Talk:Gede (Haitian Vodou)

Entry is spelled incorrectly
I don't know how to fix this but this entry should not be "Guédé" it should be "Ghede". Ghede should not redirect to Guédé, if anything it should be the other way around. Guédé is a Frankicised spelling, found in older, outdated anthropology books prior to Haiti standardizing the spelling of Kreyol in the 1980s. "Ghede" is more in keeping with current Haitian orthography. Do a Google search. Ghede is the most popular spelling, followed by Gede.


 * Do you know of any authoritative resources (print or online, as long as authoritative) that discuss the spelling and the Ghede themselves? When I was last working on this entry, almost everything I found (web and print both) contradicted almost everything else.  I'm not a religion or folklore expert; I was just filling in gaps I found when doing some other research.  So if you can point me to a resource on the Haitian orthography I'd be glad to make the change!  Honestly, the whole family of articles on the loa left me stumped, so pointers to resources would be wonderful.  Thanks.  Deborah-jl 07:05, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Eh, that's the problem with writings about the Loa or Orixa - our definition of "authority" tends to be things like Anthropologists, and that doesn't work in this context. So, what *kind* of Authority? Books written by Mambos and Houngans? It's also significant to note that New Orleans Voodoo spellings are different than Haitian Vodou spellings.

It's another side note, but symptomatic of the same variety you're encountering - while Samedi, La Croix (Lakwa) and Cimitere are certainly aspects, or "paths" of Baron, they're not the only ones. It's probably safer to say "paths include" than "aspects are" in these cases. There are inevitably more paths of any Loa. --Ember-- 24.6.217.22 19:19, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Who exactly is Papa Ghede?
As I write this, the entry first mentions Papa Ghede in the sentence 'Papa Ghede is also a psychopomp'. Also compared to what? It might just be that the word 'also' is superfluous, but it seems odd to suddenly start talking about him partway through the article. Is Papa Ghede (in some way) another name for the Baron? --195.137.91.247 11:09, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Fet Gede
I regret that there is no mention of the major holiday dedicated to the Gede/Ghede... It corresponds to Dias de los Muertos/All Saints|All Souls' celebrations. This needs to be addressed.Emyth (talk) 14:12, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Confused about Papa Ghede and Baron Samedi
This article isn't very clear about the difference between Papa Ghede and Baron Samedi. Is Baron Samedi the same thing as Papa Ghede, like the leader of the Guedes? They're described the same way (short, top hat, cigar, tuxedo, cane). I'm very confused. I get that Baron Samedi is an Ioa, but is the same true for Papa Ghede? I can't find a clear answer anywhere online. The only place I could said they answered it in another thread. Could an expert in Voudon make this more clear to non-Voudouists? I apologize for my ignorance. ForestAngel (talk) 06:18, 1 August 2012 (UTC)