Gede Nibo is a prominent lwa of the Gede, the raucous nation of the dead. Like the whole Gede family he unites the two poles of death and life, mourning and procreation: he is at once a spirit of the grave and a bawdy patron of sexuality and fertility. When he possesses a devotee he dons dark glasses and purple or black clothing, speaks in a comic nasal voice, cadges rum and food, mocks the living, and performs the banda, a frankly erotic dance. In some traditions he is a handsome young man who died before his time and the special patron of those who die young, and he is invoked to heal, above all to pull sick children back from death. He belongs to the family of the Gede presided over by Bawon Samdi and Manman Brijit.