Revivalism Essay

â€Å"Revivalism is an authentic Afro-Christian religious folk form that evolved during the eighteenth to nineteenth century. Initially, it was the native Baptist Christians who joined forces with the Moravians, and other non-conformist churches to become the forerunners of the movement. However, Jamaica was said to have experienced a religious movement called the Great Revival in 1861, which saw the incorporation of much more African retention in the movement. Pocomania is more African in form while Zion is more Christian oriented. † [1] Upon preparing to embark this journey, I was a bit disgruntled that I had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to go this â€Å"Watt Town† excursion, but I still approached with a open mind, though I had an idea of what to expect, seeing that I was already acquainted with quite a few Revivalists. Honestly I expected it to be a waste of time, but upon seeing the fellowship of my friends, while waiting on the buses which were scheduled to take us on our journey it got easier and easier, we engaged in jokes and hymns we swore were Revivalist hymns but Mr. Grey quickly busted our bubble and told us that those hymns were Pentecostal. We were greeted by a semi-pleasant but slow bus driver, but the vibe in our bus quickly took our minds off the length of the journey. I view Revivalists as highly religious people who are in tune with spirits with from various realms, known as Heaven, Earth and Ground spirit realms, I met with a lot of different Revivalists, but what I found rather interesting was the fact that the core of what they were saying were similar but they were also many subtle differences, For example I met with a man, whose name is Joseph Whitter, of the Olivette Seventh day church. nd he seemed to be quite respected in the church community, he blatantly stated at the beginning of the conversation that, â€Å"Revivalism is the only way to be saved†, we had a long drawn out discussion on what are my personal views on religion and the opening statement he made, where I told him that I strongly disagree with that statement and I believe that there is only one God and peace and love is the ultimate goa l, which everyone should try to achieve, no matter what religion one identifies with. I then met with Miss. Barbara Harper of the same church, Olivette Seventh day church, and she stated that people should go to any church they want to go to and do anything that is truly pleasing to God, when I mentioned what her church brother thought about the same thing, she said that there is no one way to get to heaven and that people spend more of their time in competition with other denominations and religions rather than giving praises to the most high. I laughed a bit and I was in total agreement with her statement. We then started to talk about her life, and how she was before she identified that Revivalism was for her, I could see that the movement actually helped her and improved her life, before moving on I thanked her for being so honest and reasoning with me, telling her that I would listen to her talk any day for she had a liberal and open mind and I absolutely hated radical minded people, who try to force their doctrines and beliefs down peoples throats. When we finally arrived at Watt Town, after our extra long journey I had no idea of what I was about to witness, the site was like nothing I had seen before, I was greeted by what had seemed to be hundreds of people, I discovered that Watt Town was having what had seemed like an inter -church convention. I saw children from various schools and young adults like our selves there to see this feat. One of the first things I noticed about the Revivalists was they were wearing different uniforms in different styles and colours, I wondered and asked why were they dressed like this and a kind lady told me that each church was represented by different uniforms. The seal is the focal point of the church; this is where the angels are believed to manifest themselves. This is the most sacred area of the ground and is a welcoming tool. The seal is a dominant feature in all revivalist churches because the seal encourages spirits which come and possess the members, enabling them to carry out their works of healing and worship. It is advised that one should walk around the seal three times to pay respect to the Tribune God. Some seals can be seen with silver coins in them, this is payment to the spirits for their help. The flags and banners we saw at the front play a very important role in the revivalism. A tall pole usually marks a revival ground. The flags on the pole are used to attack passing spirits, the attraction of spirits is very important to revivalism because they believe in many spirits and that they can be appeased or summoned to assist in their day-to-day lives. Each banner has its own purpose. Green means anything of nature, Blue and white means peace, pink love and red stands for the blood of Jesus. Upon venturing to the top of the structure, some pebbles started to rain from a roof top, some hitting my head, not understanding anything about what was going on yet, I didn’t take kindly to this, that confused me a bit more than I already was. When a group of us finally got to the top we noticed the different worship circles/prayer group, and I was pleased by some as I saw some circles which were mixed with members of different churches, this showed me that pride was not an issue and did not hinder worship, and the main goal, magnifying the most high, I stood in amazement right next to two worship circles and I heard various choruses, some I had heard before, some I had not, I was familiar with songs such as â€Å"Madda de great stone got to move† and â€Å"Rock oh! Rock holy, rock oh! Rock holy†. Being a musician I enjoyed this aspect of the excursion, identifying the keys and the chord progressions that would go with their simple but effective melodies. I noticed that even though their uniforms were different, they had many things in common, I noticed that many of them had head wraps with various pieces of stationery in the wraps, I laughed at this sight because I thought they were taking notes or something, but as I went on and I learned more I discovered that the pencils, rulers and scissors that I saw resting in their head wraps had special significance. The pencils and rulers signifies healing among the followers, the scissors were carried around by a specific set of people, known as the healers, who use the scissors to literally cut evil from around the persons being healed, as demonstrated to us by a young man named Otis. A few of the Revivalists were also seen carrying around a meter ruler, this was given to people who had been living a righteous life and who were slated to be married. We saw some people washing their face with sugar water, this was said to bring clearance and purity, the prayer shawl was said to represent the Tribe of Judah, as we learned that, like the Rastafarians there was a lot of African roots in Revivalism also, and they used red green and gold to identify with Ethiopia and Ghana. When I inquired about a lamp I saw an elderly woman carrying around, she said that the lamp also represents healing and spiritual light because revivalists don’t walk in the darkness. These healing symbols were brought from Africa with the slaves and became an integral part of the revivalist healing services. As a result the present day revivalist has maintained the practice. I asked some Revivalists of their actual occupations and from the replies I found out that they were either day workers, higglers or fishermen, (more than likely belonging to the lower class) I saw that this must have contributed to the scornful treatment by mainstream and middle/upper class Christians, They consider them to be highly superstitious, pagan, primitive and comical in ritual behaviors especially when they suspect them of practicing obeah. The disdain heaped on the lower class involved in revivalism can be traced to colonialism. Stratification was practiced on the plantation not only from the perspective of whites to none whites or but also among the blacks. The free slave felt himself above the house slave who felt they were superior to the field slaves and there was further stratification in that group depending on the gang to which they belong. Seaga, in his writings in the 1980’s explained that Revivalism also has different levels within its structure. There is the Leader who is the central figure of importance; below the leader are the armour bearer, shepherd boy and mother. The leader is never usually questioned on the reason for ritual observances. The ritualistic forms of Revivalism takes three major forms such as prayer meeting, street meeting and rituals for specific purposes for example tables, altars and baths. The meetings are usually opened to the public. Revivalism is divided into two groups, Zion and Pocomania, Pocomania is more African in form while Zion is more Christian oriented. they are referred to as 2 different spiritual groups the 60 and 61, the 60 spirit (Zion) are persons who believe in only one God, the Heavenly spirits, archangels, saints and angels. ho are viewed as firmly rooted and committed Christian. The 61 (Pocomania) spirit comprises of individuals who take commands from earth-bound spirits are the â€Å"Fallen Angels† (satanic powers), from God and from The Ground spirits are those of the human dead that are not biblically mentioned. I noticed that the people of the 60 spirit, look down the 61 in a way which gave me a feeling of segregation between both of the groups. I noticed that like other Christians, Revivalists also go on fasting sessions but they can’t just get up and fast they have to be ordered by the holy spirit. Also apart a Revivalists culture includes heavy usage of flowers they believe that when you place the flowers in water and go to sleep you dream see your future, whether it brings destruction or fortune. Some of my views on Revivalists were different after the trip, previously I thought that, Revivalists only went to church like other Christians and the worship was similar but I was mistaken, I also thought that they used instruments but I discovered that their bodies were their instruments, stomping and grunting to help them keep time and to provide percussive sounds. In my opinion the greatest gift Revivalists can give to the Jamaican culture, is their sense of unity, having being bashed for many many years, I saw that these people remained strong and stood firm for what they believe. That is what many religions and people of Jamaica need to survive through good times and bad, this was what I took away from the journey, and if I didn’t take anything else, I was glad I took this quality from the Revivalists, unity is strength and they will forever be a constant reminder of that value.