La Sirèn and Pomegranate Flower Essence
By Linda Duverné
Summer 2023 Flower Essence Formula Design Class
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Positive qualities: Joyful expression of feminine creativity, actively productive and nurturing at
home or in the world
Patterns of imbalance: Ambivalent or confused about the focus of creativity, especially between
values of career and home, creative and procreative, personal and global
Lasirèn is a lwa (spirit) within Haitian Vodou who entices us into introspection by the way of the water element. She is seen as half-human and half-fish or seen as a mermaid. Lasirèn derives from older Afro-diasporic water spirits like Mami Wata and Yemaya/Yemoja. Lasirèn is the Haitian version of these Afro-diasporic water spirits that reflect how African water spirits had to adapt to suit the changing social and historical circumstances of the devotees in Ayiti (Haiti)(Szeles 199). Lasirèn is a part of the three representations in femininity within Haitian Vodou that includes, Èzili Danto as the mother, Èzili Freda as the lover, and Lasirèn as the goddess.
Lasirèn stands out as the mystical and spiritual side of a woman as she rules the water element. The water informs this spirit in how she guides us back to our own sacred wisdom (sajès) and knowledge (konesans) (Szeles 195). Depictions of Lasirèn are of her holding a mirror, comb, and golden trumpet. She uses the mirror to remind us to go inward and deepen our devotion to self-awareness. She assists us to anchor our identity through water which reminds us that there are multiple modes of being (Szeles 199). The mirror represents the portal between the mundane life and magical realm, the conscious world and unconscious world, and even the “personal and global” (FES 258). Her position in the water symbolizes a call for people to explore various possibilities of identities within themselves including one’s sexuality. She offers “avenues for people to embrace all sides of themselves in their sexual and gendered expressions'' (Szeles 194). She resonates with “black women-loving-women” as she can speak to the three consciousnesses of black women being gay, black, and woman (Szeles 194). Lasirèn assists devotees in determining the femininity they desire to embody or not embody (Szeles 195).
The archetype of Lasirèn is not encoded with a desire for whiteness as one may see with the lwa Èzili Freda. Lasirèn’s appeal comes from the mystery and mysticism that surrounds her, the wealth she blesses devotees with, and the enchantment she possesses. Lasirèn is multidimensional in what she represents for Haiti, Haitian Vodou, and her devotees; but for the sake of matching a flower essence to her own essence, I will speak more to her “divine wisdom around creation” (Szeles 202). The pomegranate flower essence affirms “I create from the womb-world of my inmost Self. I bring feminine, nurturing forces to all I do. I impregnate the World with the Mother-Spirit of Love.” Lasirèn amplifies the energy of the pomegranate flower essence’s affirmation by using the water element to “convert potentials into actualities'' (Szeles 203). The “potentials” can be seen as our innate creativity that we possess and need to be reminded that we can express and manifest it through our multidimensional personhood and in this case womanhood. Pomegranate flower essence reminds those who seek to evolve through their own feminine incarnation that there is great choice and possibility in our life to create through joyful expression (FES 258).
The following vèvè (geometrical figures that represent the lwas (spirits)) of Lasirèn details two spirals that represent eggs which mean new beginnings that can be manifested through creativity and procreation.
The pomegranate flower essence is for “the individual who seeks to evolve through her feminine incarnation and is given great possibility and choice in our modern era (FES 258). La Sirène embodies this aspect of the flower essence because the water element generates renewal imagery that demonstrates diverse modes of being in which Lasirèn translates the potency of the water into possibilities for identity (Szeles 203). Lasirèn speaks to the woman who want to redefine and reimagine their femininity and the pomegranate flower essence comes to integrate one’s reimagination to help “the soul to stay connected to the Mother-Spirit-of-Love in all that it gives to the world” (FES 258). The pomegranate flower essence tells us that you don’t have to choose between the role of the mother at home or the career woman, you can take up space as a feminine force however that looks like for you. Lasirèn allows us time and space for deep introspection to understand how we want to show up in our femininity and therefore embody it for ourselves. Lasirèn asks us as women, who are you to yourself, before anything else?
The pomegranate flower essence speaks greatly to the joyful expression of feminine creativity. Creativity is spiritual and sexual energy that is housed in the womb space. One of the ways that imbalance can manifest is through physical illness present in the womb space. As the womb is another representation of the water element, we can call on Lasirèn to transmute the spiritual energy into physical energy and integrate each aspect to bring back balance into our womb.
Through the deep waters, Lasirèn gives back to the world through procreation, deep introspection, and sensuality with self and others. Pomegranate flower essence amplifies Lasirèn’s sacred energy by staying connected to the Mother-Spirit-of-Love in all that she gives to the world and beyond. How can you stay connected to the Mother-Spirit-of-Love in all that it gives to the world? Ayibobo!
Work Cited
Kaminski, Patricia and Richard Katz. Flower Essence Repertory: A Comprehensive Guide to the Flower Essences researched by Dr. Edward Bach and by the Flower Essence Society. Earth-Spirit, Inc., 2019.
Szeles, Ursula. “Sea Secret Rising: The Lwa Lasirenn in Haitian Vodou.” Journal of Haitian Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, 2011, pp. 193–210. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41711916. Accessed 16 Aug. 2023.
