Azaka (Kouzin or Couzen) is the

loa ( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerate ...

of the harvest in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an Vodou

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. He evolved after the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...

when slaves were able to own property. Depicted as a country bumpkin who loves to eat, he is kind and gentle and he has no alternate sinister (

petro Petro is a masculine given name, a surname and an Ancient Roman cognomen. It may refer to: Given name * Petro Balabuyev (1931-2007), Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer and professor, lead designer of many Antonov airplanes * Petro Doroshenko (1 ...

) form. Azaka is identified with Saint Isadore. He is celebrated and affiliated with Labor Day in Haiti (May 1). Azaka Medeh belongs to the same family of spirits as

Azaka-Tonnerre Azaka-Tonnerre (also Azaca or Azacca) is a loa of thunder in Vodou, especially in Haiti. He is in the same "family" as Azaka Medeh, the loa of harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cut ...

, loa of thunder. Asaka is the loose female interpretation of him as mother of the earth in the Broadway musical ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retelling o ...

''.

References

{{Deity-stub Harvest deities Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints Haitian Vodou gods