During our most recent new moon ritual, I spoke about the phases of the moon and how they relate to the timing of nature.
Many years ago, I conducted research on ceremonial folk music in the Villa Mella village of Mata de Los Indios, which is located north of Santo Domingo. The Congos de Villa Mella is an Afro-descendant community that specialized in music for funeral rites. When I was speaking with one of the elders who made maracas, he revealed that the guava tree's wood was used to craft the handles. Additionally, he informed me that the timing of tree cutting depended on the moon's phase. He shared that they couldn't be cut on a new moon because there was an insect called "Comején" that would eat them. It was a full moon and this man had just cut his guava branches to make his maracas.
The interesting thing is that this community of Afro-descendants, which reveres death and ancestors, adopted the maraca, a Taino instrument. I was considering the maraca's symbolic meaning as it was utilized in the areitos to sing and dance, to carry out healing rituals, and honor our spiritual ancestors, the cemis, among other uses. I wonder if the organic elements utilized to produce the maracas are also symbolic representations of our ancestors? Did our Taino ancestors pass on the information of using the guava stick as a handle to this Afro-descendant community during colonization? The guava tree may have also been revered since the fruit is extremely valuable to bats, which in our beliefs stand in for the representation of the ancestors’ spirits. On the other hand, the ancestors used the gourd tree, which serves as the maraca's head, as a container to store some of the family members' bones. They placed them in the huts' corners as a sign of respect and a request for protection. Given the use of these two organic materials with spiritual significance, I wonder if the maraca itself represented the ancestors?
Given the high degree of symbolism in Taino art and its correspondence with spirituality, I share this reflection to motivate you to feel that sacred artistic world of our ancestors. To see behind each line, each element used, in each form, the need to capture their spiritual beliefs in their artistic manifestations. Understand that it was vital for them to be surrounded by the symbols of their spirituality, as a continuous prayer honoring them and asking for their guidance and protection.
Sending love your way, my dear community,
Akutu Irka
