Revivalism Essay Example for Free

Revivalism EssayRevivalism is an authentic Afro-Christian religious folk haoma that evolved during the eighteenth to nineteenth century. Initially, it was the native Baptist Christians who joined forces with the Moravians, and early(a)(a) non-conformist churches to become the forerunners of the movement. However, Jamaica was said to have experienced a religious movement called the Great Revival in 1861, which saw the incorporation of much more Afri thunder mug retention in the movement. Pocomania is more African in form while Zion is more Christian oriented. 1Upon preparing to board this journey, I was a slice disgruntled that I had to wake up in the wee hours of the forenoon to go this Watt Town excursion, precisely I still approached with a open mind, though I had an idea of what to expect, seeing that I was already acquainted with quite a few Revivalists. H superstarstly I expected it to be a waste of time, but upon seeing the fellowship of my friends, while waiting o n the buses which were scheduled to take us on our journey it got easier and easier, we engaged in jokes and hymns we swore were Revivalist hymns but Mr. greyish quickly busted our bubble and told us that those hymns were Pentecostal.We were greeted by a semi-pleasant but slow bus driver, but the vibe in our bus quickly took our minds off the length of the journey. I view Revivalists as extremely religious heap who be in tune with liquor with from various realms, known as Heaven, nation and Ground spirit realms, I met with a lot of disparate Revivalists, but what I found rather interesting was the fact that the core of what they were saying were similar but they were also many subtle differences, For shell I met with a man, whose name is Joseph Whitter, of the Olivette Seventh twenty-four hour periodlight church. nd he seemed to be quite esteem in the church community, he blatantly stated at the beginning of the conversation that, Revivalism is the only demeanor to be s aved, we had a long drawn out discussion on what are my individual(prenominal) views on religion and the opening didactics he made, where I told him that I strongly disagree with that statement and I mean that there is only one God and peace and love is the ultimate goal, which everyone should turn out to achieve, no matter what religion one identifies with.I then met with Miss. Barbara Harper of the same church, Olivette Seventh day church, and she stated that deal should go to any church they want to go to and do anything that is truly delight to God, when I mentioned what her church brother thought about the same thing, she said that there is no one way to get to heaven and that people spend more of their time in competition with other denominations and religions rather than giving praises to the most high.I laughed a bit and I was in total discernment with her statement. We then started to talk about her life, and how she was before she identified that Revivalism was for her, I could see that the movement actually helped her and change her life, before moving on I thanked her for being so honest and reasoning with me, telling her that I would listen to her talk any day for she had a liberal and open mind and I short hated radical minded people, who try to force their doctrines and beliefs down peoples throats.When we finally arrived at Watt Town, later on our extra long journey I had no idea of what I was about to witness, the site was corresponding nothing I had seen before, I was greeted by what had seemed to be hund rubors of people, I discovered that Watt Town was having what had seemed alike(p) an inter -church convention. I saw children from various schools and young adults like our selves there to see this feat.One of the kickoff things I detect about the Revivalists was they were wearing different uniforms in different styles and colours, I wondered and asked why were they robed like this and a kind lady told me that each church was r epresented by different uniforms. The mold is the focal point of the church this is where the angels are countd to manifest themselves. This is the most sacred area of the ground and is a welcoming tool.The seal is a dominant feature in all revivalist churches because the seal encourages spirits which come and possess the members, enabling them to carry out their works of healing and worship. It is advised that one should notch around the seal three times to pay respect to the Tribune God. approximately seals can be seen with silver gray coins in them, this is payment to the spirits for their help. The flags and banners we saw at the front play a very classical role in the revivalism. A tall pole usually marks a revival ground.The flags on the pole are use to attack passing spirits, the attraction of spirits is very important to revivalism because they believe in many spirits and that they can be appeased or summoned to assist in their day-to-day lives. apiece banner has its own purpose. Green means anything of nature, Blue and white means peace, pink love and red stands for the blood of Jesus. Upon venturing to the top of the structure, most pebbles started to rain from a roof top, somewhat hitting my judgment, not reasonableness anything about what was going on yet, I didnt take kindly to this, that confused me a bit more than I already was.When a group of us finally got to the top we noticed the different worship circles/prayer group, and I was pleased by some as I saw some circles which were mixed with members of different churches, this showed me that pride was not an issue and did not hinder worship, and the main goal, magnifying the most high, I stood in amazement right next to two worship circles and I heard various choruses, some I had heard before, some I had not, I was familiar with songs such as Madda de great pit got to move and Rock oh Rock holy, rock oh Rock holy.Being a musician I enjoyed this aspect of the excursion, identifying th e keys and the chord progressions that would go with their simple but effective melodies. I noticed that even though their uniforms were different, they had many things in common, I noticed that many of them had head wraps with various pieces of stationery in the wraps, I laughed at this sight because I thought they were taking notes or something, but as I went on and I learned more I discovered that the pencils, rulers and scissors that I saw resting in their head wraps had special significance.The pencils and rulers signifies healing among the followers, the scissors were carried around by a specific set of people, known as the healers, who use the scissors to literally cut evil from around the persons being healed, as demonstrated to us by a young man named Otis. A few of the Revivalists were also seen carrying around a rhythm ruler, this was given to people who had been living a righteous life and who were slated to be married.We saw some people washing their face with sugar wa ter, this was said to bring clearance and purity, the prayer shawl was said to represent the population of Judah, as we learned that, like the Rastafarians there was a lot of African roots in Revivalism also, and they used red green and gold to identify with Ethiopia and Ghana. When I inquired about a lamp I saw an antique woman carrying around, she said that the lamp also represents healing and spiritual light because revivalists dont walk in the darkness. These healing symbols were brought from Africa with the slaves and became an integral part of the revivalist healing services.As a result the present day revivalist has maintained the practice. I asked some Revivalists of their actual occupations and from the replies I found out that they were either day workers, higglers or fishermen, (more than likely belonging to the lower class) I saw that this must have contributed to the scornful manipulation by mainstream and middle/upper class Christians, They consider them to be highl y superstitious, pagan, primitive and comical in ritual behaviors especially when they suspect them of practicing obeah. The disdain heaped on the lower class involved in revivalism can be traced to colonialism.Stratification was practiced on the plantation not only from the perspective of whites to none whites or but also among the blacks. The free slave felt himself above the house slave who felt they were splendid to the field slaves and there was further stratification in that group depending on the gang to which they belong. Seaga, in his literature in the 1980s explained that Revivalism also has different levels within its structure. There is the Leader who is the central figure of greatness below the leader are the armour bearer, shepherd boy and mother.The leader is never usually questioned on the reason for ritual observances. The ritualistic forms of Revivalism takes three major forms such as prayer come across, street meeting and rituals for specific purposes for examp le tables, altars and baths. The meetings are usually opened to the public. Revivalism is divided into two groups, Zion and Pocomania, Pocomania is more African in form while Zion is more Christian oriented. they are referred to as 2 different spiritual groups the 60 and 61, the 60 spirit (Zion) are persons who believe in only one God, the Heavenly spirits, archangels, saints and angels. ho are viewed as firmly rooted and committed Christian. The 61 (Pocomania) spirit comprises of individuals who take commands from earth-bound spirits are the go Angels (satanic powers), from God and from The Ground spirits are those of the human dead that are not biblically mentioned. I noticed that the people of the 60 spirit, look down the 61 in a way which gave me a sense of segregation between both of the groups. I noticed that like other Christians, Revivalists also go on fasting sessions but they cant just get up and fast they have to be ordered by the holy spirit.Also apart a Revivalists cu lture includes heavy usage of flowers they believe that when you place the flowers in water and go to sleep you dream see your future, whether it brings destruction or fortune. Some of my views on Revivalists were different after the trip, previously I thought that, Revivalists only went to church like other Christians and the worship was similar but I was mistaken, I also thought that they used instruments but I discovered that their bodies were their instruments, stomping and grunting to help them keep time and to provide percussive sounds.In my opinion the greatest salute Revivalists can give to the Jamaican culture, is their sense of unity, having being bashed for many many years, I saw that these people remained strong and stood firm for what they believe. That is what many religions and people of Jamaica need to survive through good times and bad, this was what I took away from the journey, and if I didnt take anything else, I was glad I took this quality from the Revivalists , unity is forte and they will forever be a constant reminder of that value.