The Twelve Days of Christmas and other traditions Popular festivals
Arts on Sunday
By Al Creighton
Stabroek News
January 4, 2004
Today is the 11th Day of Christmas, but few people in this part of the world will notice. That is because the long-established tradition of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas', which start on Christmas Day and end with a feast day known as Twelfth Night, has gone into relative disuse. But it is an important period because of the significant influence it has had on Caribbean culture.
There are two kinds of traditions known in the Caribbean that are associated with this time of the year; those that have been inherited along with the original European festival and those which evolved in the region as indigenous traditions. Both types may be further subdivided into those that have gone into disuse and those that are still alive; those which are a part of the seasonal celebrations and those that came to be celebrated at Christmas time because of circumstances of history; and those that are practised within the season as against others which owe their origins to the Christmas celebration, but are observed in the period that follows it.
Twelfth Night, otherwise known as the Feast of Epiphany, arose out of Christian myth, since the Magi arrived at Jesus' birthplace on January 6. However, although it belongs to a faded tradition, that date is observed in the popular culture. January 6 is the date on which all Christmas decorations are taken down and lights extinguished, indicating the official end of the Christmas season.
One of the remarkable factors of history is the impact this season had on Caribbean folk traditions, some of which have faded and some that remain indelible in popular culture. Many indigenous cultural practices evolved out of the festive season or became otherwise associated with it, but of these, only two have anything to do with the Christian themes or the story of Christmas. And still, of these two, only one is directly linked.
Parang
The only indigenous Caribbean tradition that celebrates the birth of Christ is the Parang of Trinidad. This is an extensive folk culture that developed in a number of rural villages associated with cocoa estates and with Spanish-speaking immigrants from Venezuela. Many of the elements of the old tradition have faded because the parang came out of a local culture - a way of life among people who were Roman Catholics. But like most others, it is a changing tradition. Its main expression is the music, the part of it that has survived, that has been revived and that has grown so large that it is highly commercialised and is now performed and played in Trinidad at any time of the year.
In the original tradition, there are different kinds of parang songs, but the best known are those that celebrate the Nativity. They are sung in Spanish, telling the story of the "Annunciacion", "La Navidad", and are dominated by praise songs to "Maria", the Virgin Mary. They have their own distinctive rhythm with a strong Latin strain, played by local instruments including the cuatro, the chac chac and the box bass. These songs are called äguinaldos, a word which suggests that they are gifts to Christ as well as to the people to whom they are sung. This is because the parang bands go from house to house at Christmas serenading the neighbourhood and partaking in food and drinks. It fits the gift-giving theme as well as the old English Wassail tradition, yet it is characteristic of the Caribbean custom of travelling troubadours.
Papa Djab
The other tradition was an act of street theatre once performed in Castries, St. Lucia. It has disappeared and was only connected to the Christmas story in a tangential way, because of its themes and symbolism. At Christmas time, a costumed character known as Papa Djab, or Flavier, the White Devil, appeared on the streets accompanied by a chanting chorus of devils who were his sons. They were disobedient, quarrelled, fought and killed each other, but their father showed compassion and used his magical skills to bring them back to life. The play that they acted out had themes consistent with the spirit of Christmas, such as forgiveness, rebirth, sacrifice, and the exhibition of goodwill to all men.
Other customs reflect nothing of the season in which they are practised but became calendar festivals at this time because of circumstances of history. European settlers in the Caribbean, particularly the French, observed a carnival season, starting at Christmas and stretching into the new year. It was a time of revelry, masques and balls during which restrictions affecting the enslaved population were relaxed and they had the opportunity to engage in jollifications of their own. In addition, Martial Law was declared at this time in the English colonies and all white males were obliged to enlist in the militia. There were elaborate initiation exercises. This, too, was a time of revelry and work ceased on the estates, giving the enslaved almost free licence to prastice many traditional rituals, festivities and theatrical acts.
Carnival
The great Trinidad carnival emerged from these beginnings. At first it was the exclusive performance of the white plantocracy, and started with a masque called Negres Jardins in which the revellers costumed themselves as 'Field Negroes', finding much fun in imitating the slaves. For their part, the enslaved blacks had masques of their own, including satirical lampoons of white society and the revival of several dances, musical traditions and theatre known to them in Africa. Christmas then became the season of the Cannes Brulees, later known as Camboulay and the beginning of carnival. But this famous festival remained racially segregated until after Emancipation in 1838.
The post-Christmas period in Trinidad and Tobago is therefore the beginning of the carnival season, which ends on Ash Wednesday when Lent begins. Many of the performances revived at Christmas passed over into carnival. In addition, over the years, many new performances evolved within carnival helping to make it, after Christmas, the grandest of all Caribbean festivals, even though many of the performances have disappeared. These include some variants of the maskarade (masquerade) tradition, which took different forms across the Caribbean.
Masquerade
The maskarade dances in West Africa were religious rituals and the African descendants took advantage of the Christmas spree to revive them in the Caribbean. Some historians maintain that the timing was, however, more than coincidental, since some masquerades had been practised in West Africa in the early January period. While retaining some ritual significance for a very long time, maskarade evolved in the Caribbean with strong secular social and topical characteristics. In particular, the jonkunnu of Jamaica developed into an elaborate theatrical festival with spectacular street parades second in grandeur only to the Trinidad carnival. It became a part of popular culture with a large cast of characters and masks taken from both religious symbolism and the contemporary social environment. By the early twentieth century, however, it was becoming entirely secular with few practitioners bothering to retain any ritual intention. Like carnival, however, maskarade has lost most of the colourful traditions although researchers revealed recent startling discoveries of survivals in Jamaican jonkunnu in the 1990s.
Some of the remarkable influences of European customs, including Christmas, may be found in this tradition. Traces of the dramatic performances which have faded out of jonkunnu have remained in the Mummies of St Kitts. Masked/costumed bands of masqueraders take to the streets with music, interludes of epic recitations and performances of the ancient battles of St George, the battles of the King against the Turkish Knight and other rivals for the throne and for the Queen.
There are fossils of the British tradition of Mumming, dramatic performances moving from house to house at Christmas time still practised up to the early twentieth century. Plots have been taken from medieval times as well as from Shakespeare.
Jamaica Pantomime
Other theatrical traditions associated with Christmas have also left their mark. These include the Nativity Plays and Shepherds' Plays, which developed in medieval churches and villages to tell the Christmas story. But another theatrical form that has become an important Jamaican tradition is the pantomime. This is a light-hearted English dramatic type still performed in the Christmas season in Britain. It became a part of Jamaican theatre in 1942 when it was adapted and started an annual performance that has not missed a year since then.
The Jamaica Pantomime opens each year on Boxing Day and runs for a few months. It has taken on its own characteristics, including satire, topical reference, social commentary, folk traditions and popular culture. It has transformed a British form into a local popular custom. It represents another interesting example of a fixture in the regional cultural calendar that has grown out of the festive season without having anything to do with the specific seasonal celebration.