Ezili Dantò

Ezili Dantò is the great mother of the Petwo nation, the dark and passionate counterpart to the Rada Ezili Freda. A hard-working, dark-skinned single mother, she is the fierce protector of women and children and a patroness of those who labor and struggle; her devotion is often linked to the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, and she is said to have had her tongue cut out in that struggle, so that when she possesses a devotee she can only stammer 'ke-ke-ke.' She bears two parallel scars on her cheek, tokens of a fight, in some tellings with her rival-sister Ezili Freda. Identified with the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, whose icon shows the Virgin with a scarred face and a child in her arms, she is served with the color red, strong drink, and the sacrifice of a black pig. Sources differ on whether she and Ezili Freda are two aspects of one Ezili or wholly distinct spirits.

Domains

• motherhood
• protection
• vengeance

Powers

• fiercely protect mothers and children
• speak wordlessly through 'ke-ke-ke'

Epithets

• Ezili je wouj — Ezili of the red eyesKaren McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola (1991), pp. 228-243 (secondary)

Relations

• rival: Ezili FredaThe fierce Petwo mother is opposed to the pale, luxurious Rada Ezili Freda.Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola (1991), pp. 228-230 (secondary)

Sources

• Ezili Dantò is the fierce Petwo mother lwa, marked by facial scars and identified with the Black Madonna, patroness of single mothers and defender of women and children.: Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola (1991), pp. 228-243 (secondary); Leslie G. Desmangles, The Faces of the Gods (1992), pp. 132-135 (secondary)