Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi is the very powerful head of the family of ancestral lwa, the Guédé. Lwa of the cemeteries, protector of children and healer, he is considered one of the patron loas of New Orleans Voodoo. He is associated with St. Expedite in New Orleans. He is a crude but hilarious loa who engages in scandalous activities such as sending the nearly dead to do his work while he plays cards, dice, parties and dances. He is known to give winning lottery numbers when he feels like it. Baron Samedi loves to eat and he loves money, but most of all, he loves children and watches over them. Celebrate his fete on November 1, the Day of the Dead, and on November 2, All Souls Day in the Catholic Church.
Baron Samedi is one of the Guédé, a loa of the dead, along with Baron's other incarnations Baron Cimetière, and Baron La Croix. He is the ultimate suave and sophisticated spirit of Death, typically depicted as if ready to be buried Haitian style with a top hat, black tuxedo, dark glasses, and cotton plugs in the nostrils. He has a white, mostly skull-like face and speaks with a nasal tone of voice, and
tells crude but funny jokes.
The first burial of a man in any cemetery in Haiti is dedicated to Baron Samedi. His wife is the lwa Manman Brigit.
Baron Samedi stands at the crossroads, where the souls of dead humans pass on their way to Guinee. As well as being the all-knowing loa of death, he is a sexual loa, frequently represented by phallic symbols. He is noted for disruption, obscenity, debauchery, and for having a particular fondness for tobacco, especially Pall Mall cigarettes, money, and white rum. The Baron's ceremonial foods included grilled peanuts, black coffee, and bread. One of his favorite drinks is rum in which 21 hot peppers has been steeped. Baron Samedi is also the loa of sex and resurrection.