VEVES VOODOO and Vieux View

Blessed Be!

Source	New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
D
	Charles M. Gandolfo

Veves

Agwe Ayizan Damballah Baron Samedi Table Prepared to serve Gede The Dead: Baron, Brijit and Gede Some of the most interesting Lwa!   The Gede Lwa are some of the most interesting, funny, and outrageous spirits in the Vodou tradition. Their leader, known to them as their father, is Baron Semetye. Baron is the head of the cemetery and he rules over it with his wife, Maman Brijit. Every Cemetery has its own Baron and Brijit and these are identified by certain tombs. The first male buried in a cemetery is a Baron and the first female a Brijit. In Haiti, crosses will be erected for each one at that tomb. People needing to commission them thus go to the cross. There are several different Baron Lwa, some more common than others: Baron Lakwa (the cross), Baron Semetye (cemetery), and Baron Samedi. Barons are judges. When you leave your problems at the foot of Baron, you can be assured that he will seek out the innocent. Baron and Brijit serve as the father and mother of the family of Lwa known as the Gede. This unit is considered a family unit rather than the other groups of Lwa, who are known as nations. There are many hundreds and hundreds of Gede lwa, if not thousands, and they are always the life of the party. The Gede Lwa dance the banda. The banda is a very crude dance that mimes sexual intercourse. The Gede are vulgar and are known to cuss and play fight. There are many personal Gedes out there, as well as root (racine) Gedes. By far the most known and honored of these root Gedes is Brav Gede Nibo. Gede's feast day is November 2nd, also known as All Souls in the Catholic church. During this feast, Gede prance the streets in Haiti, ceremonial processions are held, and hundreds of people become possessed by the Gedes. This party is a ball! A Beautiful Sequined Flag for Baron The Barons, Brijits and Gedes are served with the colors black, white and purple. Certain ones prefer certain combinations of the colors. They drink piman. Piman is raw rum in which 21 hot peppers have been soaked. This stuff is so hot that someone faking a possession would burn their mouth out. Gedes often will show that the possession is true by washing their face in this mixture. Some Gedes will wash their genitals, as well as pour some in their eyes. Gedes will drink this fiery mixture like water too! Gedes are known for their foul language and vulgarity. They are known to cuss, use slang, and continually talk about sex. They may embarrass people letting their secrets be known. Gedes grind on people, refer to clitorises, penises, and vaginas on a regular basis. Gede doesn't have to follow civilized rules because he is dead and above all recourse. Thus he does things that would probably be unthinkable to others. Gede is known to be a thief at times, and usually steals little things here and there. He wears sunglasses that are missing one lens. Some say this is so that he can see above and below ground. Others explain this as alluding to the penis, as it has only one hole, and yet others say that this is because Papa Gede sees the worlds of the living and the dead. These Lwa are known as powerful magicians. Baron and Brijit are often invoked to save people from death. (Usually caused by wangas from the victim's enemies) They are also excellent prophesiers and extremely psychic. A Gede is a wonderful ally! Gede is a healer and is the protector of children. People having trouble conceiving will often seek out the assistance of a Baron or Gede Lwa. Gedes assist in fertility as they are so keenly connected with sex. Gede is also called to heal ill children, help feed children (when money is needed) and almost anything in connection with children. Many Houngans and Mambos have a Gede that they serve, to consult on behalf of their clients. Gede lends that extra bit of information needed in order to resolve issues. He gives us that extra ounce of clarity and truth. Gede will also embarrass people he considers snobby, should he come across them. Gede is mischievous and has a great sense of humor. He is a riot and many laughs as well as smiles will be had as a result of watching the Gedes. Gede yo (Gedes) as well as the Baron and Brijit hold the wisdom of the ancestors, of all the dead, of death itself, and more. St. Gerard Majella is the Catholic Image that serves for Gede. In the image, Gerard is featured holding the cross with a skull on a table on the left side. St. Gerard is also known for taking care of women during pregnancy as is typically associated with Gede Lwa. Gede also comes and treats the womb of a pregnant woman or one who would like to get pregnant. Since there are so many different things that can be said about all the different Gedes, I will never be able to put it all on paper nor will I probably ever know it all, as no one ever will. New Gedes appear all the time, as Baron and Brijit give them birth into existence; therefore, I hope this can suffice as a short introduction to this particular family of Lwa.   Ogoun Erzulie Legba Marassa Maman Brigitte Simbi Miscellanious

A Veve or Vévé [alternately spelled bey

bey or vever] is a religious symbol for a vodou (voodoo) religion's "loa" (or lwa) (spirit) and serves as their representation during rituals. In the past, it was believed that the veve derive from the beliefs of the native Tainos but more recent scholarship has demonstrated a close tie between the veve and the cosmogram of the Kongo people.
From Milo Rigaud 'Secrets of Voodoo' (c1969; City Lights, NY): "The veves represent figures of the astral forces... In the course of Voodoo ceremonies, the reproduction of the astral forces represented by the veves obliges the loas ... to descend to earth."
Every Loa has his or her own unique veve, although regional differences have led to different veves for the same loa in a few cases. Sacrifices and offerings are usually placed upon them.
The veve is usually drawn on the floor by strewing a powder-like substance, such as cornmeal, wheat flour, bark, red brick powder, or gunpowder. The material depends entirely upon the rite.

---

Maya Deren. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. Kingston: Documentext, 1953.
ISBN 0-914232-63-0

When I first heard about this book, I was surprised to hear Maya Deren's name; I first ran in to her work in a film class on avante-garde cinema, and her film, Meshes in the Afternoon, was one of the most comprehensible of the whole class.
Divine Horsemen is quite a tour de force, and contains fascinating opinions about many aspects of Haitian Vodou. Joseph Campbell's work on myth has clearly been an influence, and Deren talks at great length about the mythological features of the lwas. This book is, oddly, not available from Amazon, but you can get it directly from the publisher.

The methods of the houngan not only respect the essential wisdom of the psychosomatic mechanism, but -- and this is the most remarkable feature -- use it therapeutically. The diagnosis of "unnatural" or "unphysical" illness is not simply a negative judgement, as it seems to those who conceive only in terms of physical causes. On the contraty, the houngan's main job is to discover the non-physical or unnatural cause. This may be either an act of aggressive evil magic against the person or a punishment for his failure to serve his loa properly. In either case, there exists the possibility of a resulution through action of some sort. Instead of the hopeless finality of absolute, abstract despair, the man is immediately involved in the idea of promising action. [pp.170-171]

Veve of Ayizan	Veve of Baron Samedi	Veve of Maman Brigitte	Veve of Damballah Weddo
Veve of Papa Legba	Veve of Ogoun

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