For Haitian-born Natalie Guillaume, the path to healing is paved with both the precision of acupuncture needles and the soul-stirring notes of a piano. A spiritual healer who seamlessly bridges the worlds of art and medicine, Guillaume's unique perspective comes into sharp focus during this month's Miami’s Fèt Gede celebration.
Fèt Gede is a traditional Haitian celebration observed every November, a time to honor the ancestral spirits.
Guillaume, a spiritual healer, emphasizes that the commemoration is fundamentally about life.
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“It is a time to honor the ancestors — not to mourn them, and to celebrate life through them,” Guillaume told WLRN’s Michael Stock “Folk and Acoustic Music” show. The interview aired last weekend.
She views the celebration as a profound acknowledgment of existence’s cyclical nature.
“Fèt Gede is about acknowledging that life and death are one. We dance, we sing, we cry — all in the same breath. It’s a celebration of spirit,” she said.
Guillaume's journey is one of intertwined disciplines. Raised in a musical family, she began playing the piano at age three and was recording as a teenager. While initially studying pre-med, her life changed course after she experienced the profound benefits of acupuncture as a patient.
“I realized healing isn’t just physical — it’s emotional, spiritual, energetic,” she said.
This realization became the foundation of her dual career. She noted a powerful connection rooted in her study of Chinese medicine.
“In Chinese medicine, the same character for ‘music’ also means ‘medicine.’ That’s when it clicked for me — sound is healing.”
Her commitment to healing extended globally after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where she joined “Acupuncturists Without Borders” to provide trauma care and pain relief.
Today, Guillaume fuses her Haitian roots with her global training through her project, “Vodou Alchemy”, which features Haitian spiritual music blended with jazz and sacred rhythms. She works to dispel common misconceptions about her ancestral traditions.
“Vodou isn’t dark; it’s light. It’s about remembering who we are — our ancestors, our spirits, our power**,” she said.
Ultimately, whether through the energy work of healing or the emotional release of performance, Guillaume sees all her work as connected.
“I’m a doctor by day and an artist by night,” she said with a laugh. “But really, it’s all the same work — healing.”
In her interview for WLRN’s “Folk & Acoustic Music” show, she performed a traditional Gede song, leaving a final, powerful Haitian affirmation: “Ayibobo — it means thank you, peace, and amen, all at once.”
