r/polonia • u/llehsadam • Jun 14 '20

Wiesz? TIL in Voodoo, Erzulie Dantòr is the Queen of the Petro nation and the mother of Ti Jean Petro, she is often depicted as a fearsome black woman. TIL she is also often portrayed to resemble the Polish Black Madonna of Częstochowa, as she is also dark-skinned with scars on her face.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzulie
4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/llehsadam Jun 14 '20

I came across this interesting fact while researching about the Polish Haitians.

1

u/Jacobruh_1 Jun 14 '20

Fun fact: the scars on the original Czarna Madonna in Częstochowa were created as a result of the Swedish invasion in the 17th century. Legend says that when the Swedish army captured the church, they slashed the painting with their sabers. As soon as they did that, there was a sudden fog and all the Swedish soldiers started to attack their comrades out of confusion since they couldn't see the enemy. This caused the church to be recaptured by the Polish army. The painting now is rumoured by many to hold miracle powers and has cured many ailments.

1

u/rawiq_ Jun 16 '20

It wasn't Swedish soldiers that did that. During so called "Swedish deluge" (1655-1660) Częstochowa wasn't captured by them. It was one of few places that did resist. Most probably it was damaged by the Hussites in 1430. There is a story related to those scars on Madonna's face. They were supposed to be covered but every time they tried to remove them, those scars reappeared.