What a glorious day I had at the Seed Festival !
My day began with a few brisk circuits of the deck, then back for a shower and off to breakfast. Fresh fruit salad and plain yoghurt, with pineapple juice this morning.
For the festival I decided to wear comfortable shoes and loose clothing, sunnies and a large sun-stopping hat. Not being very tall, the hat makes me look like a thumb-tack, but I’ve reached an age where I really don’t care. Comfort is everything! I also got out my ropes and crampons ready to tackle the gangplank, but it’s descending from a lower deck today, so I can’t be the only one who found it rather steep!
There were lots of my fellow travellers milling about on the harbourside. I caught a glimpse of the oriental lady and also the nice woman from the deck above, who offered help until my trunk arrived. I gave them a wave, but they were too far away to talk to.
One of the islanders, a handsome, coffee-coloured young man with a happy, beautiful smile, asked if I wanted to go to the festival and would I like to ride there in his ‘taxi’? Of course, I couldn’t wait to climb aboard.
The ‘engine’ was a dainty little donkey called Lulu. She was decorated in much the same fashion as the cart. We were quite musical as we travelled along. Omar, my taxi driver, and I chatted all the way to the Temple. What a pleasant young man. The road took us through some quite dense jungle and he was telling me the names of the plants and animals in his native tongue. Not that I retained any of it, but it made for a very companionable ride.The temple took me by surprise! We took a bend in the road and burst out of the cool, dark jungle into the bright sunlight of the temple clearing. All around the temple are ancient olive trees. I climbed out of my taxi; paid Omar and asked him to pick me up after the festival, then joined the other people gathered there.
The temple is made from a golden sandstone. There are columns and steps and a variety of statues of gods and goddesses. The facade is covered in bas-relief sculptures depicting all aspects of life on the island. All very intricate and beautiful. I think I could spend a whole day just looking at those.
We all shuffled into the temple and the murmuring voices faded into a respectful silence as we entered the sacred space. It smelt and sounded like a huge cave – that musty, cold, damp-rock feeling. The floor was a highly polished hard rock and bright silk cushions were set out in rows. One for each person.
The ceremony began with a hypnotic chant and the lighting of a heady incense – the smoke spiralling into the air in gentle swirls. I always find watching incense smoke to be quite meditative. The temple proceedings lasted about an hour but, being in the native tongue, I relied mainly on my eyes for a sense of what was happening. It was solemn and yet joyous at the same time, if you can imagine. The high priestess wore a rich cape of bright bird feathers (I thought of Moctezuma) and the acolytes wore silken robes in all the colours of the rainbow. At the end of the ceremony the priestess drifted through the congregation and tapped six people on their crown chakra. I’m not sure what the criteria for this was, but I do know it was not youth or beauty because she picked me! 🙂
The six of us were led into a small antechamber. Covering on
e wall were masks in the form of animals and birds, and on another wall were silk robes in every colour you could think of. We were asked to choose a mask that ‘spoke’ to us, and then choose a robe. I chose an owl mask and a deep purple robe.
‘This will be fun’, I thought ‘they aren’t made for midgets’. But they’d allowed for all shapes and sizes. Each robe had two ties encased in the side seams which could be pulled up and tied to create a garment with an adjustable 
hem. Neat!! We were then asked to select a container of seeds from a table and the six of us would be involved in the completion of the cycle-of-life ritual. I chose a tiny, patchwork satin pouch which just fitted around my wrist.
We went in procession through the olive grove to newly turned earth on the terraces. Here we were asked to plant the seeds and offer a prayer to the goddess of fertility.
Oh, great goddess of abundance, accept these tiny seeds. Give forth your tears and your warmth and bring them to maturity, that they might nourish the faithful.
Afterwards, there was wonderful native cuisine and a local wine with a mighty kick. There was a great deal of singing and dancing. A few wines and I was up dancing too. The party lasted all afternoon, but I was picked up again by Omar at 3.00pm and returned to the ship. All in all a very satisfying but tiring day. I slept very well that night!
Scribblenpaint's Sabbatical 