View source for Ayizan

{{Short description|Vodou goddess}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox deity
|type=vodou
| name = Ayizan
| image = [[file:VeveAyizan.svg|200px]]
| caption = [[Veve]] of '''Ayizan'''
| venerated_in= [[Hoodoo (folk magic)|Vodou]], [[Folk Catholicism]], [[West African Vodun]], [[Winti]]
| deity_of = marketplaces, commerce, priestly knowledge, mysteries
| attributes = palm frond, silver, blue, white
}}

'''Ayizan'''<ref>{{Cite book |year=2001 |editor-last=Alvarado, Denise |title=Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiJoEAOGmYkC |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |page=37 |isbn=9781609256159 |accessdate=16 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |year=2003 |editor-last=Malbrough, Ray T. |title=Hoodoo Mysteries Folk Magic, Mysticism & Rituals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HYFR1nytycC |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |page=24 |isbn=9780738703503 |accessdate=16 April 2021}}</ref> (also '''Grande Ai-Zan''', '''Aizan''', or '''Ayizan Velekete, Aisa, Mama Aisa''') is the [[loa]] of the marketplace and commerce in [[Haitian Vodou|Vodou]], especially in [[Benin]], [[Haiti]] and [[Suriname]].

==Background==
She is a racine, or root loa, associated with Vodoun [[Rite of passage|rites of initiation]] (called kanzo). Just as her husband [[Loco (loa)|Loko]] is the archetypal [[houngan]] (priest), Ayizan is regarded as the first, or archetypal, [[Mambo (Voodoo)|mambo]] (priestess), and as such is also associated with priestly knowledge and mysteries, particularly those of initiation and the natural world.

As the spiritual parents of the priesthood, she and her husband are two of the loa involved in the kanzo rites in which the priest/ess-to-be is given the asson (sacred rattle and tool of the priesthood) and are both powerful guardians of "reglemen" or the correct and appropriate form of Vodoun service.

She is [[wiktionary:syncretised|syncretized]] with the Catholic [[Clare of Assisi|Saint Clare]]. Her symbol is the [[palm frond]], and she drinks no alcohol. Her colors are most commonly silver, blue, and white.<ref>{{cite web |last1=St. Marc |first1=Jean-Luc |title=Ayizan, the Lwa of Markets and Trade |url=https://louisianavoodoo.com/ayizan/ |website=Louisiana Voodoo |date=13 August 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://louisianavoodoo.com/ayizan/ An overview of Ayizan]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060517074326/http://www.haitianinternet.com/resources.php/10 The meaning of Ayizan's name] by Max Beauvoir
*[https://www.strangilla.com/ayizan-the-first-priestess-of-haitian-vodou/  Ayizan: The First Priestess of Haitian Vodou]

[[Category:Voodoo goddesses]]
[[Category:Haitian Vodou goddesses]]
[[Category:Commerce goddesses]]
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