Azaka Medeh

Azaka Mede (also known by various names such as: Kouzin, Couzen, Azake, Mazaka, Mede, Papa Zaka, Zaca, Papa Zaca, Cousin Zaca, etc.)[1] is the loa of the harvest in Haitian Vodou mythology.[2]

Azaka Medeh
Known forLoa of Harvest

He evolved after the Haitian Revolution when slaves were able to own land.[2] Depicted as a country bumpkin who loves to eat, he is kind and gentle and he has no alternate sinister (petro) form. He is seen as a protector of peasants and defender of the poor, and is identified with Saint Isadore.[3] He is celebrated and affiliated with Labor Day in Haiti (May 1).

The name Azaka may have come from the language of the Indigenous Taino people, in which "zada" meant corn, and "maza" meant maize.[2] Azaka Medeh belongs to the same family of spirits as Azaka-Tonnerre, loa of thunder.

Asaka is the loose female interpretation of him as mother of the earth in the Broadway musical Once on This Island.

References
  1. Malbrough, Ray T. (2003). Hoodoo Mysteries: Folk Magic, Mysticism & Rituals. Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-7387-0350-3.
  2. Asante, Molefi; Mazama, Ama (2009), "Azaka, The Loa", Encyclopedia of African Religion, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., pp. 82–83, retrieved 2023-01-25
  3. Pressley-Sanon, Toni (2014). "Haitian (Pre)Occupations: Ideological and Discursive Repetitions: 1915-1934 and 2004 to Present". Caribbean Studies. 42 (2): 115–153. ISSN 0008-6533. JSTOR 24706366.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.