Mambo Chita Tann (Mambo T) and La Sosyete Fòs Fè Yo Wè

Mambo Chita Tann (Mambo Tamara/Mambo T) was originally initiated as a mambo asogwe in Haitian Vodou in Jacmel, Haiti in July 2001 by the Roots Without End Society. She served in that sosyete for two years as konfyans kay (house counselor/assistant) until her re-kanzo, entering service in another Haitian Vodou society based in Pétionville and Port-au-Prince, Haiti with a satellite house in Long Island, NY: Sosyete La Fraicheur Belle Fleur Guinea, headed by Mambo Marie Carmel**.

Mambo T was re-initiated as mambo asogwe in a second kanzo in January 2006 at Sosyete Sipote Ki Di, a historical Port-au-Prince peristyle jointly administered by Mambo Marie Carmel and Mambo Ya Sezi. At her baptism Mambo T was honored with the public name Chita Tann, a name passed down through several mambos in the house's lineage. Mambo T has more than 20 years' experience as a teacher, published author, and lecturer on African religions, and is a professional Egyptologist as well as the spiritual leader of the Kemetic Orthodox Faith (a modern form of ancient Egyptian religion) in addition to her work in Haitian Vodou. She considers Vodou not to be her religion, but a magical practice in honor of Haitian and native American ancestors, and her students come from all races, religions and walks of life.

La Sosyete Fòs Fè Yo Wè ("Strength Makes them See," formerly La Sosyete Kouwone Andezo) was founded in 2001 to accommodate Mambo T's altars and a growing number of students. The sosyete's home temple (houmfor) is located at Mambo T's home in Illinois and sponsors the Legba's Crossroads website and the Crossroads Store, as well as the informational Vodou Faithweb site. Membership in Fòs Fè Yo Wè is by invitation only.

**Mambo Marie Carmel is a well-known Mambo both inside and outside of Haiti. She maintains residences in New York and Haiti and has more than 25 years' experience in Vodou, having taken the asson at age 18 from Mambo Jacqueline Anne-Marie Lubin, herself an initiate of the famous Kintonmin Bon Mambo of Bel-Air (Mambo Felicia Louis-Romain), the chief priestess of Haiti's first asson lineage in Port-au-Prince in the 1920s.

Mambo Marie's house, Sosyete La Fraicheur Belle Fleur Guinea, honors both the asson and non-asson lineages of Haiti: she was first involved in Vodou at age seven and received training from her father's asson lineage and her mother's non-asson Kenscoff tradition (primarily Kongo/Ibo and Taino Indian in orientation). Mambo Marie also went to West Africa to be initiated into various secret societies of Abomey. In Haiti, Mambo Marie currently shares a peristyle with Mambo Fifi "Ya Sezi," chief mambo of Sosyete Sipote Ki Di, a very famous Vodou temple located near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince with a 50+ year heritage. Mambo Ya Sezi's large urban peristyle, painted a vibrant deep blue and featuring huge murals of the Lwa, has been featured in a number of documentaries and books about Vodou. A new Haitian peristyle for the use of Sosyete La Fraicheur Belle Fleur Guinea and its daughter societies is currently under construction in a tranquil mango grove outside Pétionville.

Mambo Marie is highly respected mambo in the New York Vodou community as well as in her native Haiti. Her reputation as a mambo has carried her to clients all over the world, and the services she holds in New York attract hundreds who pack her peristyle to hear her singing and the excellent drumwork of her friend, master drummer Houngan Frisner Augustine and his Troupe Makandal. Mambo Marie is a full-time mambo and the owner and operator of Mt. Carmel Botanica in Freeport, NY. ((many thanks to Casa Alta Gracia for help with this biography.))