THE IWA GHEDE

The lwa Ghede are an enormous family of lwa, as many and varied as were the souls from which they originated. Since they are all members of the same family, spiritual children of Baron and Maman Brigitte, they all have the same last name - La Croix, the cross. No matter what other name they bear, their signature is always La Croix.

Some Ghede's names include: Ghede Arapice la Croix, Brav Ghede de la Croix, Ghede Secretaire de la Croix, Ghede Ti-Charles la Croix, Makaya Moscosso de la Croix; and such sad and degraded sounding names as Ghede Ti-Mopyon Deye la Croix (Ghede Little Crab Louse Behind the Cross), Ghede Fatra de la Croix (Garbage Ghede of the Cross), Ghede Gwo Zozo nan Crek Tone de la Croix (Ghede Big Cock in Pussy by Thunder of the Cross) and so on. There is a reason for these odd names, which will become clear as we go along.

The vast majority of Ghedes are male, but there is at least one female Ghede which I have seen, called "Ghedelia". Her name is also emblazoned on a few buses in Port-au-Prince, but I have not determined whether she is a well known Ghede who may appear in almost any peristyle, or whether she is a unique "family" Ghede.

Ghede may possess anyone, anytime, even Protestants (to their enormous embarassment and displeasure.) I have a woman friend in Haiti who one day was observing a group of women possessed by Ghede, cavorting and dancing the banda. She said something like, "Look at those disgusting whores, they have no respect for themselves." On the spot, a Ghede possessed my friend, threw her to the ground, and declared from her prostrate body that he would take her to join her ancestors forthwith! Pleading and intercessions from her family members finally pacified the Ghede, who promised to relent - on the condition that the woman become a Mambo! Mambo Delireuse now practices in a rural area near Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite, in central Haiti!

The Ghedes are very much transitional figures, standing as they do between the living and the finality of death, between the ancestors in Guinea and the living men and women of Haiti. Perhaps this is why the Ghede are honored midway through the full orthodox Vodou ceremony, after the Rada (primarily Dahomean and Yoruban) and before the Petro (primarily Western Hemisphere).

The Ghedes dress much like their father Baron - black or purple clothes, elaborate hats, dark glasses, sometimes missing a lens, a walking stick or baton. They also dance the banda, but they retain more of the individual personality of the person from whom they originated. For example, the Spanish-speaking Ghede I have already discussed turns his baton around and holds it like a guitar. He pretends to strum as he sings love songs to una mujer. This is a bit atypical, but many Ghedes proclaim their geographic origins - "I come from Thomazeau", "I'm a Port-au-Prince guy".

The Ghede family, including their father and mother, Baron and Maman Brigitte, are absolutely notorious for their use of profanity and sexual terms. There is a reason for this - the Ghede are dead, beyond all punishment. Nothing further can be done to them, so the use of profanity among the normally somewhat formal Haitians is a way of saying, "I don't care! I've passed beyond all suffering, I can't be hurt." In a country where disrespect for authority figures was until recently punished by torture or death, this is a powerful message.

However, this profanity is never used in a vicious or abusive fashion, to "curse someone out". It is always humorous, even when there is a pointed message involved.

There are some very stately and dignified songs sung for Ghede, particularly the older, racine or root aspects such as Brav Ghede. Nowadays however, the accent is on the sexual and obscene humor the Ghede lwa provide. Here is a popular song sung for Ghede in public celebrations and Vodou peristyles:

(Haitian Creole)
Si koko te gen dan li tap manje mayi griye,
Se paske li pa gen dan ki fe l manje zozo kale!

(English - hold on to your socks, folks!) -
If vagina had teeth, it would eat roast corn,
It's because it has no teeth, why it eats peeled penis!

In the same vein, Ghede is said to be a thief. It is true that he appropriates what he likes from streetside vendors, but once the seller accedes to Ghede's demands his pilfering is usually limited to a few scraps of coconut meat or a bit of roast corn. At Fet Ghede, most peristyles cook food especially for the hundreds of Ghedes which appear and wander through the streets. Here is a song that a crowd of Ghedes sang as they went to the house of a well know and particularly generous Mambo in the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince, namedLamesi (from the French La Merci, the thanks).

(Haitian Creole)
Ting ting ting ting kay Lamesi,
Whoi mama,
Kay la Mesi gen yon kochon griye,
Whoi mama!

(English)
Ting ting ting ting Lamesi's house
Whoi mama,
Lamesi's house has a whole roast pig,
Whoi mama!