December 15

Ga'an Mountain Spirit

On Sunday, at the Revels, I thought a great deal about the Perchten. My friend Pat said that they are neither good nor evil—just pure elemental nature spirit and energy. I agree with this assessment. They reminded me, in some ways of the Ga'an—Apache Mountain Spirits. Unfortunately the Ga'an have been mischaracterized as "Devil Dancers"—putting a Roman Catholic spin on something which isn't Roman or Catholic. The Ga'an, or crown dancers, come from a mountainous region, like the perchten. The Percheten are characterized as "Beautiful" and "Ugly". The  "uglies" wear masks and antlers, and are beastlike. The beautifuls wear tall headdresses. These mountain spirits now seem to be characterized as "demons" rather than spirits, and I wonder if they too were mischaracterized over the years.