Category Archives: Material

Moroccan Mint Tea Ritual

Text:

“In Morocco, mint tea ritual is one of the most special ceremony that occurs every day in households. My mom and aunts used to tell me funny stories about babajudu [ grandpa], a sit down mint tea gathering. Every day, not only babajudu prepared the tea in very elaborate manner but also, he had a special way how he drank his tea. The tea is prepared in a traditional crafted teapot with beautiful engravings and served in small glass cups with colorful decorations served on top of a silver artisanal tray. He would sat in front of lowered legs table with the ingredients to make the most tasty tea with fresh rinsed mint leaves, gunpowder (dried green tea leaves), broken sugar loaf and hot water. First, he would put in the pot a table spoon of the gunpowder and rise it quickly with boiling hot water to remove its bitterness. He would pour it in empty cup that would be disregarded. He would add a large handful of fresh mint leaves, sugar loaf, than he would pour hot water on top of all the ingredients. After a few minutes, he would stir the mixture and taste it to see if more sugar or fresh mint leaves needed to make sure it had just the perfect flavor . He would serve the tea from very high point, which allows it to be aerate and unveil all its aromas. It took almost an hour for making the tea and savouring it. He loved to press the glass of tea on his forehead to feel it warmth treating it as if it was a sacred object.”

Context:

“Preparing and serving cup of tea is not just boiling water and adding green tea, fresh mint and sugar, but it it is ceremonial art that is passed from generation to generation. Not only, it is an old tradition of hospitality but it is deeply rooted in every day’s family life. The tea can be sipped at any time of the day to finish a meal. It is also served in special events like wedding ceremonies, a birth or even other predicaments like funerals. This ritual is a cultural phenomenon that brings families and people together not only in happy times, but also in sad times to show respect and honored guests.”

Analysis:

This is an example of ICH (intangible cultural heritage), meaning that it is traditions that are passed to the next generation. This ritual was passed down to me in a passive way when my mom and my family took me to Moroccan restaurants to have the tea prepared for us. Occasionally though, my family would cook some dishes at home, and I would make the tea myself. It is a ritual which is a form of greeting in a lot of Moroccan households, which didn’t happen as much in America since we didn’t have guests often. That is what differentiates Moroccan and American culture – people would be able to more freely stay at anyone’s house in Morocco compared to America, exemplified through this ritual. Since rituals symbolize a right of passage for individuals, mint tea represents this as it is always served at events such as weddings. Its sweet and energizing quality are always fit for greetings and celebrations.

Altar

Name: Georgia

Text

I created an altar and painted all of the matriarchs in my family line. In the middle I painted myself wearing a Bulgarian head covering. The women are painted as the different waxing and waning moons. I added some nature ~ leaves, sticks, whatever wonders I find on the ground. There are some other objects that hold an ancestral significance to me. I pray at this altar. By praying at this altar, I commune with my ancestors. I sometimes leave food offerings, I create paintings of them and I talk to them when I pray. Sometimes I cry a lot at the altar and I feel comforted, it’s like crying in your grandmother’s lap. It’s always warm. This is a space where my ancestors can land & where I can share things with them. My brother is awaiting his first child & so I blessed the baby’s gift by leaving it a few weeks on the altar.

Context

Altars have been used in all sorts of cultures. Praying or praying at an altar wasn’t practiced much in my family and it’s something I’ve rekindled on my own.

Analysis

This friend is a very spiritual person. I believe she is taking on a traditional practice of altars and re-contextualizing it into her own ritual. They both have a different perspective, or rather have started a new trend in their life because of their spirituality. The idea of altars could reach her through diffusion since it wasn’t taught from her family. This knowledge could be from online, books, or others as I know she is active in spiritual communities online. I believe this is a form of the law of similarity. She altered the tangible world to connect to a bigger thing in the intangible world by depicting something of similarity to that bigger thing. In this case, she has painted her matriarchs in each cycle of the moon to facilitate this. In addition, Georgia is using fetish objects (spiritually loaded or magically significant) to place on her altar to increase the connection to the divine/her ancestors. This is an example of a mashup resulting from the exposure of new cultures from around the world and taking what resonates to create one’s own charged ritual.

Moroccan remedies for discomfort using Cumin

Informant is from Morocco

It is said drinking milk cinnamon cumin powder and honey will help with period cramps

Putting cumin powder on eggs will help you with digesting it

Analysis:
The spice trade has landed in Morocco, in which its regular dishes are full of spices.It only makes sense that cumin and other powders would be used for remedies. Nevertheless, Cumin is originally from Western Asia, in which it is used for various dishes and remedies there as well. This remedy could be an example of monogenesis. Even though it is a folk recipe, modern research has confirmed that cumin does in fact help with digestion. Perhaps that is not directly correlated to period cramps, but it would in fact help regardless.

Theatre Pre-Performance Ritual for RENT

Main Piece

“[This ritual] is very common: the whole team tapping a sign before a game. In RENT, we have a plaque hand-carved by Jonathan Larson’s uncle that he carved when he died that his sister gave us. She came in and talked to our cast, and her and his college roommates gave us this plaque for the duration of our show. And it’s this big hand-carved plaque that says “Thank you, Jonathan Larson” on it. It’s hung up backstage, and after our group circle, we all have to go up to it one by one [before every performance] and like, place our hands on it and thank him before we go onstage to perform…Really simple, but we all do it and constantly remind each other of it and it’s really important to our cast.

Some of us like, if we’re feeling especially emotional, will literally sit in front of it and cry. I’m so serious, I’ve done that, ’cause Jonathan Larson is really important to me.”

Interpretation

Informant Interpretation: Informant related ritual to common sports team rituals of tapping a specific sign for luck or protection before a game. They also mentioned that the pre-RENT performance tapping of the sign was a means of “community building” and enabled cast members to “ground themselves” and “remind themselves about why they’re doing this piece of art.”

Personal Interpretation: This is clearly an important tradition to the informant and their cast, furthered by the subject matter of RENT (queer people living in NYC during the HIV/AIDS crisis) and fact that its creator, Jonathan Larson, died one day before the musical’s original opening in 1996. The sign is a physicalized reminder of the humanity and weight the show carries, and gives the cast members a material way to remember the real people it’s grounded in before going onstage. To me, it sounds like tapping this sign is a ritualized remembrance of the responsibility to tell and represent an important, nuanced story to the audience, and for the cast to honor the people around them–cast, crew, relatives, friends, and more–as well as the source of the art they’re bringing into the light.

Background

Informant is a 21 year old college student studying theatre at USC. The performance of RENT mentioned happened this semester, with rehearsals running January-April and performances in April. It was put on by the USC School of Dramatic Arts–informant performed in the ensemble for all performances. Informant is mixed race (white and Pacific Islander), and identifies as queer and fem-presenting.

Evil Eye Jewelry

Main Piece

Informant told a story about the Evil Eye within Arabic communities, involving a ritualistic wearing of an object (and phrase, within some communities).

“So the concept of the Evil Eye is that you have to wear it somewhere on your body, otherwise when people think bad thoughts about you it’ll come true, and then, like, the Evil Eye absorbs them all. And then, once it’s absorbed too much, it breaks…this is only in some Arabic cultures, but when someone goes ‘Oh my god, I really love your purse,’ they have to go ‘مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ’ (informant then translated phrase as “praise be to God”) after it, otherwise you have to give it to them – like, cause then the Evil Eye will get you. It’s kinda like a “oh my God, I love your earrings!” and now they’re jealous, so if you don’t give them the earrings or they say ‘مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ,’ their jealously will start ruining your life – like seep into you.”

Interpretation

Informant Interpretation: Informant heard about it from his Mom, who told him to wear it all the time for protection. “It wasn’t something I learned, it was just something I knew.” He still frequently wears Evil Eye jewelry as a method of protection for himself, and knows many others who do. He sees it as something more inherent to his family and society, and directly associated with paying attentions to others’ emotional states.

Personal Interpretation: This is an example of a folk belief or superstition involving a ritualistic object and many ritualistic tendencies, primarily practiced as a method of protection for oneself. I personally found its interaction with ‘magic’ to be the most interesting–the idea that someone else’s negative thought of you could seep into you feels like contagious magic to me, which wearing the folk object (Evil Eye) or repeating a ritualistic phrase can protect you from.