I saw 3 ships come sailing...
On [five months after] Christmas day in the morning.
something (else) to listen to while reading...
On May 24-25, Gypsies (and quite a few gaugo too) throng to Camargne, south of Arles, France at the mouth of the river Rhone, to the church of Saintes Maries de la Mer. It is a pilgrimage to honour Sara, their patron saint.
"Sara la Kali" they call her, Kali meaning gitane (gypsy) and black, but also, given the gypsies' origin in north India, Sara could be an aspect of the Hindu deity Kali.
There are two legends about Sara. In one, she is an Egyptian maidservant of Mary Salome and Mary Jacobe, mothers of saints James and John and relatives of Mary Magdalene. Traveling together, they encountered a storm at sea. It is Sara who guides them by the stars to the distant shore.
In the other legend, the gypsy queen Sara was camping on shore when the boats approached. The sea was rough, the boats threatened to founder, so Sara threw her dress on the waves and, using it it as a raft, she floated towards and rescued the 3 Maries.
The Gitane have a tendency to adapt to the religions of whatever lands they travel in. In the old days, once a year they took a statue of Ishtari (aka Astarte) to the sea and immersed it for benediction. Nowadays that ritual perseveres in the rites and processions for Sara.
Violins and guitars fill the evening air with music, and together with the swirling dancers, give the night a wild beauty. As the sky darkens, each pilgrim takes a white candle in hand and enters the church of Saintes Marie de la Mer. Lighting from a central candle, they add their own flame to the white fiery forest growing in the chapel crypt, illuminating the statue of Sara - Saint Sara to the gypsies (although the Catholic Church never canonized her).
There is an all-night vigil, and early the next morning the newly clothed statue of Sara la Kali is carried in procession to the beach, surrounded by an honour guard of men carrying tridents. photos & virtual tour (I like to play these videos at the same time as the first song on this blog, interesting audio overlays) Sara is ritually submerged in the sea in the same manner as Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite, Durga, Kali - all the Great Goddesses of fecundity that precede her.
The rest of the day is spent in happy diversions, various games of skill and horsemanship.
Tarot of the week: 6 of wands: a horse and rider in procession; on this day, they are headed to the sea, the laurel wreath representing Sara. The card means Victory; dare we hope that downtrodden races such as the gitane will rise victorious? Or just another celebration of "dogs having their day"?
The two cards flanking the Magician in the Beltane reading also remind me of this fete in Provence: 2 of wands looking out to sea for the Mary boats (btw, the name Mary, Marie, etc. literally means sea; the word in French and Italian is mar and mare). The other card, Page of Cups, is sometimes called the Princess of Palace of the Sea, may be the poet of Stevie Nicks' heart? She is a gypsy troubadour, after all.
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Let us remember, friends of Diana, that May 24 is the birth of Artemis (naturally, here are more lynx to a song , and another ). China celebrates the mugwort festival on this day, which happens to be one of Her sacred plants, an artemisia. A Roman festival of Diana as goddess of the Wildwood commences now and today is also a Day of the Horae.
In my younger days, I would at this time every year go swimming by day and dancing around a bonfire to drums and flutes under the moon and stars at night. Forse ancora questo anno? Oh, the wild gypsy nights are calling....
