#ghede vs rada!!

[spiritualityloves247]

We despise ze French

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

BARON SAMEDI vs. PAPA GUEDE

Why and how the two are confused for each other

Companion piece to: https://the-girl-who-didnt-smile.tumblr.com/post/761164319058739200/the-whitewashing-of-maman-brigitte 

In the original version of this post, I accused Maya Deren of being the source of the claim that Baron Samedi and Papa Guede are one in the same. Upon researching this further, I do not think this was a fair accusation. Similar comments can be made towards Zora Neale Hurston. I revisited this essay to address this issue, as it is possible that Deren and Hurston’s comments reflect a real regional difference that exist(ed) in Haitian Vodou.

This should also be obvious, but I have no Haitian heritage, nor am I an expert on this topic. In the past, I was really ignorant about the differences between Baron Samedi and Papa Guede. This essay represents my attempt to research this subject. I apologize in advance for any mistakes that may be present.

Many Westerners like myself believe that Baron Samedi and Papa Guede are the same, or two aspects of a single lwa. Where does this notion come from?

One of the most important foreign authors in changing the public perception of Haitian Vodou is Maya Deren. Although other Westerners published books about Vodou before her, she was able to balance factual accuracy with a degree of eloquence that reached a mass audience. It comes as little surprise to me that an author of Eastern European heritage could resonate so easily with the remarkably brutal history of Haitian Vodou.

That being said, she has been criticized from an anthropological standpoint regarding some of the assertions she makes in Divine Horsemen. It is in this book that Deren states the following:

“As Death, he is the keeper of the cemetery, guardian of the past, of the history and heritage of the race. The cross of Baron Samedi (as Ghede is sometimes called) is in every cemetery; and the graves that are under the special protection of his female counterpart, Maman Brigitte, are marked by a mound of stones.”

SOURCE: Deren, Maya. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. United Kingdom, McPherson, 1983. p. 103. https://archive.org/details/divinehorsemenli00dere/page/102/mode/2up  

Because Divine Horsemen was taken as authoritative in the West, this quote has been reproduced in several other foreign works.

Deren herself cites the American novelist Harold Courlander, who traveled to Haiti many times and produced an early trove of songs from Haitian Vodou.

Below are quotes from Courlander’s (1944) “Gods of the Haitian Mountains”:

“…Some Haitians feel that BARON SAMEDI and GEDE NIMBO are the same…” (p. 356)

“...In some parts of Haiti GEDE NIMBO is thought to be identical with BARON SAMEDI…” (pp. 361-362)

SOURCE: Courlander, Harold. “Gods of the Haitian Mountains.” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 29, no. 3, 1944, pp. 339–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2714821. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Similar comments are made in Courlander’s (1960) The Drum and the Hoe:

“...Gede Nimbo, also known as Baron Samedi…” (p. 56)

“...In some parts of Haiti, Gede is thought to be identical with Baron Samedi…” (p. 323)

“...They are so closely identified that some Haitians feel that Baron Samedi is merely another name for Gede Nimbo…” (p. 323)

SOURCE: Courlander, Harold. The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People. United States, University of California Press, 1960. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/drumhoe0000unse/mode/2up 

Further context is provided in Courlander’s (1973) Haiti Singing: 

“Gede Nimbo , also known as Baron Samedi. (Rada loa.) Athough Gede is inferior to Baron la Croix, he is still one of the most important of all the family. In fact, he is one of the most powerful deities of the whole Haitian pantheon. He guards the cemetery and protects the graves, especially those of children. But Gede Nimbo is not simply another loa, he is sometimes a personification of death itself. He is always spoken of as “dressed all in black.” While people may give “pitit lament” or small money to the other loa, they pay heavily to Gede Nimbo. He is not pleasant when aroused. (In Mirebalais, Dr. Herskovits received the impression that Gede Nimbo and Baron Samedi are different loa. In the south they are considered the same.) Dr. Elsie Clews Parsons, who visited the south coast of Haiti on a folk tale collecting trip some years ago, recorded the following impressions of Gede: “He is like Ogun [Ogoun], but ‘worse,’ he is a grande diable. He makes all kinds of motions to make you laugh, but you must not laugh at him, for if you do, he makes you ‘stop laughing,’ which means inversely that he makes you go on laughing forever against your will. Anything you touch, he takes and never returns, and you have to give him more and more. He smokes cigarettes, not cigars. He wears a coat and a hat, and carries a stick. He can make himself short or tall, ‘as tall as a mast.’ ” (p. 34)

SOURCE: Courlander, Harold. Haiti Singing. United States, Cooper Square Publishers, 1973. Originally published in 1939. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/isbn_0815404611/page/34/mode/1up 

Although Courlander claims that Gede Nimbo and Baron Samedi are considered the same in Southern Haiti, this is contradicted by the source he provides.

Where George Simpson studied Vodou in Northern Haiti, Dr. Elsie Clews Parsons reported his observations from “a recent folk-tale collecting trip to the south coast of Hayti”. He clearly differentiates between Baron Samedi and Gede Nibo, like so:

"On this higglety pigglety pantheon my notes read: Loi Gede or Gede-nibo talks through his nose (i.e. when he takes possession of any one). He eats only casaba and peppers and herring. He "ties his jaw" just like the dead, with cotton in the nostrils, for he is «master of the cemetery» mait' e cimetière). He is the "head loi". At the capital, Port-au-Prince, "most people have the loi Gede..." His papa loi (devotee) wears habitually (?) a white handkerchief around the head…." (p. 158)

“Loi Ba-un-Samedi (? gives or for Saturday). He is like Ogun, but "worse", he is a grande diable. He makes all kinds of motions to make you laugh, but you must not laugh at him, for if you do, he makes you "stop laughing", which means inversely that he makes you go on laughing forever against your will. Anything you touch, he takes and never returns, and you have to give him more and more. He smokes cigarettes, not cigars. He wears a coat and hat, and carries a stick. He can make himself short or tall, "as tall as a mast…."” (p. 162)

SOURCE: PARSONS, Elsie Clews. “SPIRIT CULT IN HAYTI.” Journal de La Société Des Américanistes, vol. 20, 1928, pp. 157–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24720068. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Still, it is possible that Courlander correctly observed a regional difference in Haiti – that some Haitians consider(ed) Baron Samedi and Gede Nibo to be the same. If this is a true regional difference, this would explain why many foreign authors either equate the two, or describe them as being very similar to each other.

Another important Western author on Haitian Vodou is the anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. One of the most insidious aspects of American history is the manner in which African Americans were turned against their own heritage by racist misconceptions. Where Deren reached a large white audience, Hurston was instrumental in changing the perception of Hoodoo and Vodou within the African American community. Although she has several critics, it is important not to diminish what she was able to accomplish as an African American woman anthropologist from the early 20th century. 

Hurston’s Tell My Horse is generally considered a less reliable source than Divine Horsemen, criticized for descriptions like the following:

“Guedé has another distinction. It is the one loa which is entirely Haitian. There is neither European nor African background for it…” (p. 219)

SOURCE: Hurston, Zora Neale. Tell my horse . United Kingdom, HarperCollins, 2008. Originally published in 1938.

The above is false for two reasons: (1) Guede is derived from a Dahomean vodun, with a clear African background (2) There are many other lwa that originate in Haiti. 

Consider now her description of Baron Samedi: 

“Papa Guedé is almost identical with Baron Cimeterre, Baron Samedi and Baron Croix, who is one god with three epithets, and all of them mean the Lord of the dead…” (p. 223)

SOURCE: Hurston, Zora Neale. Tell my horse. United Kingdom, HarperCollins, 2008. Originally published in 1938.

Her description echoes Courlander’s claim that Gede Nibo (Gede Nimbo) and Baron Samedi are “so closely identified that some Haitians feel that Baron Samedi is merely another name for Gede Nimbo”.

One of two things could be true: 

All of these American authors spoke in error, mistaking Baron Samedi for Papa Gede due to their shared association with the cemetery. 

These Americans correctly identified a true regional difference that exist(ed) in Haiti.

Without a time machine, it is not possible to determine whether this is correct. With this in mind, I previously erred in accusing Deren and Hurston of spreading a misconception. 

Equally important is to recognize that Baron Samedi and Papa Gede are not considered the same lwa by many Haitians. Every person of Haitian descent that I have corresponded with echoed Paul C. Mocombe’s description, where Baron is clearly differentiated from Gede. According to Mocombe, Baron symbolizes the concept of ‘Death’, while Gede symbolizes the ‘Spirits of the ancestors.’

SOURCE: Mocombe, Paul C. “Practical Reason in Haitian Idealism: Anti-Dialectics, Reciprocal Justice, and Afeminism Epistemology.” Race, Gender & Class 25, no. 1–2 (2018): 31–47. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26649532.

In Haitian Vodou, many of the lwa typically have something akin to a "first name" and a "last name". The "first name" is the family name (fanmi), while the "last name" indicates the spirit in that family (nom). 

There are multiple Legba: “Legba Atibon”, “Legba Gran Chemin”...

There are multiple Ogou: “Ogou Feray”, “Ogou Balendjo”...

There are multiple Erzulie: “Erzulie Dantor”, “Erzulie Freda”...

And so on.

Sometimes, the “last name” is dropped, and an additional title (e.g., "Papa" as in “Papa Legba”, “Papa Guede”, "Papa Ogou"...) is added in front of the “first name”.

In the Gede rite, the Barons (Bawons) and Guede (Gede) belong to two different fanmi. Of the Guede, Guede Nibo is the most well-known. Of the Barons, Baron Samedi is the most well-known. 

SEE: Beauvoir, Max. Lapriyè Ginen. Haiti, Edisyon Près Nasyonal d'Ayiti, 2008. pp. 187-196. https://archive.org/details/beauvoir-max-g.-lapriye-ginen-2008/page/n97/mode/2up

Because he rules over the Guede, who refer to him as “papa”*, Baron Samedi is often confused with Papa Guede. 

*see: Marcelin (1950) Mythologie Vodou, Vol. II

Here is Papa Guede: 

You can tell him apart from Baron Samedi by his purple, informal clothes. Even when he dresses in black, he can be recognized by his style and demeanor, which is mischievous, playful, and very sexual.

Papa Guede’s personality is described in a section of Karen McCarthy Brown’s Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. There are vivid descriptions of his behavior and manner of speech. He is often lewd, in a way that makes people laugh. He can be likened to a clown, in the truest sense, where he indulges in taboos to mock social norms.

Here are some excerpts: 

“When asked to describe Gede, Vodou spirit of death, Alourdes said, “Papa Gede is a cemetery man. He live in the cemetery, but that not mean he’s bad. He very good man. He love children a lot. He love women a lot. He a very sexy man. Sometime he say a bad word, but…he love everybody. He love to help people. When people sick – all kind’a sickness – that’s his job to help.”

“Papa Gede, as Alourdes usually calls him, is a trickster spirit. Through his randy, playful, childish, and childlike personality Gede raises life energy and redefines the most painful situation – even death itself – as one worth a good laugh.” 

“No spirit, not even Ogou, Alourdes's met tet, rides her more frequently than Papa Gede.”

SOURCE: Brown, Karen McCarthy. Mama Lola: A vodou priestess in Brooklyn. Vol. 4. Univ of California Press, 2010.

Often, “Papa Gede” actually refers to Gede Nibo, who is sometimes called “Papa Gede Nibo”. There is a famous song that goes: “Papa Guédé bel gason! Guédé Nibo bel gason!...”

SOURCE: Marcelin, Milo. Mythologie vodou (rite arada). Vol. 2. Éditions Canapé-Vert, Pétionville, Haiti, 1950. p. 145. Retrieved from: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00005044/00002/images/144 

 That being said, there are many Gede lwa; in isolation, the phrase “Papa Gede” doesn’t actually indicate which lwa he is.  

It is important to keep this quote from Melville Herskovits in mind:

"Some of the inconsistencies and individual variations in the naming of the gods as demonstrated in these lists may be specified. Outstanding are the differences found in the manner of naming a single god, as when General Ogun is called Ogun Gallone or Papa Ogun, or when Aizan Damballa is listed as two loa, Mait' Damballa and Mait' Aizan..."

SOURCE: Herskovits, Melville Jean. Life in a Haitian Valley. New York, Octagon Books Inc., 1964. pp. 309-319. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/lifeinhaitianval0000hers/page/308/mode/2up 

Contrast with Baron Samedi:

Baron Samedi dresses as the undertaker, wearing a formal black suit. Sometimes it has purple accents, but his suit is either entirely or predominantly black. He is not playful, but an intimidating hot spirit. A fearsome and powerful lwa, he is Lord over the Dead and the Supreme Judge of the Earth.

As described by Andre Pierre:

“It’s Baron Samedi who punishes and pardons on earth. Neither the living nor the dead can escape Baron Samedi. They must be judged by him.”

A lengthy section of Milo Marcelin’s Mythologie Vodou, Vol. II describes Baron Samedi’s personality. In this section, Marcelin describes how an angered Baron Samedi interrupts a service. He is foul-mouthed as he takes the offerings from the altar and throws them violently into the courtyard. He threatens everyone before he leaves. Nobody smiles or laughs at this; the faithful are afraid of him:

“Han-Han! fit Baron, vous ne pouvez pas nous recevoir aujourd'hui! Eh bien, foutre, je gâte le service!

Il se dirigea vers le pè ou autel du temple, prit toutes les offrandes et les jeta violemment dans la cour. Puis il prononça de sinistres menaces et se retira.

Les fidèles, craignant qu'il n'y ait de conflit entre Baron et les autres loas ou dieux, lui consacrent, ainsi qu'à son escorte, un hounfô-r ou temple à l'écart.”

SOURCE: Marcelin, Milo. "Mythologie vodou (Rite Arada), Volume II." Pétionville: Éditions Canapé Vert (1950). p. 156

Here is how he is described by Brown in Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn:

“As Baron Samdi (Baron Saturday), head of all the Gede, he arrives as a corpse; his body falls to the ground, stiff. In a mood of solemnity and sadness, the people surround him, bind his jaw with a white cloth, stuff his nostrils and ears with cotton, and powder his face to reproduce the pallor of a cadaver. When Baron Samdi possesses Alourdes, which he does infrequently, the tense psychodrama of death ends only when time doubles back on itself, when Ti Malis displaces Baron and a childish giggle escapes from the mouth of the corpse. Then, and only then, does the tension snap and the fun begin.”

SOURCE: Brown, Karen McCarthy. Mama Lola: A vodou priestess in Brooklyn. Vol. 4. Univ of California Press, 2010.

Donald Cosentino contrasts the Barons (Bawons) against the Guede (Gede), like so:

“Descended from these fearsome elders are a limitless band of capricious children, known collectively as the Gede spirits, who are as beloved as the Bawons are feared. The Gede are tricksters who cavort in opposition to the senior Bawons. The Gede always laugh, but Bawon never does. Bawon kills, but the Gede heal. Bawon is a skeleton, but the Gede are rotting flesh. Bawon is boss, but the Gede are bums. Bawon imposes harsh order, but the Gede blow it off. Bawon has secrets, the Gede always tell the truth. Bawon tends to dress conservatively, often in a top hat and dress coat, the attire of an undertaker. His face is powdered white and he needs sunglasses because his eyes can’t take the light after his underground work. Typically one lens is missing. His colors are purple and black. In art and action the Gede lwa morph into louts, rock stars, black-gowned college graduates, hipsters—whatever’s new on the social horizon.”

SOURCE: https://fowler.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/InExtremis_CRU.pdf 

While Baron Samedi can be frightening, he is not evil. He is actually described as a paternal figure.

“Gede is the secretary of the Bawon, who is the judge. Bawon is the father of the family. Andre Pierre.”

SOURCE: Cosentino, Donald. Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. United States, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995. p. 406 https://archive.org/details/sacredartsofhait0000unse/page/406/mode/2up 

“Bawon Samdi is Adam. Guardian of the cemetery. Guardian of all the dead. Everyone's father. And Gran Brijit is Eve. Andre Pierre“

SOURCE: Cosentino, Donald. Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. United States, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995. p. 407 https://archive.org/details/sacredartsofhait0000unse/page/406/mode/2up 

This is probably my favorite modern rendition of Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte, which is why I plagiarized the shit out of it.

Before I had this context, I just liked this one because I think they look really cool here. But as it turns out, this is also one of the most accurate depictions!

Baron Samedi’s personality and style of dress are both accurately portrayed. In fact, I wonder if this artist referred to the following painting of Andre Pierre’s: 

Could be a coincidence, but his glasses and cigar are noteworthy details.

This is also a rare instance where Maman Brigitte’s ethnicity is accurately depicted, although she is younger than traditionally portrayed… Then again, this might be an Angela Bassett situation, where she looks better than college students, but is actually 66 years old.

…Unfortunately, many other renditions are a lot worse than this. What is often passed off as “Baron Samedi” is actually a weird, evil version of Papa Guede, with random African looking shit on him. It’s pretty wack! 

This strange, bastardized version of Baron Samedi really is one of the most iconic things about New Orleans Voodoo…or am I wrong to describe him as such?

Is it possible that there is a different version of Baron Samedi worshiped in New Orleans, that is more similar to Papa Guede?

Previously, I had speculated whether Baron Samedi was worshiped in New Orleans prior to the revitalization movement: https://the-girl-who-didnt-smile.tumblr.com/post/760848084922155008/crackpot-theory-baron-samedi-was-worshiped-in-new 

If he was, we would expect him to appear similarly to the early descriptions found in the Haitian historical record. “Genealogies of Gede” (2012), Smith & Cosentino comment on these early descriptions like so: “None of the performative or ritual markers we associate today with Gede—the obscene and comic behavior—are present in the text.”

SOURCE: Smith, Katherine, and Donald Cosentino. "Genealogies of Gede." In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st-Century Haitian Art (2012): 84-99.

His physical appearance should also be something like this:

“...Most of the time, however, when going about on the earth, the Negro devil has the appearance of a gentleman, wearing a high silk hat, and a frock coat, and having an "ambrosial curl" in the center of his forehead to hide the single horn which is located there. Mrs. Viriginia Frazer Boyle tells me that when she was first taken to church by her father and mother she used to scan the congregation eagerly for a man with that "ambrosial curl" and one with the "evil eye", which her old Negro nurse had told her were to be found in every crowd, even in church. In most cases this Negro devil has cloven feet, a characteristic also credited to him in European circles. Possibly the black cat is the animal most chosen by the Negro devil for impersonation...Nevertheless the devil is not limited to this particular form but may appear as a rabbit, terrapin, serpent, housefly, grasshopper, toad, bat, or yellow dog at will. To the Mississippi Negroes he often appears as a black billy-goat; a view strictly in keeping with his custom at the English witches' Sabbath. In New Orleans it is thought by some that snakes and black cats are incarnations of the devil…” 

Source: Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk beliefs of the southern Negro. University of North Carolina Press, 1926. https://archive.org/details/folkbeliefsofsou00puck/page/552/mode/2up?q=devil 

The physical description does not match how Baron Samedi is portrayed in popular media. As far as I know, it is doubtful that he was a feature of Louisiana Voudou prior to the revitalization movement.

The other possible introduction point would be the revitalization of the late 20th century. Louisiana Voudou of the 19th century either died out or went underground by the early to mid 20th century; it was later ‘revitalized’ in the late 20th century, where one of the major influences was Haitian Vodou. This is why iconography from Haitian Vodou is so heavily associated with the tourist industry of New Orleans, even when there is little evidence these were features of historical Louisiana Voudou.

Recall Courlander’s claim that Baron Samedi is equated with Gede Nibo in some regions of Haiti. If he was correct, it is possible that Haitian(s) from said region(s) introduced this version of Baron Samedi to Americans, who then introduced this to New Orleans.  

 When reporting his observations in Haiti, Melville Herskovits corresponded with three different sources. He wound up with three different lists of lwa that contradict each other, as previously quoted.

The point is, there are legitimate regional differences in Haiti. Are they called lwa (loa) or jany (zange)? What is the name of the child on Erzulie Dantor’s wrist? Does Erzulie Dantor make people homosexual? Two different credible sources can give you different answers to such questions, including the manner in which certain lwa are classified. This might explain the portrayal of Baron Samedi in New Orleans.

Still, there is a factor of uncertainty here, and concrete evidence is lacking. With this in mind, it is best to adhere to the descriptions provided by Haitians, where Baron Samedi is easily delineated from Papa Guede.

There is another misconception that associates Baron Samedi and (Papa) Gede Nibo with the LGBTI community. This is quite the offensive misrepresentation, which warrants its own essay: https://the-girl-who-didnt-smile.tumblr.com/post/770627900843098112/the-gede-rite-is-not-associated-with-the-lgbti