Marassa (Three Ladies of Egypt)

Marassa deux boys (two) St Cosmos & St Damian

Marassa trois girls (three) they’re names are Faith, Hope, and Charity they are also known under les trois femme d’egypt.

Manman gimo (immaculate conception the one with a lot of kids on her feet) & (papa gimo represented by st nicholas) is served more in the north side of haiti but when singing they always sing for them too.

Marassa quatre (four) ect.

Escorts / nation: rada & petro

Colors: white & yellow in rada, green and red in petro (petwo)

Objects: ti cruche 2 or 3 filled with water, toys, marbles, laye, candy, cookies, bonbon syrop (sugar cane syrop cookies) akasan, popcorn, peanuts, cassava fruit kola in making sacrificial offering it’s 2 or 3 little chickens.

In the haitian vodou reglement marassa is saluted right after papa legba, they’re days are thursday & saturday, in haiti marassa is one of the most divine and mysterious loa’s in our tradition, a mother and father that’s lucky to have twins is called manman gimo (manman marassa) & papa gimo (papa marassa) a child that’s born after a set of twins is called dossou marassa. Marassa represents blessings, sacredness, and myteries of the divine.

Marassa’s are children loa’s with lots of power, knowledge wisdom and healing gfts, they are the divine twins children with very ancient mysteries double triple life they have considerable power which allow them more strenght, they’re celebrated in these dates 26 of september, july 1, octorber 17 they are patrons of physicians, surgeons, pharmacists and herbalist.

In santeria: jimaguas bringers of great material and prosperity

Candomble: ibeji, orixa
Greek: atreus and thyestes
Yoruba: ibeji is a term in yoruba language meaning twins.

In yoruba in their culture twins are traditionally very important beings, carved wood in figures made to house the soul of a dead twin also called ibeji in the yoruba religion there is a deity that represents the twins just like haiti or even better there’s a town in yoruba called igboora boast that has an average of 150 twins for 1000 births and is therefore considerd nigeria’s and the world’s capital of twins, in yoruba language the first twin to be born is called tayemo or taimo (means the first to taste the world) the second to come kehinde ( means arriving after the other) the child after the twins is called (idowu) regardless of the sex alaba is the one after idowu in creole it’s dossou, ibeji’s are thought to have special powers to bring good or bad fortune and for this reason they are catered to in a way that other children are not parents do everything possible to please twins, kehinde is supossed to be more careful more intelligent and more reflective, taiwo is more curious and adventurous.

In possession theyre children crying, playing having fun don’t care about nothing that’s going wrong, in our society (labelle deesse dereale vodou temple) marassa is very important in the lineage of loa’s we serve, my grand father (aman) the father of labelle deesse sr was a twin the brother did not survive and my mom’s cousin has twins a boy and girl alive and well, the most amazing things with marassa is that they are myteries and very mysterious just like life it self we will never know the sercret and mysteries of twins triplets ect…
We have a lot of questons with no answers that’s why they’re called mysteries, all we have to is follow the instructions being given by the divine loa’s, marassa is one of the oldest loa’s there is very ancient traditions that we haitians are lucky to have had passed down to us by our african & indian parents.

A song for marassa:

ayibobo
Marassa de marassa troi mdit nou nan noi eh eh
Marassa de marassa troi gade nou nan noi eh eh
Marassa de lumin lumie ya pou nale
Marassa troi you lumin chandel la poun ale
Marassa de marassa troi mdit nou nan noi eh eh
Marassa de marassa troi gade nou noi eh eh
Marassa de lumin lumiea ya pou nale eh eh
Marassa troi lumin chandel la poun ale
Ayibobo

Spirits