My favourite Haitian Vaudou festivity is here...November 2nd...the GHEDE celebration.
Houngan Matt's Vodou Blog
A City Houngan's Life Among the Lwa
Basic Salutes: Ghede!
July24
The third and final division of the major Vodou Lwa are the Ghede, a raucous bunch of the Unclaimed Dead (as opposed to the Beloved Dead, served as your Ancestors). The Ghede are a wild, trash talking, heavy drinking, hot pepper laced party just simmering under the surface and waiting to explode!
Unlike the Rada and Petro lwa, who are identified by Nations, the Ghede are one big family of spirits headed by the Barons, the spirits of Death itself; the Ghede are Dead, so they’re beyond punishment for what they say and do, and all inhibitions are gone. They keep the boundary land between life’s excesses and lusts alive and sacred, dancing wild dances that mimic rough sexual intercourse, cracking jokes at the expense of sometimes dangerous political figures, and releasing the tensions of a long night of ritual that often lasts into the wee morning hours.
The Ghede, in addition to being experts at all matters revolving around the Dead, are fierce healers and protectors of Children (after all, Children havent lived a full life nor have they experienced the fullness of what it means to be alive; the Ghede see the innocents as something to protect with the uttmost ferocity)
The Ghede, being Dead, are also for the most part completely unafraid; a strong relationship with the Ghede is essential for dealing with Spirits you or your House may not maintain relationships with; there are MANY more spirits than those normally served in the usual house’s calling of Rada and Petro, not all of whom have our best interests at heart and not all of whom would be agreeable to working with our already extant lwa-relationships; the Ghede will talk to those lwa and spirits for you if you treat them with respect and love, and provide a wonderful line of defense and defensive work for the active Vodouisant.
Ghede, while being a completely separate division of spirits, do fall into Rada-like and Petro-like manifestations; the Rada Ghede will be more… well, no Ghede is really stately, but the Rada Ghede will be more concerned with defensive work, healing, and guardianship than the Petro Ghede, who are unabashedly all about vengeance.
Offerings for the Ghede are very similar to offerings for the Ancestors, with one major caveat; the Ghede like it SPICY! Liberal amounts of hot pepper are the norm here, far more than any human could actually consume. The Ghede in possession are sometimes known for rubbing sliced habanero peppers across mucus membranes such as the eyes or the vagina, a practice that clearly shows the possession to be genuine as no human is capable of building up that amount of a capsaicin tolerance. The usual liquid refreshment for these Lwa is white rum with 21 sliced habanero peppers steeped in it! (All ghede lwa are individuals, and not all like it that hot; some take red wine, some take beer, some drink toxic rum infused with half smoked cigarette butts… the Dead will do strange things)
Service for the Ghede follows the Petro format, but WITHOUT the breathing of the pepper-laced rum!! (Lovingly, that liquid is sometimes referred to as Haitian Tear Gas… for a REASON! Dont let it come into contact with your skin!) The bouji for the Ghede are black instead of the yellow used for the Petro spirits, but otherwise the motions are the same if not a little softer and less militaristic. Gently tap the bottle of hot pepper laden rum on the floor as we do with the water pot while serving the Nago spirits, or pour three tiny drops onto your plate reserved for catching liquid offerings.
The Ghede should NOT be housed on the top of your altar table; due to their raucus nature (and some say the smell of Dead things) the other Lwa do not like being in close proximity to the dead; nor should you mix the Ghede with your beloved Ancestors; their table should remain separate, as you really dont want dear sweet Granny having to listen to what the Ghede will tell her! The Ghede can be served on the floor beneath your altar; spread a black or purple cloth (their colors) and place their offerings and accoutrements there. Traditionally, the food offerings to the Dead are given to them in a special kind of calabash bowl called a kwi, made from half a dried calabash gourd; for the beginner at home its ok to use tinware plates or plates specifically devoted to the Ghede. Chipped old china is near perfect; the Ghede tend to like things that have a beaten up appearance or things noone else would think of as “presentable” (they have a taste for old moth-eaten or dusty old hats, too… a top hat or an old bowler style makes an ideal gift for the Ghede). Do not give the Ghede water. A pack of cigarettes is a great gift as well.
The Ghede, being the Lwa of the Dead, are often the closest to us as living beings, and are often the first Lwa who begin coming to us in our dreams; they have been alive and they have very vivid recollections of what it was like to be so, so for them its a very easy jump to calling out to us. MANY Vodouisants are first called or “notified” by the Ghede lwa.
Houngan Matt's Vodou Blog
A City Houngan's Life Among the Lwa
Basic Salutes: Ghede!
July24
The third and final division of the major Vodou Lwa are the Ghede, a raucous bunch of the Unclaimed Dead (as opposed to the Beloved Dead, served as your Ancestors). The Ghede are a wild, trash talking, heavy drinking, hot pepper laced party just simmering under the surface and waiting to explode!
Unlike the Rada and Petro lwa, who are identified by Nations, the Ghede are one big family of spirits headed by the Barons, the spirits of Death itself; the Ghede are Dead, so they’re beyond punishment for what they say and do, and all inhibitions are gone. They keep the boundary land between life’s excesses and lusts alive and sacred, dancing wild dances that mimic rough sexual intercourse, cracking jokes at the expense of sometimes dangerous political figures, and releasing the tensions of a long night of ritual that often lasts into the wee morning hours.
The Ghede, in addition to being experts at all matters revolving around the Dead, are fierce healers and protectors of Children (after all, Children havent lived a full life nor have they experienced the fullness of what it means to be alive; the Ghede see the innocents as something to protect with the uttmost ferocity)
The Ghede, being Dead, are also for the most part completely unafraid; a strong relationship with the Ghede is essential for dealing with Spirits you or your House may not maintain relationships with; there are MANY more spirits than those normally served in the usual house’s calling of Rada and Petro, not all of whom have our best interests at heart and not all of whom would be agreeable to working with our already extant lwa-relationships; the Ghede will talk to those lwa and spirits for you if you treat them with respect and love, and provide a wonderful line of defense and defensive work for the active Vodouisant.
Ghede, while being a completely separate division of spirits, do fall into Rada-like and Petro-like manifestations; the Rada Ghede will be more… well, no Ghede is really stately, but the Rada Ghede will be more concerned with defensive work, healing, and guardianship than the Petro Ghede, who are unabashedly all about vengeance.
Offerings for the Ghede are very similar to offerings for the Ancestors, with one major caveat; the Ghede like it SPICY! Liberal amounts of hot pepper are the norm here, far more than any human could actually consume. The Ghede in possession are sometimes known for rubbing sliced habanero peppers across mucus membranes such as the eyes or the vagina, a practice that clearly shows the possession to be genuine as no human is capable of building up that amount of a capsaicin tolerance. The usual liquid refreshment for these Lwa is white rum with 21 sliced habanero peppers steeped in it! (All ghede lwa are individuals, and not all like it that hot; some take red wine, some take beer, some drink toxic rum infused with half smoked cigarette butts… the Dead will do strange things)
Service for the Ghede follows the Petro format, but WITHOUT the breathing of the pepper-laced rum!! (Lovingly, that liquid is sometimes referred to as Haitian Tear Gas… for a REASON! Dont let it come into contact with your skin!) The bouji for the Ghede are black instead of the yellow used for the Petro spirits, but otherwise the motions are the same if not a little softer and less militaristic. Gently tap the bottle of hot pepper laden rum on the floor as we do with the water pot while serving the Nago spirits, or pour three tiny drops onto your plate reserved for catching liquid offerings.
The Ghede should NOT be housed on the top of your altar table; due to their raucus nature (and some say the smell of Dead things) the other Lwa do not like being in close proximity to the dead; nor should you mix the Ghede with your beloved Ancestors; their table should remain separate, as you really dont want dear sweet Granny having to listen to what the Ghede will tell her! The Ghede can be served on the floor beneath your altar; spread a black or purple cloth (their colors) and place their offerings and accoutrements there. Traditionally, the food offerings to the Dead are given to them in a special kind of calabash bowl called a kwi, made from half a dried calabash gourd; for the beginner at home its ok to use tinware plates or plates specifically devoted to the Ghede. Chipped old china is near perfect; the Ghede tend to like things that have a beaten up appearance or things noone else would think of as “presentable” (they have a taste for old moth-eaten or dusty old hats, too… a top hat or an old bowler style makes an ideal gift for the Ghede). Do not give the Ghede water. A pack of cigarettes is a great gift as well.
The Ghede, being the Lwa of the Dead, are often the closest to us as living beings, and are often the first Lwa who begin coming to us in our dreams; they have been alive and they have very vivid recollections of what it was like to be so, so for them its a very easy jump to calling out to us. MANY Vodouisants are first called or “notified” by the Ghede lwa.
