In ordinary Haitian household practice the dead come first. Lemò, the family dead, are named, fed, given a candle and a glass of water, and consulted, and in many houses the daily observance is addressed to them before any lwa is greeted. Death does not terminate the relationship; it changes its terms. The dead are expected to look after their descendants and the descendants are expected to keep feeding them, and failures on either side are diagnosable. This is continuous with the West African traditions Vodou descends from and it has a specific Haitian sharpness, since so many Haitian families are separated by migration and the graves are in one country while the family is in another. A great deal of practical Vodou consists of managing the logistics of obligations to people who are dead and buried a plane journey away.