THIS HAITIAN DRAPO (FLAG) DEPICTING THE LOA (SPIRIT) DAMBALA OUEDO

IS BY RENOWNED VODOU OUNGAN (PRIEST) CLOTAIRE BAZILE. INFORMATION BELOW

18" tall by 16" wide and It was never put out for sale in my galley and in vintage new condition,

I met Clotaire at his Hounfour (temple) in 1982, and we bcoame working partners, and I purchased many flags for my gallery over the next 8 years.

He was born in 1946 and in 2012 he told his wife that he was going to the mountians and never returned. He is presumed to be deceased.

I am now selling my private and galley collection. These flags are authentic, and although sold to an outside, the veve's (religious symbols) are exactly the same.

        The following information is from Susan Tselos, who was a personal friend of Clotaire's and was written before his death as part of an exhibition of his flags in the US which she had organized.

Vodou Flags ( Drapo Vodou)

In Haiti, within traditional Vodou religious rituals, highly beaded and sequined flags play an integral role in creating a sacred environment within which a group of spirits is invited into the Vodou temple to give spiritual counsel and healing to the participants of this time-honored belief system. Saluting the four cardinal points with offerings and the presentation of the flags creates the ritual orientation.

The flags are traditionally used to show honor and respect to members of a grand pantheon of ancestral spirits (similar to the pantheon of the ancient Greeks and Romans). These spirits are believed to be responsible for the well-being of the living, which, in turn, honor the spirits by performing ceremonies, which include, music, dance, drumming, and sacrificial food offerings. These ceremonies and beliefs are syncretic in nature, including numerous aspects of the various forces that shaped the Vodou religion in Haiti. These forces include West African religious beliefs and symbolism, specifically Vodun (a Fon word for “spirit”) from Dahomey (Benin) as well as Nigeria and Kongo, Muslim influences, and various 16th and 17th-century European influences and French military maneuvers, which made their way to the New World through colonization. Although reflecting textile traditions from West Africa, the ceremonial design and use of Vodou flags echo the French military standards used during the time Haiti was a French colony. The ritual presentation of the flags is an all-important portion of religious ceremonies in which the Vodou spirits are honored. Two Flag Queens (Reine Drapo) chosen specifically from a group of initiates, create a ritual presentation of the flags as a means to invite the spirit into the temple. Through the act of transference, it is believed that the spirits will possess the body of the Vodou priest or priestess in order to give counsel to the believers.

The flags used in the religious services are usually made of silk, satin, cotton, or velvet and are approximately 3 feet- square in size. They are primarily embellished with thousands of tiny sequins and beads, which are painstakingly hand-sewn onto the fabric into designs revealing visual iconography or trace-work symbols called veve, which represent the spirits for whom they are made. Occasionally one sees older, antique flags that have been embellished with embroidery or paint. Each flag contains multiple layers of meaning and perception, which are exemplified by its imagery and symbols. Each temple possesses at least one pair of these sacred flags, which represent the spirits that are most important to them. In addition to the primary pair, the temple may also own one or two additional flags representing other spirits that are also honored by the temple.

Over the decades of the 20th Century, there has been a metamorphosis in the visual design of the sacred flags.  During the 1960’s Clotaire Bazile, whose temple is in Port-au-Prince, began to make a number of ritual-style flags to sell to tourists. He kept the traditional design of the sacred flags but started an atelier, which provided work for members of his religious community and brought badly needed funds into the temple. Within a few years, other Vodou priests followed suit, creating a cottage industry in sequined works of art, which have made their way to shops and boutiques throughout the United States and Europe.

Clotaire Bazile’s life has been interwoven with the spirits of Vodou since he was 12 years old. At that time he began to receive messages in dreams and undergo physical ailments, which, within his culture, are understood to announce that the individual experiencing these things has been chosen to become a traditional healer and priest of Vodou in order to formally serve the spirits. By the age of 25, he completed the final stage of initiation and was ready to begin his work as a priest of Vodou. 25 years later his work as a healer is recognized throughout Haiti and within the Haitian community in Miami, where he now resides as a US citizen.

From the beginning of Clotaire’s work as a priest of Vodou, flag-making has also been an expression of his gifts for communication with the spirits. He made his first pair of flags for his temple after hearing the spirits tell him of their desire for flags in a dream, and after receiving instruction from them as to how to go about designing and making the flags. Following a lengthy period of instruction from the spirits during his dreams, the design that came to reflect Clotaire’s iconic personal style finally revealed itself and has remained consistent throughout his years as a flag maker.

For many years Clotaire made flags specifically for ritual use within his temple. After the flags were completed, they went through a process of purification and consecration before they could be used within the ceremonies, undertaken to give honor and respect to the spirits. In the early 1970’s, two French tourists were visiting Clotaire’s temple and had asked for a card reading (divination). While he was giving them their reading, he noticed that they were focused instead on something on top of the cabinet in the altar room. Upon asking them what diverted their attention, they pointed to the rolled-up flags and asked to see them. They immediately asked to purchase the sacred flags, although Clotaire indicated that they were not for sale. They then inquired about having him make others to sell to them and thus his step into making flags as an art form began.

From the time he began making flags for his temple, his process involved in creating them has been a means of expression for communicating with the spirits. The distinctive designs of his work bring his art flags into the same realm as mediations between the world of the spirits and the world of the humans. He believes that his structured principle of directionality activates contact with the spirits. His flags evoke the presence of the spirits within the borders he so painstakingly and lovingly creates. Some collectors have described his use of color as restrained lyricism, and his use of the iconic veve’s to represent the spirits have clarity and boldness in their visual presentation. According to Virgil Young, an early collector of the ritual flags, Clotaire was the first of the flag makers to achieve a consistent level of perfection in his work. Clotaire describes the designs of his flags as “classical”, referring to his sense of continuity with the older ritual flags from the middle decades of the 20th Century. Typically, he designs each flag by drawing the veve for a particular spirit in the center of the satin that has been stretched around a frame. Usually, the frames are made to hold fabric for a flag measuring approximately 36” x 40”. He then adds the details for the geometric borders and chooses the colors of the sequins and beads that will be used. Each sequin is hand sewn onto the fabric. Sometimes the entire surface of the fabric is covered with sequins, at other times the central area of the fabric shows a dotting of sequins beautifully described as “semin grenn’ or scattered seeds.

Although Clotaire recognizes and appreciates the contributions from the spirits in his creative development as a flag maker, he believes that his own tangible abilities give form to his visions. He studied geometry in school, which he attributes to his mastery of the triangular geometric design of his borders. He also believes firmly that there is no difference in the flags he makes for the art market and those that are made for ritual communication with the spirits. He understands that both are ways to serve the spirits and that the sale of the flags made for the art market serves to bring much-needed income into his temple. With the money he makes selling flags, he is able to purchase other necessities that he uses in his ceremonies.

Credit Susan Tselos

Damballah-Weddo the Sky Father is the most powerful loa in Haitian Vodou. He is the first loa and father to all others. He is the snake spirit of all mysteries who assisted Bondye in creating the world. Now he helps sustain the world as a source of energy and persistent life force.

His wife is Ayida-Weddo, the Rainbow Serpent of fertility, wind, fire, and water. Although Damballah loves Erzulie Freda more, he is intertwined with Ayida and to represent that they have a shared veve.

Damballah is depicted as a serpent. He is the primordial life force who created the universe using his seven thousand coils to form the cosmos. With his coils, he shaped mountains and valleys on the Earth as well as planets and stars in the heavens. After he formed the world he shed his serpent skin to create all waters on the Earth. Water and rain are associated with life in Vodou, and by creating the waters he gave means for the creation of life. All life comes from his life-force, as the water was created from his shed serpent skin.

His is wife Ayida-Wedo, the Rainbow Serpent. They are always depicted together, and she has assisted him in the process of creation. They were both necessary for creation because Vodou views creation as an act shared between a man and a woman. Damballah and Ayida-Wedo are the oldest and wisest among the loa. Like snakes, they embody the qualities of growth and positive change. Each snake sheds its skin and in a way takes on a new identity with that action. Damballah is a member of Rada nanchon of loa, the guardians of order, morals and principles (you can read more about Rada family in my article about Papa Legba).

As the source, all motion in life and energy Damballah helps in sustaining the world. He lives in the sky and encircles the Earth with his coils consistently shedding his skin. Shedding of his skin creates sources of life; rain and floods which provide lands with life-water.

Ruler of all intellect, he is one who gives intelligence and wisdom to the people. Damballah’s dominion over intellect and wisdom comes from his connection to the past and the future. He acts as a uniting force between the past, the present and the future. Because of this role, he is often associated with the ancestors adding another respected role.