Ezili Danto loves dolls. People often give her
dolls as gifts. The featured doll "speaks",
Danto with her child.
Ezili Dantor, Djab O!
Dantor can be wild, aggressive, and difficult to control. She is considered a "hot" spirit. For these reasons, one will at times hear her referred to as a djab. She is a country woman, independent and strong.
A popular song is:
Set koud kouto, set koud pwenyad
Prete'm dedin a pou m'al vomi sang mwen
Sang ape koule
English:
Seven stabs of the knife, seven stabs of the sword
Hand me that basin, I am going to vomit blood
the blood runs down
Dantor is that strong, she is able to sustain seven stabs and still hold a basin and vomit blood. Although she vomits blood, she continues on. To an uneducated view, this looks like a song describing defeat. In actuality, it demonstrates the strength and power of this spirit. Sometimes Dantor will actually vomit blood while in the head of a possessed person.
Another:
Jou ma' koule
Jou ma' koule
Jou ma' koule
Map vomi sang mwen bay yo
English:
The day I am run down
The day I am run down
The day I am run down
I will vomit my blood and give it to them
In other words, even the day I am defeated I will still punish them. Dantor handing a basin of blood to someone is not positive. It usually shows Dantor's distaste with the individual. She is mad and will punish him/her. One does not want to be punished by Dantor! Dantor is also associated with heavy rains that destroy things in its path.
Dantor is sometimes referred to as Ezili Zye Wouj or Ezili Red Eyes. The fact is that this is a separate spirit, yet she walks so closely with Dantor that some consider it to be Dantor extremely mad. Ezili Zye Wouj does talk yet can be difficult to understand. The eyes of someone possessed by this spirit will usually become extremely red in a matter of seconds. This is considered a very dangerous spirit.
Sometimes people confuse the many Ezilis together. Dantor is a spirit that is separate from the others. Dantor has many sister spirits that walk with her, like most Lwa. Some of these are known as Ezili Ke Nwe or Ezili of the Black Heart, who spits black liquid when riding someone's head. Ezili Mapyang, Balyan, and Mambo Zila are a few others.
There is a long time rivalry between Ezili Dantor and Ezili Freda. They are sisters and just cannot stand each other. Like many sisters in real life, there is powerful jealousy between them. As the story goes, Dantor and Freda were both courting a particular Ogou Lwa. Over this man they fought and never reconciled. During this battle, Dantor took her dagger, which she always carries with her, and stabbed Freda in the heart. One can see evidence of this in Freda's saint image. A gold dagger is seen coming out from her heart. Freda, in turn, removed the dagger and cut Dantor's face, scarring her. Thus you will see scars on the Sta. Barbara Africana image. Although there are only two marks, these marks are often called "twa mak" or three marks. Facial scarring of exactly that variety can point to Dantor's African roots, where such facial scarring is common.
Danto in History
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