We are in a liminal timeframe –
between ages as it were. The fall of the
Piscean rule and the rise of Aquarian ideology provide a rocky footpath for
those of us living in the end of times.
War, disease, starvation and planetary upheaval in the forms of
Tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes can make one very sensitive to the cycles
of Death and Birth.
During this cycle of planetary
death, it is only natural that the more sensitive among us can ‘hear’ the voice
of the Baron. Wildly popular through the
gothic style of his look and clothing, he is none the less a powerful and
ferocious spirit who is not to be played with.
Along with Mama Brijit, he rules The Gedes, the large, bawdy class of
spirits who are the unknown, unreclaimed, and forgotten dead. The Baron and his unruly children live in the
cemetery, itself a gateway between here and the unknown.
A crossroad of both the living and
the dead, the cemetery is a magical place.
It is a deep well of immense power, danger, and magic. Here lie the ancestors, with all their
knowledge, experience and skills achieved during their lifetime. All that adds up to power – power gained by
work, living and loving; emotionally wrought, intensely etched upon their
remaining consciousness. Here is where
we come to gather this knowledge, because it so ready and available. Here, at the crossroads of the living and the
dead, we find the domain of the Baron.
Traditionally, the grave of the
first male buried in a cemetery is considered to be the location of the Baron's
grave. Why? Well, as the oldest grave, the occupant has
had access to each and every person buried in the grave yard. If we think of the cemetery as a large
community of souls, then this first person is the gate keeper, the sign post and
the most respected. Not just for his
age, but because he's been there the longest! He's seen it all, and as such, knows
everything.
One goes to the cemetery to talk
with the Baron, to ask favors or help, to leave offerings, to find solace. Who better to understand the pain of loss and
regret? The Baron hears this through his
eternal night. The souls under his
keeping express their earthly emotions all around him, seeking emotional
sustenance and succor from their father.
It is a very tough business, this keeping the dead in line. The Baron comes to it with solemn stature and
a deep konesans of what needs to be done, to be given, to be taken. Through his domain pass all who ever
were. He is the one who understands best
the pain of loss, the agony of unspoken desires. It is what he hears all day and all night,
from the denizens of his unearthly domain.
The forgotten dead, those left behind by families too poor to pay them
heed or too angry to offer remembrances, only have the Baron to turn to for
their grievances. The Baron sits and
listens eternally.
The Baron is accompanied by three
brothers – Samedi, LaCroix and Cimitiere.
Each has a purpose and a duty particular to their station in life. Samedi is said to be the owner of the cemetery
as a whole; LaCroix owns the graves; Cimitiere owns the perimeter. (La Legende des Loa, Port au Prince,
Mercedes Guignard, 1993) Although the Baron is the ruler over all, each brother
also is responsible for his own operations, his own work, and his own spirits, working
in the world. It is also said that these
spirits are the ones bokors can purchase (known as pwen achte or ‘bought points’), but that Baron, the Overall Father,
does not condone this kind of thing.
.JPG)
When the Baron comes in possession,
he is a striking figure, tall, coolly aloof and sepulcher in his
personality. Dressed in his funeral
finery, he drinks Piman, a fiery concoction of habena peppers, spices and rum,
smokes cigars and sits watchng the Gedes dance the bawdy banda.
This dance often makes one think that he wants sex – but it is a joke, a
test. The Dead always want to get
married, they always want to simulate the sex act, but they know that these
things are forbidden between themselves and the living. The banda with its wild hip gyrations and
gratuitous thrusting is a parody of the sex act, but is also symbolic of the
place where The Gedes reside - the corridor between birth and death. They pantomime sex which leads to conception,
which leads to birth which is how the dead re-enter into the sensate world. With their wild dance and salacious
attitude, the Gedes reminds us that this life is just another step in the
process. Death will come, but so will
life again.
The banda is not danced by Baron. He has clearly said he is not a creole Lwa. One is reminded that the Port au Prince cemetery is the original burial ground for French and Spanish soldiers who died during the yellow fever epidemic. The first man buried in there is more likely a foreigner than Haitian. So it makes sense to me at least, that the Baron would not regard himself as Creole.
In Haitian Vodou, the Baron is
often called the Father of the Gedes. How
many times have you passed an old cemetery, with the grass over grown, weeds
sprouting and no flowers in site? Those dead are long forgotten, left to fend
for themselves. But the Baron is still
there, waiting, watching, gathering information and time.
I find it amusing that people today
assume the Baron's personality: the black clothing, the dark brooding attitude.
It's as if being a gothic groupie some
how makes the assumption of the Baron's form more palatable. This is not true – one does not assume the
persona of Death unless one wishes to die!
. The Quick and the Dead do not
mix – it’s one of the few hard and fast rules of Vodou. In Vodou, we keep the Dead separate from the
living. Family crypts are out in the
yard, away from the main house.
Cemeteries are elaborate in Haiti, more so than the homes. It is in the best interest to keep the family
dead happy, so they can work for the living.
The Baron knows this, and keeps his counsel to the living – “Do not
commune with the Dead.” (La Legende des Loa).
The dead have spent their time on earth, gathering knowledge and
experience. It is time for them to rest,
reflect and journey forward on their endless round.
The Baron is beyond caring, beyond
our simple rules and reasons. He is like
Father Time, both timeless and ageless. He is exists beyond the mortal consciousness
of time constructs. Married to the fiery
Maman Brijit, together they rule over the dead, making way for their
multitude of children to have egress out of this world and into the next.
St. Martin de Porres is the Catholic saint shown standing before a poor house, with dying people. Dressed in a black cassock, with a long rosary, he personifies the stern solmen demeanor that is associated with the Baron. The Baron likes fiery rum , laced with hot
peppers, unfiltered cigarettes and ancestral foods like strong cold coffee,
white bread, popcorn and peanuts. His
veve is comprised of the cross, the coffin and the spade, all symbols of the
dead and of graveyards. Listen in the
still of the night, as steel shovels hit hard packed earth. That is his voice, speaking out for all
eternity, reminding us that eventually, we are all bound for the same place,
equals at the very end.
Copyright 2005, Mambo Vye Zo
Komande la Menfo, Daginen
No comments:
Post a Comment