Día de Muertos, All Souls Day, Fèt Gede. Miamians honor ancestors through diverse traditions

For many cultures across South Florida, the days after Halloween mark a special time to honor those that have passed on.

Hispanic cultures, particularly people of Mexican decent, celebrate Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead on November 1st and 2nd. Haitians have their own version called Fèt Gede, or “Festival of the Dead,” that incorporates Vodou traditions. Many Catholics attend a special mass on “All Souls Day,” which offers prayers for the departed along with a trip to the cemetery after church.

The practices may be different, but the goal is basically the same: to honor the deceased and keep the memory of those who have died, alive.

In Little Haiti, crowds of people showed up to the Little Haiti Cultural Complex on Friday evening for “Haiti in the Heartland,” a cultural event celebrating Haitian art, which concluded with a traditional Haitian folklore dance performance in honor of Fèt Gede, the “Festival of the Dead.”

Dancers dressed in purple, white and black told the story of life and death through their quick hip thrusts and sensual movements. Nancy St. Leger, the choreographer and founder of the “NSL Danse Ensemble,” said her goal is too keep Haitian traditions alive through dance.

“I really just do authentic old school Haitian folklore dance,” said St. Leger, who was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was 10 years old. “There’s such a need for it, especially when there’s so much negativity around Haiti.”

St. Leger said that there is meaning behind every movement. The dancers start the performance wearing white, the traditional color worn by Vodou practitioners during ceremonies, to call on the spirits. The dance starts out slow, somber, but speeds up to represent how we bring life into the world. The piece is just as much about life as it is about death.

“The Gede is also the spiritual part of it, it’s like a rejuvenation. It’s you starting all over again. It’s like the circle of life,” St. Leger said.

In Haitian and African cultures, ancestors are a huge part of life. November is a special month to celebrate the dead, but for many Haitians, honoring ancestors is a year-round practice, said Patricia Goldman-Mecklembourg, a Vodou Priestess, or “Manbo.”

“We march to the beat of our ancestors. Our ancestors are everything to us,” said Goldman-Mecklembourg. “Our ancestors, they’re are our guides.”

The Gede tradition is found in African cultures as well, said Goldman-Mecklembourg. She said the Haitian and African cultures are connected — through language, religion and culture.

“Vodou doesn’t stop at Haiti. Vodou is literally a connection to Africa,” she said. “This was something .... that was carried over from our ancestors, from the European slave trade, from Africa to the Americas. Our ancestors kept that tradition and they passed it down to to us, the children of Africa.”

Goldman-Mecklembourg explains that during Fèt Gede, Haitians will celebrate in different ways, some will place items belonging to the deceased on a table, along with candles and photos. It’s a kind of altar, similar to the one found in Día de Muertos rituals, where it’s believed to help the dead find their way back to Earth to spend time with loved ones.

“We’re all celebrating the dead in all own way,” said St. Leger, who recognized that there are similarities between cultures.

In Vizcaya Village, the Ameyal Mexican Cultural Academy hosted an indigenous ceremony to celebrate Día de Muertos, honoring ancestors through song, dance and traditional blessings. Participants were encouraged to bring their own offferings (ofrendas) for their loved ones to place on a communal altar.

“This is a very indigenous, traditional ceremony for us, and it’s a very sacred ceremony,” said Chief Francisco Ceyaotl Marin, community programs coordinator for the Cultural Academy, in a video about the event. Organizers made it clear on the event poster that this was not another Halloween party.

“It is not a festival, it’s a traditional way of honoring our ancestors and our loved ones,” Marin said.

This is the first time the Ameyal Mexican Cultural Academy, a group that shares Mexican cultural heritage through art, music and dance, has opened the Dia de Muertos event to the public.

Attendees were encouraged to show up with vibrant orange marigolds, a flower native to Mexico that’s traditionally used in Día de los Muertos rituals, to place on the altar, along with personal artifacts.

On Saturday, Catholics across South Florida went to a special mass for “All Souls Day,” a day in which Catholics pray for those believers who have passed on, to try and help them on their way to Heaven.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski explains that Catholics call these souls, “the faithful departed,” or “those who have died that perhaps are still on their way to heaven.”

Catholics believe that those who died without attaining “perfect Holiness” enter through purgatory, a stage between Earth and heaven.

“If you’re in a dark theater, you go into matinee and you come out and it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, the sun is shining brightly. You can’t see right away, and your eyes have to adjust,” Wenski said. “That’s what purgatory is, helping the soul to adjust to the brightness of heavenly life.”

On All Souls Day, many people visit their loved ones at cemeteries following mass. Both All Souls Day and All Saints Day, where Catholics pray for the saints already in heaven, though focused on death, are actually hopeful, said Wenksi, because of the belief in spending an afterlife in Heaven.

“These masses and these feast days themselves are expressions of hope, and there’s no reason to be somber,” said Wenski. “The best is yet to come.”

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.