jab
In the purest Masquerade tradition Two fit guys properly daubed in molasses Wearing the ‘Jab’ horns, parading their abs So we know now which side the devil is on And so do all the girls around… Photo Hugh Ardoin The Notting Hill 2019 Carnival Gallery
The trending Asterix or Viking helmets to impersonate the Jab The history of masquerade is about the representation of Satan Jab is a creole phonetic version of the French ‘Diable’ (Devil) As opposed to Christian religion at the centre of carnivals Masquerades were celebration of emancipated slaves Disguised with horns, chains and molasses like devils […]
Horned young beauty trending on Chepstow Toting the Jab outfit as the Mas traditional uniform The molasses and the devil’s horns, but no nudes and no chains Beyond the fantasy it was revolutionary as they went naked back then We pay the toll for the distilled comfort of our times An now and then life […]
Every year the Notting Hill Carnival brings together over a million people They come from the world over although the majority is Afro-Caribbean A celebration of masquerade as it was performed by emancipated slaves Slaves were not allowed to participate in masquerades and Carnival It was the initiation to freedom and a warning to the […]
Missionary conversions never erased the spirit of Animism Sharing the “Jab” mythology of the horned god called devil Hope of justice in the after-life helped survive the pains of slavery But was it no more than another pie in the sky to rein in anger and hunger Looking at the world from the cloud of […]
Borrowing the horns from the “Jab” and the molasses from the cane A beauty celebrates the emancipation of her forbears In a grand style to remind the masters of the Judgment Day They will go where they belong with chains, molasses and devils May they unrest in un-peace… Photo Hugh Ardoin The Notting Hill 2019 […]
Riding the waves of music, a mermaid swallows her cheeks A refrained smile or a secret message to the beholder Dancing Queen rocking at the threshold of a trance The Jab’s call at the blurred edge between Soca and Voodoo Photo Hugh Ardoin The Notting Hill 2015 Carnival Gallery
Like the stomping of all these people would break the Earth open An from the deep chasm flames will rise to Heaven in the sky above A furious volcano spewing swarms of fiery incubus and succubus Like moths attracted by the light, the angels will come fluttering to play with fire Joining the the fray […]
The temperature rises above street level as the crowd prance and dance A blonde girl in red with bright red lipstick and a mask laughs her head off She is covered with black molasses as the Jab celebration duly requires It is the moment of glee when we forget our woes until it all wanes […]
The “Me Too” spirit runs wild in the streets A black and white girl-girl twerk was once unthinkable Now the masquerade culture gets closer to the Jab’s realm So let’s be careless and let’s be free, Hell is just a place on Earth Twerk and dance into the night, tomorrow will never come Photo Hugh […]