Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Funeral Ceremony

Gambia has many lions and more lice. The second day after I arrived, I felt that my head was nourished. Only then did I discover the benefits of Jamieson's baldness, and I was shocked that most anthropologists are low-key bald, and it turned out to have something to do with the lice. "Top of the top ten secrets of anthropologists," I concluded, resentfully. I asked Jim to take me to the city to charge my computer and digital camera, and I cut my hair, which is a clean and neat big crew cut. I dare not cut it in the village, because I am afraid that if the razor is not clean enough, I will get AIDS. I sometimes hear this kind of thing, which is quite scary.But that's only one of the reasons.

The real reason is even scarier. Originally, Jim took me to look for a barber in the village, but the barber was an old woman who was blind in her right eye and her memory was not very good. In a large urn filled with beans. As for why the big scissors are inserted there, I don't want to know at all. The old lady's big scissors are not only huge, but the blades and iron handles are covered with brown-red rust, crying out that it has experienced many battles.In Taiwan, we would call this kind of scissors "Ah! Isn't this the kind of scissors that cut cloth?", so I was really scared.

"Is it okay for this old woman to cut her hair?" I asked cautiously. "I don't know. My mother cuts my hair, but now I cut it by myself." Jim touched the curly hair on his head and said, "But don't worry, this old woman is a well-known wise man in the village. Haircut, fortune-telling, astrology reading, medical treatment, and delivery at this age!" I was even more puzzled, looking at the big scissors in the old woman's hand, maybe the crocodile scissors had scratched the umbilical cord! "Forget it, I think." I sighed. I lost. The barbershops in the city are much brighter, not only clean and rust-free scissors, but also high-end services such as perm and hair coloring, because the barbershops may receive family members of diplomats and tourists who have no time to get bald lice protection.

I noticed that the scissors and razors they used were several sizes smaller than those of the one-eyed old woman, so I guess they hadn't cut the umbilical cord. Don't worry, while I was dozing off, my hair was cut, and I remembered a little game to spoof Jim, so I specially ordered the polite barber to carefully wrap up the cut hair and let me take it away. After finishing my haircut, I was very mysterious and asked Jim to park the car under a big tree on the side of the road where there are few people. "What to do?" Jim asked. "Shh." I put my fingers to my mouth.

While we were silent, we found a place under the tree where the soil was slightly soft and dug a small hole. I buried my hair in it and chanted words (I was chanting the regular mantra of rebirth and the pharmacist Liuliguang Tathagata mantra at the time. or I am catchy), brushed a match to burn it, and then pressed the ashes with a big imposing stone, filled it with soil and covered it. Jim watched me finish the ceremony with a serious expression all the time, without saying a word, for fear of disturbing the rhythm of the ceremony. When we got back to the car, my expression was so relieved that Jim finally couldn't help asking me what kind of ceremony it was, why did I have to bury my hair with a fever?

I made it up a long time ago, and told him that evil spirits (the religion of Gambia completely believes in evil spirits, and they often appear, and evil spirits can be said to be fallen elves who refuse to learn well and have been punished) are all stares I follow a person's scalp, so we Taiwanese will bury our hair in a hole in the ground every once in a while after we cut our hair. The stupid evil spirits mistakenly think that I am hiding in the hole, and they will go in. "What about the rock?" Jim asked. "I used stones to suppress the evil spirits that drilled in and attached to the hair, and at least one month of tranquility can be obtained without being disturbed by evil spirits." I said.

"Can't the evil spirit push away the stone?" Jim asked without understanding. "I burned it together with the hair first. The evil spirit is injured, and it usually takes several months to regain its strength." I explained, effortlessly. Know that writers are masters of nonsense. Jim kept nodding, and said that there was another way, and said that it was a pity that he probably couldn't learn the mantra I recited. I smiled slightly, wondering if they would often tell anthropologists about doing something messy, right? This kind of suspicion is justified. After all, anthropologists are boring most of the time, pestering the aborigines all day long, depending on what to see, the locals are always embarrassed to teach them to return empty-handed?

Maybe there are some "traditional" customs out of thin air that are simply colluded by everyone to trick anthropologists around.It can be described as a large-scale, systematic and organized collective fraud. So later Jim talked to me about the various ways that the Gambians (or some Gambians) deal with evil spirits along the way, and I also wondered in my stomach whether Jim was indiscriminate.But I understand that only I can be so boring. "Is there any ritual to eliminate evil spirits?" I asked casually. "Then you have to find out where people are haunted by evil spirits, and then there will be rituals to remove evil spirits." Jim said.

"Is that so, is there often people in Gambia haunted by evil spirits?" I raised my hand. "Well, but it's not easy to run into each other." Jim smiled. "What happens if you are haunted by an evil spirit? Have a fever? Vomit? Or can't sleep?" I asked. "Well, it probably means this. According to where the body feels uncomfortable, the wizard will judge which kind of evil spirit is haunting, and then burn herbs and chant spells to drive away the evil spirit, or ask other good elves to help drive away the evil spirit. Spirit, there are many methods." Jim said: "The older the wizard, the more methods he will use."

"Can you invent a method to drive away the evil spirits yourself? Or is every method an old method?" I looked out the window and snickered. "Most of them are old methods, but some wizards with great wisdom will find new herbs, and if they are effective, they will continue to be used." Jim said slightly, "We will also improve." I agree. "Is there any ritual that we can meet? Is it more convenient?" I asked, "I often have a runny nose. Could it be that I am also haunted by evil spirits? If so, can you take me to get rid of the evil spirits?"

"I'm afraid we can't drive away the evil spirits from Taiwan. It's a little troublesome. It's better to see your own doctor for your illness. Your evil spirits can't understand the spells we chant, so why are you afraid?" Jim shook his head, afraid he would be ashamed if the Gambian wizards couldn't get rid of my runny nose. "What about the rain ceremony?" I asked. Many anthropology textbooks mention several important primitive tribal ceremonies that cannot be subsidized unless they are researched. Prayer for rain is one of the most important, perhaps the most important. "The Rain Prayer Ceremony? I can take you to see it for 30 shields." Jim was very straightforward and recommended me the old man in the East Village. It is said that it is a group of wise men similar to the "Rain Prayer Club" or "Rain Prayer Club" . "But then again, it's the rainy season, Jim! The rain rituals are all held during the dry season, right?" I laugh out loud. "But I can show you!" Jim said sincerely. I think selling ceremonies to tourists is also a Gambian-style romance. Of course it's not bad to be as romantic as I am.But what would the pretender Taku do if he was sitting next to Jim? "Let's go, it must be fun!" I smiled. In Africa, the answer is always that simple.