Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 28/12/2024 09:23

Blue Devil blows a different fire

A traditional mas Christmas Dara E Healy “Well pardner For Blue Devil This Christmas real hard Even I the Pierrot Feeling sad. He blowing fire in a rage Anger and grief consuming he space He friends trying to help So, we will have to see If this year Blue Devil Could find any tranquillity.” WHOOSH! Sean was blowing fire and scaring people as they did their Christmas shopping. The flames shot high into the sky as Sean, in full blue devil masquerade, created havoc in the city. Ms Loretta, a nurse from his village of Paramin, was hustling to work when she recognised him. “Aye, Sean acting up again.” She called Alan, one of the few members of his crew who could get through to him. The blue devils jumped into a van and headed into town. “Officer, officer we’ll take him home.” Alan and the crew arrived just as a group of police officers on patrol surrounded Sean. “Sean, stop it. Come.” He turned and looked at them with glazed eyes. The police warned Alan that Sean had used up all his chances. The blue devils bundled Sean into the van and sped off back to Paramin. “Sean, what going on with you? You realise the police nearly lock you up?” Sean stayed silent, grimly staring out the window as the city sped past. Two years ago, Julie his wife and childhood love was taken from him just before Christmas as the result of a brutal home invasion. Then last year, a close friend fell off a ladder while painting his home. Massive heart attack. Sean’s friends called him Papa Chunks because he was always singing Roaring Lion calypsoes. After the tragedies, Sean sank into a dark place. He forgot about the blue devil code that he and others had worked so hard to establish. Customs like ensuring that proper rituals were followed before putting on the paint. Or understanding that the masquerade recalled the brutality of enslavement and sought to return power to the descendants of this horrible time. Instead, Sean raged. Eventually, he lost his gift. He was one of the few firebreathers who could blow circles of fire one into the other. According to legend, it was a gift from one of his ancestors. “Sean. Sean!” Alan and the others decided to try something else. “Me and Bertie and a few others going down south to do a gayap for Charlo.” Sean looked irritated. “Gayap? Wha’s dat?” Bertie jumped in. “It come from the Karinya word kayapa. It mean everybody coming together to do a good.” Sean sucked his teeth and turned his head. Alan tried again. "Charlo and he wife cooking wild meat.” Grudgingly, Sean agreed. Along the way, they stopped to get food or greet friends from the blue devil community outside of Paramin. Sean spoke little, surrounded by his sadness. Finally, they got to the house, well what was left of it. Charlo had lost everything in a fire, including one of his children. The gayap was in full swing – who carrying bricks, who cooking, who sweeping. Strangely, Sean immediately got busy, helping to mix concrete. “I glad you here Sean,” said Alan. Without warning Sean broke down, probably the first time he cried since Julie passed. “Alan, they steal my joy, my light, my Julie mango. But watching how Charlo lose everything and how everybody come together to help, ah understand now she don’t want me to live so.” Sean leaned over and whispered to his friend. As night fell, the blue devils gathered. Alan spoke to the community about their traditions and the importance of passing the knowledge to future generations. They started to beat the biscuit tins, scream their warrior sounds and blow fire. In the midst of the ceremony stepped Sean, Papa Chunks once again. He bent his knees, leaned his back almost to the ground and held the flambeaux to his mouth. He spat fire like he used to, blowing circle into circle. Overtaken by the spirit of the masquerade, Sean spoke to the community looking on in awe – “Let this fire heal us and remind that we have to support one another.” “ Ai bonjay, what else Pierrot could say? This traditional mas Christmas take we on a journey to remember that nothing have more value than family and community. This is the last story for now. I going and look for them other pierrot to fight some bois!” Dara E Healy is a performing artist and founder of the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN The post Blue Devil blows a different fire appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.