The same as day of the dead is celebrated in Mexico and Halloween is celebrated in United States, there are many other countries with celebrations for the deceased. On the beautiful island of Haiti, as a part of their heritage of the voodoo religion, the Fet TEAP , or, all souls day is celebrated. This celebration takes place on November 2nd, and as of day of the dead, is to celebrate the feast of all the souls in the country.
This festival consists of various voodoo rituals which are represented through dance, music, and Haitian traditions. The capital of Haiti, Port au Prince, celebrates all souls day by wearing traditional colors of the holiday; black and red. Early inhabitants celebrate with dances, food, singing, offerings, and religious prayers. It is customary to make a trip to the cemetery, where lies the souls of the believers, Baron Somedi, who is the god of death, and his son Gede. Bringing those offerings and other important entities for the voodoo religion.
Embellishments are also an important part of the celebration and are why all of the graves are filled with flowers and candles. Similarly, Haitians dress their heads with scarves and colorful necklaces and images of saints’ voodoo during the entire celebration. In the main cemetery, believers dance and worship these entities important to their religion gathered under the cross of Baron Somedi and Maman Brigitte, another important entity of religion. Offerings, like traditional bread and rum, are carried to the graves of the deceased family members.
While all worship, some believers are possessed by spirits and begin to rub their bodies with chile and rum while others sing and dance. At the peak of the celebration, the priestess or mambo frees the souls of his acolytes with the help of a hen and whites doves to perform the ritual. In this ritual the mambo is possessed by Maman Brigitte and begins to predict events of next year. She continues to dance and sing around the cross of Baron Somedi, which is sprayed with rum and ignites in a fire, while she regains consciousness.
It is important to point out the importance in the religiousness and sacredness of the music, since this is the link that connects the world of the living to the dead in voodoo religion. The island becomes really shocking scenery in which the drums are heard in unison. Full of mysticism, religion, tradition, and music, this celebration is one of the most important in Haiti. While their voodoo religion has been hunted by French colonizers, neither the years nor the wars have failed to uproot Haitians of their roots and traditional celebrations. Open minded travelers have come from all over the world to enjoy Port au Prince on this date to admire this anachronistic holiday and live it in person.