Laughter, Music, Family

Khalid on qraqeb with Mustapha on guimbri; another great night at Ma'alem Seddik's house

This past Saturday night was an exceptional one at Ma'alem Seddik's house. The night started off with the older men sitting around telling stories and jokes. Ma'alem Seddik is the master storyteller there. As I've mentioned before, even when I don't understand the stories, just watching his facial expressions and gestures and listening to the tone of his voice (soaring up and down) is enough to crack me up. I'll often be laughing along with the other men and one of them will say, “Do you understand?” to which I'll answer, “No, but it's still funny.” Sometimes Hassan will translate for me if I'm near him but either way, it's a hoot. Hassan tells me, “Someday when you speak Darjia fluently, you will see that every word that comes out of his mouth is funny,” but I can already tell that.

There weren't a lot of the usual younger characters but Petit Sayd came by again. He's been stopping by a lot lately (he's the 17-year old kid who has all of the elders stunned with his talent).

As the night went on and Hassan and Sayd and I sat back in music room, eventually some of the older men joined us. Even Ma'alem Seddik played a series from the lila with Najib (his main man) on qraqeb- something that rarely happens and therefore, is a special treat. I couldn't stop smiling for all the amazing energy pouring out of everyone.

At one point, when Petit Sayd was playing, Ma'alem Seddik started trancing- something I'd never seen him do. When he picked up a knife to trance with, I had to close my eyes. Even though I've seen other people do this several times now and no one ever gets hurt, watching the impaling and cutting is intense.

I've inquired quite a bit about this kind of trancing, trying to walk the line between cultural respect and academic analyses. How do they do it? Are the knives real? If they're real, how are these men not bleeding? Why do they do this in the first place? Is there some reason for them to be cutting themselves other than to show that they are in another state of consciousness by being able to do it without bleeding? The answers I've received cover the entire spectrum, but I've been assured that while there are some “fakers” (my word), there are definitely some authentic people who do this with real knives.

In any case, by closing my eyes during this part, I started feeling the trance coming on, too: for me, I tend to suddenly feel really light headed and dizzy. Like the other times I was in a lila, the only way I feel better is to start moving or dancing. It's a really fascinating phenomenon that I have never experienced until I came to Morocco. Sure, music has deeply affected me emotionally but never before to the point where I suddenly feel physiological shifts like these.

Talking about it afterward, Hassan told me that Petit Sayd was a bit scared to see the ma'alem trancing with a knife- for the person playing the guimbri and thus, directing the trance, it suddenly becomes his responsibility to keep the trance secure and to allow the trance to pass. I would have been scared in his position, too. Apparently, the ma'alem responded, “That's just trance, it's normal.”

One of the things I so love about hanging out at Ma'alem Seddik's house is that while there is this deep respect for Gnawa music and the tradition, there is always the joking, the storytelling and the strong sense of community.

As I was leaving that night, the ma'alem's parting words to me were especially moving. Though I didn't catch it all, he more or less said to me in a combination of Arabic and French, “You are very, very welcome here. You're very close to us- like family.” I think these words were probably inspired by seeing me trance a little. It's something pretty serious that, from what I can tell, not many non-Moroccans experience.

And I think somehow the way Gnawa music puts me too into trance might authenticate my presence to the group there even more. I've been getting the feeling lately that now everyone in the circle really does understand why I'm there and that while I also enjoy a good time with the jokes and storytelling, the music is not something I take lightly.