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La WozSt Lucia has two so called flower festivals, La Woz in August and La Magawit in October. Practitioners refer to their socits, rather than to the flowers. In former years the St Lucian society was split in affiliation to one or the other group. At times membership has been illegal, and it has also been condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. The practice has survived from the time of slavery, although it has been modified. At Independence, when St Lucian symbols tree, bird, flower etc were being defined, St Lucia chose to have two flowers, a rose and a marguerite. (The marguerite is not a daisy but a small magenta coloured globe flower, rather like a clover). The societies originated in co-operative work groups like the dokpw in Dahomey, formed with the idea of mutual support, and assistance in time of trouble. A similar phenomenon exists in the coumbite of Haiti. As the general society changed, so did the socits, becoming more commercial and money-oriented. Other organisations were created to save money, and to provide a safety net in time of trouble. Nowadays the objective is largely solidarity through recreation. The socit forms itself into a court, a microcosm of civil society. Positions held are often hereditary a particular family will produce a La Woz king, another produce the queen etc. All through the year, but with greater frequency leading up to the festival, sances are held, practice and organising sessions of song and dance. An important member of the group is the chantwl, generally a woman, who leads and sometimes composes the songs, and acts generally as a marshall to organise and mobilise the group. Each group has its own band. The group organises itself into a King and Queen, Prince and Princess, Doctor, Magistrate, policemen, nurses, soldiers. Everyone can have a role and a costume. The costumes are as gorgeous as can be contrived from the money collected by the group. The colour theme for the Roses is red or red and white. The Queen and Princess wear long satiny dresses, decorated with lace and spangles. The King and Prince wear formal suits, with decorated sashes. Each of these characters has a crown. Other members of the group wear costumes appropriate to their characters. The chantwl carries a bouquet of roses which she waves to encourage the singing. On the Feast of St Rose of Lima, August 30th, the Roses proceed to church. After the service there is a banquet with singing, dancing and music. The songs praise the Roses and taunt the Magwits, their traditional rivals. La Woz symbolises civil society, dresses itself in European clothes but has an African tradition, and uses the Kweyol or Creole language (which could be said to do the same thing European origin vocabulary on a West African structure). Posted with permission of original writer, D.Williams (written 24th August, 2004) of St. Lucia for specific use within Wikipedia.
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