RAH, RAH - repost Easter 08

As you already know this past weekend was Easter. There are many events on our calendar that lead up to Easter –these include Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, and Lent. Lent is generally considered to be a time of mourning and repentance, it is also designated as a time of new life and hope based on the death and resurrection of Christ. Ash Wednesday begins the period of lent. Ashes (and sackcloth) traditionally represent mourning. The day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, which is also known as Madis Gras or “Fat” Tuesday - has little or no religious significance and developed as a time of partying.

Here in Haiti,voodoo is openly practiced and the rah-rah season corresponds to the period of Lent. Rah-rah bands are especially active during this time. These are ceremonial gatherings of the local voodoo participants
in the area and can get quite large. The voodoo priests are in full custom including ceremonial headdresses and skirts. Participants carry flags and banners and are accompanied by drummers and trumpets. The music is unique and has a strange sort of offbeat and accompanied by the sound of a cracking whip. The streets fill with people dancing and chanting in a procession. Many nights over the last several weeks, I have heard the rah rah bands in our neighbourhood, but have not encountered them up close.

That changed this past weekend. Saturday afternoon, I went biking with a friend. We were late coming back – normally I want to be home before dark, but that did not happen this time – it was about 7 o’clock, an hour after dark when we got home. We had been up one particular mountain route – and there only really is one road back into town. On our way home we encountered three rah-rah bands. They of course block the road and the traffic and often the voodoo priest (and participants) will try to intimidate drivers into participating. We were on our motorcycles and were able to make a third lane down past the traffic and squeezed our way through the band and participants. Thankfully uneventful.

Why the same season? Why the sound of the whip? They are actually celebrating the same event we are, or at least part of it. They are celebrating the scourging and the death of Christ. If you have seen the movie “The Passion of the Christ” then you know what I’m talking about when I say scourging. Christ’s suffering and death for us is beyond description.

However, what the voodoo seem to be missing is that Christ rose again and we celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. That’s when the rah-rah bands go silent again.