FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

Jammin' with Spirit

Wow! Saminaka had a great African festival last week--masquerades, music, drums, dance, cultural attire and talks. We had a record participation from our guests as well. I want to congratulate the new members of the African Mystics for embarking on their spiritual journey. Last but certainly not least, I'd like to congratulate and thank Tamsin for allowing all of this to take place. Go Tamsin! I gave a talk on African music and spirituality during the festival and launched the African Mystics group. The wonders and complexity of Nigeria are evident. Each one of the above activities has a major role in African mysticism.

In African mysticism, especially in Nigeria, inter-connectivity between various components of personal and communal expression is quite common. Some of the masquerade performers in the festival represented ancestral spirits and concepts that involve music, dance, and symbolic representation of moral codes. Others involved music, dance, and festivities.

The music and dance take the visual and audible realms to such an ecstatic level that the spiritual realm merges with the physical. As the masquerades danced and moved about Saminaka to the tunes of African music--traditional to modern--the energy vibes rose and corresponded with the vibrational level of participation of our guests. In short, it took us to a realm that was a mix of physical excitement and spiritual joy.

After the talk on African music, there was an impromptu drum jam. There were several drummers, and dancers took part as well. Many were dressed in African attire, but all were jamming to the sounds of Africa. We had djembe, xylophone, conga, horns, and other drums that played the beats specific to those instruments. The dancers floated freely on the dance floor, adding to the ephemeral experience. The dancers attenuated the drum beats, wiggling and jiggling to the melodic polyrhythms. The rhythms were often hypnotic, placing the drummer and dancer in a euphoric state and bond. There was no standing around or just watching the other avatars there--that kind of experience requires direct participation.

Later that night, DJs took over the course of the music. The DJs that spinned the jams at the festival were awesome! They played a mix of music that also brought out the spirit that resides in us. The dance area was full; the music, as well as the vibes, lifted everyone’s spirit. All the avatars looked like kings and queens in their traditional African attire. But it was also more than the attire that brought out the beauty. It was the spirit from the festival experience. The spirit evolved from the combination of drum, dance, masquerade, music and cultural attire. A communal spiritual participation. The spirit moves us to commune with the divine when all the ingredients are there!