A Knife Can Not Scratch Its Own Handle

Greetings! Today I wanted to talk to you about the Haitian proverb of " a knife can not scratch its own handle." In my native tongue, "kouto paka grate manch li." Let me do a little side note for a minute here before I go back to the subject at hand. I am writing and letting my readers know about Haitian Vodun practiced in my family's part of Haiti. In almost every part of Haiti, spiritual practitioners work with the lwa differently. You also have to factor in that some people buy lwa, we call that "achete pwen" some people do that so they can make more money because "fran ginen" often provides what you need not what you want and then some. I'll discuss this in another post. Then you have to factor in people who are initiated and people who are just born with the gift. But here's another loophole, some people who are born with the gift still go konzo. Whew! That was a mouth full. I just wanted to be clear. I don't know everything. I am still learning every single day.

Now, let's get back to the subject at hand. Sometimes as spiritual workers in Haitian Vodun, other practitioners and your known or unknown enemies can send you some nasty stuff to block you. In Vodun, almost anything sent, good or bad, is done with a spirit. So often times just praying and taking some weak ass bath is not going to cut it. Some practitioners will go as far as blocking your lwa so you don't know what the hell is going on or you can't remove this "jok" as we call it. So you have to go to another practitioner, an elder, or spirit comes through and tells you what to do. I have seen people with "gad" get crossed up real bad. It's not that the guarding spirit isn't working, it's sometimes that bokor knows what spirit or what powder to use, when to use it, and where to put it. Other times they send an "expedition" to you. So there's a whole lot of factors when it comes to crossing a practitioner. And it takes a lot more energy because they are guarded like Fort Knox.

I have never seen a practitioner in Haiti uncross themselves. Their spirit does it for them, or someone in the "lakou" who the lwa mounts bathes them with the appropriate herbs and does the appropriate ritual. Because when an enemy wants to break you defenses to get to you, they bind up your guarding lwa first. That's why practitioners never let's anyone know their ruling lwa or they hide what they really feed them behind closed doors, especially if a "danse" or ceremony is going on. They would feed their lwa first and then the food that the visitors attending the fet see is kind of like for show sometimes. Haitian practitioners have to be cautious because enemies can steal you lwa, bind them up, or send a "malfekte" to lay some tricks for them. Haitian practitioners get killed or spiritually beat up all the time. That's why the majority of them go to other practitioners to learn new things or get a "pwen" to beef up security.

In closing, I love the Haitian culture for its proverbs because they hold a lot of truth and mystery at the same time. I would love to read your thoughts on the subject. Until next time beloveds!

Ayibobo!