Tashia's Blog: EPISODE ONE

Posted by Ta'Shia, Thursday, March 11, 2004 at 09:03 AM EST The First Elimination Ceremony
The Elimination Ceremony was extremely intense. I was really torn about whom I would eliminate. Noel was at the forefront of my mind, as was Kelly. I was so torn that I sought consultation through an ancient method of divination called "casting Obi." Using the four cowry shells, I divined whom I should eliminate. I was floored by the answer. It was Hamin. I really didn't want to eliminate Hamin. However, the ancestors knew things that I didn't know and as difficult as it was, I had learned to trust their judgment. I also understood that my vote alone couldn't eliminate a Guest from the House. I would have to wait and see how the other Alts voted. When a tie happened between Loana and Hamin, I couldn't believe it. I knew Brent and Loana were really close and chances were that Brent was going to chose to eliminate Hamin. He did. This would be one of the saddest and most difficult elimination ceremonies for me. I gave Hamin one of the books by my teachers, Imoye, in the hopes that it would be a beacon of light for him on his journey.

Posted by Ta'Shia, Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 08:48 AM EST Introducing Brent to the Voodoo Religion
I selected Brent to be my first roommate. I could tell he was a bit scared, so I tried to make him feel comfortable and safe. Part of my work as a priestess has been to demystify the African traditions. The Karade Order, the temple to which I belong, teaches its members that spirituality is about what is on the inside, not how big your shrine is or what kind of spiritual work you're qualified to do. I told Brent about how my ancestors were beaten and even killed to stop them from honoring their traditional African beliefs. I told him about how Europeans came into Haiti and basically forced the Haitians into Catholicism and Christianity and prohibited them from honoring their own traditions. We talked about why God is always depicted as a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes and asked him how he thought that made Black people feel. He genuinely seemed to be getting it; however, he still refused to participate in the Voodoo ritual. This would be a decision that I knew might cost him later on down the line.

Posted by Ta'Shia, Tuesday, March 9, 2004 at 09:12 AM EST Meeting Our Guests
Before we met our Guests, I sat in a state of deep meditation about the spiritual purpose of this show and the reasons why my ancestors had placed me in the Mad Mad House. I intuitively felt that many challenges were ahead. I remembered a passage from my book, The Sacred Door. "Ignore all outside appearances and know [that] everything in life is working for your highest good." After meeting the Guests, two of them Ñ Hamin (or "Tiger," as he calls himself) and Brent Ñ really stuck out. I was saddened that Hamin had been programmed by European teachings to believe that anything African was negative or to be feared. And Brent was so very close-minded to anything other than his Christian upbringing. I decided initially that these two men were who I would focus on in terms of re-education. The challenge would be a lot more difficult than I imagined.

Posted by Ta'Shia, Monday, March 8, 2004 at 08:57 AM EST The Blood Bath Vampire Trial
Don's Trial would be the beginning of a series of intense Trials that the Guests would have to face. The Blood Bath would bring out the best and the worst in the houseguests. Kelly's insecurity and some Guests' jealousy of Nichole's outgoing personality would start to surface. When Brent won the first Trial, it placed him in a position to be seen as somewhat of a favorite among the Guests. However, his fear of African spirituality and other alternative religions, and his view of Voodoo as a Pagan religion, would be the hurdle he would have to jump over in order to win the favor of the Alts. The next morning, Hamin came to me in the kitchen and talked about his reasons for not participating in my ritual. While I was happy that he recognized the sacredness of the ritual, I was saddened again by his lack of education about his own history. I really hoped to have the opportunity to teach him more.

Posted by Ta'Shia, Friday, March 5, 2004 at 08:21 AM EST The Voodoo Ritual
Before the Voodoo ritual officially began, the other four Alts joined me at the sacred space. When Fiona (the Witch) stepped onto the land, the spirit of one of the ancestors who lived on the land came to her seeking healing. Art, Avocado and I had to cleanse Fiona of the energy and then had to do prayers to uplift the spirit so that the ceremony could go forward. Once the ceremony began, I conducted a libation for my own ancestors and asked the Orisa, the deities of my tradition, to bless the ceremony and use it for healing and introspection. As the drumming started, I could feel the deity coming to me through the soles of my feet. She was somewhat angry that some of the Guests had refused to participate. As I spoke in the spirit of Yemoja, the Orisa that rules my head, she talked about the stealing of African religion from Blacks in America by their enslavers. She also spoke in particular to Hamin about the importance of learning about his history, pre-slavery.

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