Erzulie

My first exposure to Voodoo and it’s Loa came from a relatively odd source; as a subplot in the 1986 William Gibson novel ‘Count Zero’. I tracked down a VHS copy of Maya Deren’s ‘Divine Horsemen’ shortly after. The familiarity and closeness Voodoo have with their Gods/Loa fascinated me, with each Loa having their own sigil or Vévé to identify them.

This one, a super clean tattoo by Mr. Michael Bennett, is for Erzulie. She comes in many aspects- Maîtresse Mambo Erzulie Fréda Dahomey, Erzulie Dantor and a host of others, all different incarnations based on the needs of her followers.

You can find out more about Erzulie here: Wiki.
You can find more work from Mr. Bennett here: Child the Peacemaker.

And finally, you can watch ten minutes of Deren’s film here:

Make mine Legba

The Loa are the spiritual intermediaries between Bondye and humanity in the Voodoo faith.
I’ve always have a special liking to Legba (who is sort of the ‘Saint Peter’ of the loa) but Ghede has his appeal as well.

I’m not sure what Loa inspired this piece byt the always impressive Daniel Trocchio but it’s damn good none the less.