The life cycle of the Bobo is circumscribed by ritual as befits any utopia. Every man, including the outsider, is greeted by the words "Blessed my Lord" accompanied by a bow with the right hand touching the left breast. A profound bow is reserved for Dada himself, who returns the salutation with the same words and gestures. "Blessed my Lord," or sometimes just "Blessed" or "my Lord" are also used in place of"goodbye" or the conventional "excuse me," as for example when someone is about to interrupt or take leave of someone else.

At sunrise, noon, and sunset, each Bobo prostrates himself and prays with his head turned toward the east. If a priest is present in the company of one or more prophets, he alone prays for all.

The evening services are conducted in the open yard before an altar facing east. They begin with drumming and singing under the leadership of three priests. Everyone attending must dress in a black robe, and those not so attired must remain outside of the meeting ground. The songs are, many of them, familiar sankeys. At the end of the singing comes a series of ovations or tributes, first always to Emmanuel, the High Priest, then to Marcus Garvey, the Prophet and next to Selassie the King. Then tributes are made to the "international guests," that is, "official" people such as myself. Each tribute ends with "Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I Jah Rastafari," with everyone's joining in the "Jah Rastafari" and hands clapping in applause. Readings from the Bible come next, and these are interspersed with singing until Emmanuel arrives. Following is a descriptive summary of one of his sermons.

He began by saying that man is God and God is man. The man who was talking here now represented Jesus Christ here on earth. God could not be spirit; he must be flesh. This was he. These words won the acclaim of all the prophets and priests, who with one accord shouted,

"Jesus of Nazareth Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I Rastafari."

The next fifteen minutes were taken up singing the chorus:

The last line, "Move round Jerusalem . . . ," was repeated on and on for as long as the conducting priest desired. A noticeable feature of all singing is that it begins pianissimo and very low on the scale, then rises steadily in both pitch and volume. When "I want to get ready" ended it was exactly one octave higher than at the beginning. The drumming did not stop however, and over its throbbing the priests took turns praying. They then broke into another favorite song:

At this stage the dancing and participation became very enthusiastic. A Bobo not in the congregation, because he was not attired in his robes, fell into a near trance state. His movements became rapid and out of tempo, attracting the attention of a circle of guests and noninvolved Bobo. Occasionally he would shout out "Black supremacy!" or "Revolution!" A member of the congregation came over and said something to him but it produced no change either in his movements or utterances. Everyone was feeling quite high and at the end of the drumming Emmanuel asked, somewhat rhetorically,

"Who is there that can't own God in the flesh?" whereupon the semipossessed shouted "I." Peals of laughter ran through the congregation and the onlooking crowd.

Emmanuel then called for chapter 4 of the First Epistle of John to be read. All faced the east and recited

"Glory to the Father, Glory to the Son, Glory to the Holy One of Creation."

Then as the passage was read, Prince Emmanuel developed on its theme, in the manner of the Revivalists, verse by verse:

Esau and Jacob represent black and white. The black man is God, my Lord. "So you see only we is savior of the world. Only one man could redeem you and that man shed him blood. Him send a true prophet. That Comforter don't charge none. Free! Free Salvation! Most High God, Jahoovyaah!"

All shouted:

"Jaah! Rastafari!"

At the end of the reading, the doxology was again recited facing the east and after this the sankey "Jerusalem my Happy Home" was sung. One of the priests called out each of the verses of the song. Jeremiah chapter 8 was then read. At verse 10 of this book, Emmanuel said:

"It refer to Great Britain, America, all of them. We used to leave Jerusalem and go to the Gold Coast to pick up gold just like that. When the white man came and saw it, oh my! They would kill us out!"

The audience response to this was truly great. The white man, he explained as the reading continued, is Satan. Satan is able to create images but his images do not have life like God's. This was a reference to a myth later told to me by one of the prophets that Satan once stood by watching God fashion images. God sent him off to fetch some water, and before he could return, God blew the breath of life into them.(*)

Verse 21 of the chapter read,

"For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold of me."

When Prince Emmanuel asked of the priest reading,

"Who says I am black?"

the priest answered,

"Solomon."

Prince then turned to his audience and said:

"Greater than Solomon is here!"

Were a standing ovation allowed he would have received one, so great was the applause. The priest added,

"The word of the Lord has spoken, Jesus of Nazareth Holy Emmanuel Selassie I."

"Jah Rastafari!" responded the congregation.

After the doxology, Prince thanked everyone: musicians, priests, guests, and "international guests." He gave instruction to them to continue until morning if they wished, and with a profound bow to everyone, departed for his quarters.

Twice each week and on the first Saturday of every month the Bobo fast. On these days, nothing whatever passes the lips, and from noon until six o'clock a service is conducted, but this time in the temple. Outside the entrance on either side stand two standard bearers, waving their flags. Pictures of the Three Persons of the Bobo Godhead and texts of various sorts adorn the interior walls of the temple. All worshippers are robed in white, males on the right, women and children on the left. The service consists of hour after hour of singing to the beat of the drums, followed by Scripture reading without preaching, followed again by singing. Then at three o'clock, the three-hour ritual to end fasting begins with Prince Emmanuel emerging from his quarters. A priest leads the congregation in the singing of a hymn, each line of which is followed by the word Adonai, sung on the same note as the final word. At six o'clock Dada enters the room to the left of the altar, washes out his mouth, and upon returning breaks his fast with a morsel of bread and goes back to his house.

One by one the priests follow the same procedure and resume their places; this procedure is repeated by the prophets and last of all the women and children. During these three hours, the same hymn is sung over and over. Those who, for whatever reasons, do not participate in the service enter the temple at this time and go through the ablutions and breaking of the fast. When all have eaten, Dada once more appears through the doorway. All turn to the east, in which position they remain, reciting several prayers, and end by singing a doxology. One by one, again beginning with the priests and ending with the women and children, the members of the congregation pay their living God a special act of reverence: bowing profoundly and at the same time saying a word of greeting. And each act of reverence he returns in kind, before retiring to eat his supper. Outside, his worshippers feast on bananas and other fruits.

(*) This story parallels closely a Yoruba myth of creation in which Obatala, who had hidden to watch, was put to sleep by Olodumare. He awoke to find the breath of life already blown into the human figures he had molded for Olodumare.