Day of the Dead
by Daniel Cima
Two-thirds of Haiti’s 8 million people are said to practice voodoo. The Day of the Dead is one of the largest voodoo celebrations in the country. Every year hundreds go the cemeteries to participate in ceremonies carried out to honor the sprit of the dead. They bring gifts of food, candles, flowers and spiced rum. The Gede (the spirits of the dead) perform the erotic “banda” dance around the cross of Baron Samedi, where nudity and sexual acts are part of the rituals. This black cross is at the entrance of every cemetery and it’s the place where all the celebrations and offerings take place. It represents the crossroads, the passing from life to death.
Men and women say they are possessed by Gede. They dress in white, purple or black, wear handkerchiefs and paint their faces with white chalk or ashes to imitate the dead. They wander throughout the cemetery in a trance like state yelling obscenities and asking for money. Finally, the people come together through music, singing, dancing and sacred rituals as a way to reconnect with the past and honor the spirits so they will be granted protection and good will for the coming year.
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