Sallie Ann Glassman, an American artist, author, and Vodou practitioner born in 1954 in Kennebunkport, Maine, describes her heritage as Ukrainian-Jewish. A former Ordo Templi Orientis member, she began practicing Vodou in New Orleans in 1977 and was formally ordained in a traditional Haitian initiation in 1995. Glassman owns Island of Salvation Botanica, a unique gallery and spiritual supply shop showcasing Haitian and local art. Known as one of New Orleans’ prominent Vodou practitioners, her work bridges art, spirituality, and culture in the city. MysticMag learns more.
How do you approach teaching and preserving traditional Haitian Vodou practices in a modern American context?
My Papa Asson (the man who initiated me) in Haiti told me he was going to give me everything he knew. I feel a duty to carry on in his legacy. He also told me that it was fine to innovate and adapt so long as those innovations are “Within the light of Vodou.” I am aware that while my ceremonies are based in Haitian Vodou and all my papa taught me, I am not Haitian and the majority of Americans in my house were not raised in the tradition of Haitian Vodou so we add some extra elements that are within the framework and principals of Vodou but you might not see them in a ceremony in Haiti. Vodou has an extraordinary ability to morph and adapt to the circumstances and environments it encounters. It was carried on the backs of enslaved Africans who combined their traditions with European Catholicism, native/indigenous practices and even masonry encountered in the “New World.” Vodou continues to adapt and transform but always offers a connection to Ancestry, a doorway to the realm of Spirit, keys to freedom, and a technology for turning suffering into strength. Some of my work is controversial. For instance, I am vegan and do not sacrifice animals in my ceremonies but believe that is entirely within Vodou’s tradition of adaptation and evolution. Vodou remains relevant through these creative developments.
I do not actually think of myself as a teacher. I believe I share what I have and have learned through weekly ceremonies (for 44 years now!), through public ceremonies throughout the year, through artwork and writing, through my work in my shop, The Island of Salvation Botanica where we help people work the principles and spirits of Vodou ( referred to collectively as the lwa) into their daily personal lives and practice, through lectures and most recently through New Orleans National Vodou Day. In the end, I am amazed at how much I always have to learn. I continue to learn from several Haitian manbo and oungan — each with their own insights into tradition and their own styles of service. It is a kind of glorious challenge to find ways to blend the traditional with the contemporary. We spend a great deal of time learning traditional Haitian Kreyol sacred songs, which contain the knowledge of Vodou, the drummers learn and play the sacred traditional rhythms, and we follow the traditional order of ceremony (“Reglemmen”). But there is also an element of spontaneous creativity within that framework which keeps the spirit of Vodou alive. Most importantly, we learn directly from Spirit when the lwa show up through possession trance to teach us in the living moment.
What role does Vodou play in the holistic healing practices you offer at Island of Salvation Botanica, and how does it contribute to the well-being of visitors?
Vodou healing work looks for the source of illness in a patient. Divination and cobsultation with the lwa determines whether the illness has been caused by natural or supernatural causes. If a natural, purely physical illness, the person might be sent to a medical doctor. If the cause is supernatural, then spiritual healing is required. The shop offers readings to determine the cause of suffering and the tools for bringing the person back into balance or to maintain spiritual balance which takes ongoing vigilance and care, given the stresses, distractions and challenges of life and relationships. We work to help bring community and individuals into balance with Spirit and the Ancestors so they can receive their blessings. Herbs, baths, candles, oils, powders, incense all help to bring the person into wholeness and well-being emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and even financially. It’s all about healing.
How has your involvement with the New Orleans Healing Center enriched the community, and what are your goals for this space?
We formed the New Orleans Healing Center after Hurricane Katrina, our biblical event when New Orleans was in ruin. A group of concerned citizens came together to brainstorm how we could affect the rebuilding of New Orleans. We called in U.N. experts to learn about the core principles of sustainability. The Healing Center is intended to bring healing to the community and individuals on all levels, economically, physically, spiritually, psychologically, culturally, socially, and environmentally . We selected a location in what was one of the “Recovery Zones” – locations where it was theorized that if you could develop one key project, a ripple effect would go out, leading to the revitalization of a whole neighborhood. We selected and continue to select businesses and organizations to participate in the Healing Center who address the needs of the community, provide healing on one or more levels of sustainability, and could synergize together so that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. And finally we wanted to bring together people from all walks of life, all races, all classes, all ages.
The St Claude Corridor in which the Center is located has gone through an extraordinary revitalization process. Houses painted and renovated, galleries, coffee shops, and all manner of other businesses have opened. The Center is drawing people from all walks of life for all manner of activities, whether buying healthy groceries at the food Coop, getting alternative and complimentary healing modalities at The Healing Environment, taking in any number of multicultural activities at Cafe Istanbul Performance Hall, discovering new works of art in the Second Story Cooperative Art Gallery, taking a yoga class, collage class or Spanish class, getting a super affordable hair cut, attending a meeting at the LAMDA Center, attending one of our unique cultural festivals, getting a spiritual reading at the Island of Salvation or putting a prayer candle up at the International Shrine of Marie Laveau — I could go on and on — or all of the above. The Healing Center is a beautiful, light-filled, inclusive and welcoming asset to the community that daily fulfills its goal of providing help and healing to a varied and vibrant community.
How do your art and writings reflect the essence of Vodou, and how do they help demystify and educate people about the tradition?
Vodou itself is inseparable from the art forms that inform it. I paint and write from a sense of this numinous presence of sacred, intelligent life force — the Ashe of Bondye (Good God). Everything that I create is inspired by and offered out of respect and honor to the lwa, the Spirits of Vodou). Whether a painting of a natural landscape, visionary portrait, veve drawn on the floor in cornmeal to call one of the lwa during a ceremony, altar installation, or creation of a ritual experience, it is all meant to carry the presence and force of spirit and interact with the psyche of the viewer/reader/participant.
What makes Island of Salvation Botanica unique as a spiritual shop, and how do the products you offer support personal spiritual journeys?
The island of salvation Botanica is a labor of love owned and staffed by sincere and respectful practitioners. Our guiding values are grace and compassion. IOSB is intended to be a light in the darkness for people who are starting their spiritual journey or are long-term practitioners themselves. It is not unusual to hear or participate in animated discussions among clients about the nature of Papa Legba, for instance, or to get hints about herbal remedies or how to dress a candle from someone who is shopping next to you. The shop is rather small, but packed with items to help individuals reach spirit. We offer services such as Crystal ball, tarot, and intuitive readings, candle dressing (we add herbs and oils to add to the efficacy of candles), custom gris-gris bags (tied up bundles of herbs, resins, gemstones, etc that give a person a hand up in life), spiritual cleansings and blessings. We are always here to listen and give advice and guide people to which products to use and how best to use them. In spite of people often coming to us with their problems, the atmosphere and energy of the shop is always uplifting and positive. We are truly family, working together for healing and everyone’s best good. The Island of Salvation Botanica is more than a shop; it is an experience of the blessing and empowerment that is Vodou.
If you would like to learn more about Sallie Ann Glassman, please visit https://www.islandofsalvationbotanica.com/#/
