15190: All Corbetteers Invited! Rara Celebration in Jacmel (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Racine125@aol.com

I'd like to invite all Corbetteers to come and visit us
in Jacmel, Haiti on Good Friday and take part in the
Rara festival.  The last time I posted an invitation on
this list lots of fun people came, I was very happy to see
you and I hope you will come back, and I hope new visitors
will come too.

We, the Roots Without End Society, will be opening our
peristyle to receive many Rara bands, so you will be able to
see their fantastic costumes and exciting stick-fighting
routines without having to walk for miles through the countryside.

We will also have a Makaya dance on Saturday and all sorts of
activities both before and after Good Friday.  All are welcome
- this is not an initiation, it's a party!  You can take pictures,
video, sound recording, whatever you like.  And those sacrificial
pigs will be grilling, so if you like barbeque come and have a bite!

:-)

It's easy to find us, we are in the "Aviation" neighborhood
of Jacmel right across from the airfield on the road east
out of town, just ask for "Mambo Kati".  We are in the same
yard as the Rendez-Vous Guest House, which is certainly
convenient for visitors.

There are some pertinent links at the end of this post,
but let me start by saying that for us Vodouisants, Good
Friday is the culmination of the Rara festival (more
about this later), and it is the day on which we gather
leaves to dry and use all year long for particular types
of magic.  We also serve a branch of our tradition
called Makaya, and sacrifice black pigs.

Rara bands are composed of Vodou congregations, or
Sanpwel society groups - the purpose of a Rara band
marching through the street, in their bright costumes,
playing their instruments, is to demonstrate publicly
the strength, number, and wealth of our membership.

Good Friday is considered an EXCELLENT day for magic
and "sorcery", especially but not exclusively agressive
magic, magic intended to gain revenge for an injured
person, things like that.

Here is a song that is often sung during this festival -

Souke, a hey, souke!
Souke, a hey, souke!
Mwen genyen yon chyen ki rele Bedan,
Le m pale l tande,
Fey nan bwa souke!

(English translation:)

Shake, ah hey, shake!
Shake, ah hey, shake!
I have a dog whose name is Bedan*
   (*Bedan is a traditional poison of particular virulence,
     administered to evildoers by the Sanpwel societies)
When I talk he obeys,
The leaves in the woods all shake!

;=}

For information on the Sanpwel, see "The SANPWEL Page" at:

http://members.aol.com/Racine125/sanpwel.html

For information and some remarkable photos of Rara
bands in the Artibonite, see "Rara in the Artibonite" at:

http://members.aol.com/mambo125/rara.html

For an account of a Rara band's evening sortie in
Jacmel, see "Vodou Fun in the Jacmel Rara" at:

http://www.rootswithoutend.com/jacmrara.html

To see a photoessay documenting the sort of magical
work often done during this time, see "Vodou Magic -
A Wanga for Erzulie Dantor" at:

http://www.rootswithoutend.com/makaya/dantormagic01.html

To see a page detailing the type of magical instruction
available from our house during the Good Friday period,
see "Makaya Magic!" at:

http://www.rootswithoutend.com/makaya/seminar.html

Peace and love,

Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen

"Se bon ki ra" - Good is rare
     Haitian Proverb

The VODOU Page = http://membres.aol.com/racine125/index.html

(Posting from Jacmel, Haiti)