by Geoff | Feb 12, 2020 | Aisha Qandisha, Essaouira, Gnaoua, Hamadcha, Morocco, Moulay Idriss Zerhouna, Northern Africa, Ouezzane, Sherif, Shrine, Sufi, Wazzan, Zaouia
UNFINISHED POST We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time. Little Gidding T.S. Elliott It may seem incongruous to entitle a page about Islamic and African culture with...
by Geoff | Dec 5, 2019 | Aisha Qandisha, Gnaoua, Hamadcha, Meknes, Morocco, Shrine, Sufi, Zaouia
You know that you have arrived at the correct destination when the hotel proprietor seriously enquires whether you would like to sacrifice a sheep the following day in the grotto of Lalla Aisha. I had arrived at possibly the strangest place yet on my travels...
by Geoff | Oct 18, 2019 | Aisha Qandisha, Hamadcha, Meknes, Morocco, Sufi
Walls, town And port, Refuge From death, Gray sea Where breaks The wind All sleeps. In the plain Is born a sound. It is the breathing Of the night. It roars Like a soul That a flame Always follows. The higher voice Seems a shiver. Of a leaping dwarf It is the...
by Geoff | Jul 5, 2019 | Essaouira, Hamadcha, Marabout, Morocco
The man laying on the rich carpet welcomed me into the the Hamadcha Zaouia in Essaouira. After determining my nationalty he proceeded to tell me in English about the psychological and spiritual healing role the Hamadcha confrere traditionally enjoys within Moroccon...
