Today is the day of the dead. The day meant to honor those who have come and gone before us. Haitians respect that tradition. They also add to it or adapt it. They pay tribute to Baron Samdi, the father of the crossroads, the crossroads from which Haitians come from physically, Gine/West Africa and spiritually. As of late due to the recent hurricanes Haiti has many dead to honor, approximately 800.
Goats, chickens, cows, and bulls, are very much the sacrificial animals (not Bourik BOS) of Haiti and voodooists. Like turkeys in the United States near Thanksgiving these animals in Haiti get the shakes sometime near July 16th, when Festival Saut d’Eau takes place. Sodo, in Kreyòl, is the site of one of Haiti’s largest religious pilgrimages. Lore has it that the Virgin Mary appeared here long before the death of many the sacrificial fauna.
