Chapter 1
Ancient treetops bending westward
under winds lifting white beach sands
into billowing British-textiled sails,
roped to great wooden ships
bearing black-skinned cargo westward—
across the blue Atlantic,
cutting through the great waters,
cutting through time,
cutting through souls,
pushing westward—
from an old world to a new world,
a new system, a new order of things
unseen in the memories of man nor beasts nor trees—
away from Africa,
towards Jamaica,
where stood other trees,
brother trees, equally ancient,
looking outward as the ships sailed in,
looking outward into the wind,
great branches outstretched,
limbs waving in the wind,
like a crowd of souls,
marooned on an island,
waving for help.
Chapter 2
In Ghana, a woman stood looking up at the treetops swishing in the wind, trees she loved, with whom she’d grown up, confidants of dreams, and tears and vows, swishing in the wind as if wishing to speak. And that day, as she listened to the sound thereof, as the wind bent them westward, she had a feeling from whence it came and whither it went; but she didn’t know why.
Chapter 3
She was royal-born and accustomed to power. Brought forth with all the wishes and kisses a mother could give, she was named Nana. Thoroughly educated by the finest teachers, she was fully trained in Obeah, that combination of science and religion comprising the deepest insights of her people in science, morality, and the afterlife. And so she’d come of age, learned in the all the wisdom of her people.
Chapter 4
Ghana was changing. It was not yet the thing we call a “state”, with lines drawn around it, across forests and through mountains, but the process had begun among the people who called themselves Ashanti. In the days of their mother’s mothers, sailing ships had begun to appear on their southern shore trading textiles for gold; and in time, muskets for slaves. The arrival of the guns in the land presented an opportunity for dominance which some were quick to grasp, and rivalries for power grew within the Ashanti along with quests for dominance among long-time neighbors. It is thought that during this time, turning from these contests for power, some of the royalty departed, Pokou with her people into the region now known as Ivory Coast, others elsewhere, and Nana westward to Jamaica, saying “Are not these our people too?”
Chapter 5
Oral traditions tell us that Nana arrived in Jamaica a free woman, but we are not told how. Ocean piracy in those days made transportation aboard an armed vessel almost a necessity, and, Nana, being a woman of wealth and power, we suppose she negotiated safe passage aboard one of the sufficiently armed slave-bearing cargo vessels, as a paid passenger. And so, following the loading and stowing of cargo, she’d arrive at the ship at the appointed time, and, boarding last and being shown to her quarters, she’d be given instructions by the captain, “Now you be remembering our agreement, on deck for a quarter-hour at dawn and the same at sunset, otherwise in your quarters; and no interfering with our business.” It was on this voyage, now called the Middle Passage by historians, that she would discover the dark underside of that strange phrase “the new world”.
Chapter 6
The voyage began with the sounds of a barking captain’s orders, and sailors working, and the roll of the ocean. And in the morning, came the shouting of sailors and the grumble of chains dragged up ladders and across decks and down other ladders, hours of chains and hours of dragging and muffled moans. And then came the night moans, one at first, then more, emanating from the depths, followed by another day of barking orders and jangling chains. Then came a day of dragging chains and a thump and the curse of a sailor, the crack of whip, the scream of flesh, the plea of a soul, the whip’s crack crack crack, and the dragging chains across the deck and down the ladder. And the groans by night became a chorus, the emissions of wretched souls in shocked disbelief, in the process of disassociation from themselves, struggling in the realization of separation from their home, their loved ones, and their own bodies, and the sound of dice rattling upon the deck, sailors singing loudly drinking hard to drown the sounds of souls and conscience. And when the wind died and the sea was silent, came the smells of the uncared for, the dying, and the dead. And the wind arose and the smell dissipated, and the jangling and cursing and whipping continued, but the screams grew less. And then came the splash and splash and sound of violently boiling waters and laughing of sailors as furied sharks snapped upon the dead hurled over the side, and then came again the haunted night, again, and more day and more night again, and again, night after day and day after night, again and again, week after week.
Then a dawn shout “Land Ho!” and the scrambling of many feet, and the sideways feel of the long turn of the boat, and then more shouts, and the hard thump of the boat against the dock. And through a porthole, her eyes saw souls herded down the gangway and along the dock, separated and penned, platformed and inspected, auctioned and branded. And the odor of burning flesh, borne reluctantly upon the breeze, came and went as quickly as it could.
And she heard the sound of her own feet walking down the gangway and along the dock, and she felt the eyes of slavers upon her and she heard the captain say, “No, not this one, she’s paid passage to the forest edge”, and a slaver saying “Well, looks like we’ll be seeing you a little later”, and she heard herself saying “You will not see my face again”. And there was laughter as she saw the forest drawing nearer, the captain walking beside her and the boat receding behind them; and she saw herself at the edge of the forest exchanging securities with the captain, who said something as he turned back toward his death boat, and she, hearing but hearing not, nor looking back, stepped forward into the Jamaican forest.
Chapter 7
The shade of the forest closed upon her. High trees canopied a world beneath abounding in life. Birds cackled in flight high overhead disappearing from sight beyond branches draped with vines twining higher than the sails of the masted ship she’d just left.
And here she stood, still, as she had in Ghana so many times before, giving leave to her body as it read the forest. Effortlessly her eyes adjusted to the forest lights, her skin detecting movement of cooler air from a mountain beyond sight, her nose and mouth savoring the accents and combination of scents borne upon the air, flora and fauna, insect bird and beast, all abiding together under the trees. All was life and she leaned into life and away from the death of that wretched boat. And she stepped forward into the kingly forest as a queen, and neither were afraid.
It felt like home. But so distant in miles and so distant in experience, for she had come a long way in both in that few month’s journey.
And she marveled at the beauty and thought of home, how similar and yet different, and she knew her ancestors there were still her ancestors here, and she was comforted, and her understanding of the world expanded encompassing both sides of an ocean, and the light and the dark, and she thought again of home and her people, and she knew they were here, and now she understood how they’d gotten here, and retched. And it all rushed back upon her, and she remembered the Middle Passage, and the tears burst forth, and she wailed and fell and shook, and vomited with sobs, and the groans came loud, and the forest was filled with such sounds which it could not stop, nor would it stop, nor did it try to stop, because what was being said needed to be said, and had been needed to be said for so very long, but there was no one to say it.
And no creature disturbed her as she wept for her people, for they saw that her grief was very great. And the rain began to fall, and the drops blent with the tears, and they could not be telt apart.
And in the morning, as the sun poked through the high canopy to the forest floor where leaves rustled with little creatures foraging for food and family, she awoke. And as the sun arose, the wind arose too, and she arose and looked up. And the tops of the trees were swishing in the morning wind, and she loved them, and they knew she loved them and they were speaking plainly now, and she knew why she was in Jamaica.
Part II
Chapter 8
For several days, she searched the wood discovering and collecting ingredients she’d need. And as she gathered, she pondered their trauma and considered the best way to approach them. Then, with her purse full, she stepped to the edge of their camp, sat down quietly and small, and busied herself with her herbs and leaves, the most unthreatening apparition one could imagine. And there she sat for an hour before even being noticed.
And one saw her and, not recognizing her, said, “Hey!” and the others looked and were afraid, but she said nothing and went about her business. And they saw she was not aggressive and minding her own business, and they were no longer alarmed, and decided she was not a threat, but they were curious.
And in time one asked her what town she had escaped from, and she said, “I did not escape from any town. I am here of my own free will.” “You are a crazy woman”, one said. And she continued working with her herbs, combining careful mixtures, letting some dry and mixing others with sap. And they, watching her, said “What is that?” And she said, “It is medicine”. And they looked at one another and nodded agreeing she was crazy, but not dangerous, and they ignored her.
Chapter 9
The next day, a man appeared at the edge of the camp, agitated and saying aloud, “They got him, but he got away,” eyes darting wildly. He continued, “before they got him but he couldn’t get away before they got them”, as he stood there naked and eyes wild and saying. The others say to her “That man’s crazy”, and, “Best leave him alone”. She noticed the brand on his chest and a different one on his thigh, and lash scars striping his legs and belly and chest, and he was missing some fingers and some teeth. “Sometimes he talks about a wife or children killed.” Standing there he cursed, and then he sat and cried; then, stopping suddenly, asked for food; and they gave him some food, and he ate it greedily. “He never stays the night. He’ll eat and go and we won’t see him for days.” Nana watched him.
She brought him some food from her bowl, and he backed away then grabbed it and backed away further. She watched him a little more, then she mixed a potion of herbs and bark in water warmed by the fire and brought it to him. “Drink”, she said, “You will be well.” He took the mug without looking at her, drank it down, and continued eating, and soon he fell asleep. The others’ eyes widened and one said, “You drugged him!” “Nooo Ma’am, Nooooo, You shouldn’t have done that. He will wake up very mad and he will kill you.” “It will be well”, she said, “I will care for him.” In the cool of the evening, he began to sweat profusely and toss and turn; she sat next to him resting her hand upon his hand and speaking words into his ear that none of them could hear. In the middle of the night, he sat suddenly upright and eyes wide staring straight into the fire and shivering hard, she moved around and looking straight into his eyes as if to the back of his head, and around as if looking for him in the depths, she whispered “it is well, you shall be well”, and with a start, his eyes locked on hers for a moment, a long moment as if in recognition, and slumped back down fast asleep. Those nearby thought he was about to kill her and had readied themselves to restrain him when he fell back asleep snoring. They relaxed and tried to sleep again too, but mostly their eyes were upon the strange woman now kneeling over the man and again speaking words into his ears as he lay still, perhaps asleep, occasionally twitching.
The morning embers were stoked with new wood and the fire warm and crackling when they awoke, and she was humming softly a song of the people and rocking slowly and rhythmically and the man was sleeping peacefully by her side. One of them made a tea and passed it to Nana and she smiled smally and sipped. “What are you doing?”, they said. “He will be well”, she said; and then not too long later, to no one in particular, “It is time.” And then, to the circle around the fire, “As he awakes, do nothing suddenly, and show yourselves unsurprised and just going about your business as usual. There will be time for questions another day.” And with that, she says to him in a normal voice, “My brother, it is time to wake.” And his eyes opened and looked, and he blinked and sat up. He blinked again and looked around and saw everyone going about the morning business as usual, and then he saw Nana and blinked again, and sat up and looked at her for a long time. Then he looked again at each one of his campmates, one by one, and greeted them and thanked them for giving him food when he was hungry, then returned to Nana and studied her face. She said, “You must eat”, and he did. “Now you must rest”, and he did.
The next day he was well and one asked him what had happened. And he began, “… I … I … was in my dream, and … the masters had kilt my little ones … and my wife, … and I … I didn’t save them; I … couldn’t save them.. I didn’t save them. and … I was running from the masters … and I was running from the others and I was running from my wife and I was running from my little ones and I was running from myself and from everything and my life, just running, just running … and, that woman … I saw her in my dream, and she was running too, running beside me, and running with me, and she said, “you are tired, let us rest.” and she was smiling, and I could tell she was not mad at me, and she was not afraid, she was not judging me, and then I was so tired and I just walked and she slowed to walk with me, and I wanted her to go away, and I told her she should go away, and she said, “I cannot do that”, and I said “Why? And she said, “Because you are my brother.” And we walked in silence a long while until I fell asleep, and then I woke up.”
The next day she brought herbs from the forest and separated them and dried some and tied some and shredded some and crushed some and minced some and mixed some and was busy all day. And they asked what she was doing. “This is medicine”, she said. And they looked at one another, and one said, “This is Obeah”.
And one came to the camp wounded from the soldiers’ bullets, fevered and exhausted, and she said “Show me”. She looked into the wound from all sides and picked out some dirt and mixed some herbs and drenched some moss in an herbal mixture, applied it to his wound saying, “Hold this on there until you fall asleep” and the next morning he awoke and the wound was closed and his fever was gone, and in three days it was healed and he marveled and told the story to all he met.
And tales of her doings spread and grew with the retelling and people came to her from all around, and they were fed and many were healed and they knew hope for the first time in this new world, and it was good.
Chapter 10
“How did you come here Nana?” one asked. “My mother is royal born Ashanti; and she told me before I could talk, that whether I sit upon the golden stool or not, is of no real significance, but I am royal born for my spirit is in the image of God, and my soul can be like God, and my body carries these both for the time that I am in this world. And she said to me, ‘We, your father, I, and God, brought you here to continue this wisdom, to care for our people, for in giving we receive, and you will be full of power to do good, and you shall do well.’”
And she smiled and said to them, “You too are the image of God, and your life does not consist in what you wear or what you eat, though you may have been told otherwise. You are the children of God and you are free, and, you have power.” “But Nana, we do not have power, for they have guns and they are many, and we are nothing in their eyes.” “Exactly!”, said Nana, “in their eyes!”
Chapter 11
And someone said that soldiers had spotted their camp. And Nana said they should move the camp to a secret place. And they established a new camp high in the mountains with clever access, narrow and steep. And they perfected the smokeless cooking techniques learned from the Taino; and they dwelt there in secret, safe from their enemies.
And as they ate one laughed and said, “They will never find us here”. And Nana brought forth a strong ale she had made and passed it among them saying, “This is the cup of gratitude. Let us drink and be merry, and let us dance in gratitude. For we possess our bodies, and we have our camp, and we are healed, and we have one another.”
And she began the rhythm on her drum, tom tom tom tiki tiki tom tom tom, and another took up the rhythm as she stepped in time around the fire, tom tom tom tiki tiki tom tom tom. And she bowed in the rhythm, and they watched her, and she bowed so low in the rhythm that they felt themselves bowing to, and she bowed so long that they felt themselves drawn in, as in a whirlpool, drawn into her dance, drawn into her mind, drawn into her feelings, and they could feel her feelings, and see as she was seeing, and they felt her gratitude, and looking up through her eyes as she traced the trees with her fingers and thanked the forest, and reaching forth with undulating arms she thanked the rivers, and looking afar she spies the stars and thanks the ancestors, and whirling around and seeing them round, she thanked them, and she said, “You are no longer slaves, you are free and will remain free, for you are made to be free.” And by then many had joined the dance and the remainder joined them in the dance of gratitude, and it became wild and exuberant like the bursting forth of life in the spring. And they were grateful for their fingers and their hands unchained, and they were grateful for their feet that leaped unchained, and they were grateful for their little island which they had used to curse.
Part III
Chapter 12
She finished polishing the edges of a hole carved in the side of a horn; and breathing in deeply and out through that hole, there came forth a sound long and low, that sounded as though it belonged to the forest. Then she sounded three more notes higher and quicker, and then a few more notes. Looking up at those nearby, she asked, “What did I just say?” And they looked at one another quizzically but said nothing. And Nana laughed and said, “You have ears, don’t you? Can you not hear? I said,” and sounding the same long low note, “Listen, I have a message. And then I said,” and sounding the next three high quick notes, “Three soldiers are coming. And then I said,” and, sounding the remaining notes, “They are on the windward side of the blue mountain.” They looked at her and marveled. “This is Abeng; it is a language of the forest which our ancestors used. To speak Abeng effectively, you must control your breathing and speak from your heart. Abeng echoes in the forest, and everyone can hear it but no one can tell from where it comes, nor where it goes. The soldiers may hear it but they will not know what we are saying, nor where we are.”
Chapter 13
And the people crafted Abeng and learned the musical language and perfected their skills. And they assigned one another to strategic locations as watchers for their people against their enemies. And when soldiers were spotted, the watchers sang out with Abeng telling their number and location and other useful information. And the people understood. The soldiers heard this new sound in the forest and did not understand, but reported it to their commanders, who also did not understand, but said “It is some kind of wild beast and should be ignored.”
And as time passed, the soldiers were hearing abeng more and more, and finding escaped slaves less and less. And the town masters said to the troop commanders, “Why are you not capturing our escaped slaves?” And the commanders said, “We will capture them”, and they pressured their soldiers and placed them on extra shifts, saying, “If you want to achieve a higher rank, you must do your job better, and catch the escaped slaves.” But the harder they tried, the less they succeeded; and the soldiers grew weary of trying. And abeng grew more and more and some of the soldiers began to say, “The wood is haunted with the ghosts of the souls of the slaves we have killed.”
And the people felt empowered, for they had a skill and a plan, and it felt good to look out for one another. And they began to look upon the new escapees arriving in their camp with confidence that they could be healed and contribute to the strength of their growing camp, for they were looking upon them the way Nana had looked upon themselves in the beginning.
And one day two watchers returned to camp bringing with them an escapee who told this story. “I am one of four. We were chained together in the fields digging. And the master called the soldiers to point the guns at us while he undid the digging chains to put on us the planting chains. And only one soldier came to us and pointed the gun. The others remained where they were, drinking and laughing, and we saw a chance. And when the master undid our chains, we ran as fast as we could. And the master yelled and the soldier shot, and the other soldiers started shooting and chasing us, and we ran as fast as we could and hid. And at night I ran and ran and didn’t stop running. I think they were all shot except me.”
And the watchers spoke up and said, “We found him by the river. We brought him here to be healed.” And they looked upon his wounds and they read his scars and they heard his story and they knew his sadness and they felt his guilt, and they thought of their health and they thought of their safety and they said: “We must help our brethren escape from the slavers.” And then they said, “But how can we, for when they see us they kill us?”
And Nana said, “You have learned to camp in secret, and you have learned to communicate in secret. Now you shall learn to walk in secret. Then you shall have freedom and whatsoever you wish. “
Part IV
Chapter 14
And she wove a cloak of the vines of the forest in a curious pattern that neither leaf tore nor stem broke, and placed it over the head of one that stood by, and it appeared as natural as the vines on the trees.
And she said, “When you were bleeding in chains before the slavers, Why do you think they seemed like they did not see you?”
“We are nothing to them, ma’am,” they answered.
“It is not as simple as that”, she said. “The truth is more about them than about you.”
“The eyes in their head see your suffering, but the eyes in their heart they close, because they do not want to feel your suffering. And the more they practice this, the less they feel. And of them that saying is true, that seeing they see not and hearing they hear not for they have hardened their hearts.”
She continued, “And now, they will have difficulty seeing you even when they want to see you, for you shall look like the forest.” And she said to the man, “To look like the forest on the outside, you must be like the forest on the inside. Breathe as you do with Abeng, calming your body and your mind, controlling your thoughts and seeing with your heart; and in your mind’s eye, see yourself as one with the forest and uninteresting to them, for it is the truth. Practice this, and you will see your enemies confounded.”
Chapter 15
And they practiced wearing the vines like the forest and breathing Abeng and walking in secret with the forest. And as their confidence grew they drew near to the slavers’ towns in secret, and then to the slave pens where their brethren were kept, and then stealing the keys to pens and manacles in secret, they appeared as trees walking, and they revealed themselves to the slaves but were hidden to the slavers, and in this way, they helped many souls to escape to freedom. And the slavers could not understand how their slaves were escaping, and they became angry, and demanded the military recapture their slaves, and the commanders sent more soldiers into the forest to look for the people.
And a day came when they were practicing their skills deep in the forest and they heard the sound of heavy feet stomping through the brush. And they signaled one another silently and decided to remain where they were for such was their confidence. And they breathed deeply the calm of the forest and adjusted their vines as the soldiers drew near; and they faded, as it were, into the forested background; and if one did not know where to look for them, one would lose sight of them and think they had fled, but they were there, at one with the trees. And the soldiers came to where they were, and the leader said, “Let’s rest awhile,” and the others laid down their weapons and sat. And the maroons’ hearts beat fast but even so, they concentrated on breathing and maintained their calm, and that sudden fear that is natural to all creatures, soon subsided and their heartbeats calmed, and, breathing and swaying, they found their senses heightened and they heard the soldiers talking. And after a while, the leader said “Let’s go” and they got up and went, trudging along the path, struggling through the brush. And when they were at a distance, the maroons leaned forward through their vines and caught one another’s eyes, just barely remaining silent, and grinning from ear to ear, and their adrenaline was high and their confidence soaring, and they said “We must tell Nanny and the others” and so they raced through the wood, waved on by the trees, until they reached the camp.
And that night around the fire they told their story. “And we were so close we could have cut their head off without moving our feet!”, one said. And all the people marveled and rejoiced that they had come to possess such skill, and they continued talking excitedly.
And Nana said, “Today, you realize, that you have power. You have always had power, you just didn’t know it. Now, you are beginning to know it, and I wish to tell you one more secret.” They listened closely. “It is a secret you already know, but it is a secret that is often obscured in the presence of power. It is at this time that some forget the secret and lose their way.” They did not understand and so they listened closer.
“You have discovered today that you can kill them just like they can kill you. Some of you may be seeing, in your mind’s eye, that you could probably kill them better than they can kill you. Am I not right?” They knew she was right, but it seemed wrong, so they said nothing. “And, there is a new kind of feeling you feel. And it feels kind of good, right? It feels like a kind of joy, right? It feels like a kind of satisfaction, right? It is revenge; it is a kind of righteousness, it is a kind of justice, do you not feel it?” They nodded and remained silent.
“Until now you have not had to decide who you are, for this decision has been made for you by others.”
And she brought forth an ale, and she mixed in a new potion compounded of many elements. And speaking words over the mixture, she poured it into mugs which she passed among them saying, “This is the cup of wisdom.” And the drink was strong, and warmed the belly, and brightened the mind. And she began a rhythm on the drums, and standing in their midst, she began a new dance.
And in her dance, they saw the beginning of all things, and the place of all creatures, and it was good, and they saw how all things were created from mind, and how they too were given mind, and it was very good. And she spoke to them in her dance saying, “In this world, sometimes life is taken, and it is grievous. Life may be taken in self-defense or defense of one’s children, for this, all the creatures of the forest do, and though it is grieved, it is not begrudged. But no creature takes life for profit, and to do so is violently against nature.”
“With our minds, we can see many futures, and with our minds, we can create excuses for futures that disrespect nature. This is what the slavers have done. But in so doing, we forget ourselves and who we are, and we wander, and that is not good. And each individual will decide the kind of person they will be.”
“I ask you, now, come, dance with me.” And as they stood, it was as if each one stood into a shimmering garment prepared for them, and as they looked upon one another they saw the image of God. And as they moved, they were of one mind, they would rescue their brethren, and if they were opposed by the slavers they would do what was necessary to rescue their brethren, but it would not be in vengeance.
And as they each added their own unique movements to the dance, they felt their power as creators, and the firelight shining upon them cast their shadows tall upon the encircling trees, and the breeze above moved the treetops with them in rhythm. And they felt as old as the trees and as young as babes, and they felt power and they felt simplicity and they felt empathy and they felt freedom, freedom to be good and to do good, and they felt the power of goodness, and they saw the tower of evil for what it was, and the fear that goes before it, but they also saw the limits of evil and the slavery of fear, and they saw they were not slaves and they need not fear.
And the drums faded and the embers glowed until there was little sound but the sometimes crackle of the fire, for the moment, was beautiful as it was solemn, which no one wished to end, and power was realized, for love had been chosen and life embraced. And the older among them had a feeling that, at last, they had begun to mature. And the younger felt heady with wisdom. And the eldest among them sat grinning in the firelight with tears on their cheeks which they intended to never wipe away.
Chapter 16
And the British sent soldiers into the forest to enslave them. And two patrols entered a canyon and turned upstream, one ahead of the other. And as they walked on, the canyon walls grew closer and steeper and darker, and there were watchers watching, and the soldiers were becoming afraid. And as the patrols wound their way upstream, a watcher sounded abeng long and low then higher and pulsing with other notes; and the echo of those words bounded round the canyon turns and bounced cross the cliffs and was heard by the second patrol from the cliff right behind them, and, fearing their enemy, they turned and fired their guns into the shadows, and the rock face bounced back the bullets upon them, and one was wounded and cried out, and others hearing and fearing they were under attack, fired, and more bullets ricocheted upon them and the first patrol hurrying toward them, fired also in the same direction and bullets bounced off the wall into the other patrol and some over their heads and across the stream and off the wall on the other side and abeng kept sounding back toward the commotion and the confusion increased and the british were wounded and some killed some directly and some by bouncing and they were terrified and did not know what was happening but were certain they were about to be massacred, and some ran back and the wounded hobbled back and the dead remained and the frightened soldiers said they did not know what happened but some said that the maroons must have gotten guns and fired at them and others said it was that witch, and she turned their bullets back upon them for so great was her evil, and so great was their guilt.
And the slaves in the town heard the soldiers telling this, and marveled, and all of them were eager to escape and join Nanny and watched for the forest to approach the camp and were ready.
And the next night when the forest crept to the slave pen, they escaped; and told the tale in the camp that the British were saying that Nanny was using devil’s magic to turn their bullets back at them, and the people marveled, and Nanny smiled, and the people laughed and said, “Tell us the story again”, and laughed and told and retold the story among themselves all night into the night and for many nights and it grew as tales do and then they said, “No, Nanny doesn’t catch the bullets with her hands, Nanny scares the bullets back upon them.” and they laugh. and another, “No, Nanny catched them and throw them back, and another, no Nanny catched the bullets with her mouth and she spits them back upon them,” and they laugh and laugh, then one stand up solemnly and says, “No, you are all wrong, listen to me, and I will tell you the truth, Nanny catches them bullets in her buttocks”, pausing as eyes grew wide with shock, but listening closely, “and then”, pausing for effect, “and then … … she farts them back at them and sends them running for their lives”, and the whole camp erupts in laughter, and laughing they cannot stop laughing, for the restraints are gone, and all their fears undone, and they laughed and laughed so hard till the tears were flowing and their sorrows were swallowed up in triumph, and they knew they were alive and they knew they were souls and they knew they were safe and they knew they were strong and they knew they could defend themselves and they knew they were brothers and they knew they were a people and they knew Nanny was their queen, and they saw themselves as God saw them. And it was no longer possible for them to be enslaved for they had gained the high ground in their spirits, for even should they be caught again by the slavers, their minds were free, so yes, they were free indeed. And this story is told to this day.
Chapter 17
And there was a dearth in the land, and the British encircled the maroon territory with soldiers to prevent the people from searching afield for food, for they did not dare to delve deeply into the forests of maroon territory; and they said, “We shall starve them and so we shall defeat them.” And the story is told that after many days, when Nana was in despair, she found in her pocket three pumpkin seeds. And she handed them to one nearby telling them to plant the seeds on the nearby hill. And the pumpkin seeds sprouted mightily and brought forth abundantly and fed them all until the dearth had passed. And that hill is named Pumpkin Hill to this day. And the people lived and thrived. And the British realized they could not defeat the Maroons, and they left off trying to enslave them, and sued for peace. And the people saw that God provided for them. And they were free.
Epilogue
Chapter 18
They called them maroons, because, that’s how they saw them: castaways from society, deserted on an island, marooned, uncivilized.
Themselves, of course, they saw, as, civilized, the builders of a new world. To them, the maroons were ideal muscular widgets in their wealth-building machinery, exploitable; and they capitalized upon the opportunity. They bought them from those willing to sell them. And with soulless ingenuity, they employed them as fuel in the machinery of their burgeoning industry. And, as the souls of the maroons were squeezed from their bodies under the wheel of progress, when their lamp was almost unlit, Nanny arrived.
And she found them, whom she sought, and she loved them whom she would lead; and they were healed, and they were taught, and they loved again, and they laughed again.
Time passed and Nanny joined the ancestors; and her legacy continued, and many of the people continued in her ways, although some did not. After a while, the Atlantic slave trade was stopped, and then it was decided that slavery should be illegal in the civilized world. But hearts, which can marvelously change in an instant, can also remain unchanged, for a long time; and the maroons found themselves oppressed again economically and often socially. And from time to time people arose, like Samuel Sharpe on a Christmas Day in the 19th century, and others, and the people found relief and hope.
And the 20th century arrived, and the civilized world warred among themselves until 40 million were killed, and they rested. And in Jamaica, the Rastafari arose, and many found hope, although they were condemned by the religions of the civilized world. And then the civilized world went to war again and another 70 million died.
And then Bob Marley got a guitar and gathered some friends, and formed a band, and they called themselves, the Wailers, “for”, said he, “I was born crying”. And their song went throughout the whole earth. And many heard him sing, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, None but you can free your mind.” And, hearing this, they found they had ears that could hear, and hearts that could feel. And when he said “Open your eyes, look within” … “Are you satisfied with the life you’re living”, they heard him; and it was like that feeling you get sometimes when the wind is blowing, and the treetops are swishing this way and that way as if wishing to speak. “Man is a universe within himself”, he said. And hearing, they looked and found they had eyes that could see. And some were afraid and turned back, but many looked again, and many others continued in what they were hearing and seeing, with hearts that were understanding. And so, the legacy continues to this day; and Queen Nanny continues to this day, shining as a light in the firmament.