The Gede Rite in Haiti

Chapter 4 explores the history and content of the Gede Rite. Research on the social and theological characteristics of the Gede spirits and their representations, rituals, and services are examined. More than 40 spirits from the Gede family are introduced along with key linguistic and cultural features. The Gede spirits, especially Bawon Samdi and Grann Brijit, are analyzed in the context of the cemetery, the dead, magic, morality, and migration. The chapter includes 26 Haitian Creole and English facing-page songs by the contemporary Vodou group “Rasin Bwa Kayiman” that focus on Gede Rite themes and spirits, including Gede Nouvavou, Jan Simon Britis, Bawon Lakwa, children, Bawon Kriminèl, betiz (“vulgarity”), Gwo Wòch, Mazaka Lakwa, Gede Nibo, Kwa Marasa, Kwa Senbo, evangelicals, interreligious strife, sex-workers, AIDS, oral sex, genital secretions, chante pwen (“point song”), Mòpyon Lakwa, and Jipitè Lakwa. Vodou hermeneutics explicates the Gede Rite’s links to sexuality, healing, and death.