In Gnaoua Music, Color Guides Spiritual Healing Experiences

Faouzia Belkani first fell into jadba (trance) when she was ten years old. A neighbor was hosting a lila, a sacred all-night spiritual healing ceremony, and Faouzia wanted to take a little peek before heading to school. 

“It was the color red,” she remembers in a conversation with OkayAfrica. “I moved into a different state. I fell into a trance, and I was not the same person. Something happened to me when I smelled that incense and heard that rhythm. From that time until now, I can’t resist when I hear that song, and I smell the incense.” 

Faouzia grew up as a member of the Gnaoua, an ethnic group and spiritual community that descends from enslaved West Africans. Her father, Brahim Belkani, is a highly respected maâlem (a master musician and spiritual leader). Brahim was not born into a Gnaoua family; growing up in Marrakech in the early 1950s, he actively sought them out as a child, accompanying maâlems everywhere to observe their practice.

“Like all Gnaoua, his first attraction was the guembri,” says Faouzia. The guembri, a three-stringed bass lute, is the spiritual center of the ritual, played by the maâlem. He is supported by the Koyo (the Gnaoua chorus), who click their qraqeb, metal castanets which create the collective rhythm. The tbel, a large double-headed cylindrical drum, announces the beginning of the ceremony. 

“My father didn’t touch the guembri before mastering the rhythm, memorizing the repertoire and understanding all the ethical disciplines of the tradition,” explains Faouzia. “Growing up as his daughter, I understood that Gnaoua is not something that we study, but a way of life that we transmit from generation to generation through observation and respect of the older people.” 

After a decade of learning as an apprentice, Brahim began secretly playing the guembri, preparing for the day his maâlem would invite him to try. “Becoming a maâlem was not only about musical ability, but about respect for and faith in the values of Gnaoua,” says Faouzia. These values are embedded in a cosmology that is inseparable from the music.

The lila 

The lila is not a performance, but a living ceremony that usually lasts from sundown to sunrise. It follows a spiritual sequence that is learned by attending over and over again, consisting of three equally important aspects: the music, incense, and a range of colors. If these are aligned, the maâlem is able to call on the mluk, spirits which possess and entrance ceremony attendants.

The master holds great responsibility for the entranced people. If they make a slight mistake with the guembri, they disturb the equilibrium and the entranced will feel discomfort. 

The first part is called Awlad Bambara; it is a festive and secular show of singing and dance by the Koyo that eases the attendants into the ceremony. This is usually what people attending a Gnaoua concert will see. After this high-energy beginning, the repertoire evolves into what is called the Niqsha, leading into the Ftouh Ar-Rahba (the opening) when the maâlem uses the guembri to call on the mluk. 

“This is a very serious part,” explains Faouzia. “Before you can laugh and sing, but from this point onwards the ceremony follows the traditional order of color and their corresponding musical repertoires.” 

The colors

The seven colors of Gnaoua are not merely symbolic or abstract concepts, but essential to visualizing the ritual’s chants. Each color represents a group of saints, calls on specific mluk, and has elemental functions. Their sequence in the lila goes as follows:

White is associated with peace and holiness; it is also called Shorafa, which refers to the noble descendants of the Prophet Mohammad. “This is the part that shows the impact of Islam on Gnaoua,” says Faouzia. “We mention important Islamic figures like the Prophet and Sidna Bilal [the first muezzin in Islam and patron saint of the Gnaoua].” 

Light blue, also called Samawen, evokes the sea and the sky, calling on Sidi Moussa. 

Red is associated with blood and powerful warrior spirits that demand respect and deal with strong energies, like Sidi Hamou. 

Green represents earth and nature as well as Islamic blessings and purification. It calls on saints like Moulay Abdelqader Jilani. 

Yellow is the feminine, joyful color. Through sweet, orange-scented perfumes and incense, it calls on Lalla Mira, a joyous and laughing spirit that usually entrances women. 

It is followed by black (kohl), which represents the forest, the earth, and the underworld. It is a harsh color with intense movement and usually entrances men. 

Finally, the lila closes with the multi-color phase of intense dancing that calls on Lalla Mira’s and Sidi Moussa’s (light blue) joyful energies. 

While Gnaoua musicians are known for their colorful clothes, they are not actually required to wear the corresponding colors to call on the mluk with their music. Instead, it is important for the entranced person to wear the right color. Before the emergence of female maâlemas, the only woman involved in the ritual used to be the muqaddima. She conducts the healing process and is responsible for providing those who fall into trance with jellabas of the corresponding colors. 

“There’s an important triangle between the maâlem, the muqaddima and the person falling into trance,” says Faouzia. “A lot of musicians in the young generation are concerned with creating a good show, but they don’t understand what happens in the background. It’s important to preserve the roots and the secret of Gnaoua.” 

After graduating from high school, Faouzia went to university to study socio-linguistics and research transcendent music amongst the Gnaoua of Marrakech. “I really wanted to understand why I’d been falling into trance all these years. It’s always a specific time with this specific color and smell,” she says. “I found that there’s some supernatural power going on. Something that goes beyond your nature as a normal person. And when you come back to yourself, you feel light and good.”