Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I will guide and protect you on your difficult journeys."

Maman Brijit is a Vodou lwa or spirit who is the protectress of cemeteries. She is one of the family of the Gede or Guede, the Vodou death spirits whose numbers include Bawon Samdi, Bawon Gede, and Gede Nimbo or Nibo, guardian of children. The Gede, especially Bawon Samdi, Her husband, are tricksters who are known for mocking authority and making fun of society. They have terribly bad manners and very dirty minds.

Maman Brijit means "Momma Brijit", and She is said to especially protect those graves marked with a cross. Vodou has elements of both original African religion and the Christianity that was overlaid onto it in the New World. Thus the cross in Vodou not only recalls Jesus, but was already a fundamental symbol of the crossroads. The crossroad or kalfou, which represents the Universe of choices and paths, is where the human and the divine intersect. Maman Brijit is said to be equivilant to the Yoruban Orisha Oya, who also guards cemeteries.

This card in a reading indicates a dark path and a choice that lies ahead. This decision can be made easier using the past as guidance, not just by drawing from your own experiences but by remembering the lives of your ancestors.

Alternate names: Maman Brigitte, Grande Brigett