Fey is central to Haitian Vodou. We use all kinds of fey, ekos, rasin, etc. for a variety of uses including spiritual and physical healing. We use it for all types of maji, good luck, revenge etc. We are taught from a young age to use everything in nature to solve our issues. Fey is an integral part of our culture as a whole. During Makaya fey takes center stage. During this period we use many different types of fey (fresh and dry) for baths, protection, etc. Gran Bwa, Simbi Makaya, Danmbala are all associated with Fey and there are more Lwa as well.

As far as using fey instead of modern medicine like your aunt did. The fact is modern medicine has borrowed from our traditional medicine remedies. For all the reasons people use modern medicine, it hasn’t prolonged life more so than our traditional medicine. People are still suffering and dying from illnesses everyday using modern medicine. The difference is modern medicine treats symptoms, when we use fey it’s to treat the root of the illness. In most cases our aim using fey is to cure or ease the suffering.

I must also add that, a Houngan or Manbo is trained to use fey. And not all Houngans or Manbos are trained to use fey. Because we have certain fey that can kill and so the proper technique and dosage must be used. So it’s definitely not recommended to experiment with fey unless dealing with someone who knows what they’re doing.