spiced pork, rum, and the Erzulies.
AM: I love it.
JS: So good. Should we have a like final countdown kind of thing or, or --
AM: For what?
JS: I don't know. But like a – an out.
AM: Outro?
JS: Yeah. I mean this is probably where the music would just play. Tk-tk-tshkh-tshk.
AM: I don't know. I thought we need a better – I always felt we need a better end line though. [inaudible 23:13] of finding really good ones.
Outro
AM: Spirits was created by Julia Schifini and, me, Amanda McLoughlin. It's edited by Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Allyson Wakeman.
JS: Subscribe to Spirits on your preferred podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, @SpiritsPodcast.
AM: On our Patreon page, patreon.com/spiritspodcast, you can sign up for exclusive content like behind the scenes photos, audio, extras, director's commentary, blooper reels and beautiful recipe cards with custom drink and snack pairings.
JS: If you like the show, please share with your friends and leave us a review on iTunes. It really does help.
AM: Thank you so much for listening, ‘til next time.
Transcriptionist:
Rachelle Bacharo
Editor:
Krizia Casil