From necromancy to Le Baron-Samedi: the creation of a Voodoo cult

Abstract

In three decades of the 20th century, an enormous evolution of a particular Voodoo cult took place in Haiti and Louisiana. In this paper we present evidence that, from a ritual and a concept very similar to necromancy and the cult of the Dead in Spain and Europe, the Guedé and their chief and father, Le Baron-Samedi, have come to constitute in the belief and practice of this magical-religious system a very hierarchical group of spirits, of great popularity, considered very valuable to maintain the spiritual balance as well as the knowledge of the ancestors, they are guardians of the children, «gods» of fertility, and give good advice in the ceremonies. With some testimonies that even point to their deification, this cult shows us a self-development of Voodoo in America, starting in origin fundamentally from European elements.