Ghede, in the original myths of Haiti, was the god of love, sex incarnate. In later, Voodoo myth he was amalgamated with BaronSamedi, god of death. He kept his earlier lustful ways, and a fondness for rum and feasting. He was a dandy, always wearing a black tail-coat, a top hat and sunglasses, twirling a cane and smoking a cigar or a cigarette in a long holder. He loved to dance, and swept his followers away into the ecstasy and trance of dancing. But the dance, which originally was a phallic ritual of birth, had now become a dance of death: Baron Samedi's orgies always ended (for his mortal followers) at the crossroads between this world and the Underworld, and the way they went was down. Because Ghede was Guardian of the Crossroads, he knew all the secrets of magic, and had second hearing and second sight. He could be consulted for advice - often on questions of fertility, either of humans, crops or animals. The questioner made blood-sacrifice and asked the priest questions to put to Ghede, and the god answered in the patterns of
rum-drops spilled in the dust, or in the hll of dice or the turning of Tarot cards. The advice was often frightening and apparently ridiculous, but it was always true and you neglected it at your peril. Research Ghede
Tarot cards (tarots, atouts, atutti or triomphes) are a deck of cards comprising 22 emblematic and 56 ordinary cards, divided into four suits of 14 cards each. Originally they were used for playing games like ordinary playing cards, however during the 1920s the notion that tarot cards were in fact used for divination and were the forerunner of ordinary playing cards (which they are not, they are a different type of deck) became popular. Research Tarot Cards
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Ghede
