Haiti: "Riding" with the spirits

In Haiti, Voodoo is not just a belief: it is a living practice that finds its way right into people's homes. In February 2026, in Pétion-Ville, a working-class neighborhood of the capital Port-au-Prince, Marie-Edith's "ride" with the spirits serves as a reminder that this religion remains deeply rooted in Haitian culture. On this February 2026 morning, in a working-class neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, something unusual is underway. Marie-Edith Henri-Jean-Baptiste, who came to visit her daughter Suze in her small apartment in Pétion-Ville, announces that she must "ride" with the spirits, or Lwas. The woman in her sixties places bottles of rum, tobacco, and various utensils directly on the floor for the Voodoo ritual. "It's not always up to me to decide to ride. Sometimes, it's them. Like right now. They are the intermediaries between us and Bondye, the great creator, the supreme deity. They fill me up, and I must let them out," she explains. Possession is at the heart of this religion, where spirits inhabit the body during a trance. The possessed individual is referred to as the "horse of the god," which is why it is called a "ride."

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