Finally — rain! This week the Golden Triangle area got some much needed rain. It wasn’t too great for my little dogs, who do not like to go into the backyard when the grass is wet. However, for everyone else, the showers were a wonderful event. Gardens perked up and flowers smiled. Temperatures lowered just a bit, making life just slightly easier; cooler heads mean less road rage, and less senseless, angry fighting, less crime. The temperature gauge on my dashboard, which had been reporting three digits for a week (the top was 118!) dropped down into the high 70s.
Of course, we can thank Mother Nature for this gift. But she had some help. Before the big rain came on Wednesday, my neighbor, Jyl Barefield, said she was planning to wash her car. “As soon as I do,” she told me, “it will rain.” Chris helped, as well. The day before the storm he ran the hose on the tomato plants for almost four hours. And it worked!
These two acts probably contributed greatly to the lovely, dark clouds that exploded over our heads this week. But this brutal summer is not over. So, in the spirit of community service, I researched instructions on how to do a rain dance. It appears fairly simple.
1. Never do a rain dance on a hill.
2. Make sure you have a lot of room so you don’t run into anything.
3. Spin around in clockwise circles.
4. Make up your own rain chant. It should be rhythmical and easy to say fast.
5. Yell your rain chant while spinning around in circles.
6. If you are trying to get rid of rain, spin in counterclockwise circles and say your chant backwards.
Although we identify rain dances with Native American tribes, especially in the southwest part of our country, these ceremonies were used in ancient Egypt, and as recently as the 20th century in Romania and Slavic countries.
Rain dances are different from some other tribal dances, because both men and women participate. The Pueblo Zuni People in New Mexico do this dance every year, on August 19. In their version the men perform with their torso nude, except for paint and beads. They may be a bit embarrassed to be partially nude, because they also wear masks for this ceremony.
The women are fully covered with long skirts and shawls. Only their bare feet are exposed. Large headdresses are worn, along with bracelets of leather and silver. In the Zuni rain dance, the steps are done in a zig-zag pattern, although most dances consist of circular steps.
So, it doesn’t seem to matter if you dance to the beat of a native drum, or a blues harmonica. The important thing to remember is to pray for rain and wear silver jewelry.
We had some lovely rain this week. However, if the rest of the summer is as hot and dry as it has been, we may need to keep these instructions in mind. Mother Nature can’t do everything herself. Sometimes she needs our help.
Adele Elliott, a New Orleans native, moved to Columbus after Hurricane Katrina. Email reaches her at [email protected].
Adele Elliott, a New Orleans native, moved to Columbus after Hurricane Katrina.
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