Guede

Just back from Haitian dance--what a class! I now have a white skirt to wear (a traditional costume for these classes), and it was drenched by the time I was done. We danced in honor of the guede (click on the link to see who they are), the tricky spirits of the afterlife--lots of dancing in a crouch, twirling, moving the hips snakelike in a figure 8 while inching across the floor, tossing the head back and forth as if entranced--and I felt drawn deep into a trance just as the drummers started singing, I forgot to be embarrassed and just moved. I was with the guede and knew each of their names, I tread lightly between my boundary in this world and theirs, as if lightly touching my feet down on either side of a long red ribbon. I looked in the mirror and saw myself writhing like a snake, tossing my head like a horse, sliding back and forth across the floor like a cat, my white skirt like a cloud. If I forget myself, if I let myself be taken by the drums and enter into that space, I am lifted away from my worries and learn not to fear the crossroads of this existence.