NOTES FROM A RADA CEREMONY (from Alan's Journal)

It is Nov. 1st...and the monolithic ALAN LOMAX IN HAITI boxset is almost here (Nov. 17th).  One of the components of the boxset is a transcription of Alan's Haitian journal edited (with wonderful notes) by Alan's niece Ellen Harold.  The following is a page from his actual journal which features his notes on a  Rada ceremony at Kay Moïse (Moise’s House), in which Alan describes the movement around the peristile by the devotees, with the gestures made.  Alan also includes some ritual diagrams of the three Rada drums (boula, segon, and manman), as they might appear on a vèvè.  All of this is described in detail in the liner notes of the boxset....