Egun (also Eggun or Egungun) are the ancestors: the dead who remain present in the lives of the living. In Yorubaland they are honoured with masked Egungun figures; in Cuban santería with spiritual masses, offerings and the dance celebration cajón al muerto.
Among the Yoruba, Egungun is a masquerade honouring the ancestors: a visible manifestation of the spirits of the departed, who return to the community. The costume is made of many layers of cloth lappets that completely hide the wearer. During the annual Egungun festival the maskers dance, including through the markets. As a masker whirls, the lappets fly out, which is seen as a "breeze of blessing". Outside Africa, the Egungun cult lives on mainly on the island of Itaparica in Bahia, Brazil.
In Cuban santería (Regla de Ocha) the Eggun are, according to EcuRed, the spirits of the ancestors, usually deceased santeros. They are honoured with a spiritual mass or a Catholic mass, "to give light to the dead and raise them", with food, drink and above all water, and with the bóveda espiritual, a table with glasses of water that strengthens a person's guides and protectors. Believers strike the floor with sticks in time with the songs and prayers. EcuRed does not mention masked Egungun figures.
Behind all this lies the proverb Ikú lobi Ocha, "the dead give birth to the saint": in every ceremony the dead are honoured first, and only then the orishas.
The celebration where people dance for the dead is the cajón al muerto, especially in Matanzas. According to Balbuena Gutiérrez, the dead come to have fun, dance and enjoy themselves, and through a possessed dancer they give advice and warnings. How people dance depends on the music and on the dead person who manifests: with steps from bembé, Palo, makuta, rumba or even flamenco. Those who don't know the styles keep time as they feel it themselves.
At the end of a batá ceremony comes the cierre, with toques for the Egun and for several orishas. The furius.ca toque database lists the toques Egun, Kan-kan and Chekete moti-moti for the Egun.