All Souls' Day In Haiti

In Western Christianity, All Souls' Day Commemorates The Faithful Departed.

All Souls' Day is observed especially in the Roman Catholic Church but to some extent also among Protestants. The Eastern Orthodox Church observes several All Souls' Days during the year. The Roman Catholic celebration is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for mortal sins, cannot attain the beatific vision in heaven yet, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass.

For Haiti's Protestants, Catholics and Voodoo practitioners, the Day of the Dead includes festivities similar to other countries that celebrate All Soul's Day and All Saint's Day as part of the holiday on November 1 and 2. Since the legalization of Voodoo in 2003, Haiti's Day of the Dead most public celebrations tend to focus mostly on Gede, the Lwas (spirits) of the dead and Baron Samdi, who is the gatekeeper to the afterlife.

In Haiti, loud drums and music are played at all-night celebrations at cemeteries to waken Baron Samedi, the god of the dead, and his mischievous family of offspring, the Gede.   

"The Gede (pronounced gay-day) are loas who possess Voodooists on 1-2 Nov (All Saints and Day of the Dead). They can be seen in cemeteries or roaming the streets, dressed to look like corpses or undertakers. The lords of death and the cemetery, they mock human vanity and pretension, and remind people that sex is the source of life. They do this by dancing in a lewd fashion with strangers, causing much hilarity." Martinique: Held in November at Toussaint. St. Lucia: On All Souls Day, St. Lucians remember their departed loved ones by keeping a vigil lamp burning in their homes, beautifying cemeteries, repainting tombs and laying fresh flowers or wreaths on graves.

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