The ancestral lwa - Baron, Maman Brigitte, and the lwa Ghede.

BARON

The head of the family of ancestral lwa is Baron. He is Master of the Cemetery and guardian of ancestral knowledge. He has many aspects, including Baron Samedi, Baron Cemetiere, Baron la Croix, and Baron Criminel. In all of his aspects, he is a masculine lwa with a nasal voice who carries a walking stick or baton, uses profanity liberally, and dresses in black or purple. He is considered the last resort against deaths caused by magic, because even if a magical spell should bring a person to the point of death, if Baron refuses to "dig the grave", the person will not die.

Baron, with his wife Maman Brigitte, is also responsible for reclaiming the souls of the dead  and transforming them into lwa Ghede. Baron may be invoked for cases of infertility, and he is the divine judge to which people may bring their appeals, singing:

(Haitian Creole)
O kwa, o jibile (repeat)
Ou pa we m inosan?

(English)
Oh, cross! Oh, jubilee!
Don't you see I'm innocent?

The grave of the first man buried in any cemetery in Haiti, whether the person in life participated in the Vodou religion or not, is dedicated to Baron (not Ghede), and a ceremonial cross is erected on the spot. In family compounds in the countryside, a family may erect a cross to Baron for their own lineage, and no peristyle is complete without the cross of Baron somewhere on the grounds.

Baron may be invoked at any time, and he can appear without being called, so powerful is he. He drinks rum in which twenty-one hot peppers have been steeped, and which no mere mortal could swallow! His ceremonial foods are black coffee, grilled peanuts, and bread. He dances the remarkably improvisational banda with great skill, and sometimes puts his walking stick between his legs to represent a phallus. Baron is a very masculine lwa.

One day, I saw a Baron possess a homosexual Houngan (see Homosexuality in Vodou). A passing woman teased Baron that he was a "masisi" (faggot, disrespectful term for a homosexual man.) Baron reared up and roared at the woman, "I am Baron! This Houngan, my Houngan, he is a faggot, yes, but I, Baron, I'm no faggot, I f*ck the beautiful woman Maman Brigitte!" And he stalked off in high dudgeon, swinging his baton most threateningly.

The Feast of the 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, Maman Brigitte, or Ghede must be paid at this time. Baron Kriminel sings to his debtors:

(Haitian Creole)
Bawon Kriminel, map travay pou ve de te yo, m pa bezwenn lajan (repeat),
Bawon Kriminel, O! Lane a bout o, map paret tan yo.

(English)
Baron Criminel, I'm working for the worms of the earth (lowly, poor people),
I don't need money (repeat),
Baron Criminel, oh! The year has ended, oh, I'll appear, to wait for them (to pay me).