Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi shares a few other names, mostly according to the language he’s described in, such as French, Creole, or English; Baron Samdi, Bawon Samedi, or Bawon Sanmdi. He is also called Baron Saturday, –Samedi is French for Saturday, and possibly because Saturday is a Sabbath day according to Judeo-Christian traditions. He is a loa, –Vodou deity/god/spirit, of the dead, and leader of the group specifically known as the Ghede or Guédé family. His other incarnations are Baron Cimetière, –Baron Cemetery, Baron La Croix, –Baron of The Cross, and Baron Criminel, –mostly a synonymous deity, for whom little else is known.
Baron Samedi is depicted as a black man in formal dress; a black tuxedo, dark glasses, or empty eye sockets, in a white top hat, with cotton plugs in his nostrils; traditional burial dress for Haitian religious practices. He has either a skull’s face, or at least a face resembling that of a skull, and naturally because of the nose plugs, he speaks in a nasal voice. His wife, another member of the Ghede/Guédé, is Maman Brigitte, alternately called Grann Brigitte, Manman, Manman Brigit, Manman Brijit. She is symbolized as a black rooster, and drinks tea made from hot peppers. Like Baron Samedi and the rest of the Ghede, she’s also known for her vast vocabulary of profanity, and a bawdy personality.
It is Baron Samedi’s duty to stand vigil at the crossroads, which is the traveling place of the spirits of the dead making their way to Guinee, or the afterlife. He’s also known for his vast knowledge of past, present and future, a proclivity for obscenity, sexual debauchery and rude disruptions, as well being fond of tobacco and rum. He is also sexual loa, represented often by various phallic symbols. In other aspects, he is a loa of resurrection, frequently called upon for healing the deathly ill, or dying; he is the only loa with the power to welcome the souls of the dead into the afterlife. In addition to his already multi-faceted character, he’s also revered for being a powerful magician, and a wise judge.
