In Ouanaminthe, the border town in Haiti's Northeast, Vodou practitioner Jocelyn Jean-Baptiste explained to The Haitian Times what the rituals of Fèt Gede mean. The festival honoring the dead and the Gede spirits is observed on November 1 and 2.

Jean-Baptiste, who lives in the locality of Dilaire and serves the spirit Ogou Feray, said families bring coffee, food and flowers to the cemetery for their dead on those days. For him, it is a sign of love and gratitude, and a way to keep a spiritual bond with those who are gone.

He described the white powder used in the ceremonies as a kind of perfume or lotion that leaves the body feeling fresh, and said hot peppers stand for heat and are linked to the presence of the spirits. Baron, he said, guards the entrances and exits of the cemetery and grants passage, while Brigitte is the other central figure of the cemetery traditions.

The rituals, he said, show that the relationship between the living and the dead goes on. Offerings, in his words, are “a testament to the love we hold for our deceased loved ones.”

In Port-au-Prince this year, gangs have kept many practitioners away from cemeteries, forcing them to hold their rituals elsewhere, Vant Bèf Info reported.