Flags announce that this is a sacred place, a room where spirits dwell.
This is Josephine's house.
Her lua friend revealed to her in a dream,
how she should paint her yard in order to favour an encounter with the spirits that live in these trees.
Voodoo philosophy is very closely linked to nature, and therefore has an ecological bent.
Nobody dares to cut down trees as these are normally inhabited by spirits,
and especially LOKO, the protector of the woods.
Lakús, small villages that have arisen around a temple, can be found throughout the country.
A great sacred mapú, as they call the ceibas, presides over the lakú of the KONGO.
The power of the ceibas comes from the belief that they can talk to the Gods.
Unfortunately, most of them were cut down by the French during their struggle against the slaves' revolt.
The lakús are self-sufficient population cells.
Work is communal as is the product obtained from this work.
Each lakú is run by a HOUNGAN, or voodoo priest, who is called MAMBO,
in the case of a woman, and he or she is assisted by a Council of Elders.
Its inhabitants normally have the same African roots: Congo, Dahomey, Mandingo, Ewé etc..
There is a peristyle inside the temple which is dominated by the POTO MITAN,
the pillar by which the forces that have been invoked may descend.
The altar reflects once again the syncretism of this religion,
which was born in times of war, but now keeps its machetes buried as a sign of peace.
The HOUNGAN carries out a cleansing operation that also serves as a protection against spells,
and he shows us the house of SHANGO, the lua of thunder and catastrophes, equivalent to St. Barbara.
This other lakú is Dahomey. Its architecture takes us to another African region
from which the Yoruba deities, the OREXAS, departed.
The voodoo religion acts as a bonding force for the people.
It joins and fits together the range of different customs of the different ethnic groups
from which the slaves that populated Haiti came.
It helps to prop up a society that owes its existence to this religion.
Other sacred places include the lagoons where the spirits that clean, heal and bring luck to believers live.
In Plaine-du-Nord, the people submerge themselves in the mud and make their offerings of rum.
Wearing the large straw hat that characterises the lua SAKA,
Filo Pascal, a well-known journalist and veteran of the struggle for freedom of his people against the previous regime,
acts as a guide for us.
Thanks to him, we were able to discover the real voodoo
and avoid the countless obstacles placed in our way by the Mafia that limits and sells access to this religion to foreigners.
A great deal of ceremonies are performed in cemeteries among the dead.
The people are not afraid of these places, and it is commonplace,
and considered to be a great honour for someone to sleep on his father's grave.
The tomb of Baron Sammedi, the King of the Dead, can be found in all cemeteries,
although in some it can only be identified by the people from the village,
to stop outsiders using the cemetery for their own voodoo acts.
Normally, it can be recognised by its large cross
and where the first burial was made.
Tonight, we are witnesses to an "expedition" made by a HOUNGAN from Artibonito,
the region of Haiti with the strongest magic.
At the foot of the cross, the HOUNGAN smokes a piece of paper over some candles
so that the lua Great Way allows the passage to reach Baron Sammedi.
Later KAFU, who controls the cross-roads between the earthly world and the great beyond,
will have to give his permission
A fire is prepared with pine sticks and pieces of paper with someone's name written on it,
to prevent somebody leave in another person
They also use special powders made by the HOUNGAN.
In voodoo these powders are very important.
Each HOUNGAN has his own mixtures, which can go from healing powders to zombie powder.
Rum and gas-oil are used to warm the spirits, which normally live in water and are always cold.
The heat attracts them and the HOUNGAN is mounted by Baron Sammedi who is equivalent to St Expeditus,
which is why the ceremony is called an expedition.
Nobody can refuse to return his violent greeting that transmits energy from the other world.
This ceremony is performed so that the Baron may deliver justice
in a dispute and carry out the sentence on the guilty party.
The red and black dolls represent the protagonists, men and women, of the lawsuit that is presented.
When this powerful HOUNGAN is possessed, he has the power to eat glass.
His lua demands it of him.
Baron Sammedi reigns over all the GUEDE, the spirits of the dead.
When he mounts someone he acts like a joker and uses obscene language.
This is the lua of sexuality and he falls in love with women;
his dance imitates the coital act and he always smokes a lot.
Once his work is finished, the Baron lies back on his tomb and prepares to leave the body that he has possessed.
The HOUNGAN is shocked when the Baron leaves: he does not know how he got there,
he can remember nothing.