Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte

      Voodoo deities, or loas, are among the most feared divine beings in the world. Wild, short-tempered, and immensely powerful, these spirits communicate with humans by possessing those attending Voodoo rituals. Those who obey the loa are granted their wishes and good health, but those who do not can meet a terrifying fate at the hands of their gods.

      Baron Samedi is the most famous and the most frightening of the loa spirits. The Baron is the infamous master of the dead who escorts souls from the graveyard to the underworld. However, the Baron does not concern himself with only the dead; he can enter the realm of the living and force people to do his terrible bidding.

      Baron Samedi (Baron Saturday, also Bawon Samedi, or Bawon Sanmdi) is one of the loa of Haitian Vodou. Samedi is usually depicted with a white top hat, black tuxedo, dark glasses, and cotton plugs in the nostrils, as if to resemble a corpse dressed and prepared for burial in the Haitian style. He has a white, frequently skull-like face (or actually has a skull for a face). He is the head of the Gud (also Ghede; pronounced GAY-day) family of loa, those gods concerned with death and resurrection.

      Many call Baron Samedi the ruling loa or god of New Orleans. He and his bride, the Great Maman Brigitte, are sometimes referred to as the king and queen of the Zombies. Voodooists believe that only through his power can a soul be forced from a living body and placed between life and death.

      On Halloween night, Baron Samedi stands at the Crossroads, where the souls of dead humans pass on their way to the gate to Guinee, the astral counterpart of the ancient homeland in Africa. Samedi is a sexual loa, frequently represented by phallic symbols, and he is also noted for disruption, obscenity, debauchery, and has a particular fondness for tobacco and rum. As he is the loa of sex and resurrection, he is often called upon for healing by those near or approaching death. It is only the Baron who can accept an individual into the realm of the dead. Samedi is considered a wise judge and a powerful magician.

      He, as well as Ghede, the most benevolent loa of the dead, often possesses individuals whether they are practicing Voodoo-Hoodoos or not. Many have documented and experienced such possession.

      As well as being master of the dead, Baron Samedi is also a giver of life. He can cure any mortal of any disease or wound if he thinks it is worth his time to do so. His powers are especially great when it comes to Voodoo curses and black magic. Even if somebody has been inflicted by a hex which brings them to the verge of death, they will not die if the Baron refuses to dig their grave. So long as this mighty spirit keeps them out of the ground they are safe. What he demands in return depends on his mood. Sometimes he is content with his followers wearing black, white, or purple clothes, and offering a small gift of cigars, rum, black coffee, grilled peanuts, or bread. On other occasions, the Baron will ask for a Voodoo ceremony in his honor. If he is in a bad mood, he may dig the grave of his supplicant, bury him alive, or bring him back as a mindless zombie.

       Baren Samedi is one of the loa of Haitian Voodoo. He is often depicted as looking like a well-dressed corpse awaiting burial. (Art by Ricardo Pustanio.)

      The spiritual children of Baron and Maman Brigitte are the Ghede loa, the protectors of the dead. A New World loa, Maman Brigitte is probably traceable back to the Irish Saint Brigid. The Ghedes are powerful, and will prophesy the future, heal the sick, give advice, or perform magic of all descriptions. They also exert control over those who become zombies.

      At Voodoo ceremonies, the Ghede possess the Voodooists and dance the banda, which is a wildly suggestive dance miming sexual intercourse. And in the midst of all this winding and grinding, these loa keep perfectly straight faces. They have reached such a deep trance state that it is as if they are cadavers and feel nothing.

      Papa Legba (also Papa Ghede) is considered the counterpart to Baron Samedi. If a child is dying, it is Papa Legba to whom the parents pray. It is believed that he will not take a life before its time, and that he will protect the little ones.

      Papa Ghede is supposed to be the corpse of the first man who ever died. He is recognized as a short, dark man with a high hat on his head, a cigar in his mouth, and an apple in his left hand. Papa Ghede is a psychopomp who waits at the crossroads to take souls into the afterlife.

      Although he was one of the most revered loa in Haitian Voudun, Papa Ghede was eventually transformed into the figure of a gentle and loving old man, who stands as the Guardian of the Centerpost, the Opener of the Gates, to any who communicate with the loa.

      Ghede Nibo is a psychopomp, an intermediary between the living and the dead. He gives voice to the dead spirits that have not been reclaimed from below the waters.

      Ghede Masaka assists Ghede Nibo. He is an androgynous male or transgendered gravedigger, and spirit of the dead, recognized by his black shirt, white jacket, and white head scarf.

      November 2, All Souls Day, is also The Feast of the Ancestors, commonly called Fet Ghede. New Orleans Catholics attend mass in the morning, then go to the cemetery, where they pray at family grave sites, and make repairs to family tombs. The majority of New Orleans Catholics are also said to be Vodouisants, and vice versa, so on the way to the cemetery many people change clothes from the white they wore to church to the purple and black of the loa Ghede, the spirits of the departed ancestors.

      Fet Ghede is considered the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, much as in the European Wiccan tradition. Any debts to Baron Samedi, Maman Brigitte, or Ghede must be paid at this time.