MANY people behave circumspectly around the silk cotton tree, convinced that it possesses supernatural powers. And that behaviour is not confined only to the many Guyanese believers, but exists among peoples throughout Africa, South America and the Caribbean. The silk cotton tree, which rears its enormous trunk to a stupendous height that far overtops all the other trees of the forest, is revered throughout West Africa, from Senegal to Niger; and is believed to lodge the soul of a departed in either its roots or one of its branches.

In 19the Century West Africa, silk cotton trees were reputedly able to move about of their own accord, and gather together as if to consult one another.
In the indigenous culture in South America before the arrival of Columbus, Mayan myths hold the silk cotton tree as sacred. The Mayans believed then, and still do, that the silk cotton tree — which they call ceiba (pronounced say-bah) — is the tree of life whose roots extend to the underworld, and whose branches hold up the heavens.

Silk cotton trees may not be felled unless the woodman first offers a sacrifice of fowls and palm oil to purge himself of the proposed sacrilege.
To omit the sacrifice is an offence which may be punished with death.

In neighbouring Suriname, the Maroons and Amerindians have that same tradition.

In Jamaica, it was said that the Spanish would bury treasure under a silk cotton tree, then kill the slave who buried it, so that his spirit would guard the treasure; and no one would dare dig for it.

You may have heard the same story in Guyana, except that it was the Dutch rather than the Spanish who would use this method to guard treasure.

In a village in West Coast Berbice, one middle-aged woman who lived in a yard next to a silk cotton tree recalled “lossing away” (fainting) while playing under the tree as a little girl. After she regained consciousness, she started to suffer “every now and then” from an undiagnosed malady, which she described as losing her awareness and behaving strangely, as described by onlookers.

This illness persisted into her adult years, and she still ascribes it to some mysterious thing in the huge silk cotton tree in her backyard.

In the East Coast Demerara village of Mahaicony, there is a place named Sanctuary in a coconut estate named Guiana Grove, just south-west of Dundee. There are many silk cotton trees there. If you want to see/be in the presence of many silk cotton trees, you can go to Dundee and ask for directions to where they are… at Sanctuary.

A huge silk cotton tree also exists in the street between Airy Hall and Huntley villages in Mahaicony, on the northern side of the public road. Residents say that, to this day, people carry out religious rituals at the base of the tree, and leave offerings of cigarettes, rum, fruits, and the blood of sacrificed fowl cocks as gifts and sacrifices to the spirits in the tree.

A vagrant reportedly adopted the habit of waiting until people had departed, having completed their rituals, before he would consume the rum, cigarettes and fruits left at the base of the tree.
One resident said: “This man was from this village; all the years he live here. All of a sudden, we stopped seeing this man; we haven’t seen him ever again. We never hear whether he dead or whether he alive or not. Some people say he disappearance had something to do with he interference with the people’s things left under the tree.”

In Trinidad and Tobago, Gang-Gang Sarah, the African witch of Tobago, climbed a silk cotton tree in Les Coteaux to fly back to Africa.
She forgot that because she had grown accustomed to eating salt, she could no longer fly.

Gang-Gang Sarah reportedly died instantly.
Her grave is one of the tourist sites in Tobago.

EDITOR’S NOTE: After researching the issue further, we came upon the following story which helped shed more light on the fascinating exploits of the legendary Gang-Gang Sarah. Do enjoy!

The witch from Golden Lane By Louis B Homer TOBAGO is about translucent waters and coral reefs. About delicious crab and dumplings, the hallmarks of good creole food. And of its oral history which is a cultural patchwork of old world civilisation and new world adventures. It is an island blessed with sunlit beaches, turquoise seas, and lush tropical rainforests. But more importantly are its people and their memories of the past. Its folklore, myths, superstitious beliefs and stories of early African traditions date back to slavery. The village stories are laced with mysteries handed down through several generations and every year these stories form part of the island’s rich Heritage Festival. At Les Coteaux (the Knives), folk tales and superstitions abound, while at Golden Lane the mysteries about Gang-Gang Sarah continue to haunt the imagination. Gang Gang Sarah, whose birth name was Louisa, flew through the air from Africa to Tobago, sometime in the 18the Century. Generally regarded as a witch, she landed at Les Coteaux, the legend says. From there she moved to Golden Lane, where she became the village midwife, which earned her the name of Gang Gang. Alvin James, a descendant of Sarah, said, “She was the village midwife who used to deliver babies. She knew everyone in the village, especially pregnant mothers and she even had the privilege to name the babies after they were born.” James is currently the keeper of the African cemetery at Golden Lane. The cemetery contains the body of Sarah, her husband and Grandpa Peter, a white English slavemaster who lived in Nigeria. The unmarked tombs have been there for nearly two centuries. Officials from the Nigerian High Commission recently visited the tombs to investigate the story surrounding the slavemaster from Nigeria. James’s house is sited on Louisa Hill close to the tombs. Like sentinels they overlook Culloden Bay. James said his grandparents told him: “Gang Gang Sarah had supernatural powers like an obeah man. She knew exactly what potion to recommend to her female clients who wanted to get a man.” Gang Gang Sarah lived at Louisa Hill for many years. She met Long John, a man well over six feet tall, and they got married. Upon his death, he was buried in the same yard close to the house in which they lived. Sarah became lonely and wanted to return to Africa. James said, “She climbed one of the tallest silk cotton trees in Culloden to make her return journey. “Believing that she could still fly she took off from the top of the tree but fell down and died on the spot.” James said: “She had lost the ability to fly because during her sojourn in Tobago she had eaten salt, which destroyed her spiritual strength, and she had become too fat to fly.” The tree at Culloden is known as the tallest tree in Tobago. Sarah was buried at Golden Lane close to her husband’s grave. Since her death the burial ground site has not been the same. The spirit of Sarah continued to wander in the area for several years and it was not until the intervention of an African woman from Canada that her soul was put to rest. James said before the visit there were several weird incidents at his home. The most disturbing was an attack by millions of ants. Efforts to destroy them failed. “What happened is that before the attack I found a clay smoking pipe in the house foundation. I took it upstairs, but it fell and broke. It was the same time the ants attacked the house,” he said. “We used all kinds of medicine to kill the ants, but they did not go away. The next day a woman came from Canada and told me Gang Gang came to her in a dream and told her to go to her grave and do certain things to release her spirit.” After the ritual all the ants disappeared.” The base of the tree from which Sarah had hoped to fly continues to be part of the mystery. Weird noises and screaming can be heard near the tree on full moon nights. The mystery of Gang Gang Sarah is well known among residents of Golden Lane. The event may be legendary, but the existence of the tombs gives credence to a story or legend that can only be solved by exhuming the bodies of the slaves buried at Louisa Hill. The old folks of Golden Lane believe all the bodies were returned to Africa a long time ago and the tombs are only symbols of the past. (Reprinted from Trinidad Express)