Saturday, August 18, 2007

The Dancing Tree

Near my village there’s a tree. This tree is THE tree for my villagers and surrounding villages. This tree not only has umph….it has a really old and traditional myth associated with its existence. The locals all believe the tree belongs to a cranky genie. In American culture, one is expected to rub a shiny lamp to bring about a magical genie to grant you your 3 wishes. In Senegalese culture, one is expected to be outside of your house during the hours of 1pm-3pm and a little peek-a-boo at 7pm-8pm to bring about our supernatural friends. Ah, but of course genies here in Africa are naturally soul-eaters. During those hours, we don’t leave our family compound in fear of losing our souls. Even though all of it is a load of BS aimed at keeping the children at bay, the adults still avoid going out during those times as well. It’s all about tradition, and a huge ass hollowed out tree that our neighbor Babacar the Soul-Eating Genie resides. (I have pictures)

The name of this specific tree is "Bak o mβechan", which means "The Dancing Tree." It is said that the dancing genie will only come out if you dance for him. In addition, he will only show up if he approves of your dancing. It sounds as if he might be a little too picky about his entertainment. Many people from around the area come to dance for the tree, but most go home unsatisfied, unable to erect the sleeping spirit. My village has only one lady who has been able to awaken the genie. There were many people that witnessed this bizarre and eccentric phenomenon. She promises me that she danced her little heart out then dropped to her knees and waited for a response. Suddenly the genie came out of nowhere and ‘laughed at her’. Naturally genies cannot be seen, only heard. Everyone there that day heard the laughs as well. I admit this only once, but I too danced for Babacar the Soul-Eating Genie and now part time dance critic. Even though nothing happened when I tried to impress a tree with my killer tree genie dance moves, doesn’t mean the spirit won’t come out and play for the next goofy white kid who isn’t a TRUE BELIEVER.

1 Comments:

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