Madanm Lasirèn

Madanm Lasirèn is a Vodou spirit who lives under the sea and does mystical work there. When I walk the streets I sing her song: Mwen Lasirèn, mwen rele anmwe, lè mwen mache nannwit, male rive m (‘I am Lasirèn, I cry out, when I work mystically by night, misfortune may befall me’). Because she’s a fish she has to disguise herself as a woman to be at Madigra. A mask and hat cover her fish’s head, and the dress she wears covers her fish’s tail. The chain she wears is a sacred chain, a fetish called Manbo Byen Venu (‘Vodou Priestess Welcome’). She also wears gloves, and carries an umbrella, and a baby, her child, who is called Marie Rose. Each year I change the disguise and fashion a new baby. In order to get inspiration I go to the place where the big beasts live, and they instruct me how to do Madigra. I dream of Lasirèn all the time. I love and honour her. That is why I chose her – because my grandmother, father and mother all served the spirits. I’ve been doing her now for eighteen years. Before that I did another madigra called Patoko. This was a group of men who were masked as women, in nice dresses and high-heeled shoes, and we did a marriage between men and woman on the street. After that we had a troupe called Kanna – we wore blue trousers, white t-shirts, new sandals and scarfs around our waists, and carried brooms with which we swept the streets of Jacmel. I have always found a way of doing Madigra. André Ferner (2009)