Baron LaCroix

Baron La Croix (pronounced Lakwa) is one of the Voodoo spirits of death referred to as the Guédé Barons. His name means Baron of the Cross. Along with being a Loa of the dead, he is a loa of sexuality, along with Baron Samedi and Baron Cimetière. He is the ultimate suave and sophisticated spirit of Death - quite cultured and debonair. He has an existential philosophy about death, finding death's reason for being both humorous and absurd. Baron La Croix is the extreme expression of individuality, and offers to you the reminder of delighting in life's pleasures. Live happy and live well, for even the most rich and talented, or the most poor and resourceful people are not spared the ultimate universal experience - Death.

Voodoo vvs are symbolic designs used in ritual, drawn on the ground with cornmeal prior to or during a Voodoo ceremony. These designs represent the various powers and attributes of the Loa (God, Goddess, Spirit, Orisha) to be invoked, and serve as a focal point for invocation and offerings. Several vvs of different Loa may be drawn for one ceremony. The designs incorporate well recognized traditional elements, but reflect also the individual intentions and creative skill of the Houngan or Mambo.

There are literally hundreds of loa. Baron LaCroix's vv is depicted here.

Use Baron La Croix as a focusing tool for coping with extreme change. He is ever the humorist, and will help you through your situation, reminding you to keep your sense of humor. The Guedeh Barons like to dress well, favoring long black coat tails and top hats, smoked glasses, and canes. You may emulate this to capture their essence and enhance your connection if you wish. Baron La Croix is particularly useful for improving love, sex, and happiness, so be sure to tell him specifically what you need. First, light a white candle. Concentrate on the outcome you wish to occur and ask Baron La Croix for assistance in creating this change. Make an offering for three days following your request. Appropriate offerings for Baron La Croix include cigarettes, cigars, food, and money.

Warning: The Gud Barons are extremely powerful spirits. Although Baron La Croix is a Spirit of Death Voodoo doll, he is not intended to be used for self-harm or to harm others. If you choose to use him in this fashion, I am not responsible for any negative outcome as a result of that choice.

Maya Deren retells the story of many Guds dressed in top hat and smoked glasses descending on the presidential palace.

It seems that some years ago, under the regime of President Borno, there suddenly appeared in the streets of Port-au-Prince a crowd of Ghedes (all of them houngans possessed by Ghede) wearing the "formal" costume of the lord: the tall top-hats, long black tail-coats, smokedBaron Cimitere glasses, cigarettes or cigars, and canes. An enormous crowd naturally collected about them, and joined them in their march to the National Palace. They all took the guards by surprise, and, singing, swerved through the gates and up the drive and to the door itself, where they demanded money of the President. President Borno, who is reputed to have been sympathetic to Voudoun ritual (secretly so) and yet feared bourgeois opinion was in great dilemma. He finally gave in, ostensibly merely to quiet the mob, and the Ghedes with their supporters left the grounds. But Ghede had made his point. Death, who has consumed so many heroes, bows before no man and will remind even the most illustrious that one day he too will be consumed. So Ghede had gotten his money and went off to gorge himself, singing...

From Divine Horsemen by Maya Deren [p107]