Lennox crafts a ‘museum’ for the spirits

THE greatly appreciated beauty of the Blue Basin waterfall and its immediate surroundings have been tainted by the recent spate of violent crime in the area. Once a place where families frequented at all hours of the day, it is now frequently void of human life for long periods at a time, according to nearby residents. There is, however, one man who aims to ensure that the beauty remains as vibrant as ever in the Blue Basin area. Lennox Phillip is a 54-year-old Princes Town native who spends most of his day in the serenity of Blue Basin.

“I live at Princes Town and I leave there at about four o’clock every single morning to come down here. There was a time about five years ago when I had some problems and I came to the flags here and prayed. I promised that if my problems were solved that I would make a memorial for the spirits and, as the spirits are faithful, the problems were solved. Here is their museum,” said Lennox, with pride in his tone and a smile on his tattooed face. Lennox has single-handedly transformed an extensive portion of the heavily forested Blue Basin area into a most extraordinary art gallery of sorts with intricate wood carvings all around. “I was involved in art from a very young age. I made sandals and other handicraft, but it was never a business for me. My creativity was a blessing and I just enjoyed doing things with my hands. I was the first drag brother around,” laughed Lennox.
 
“I was the first person in Trinidad to make a push-toe sandal. The drag thing, however, got too violent after a while with people pushing weed and all that. I just couldn’t advance my thoughts. I needed to get spiritual.” Lennox explained in detail some of the practices for which he and his Orisha brothers and sisters utilise the site. The father of 17 described his daily activities saying, “When I wake up I pray to the spirits to bless the earth, then I would take a bath in the river. When you are praying you cannot just pray for blessings for you alone. You must let God bless every human being on the earth. I pray for the river to run clean and pure. I make my morning sacrifice and then I go to the garden. Right now I’m trying to make myself self-sufficient by planting and providing all of the food for my family and I.”

Startled by the number of children carrying on  the Phillip name, photographer Enrico Matthews eagerly asked if they all have the same mother. With a hearty laugh, Lennox replied, “No man! I around for 54 years now, you know.” Yet another startling feature is Lennox’s fingertips, which bear extremely long nails. When asked why he grew his nails this long, he simply shrugged his shoulders but said, “They used to be much longer. I couldn’t close my hand at one time but I can operate with them and do all I have to do.” With hammer and chisel in hand, Lennox goes to work on his medium of choice, whenever the spirits guide him. Several of the tree carvings are decorated with paint and fabric. He explained that as the trees grow, the faces tend to take different shapes, some even growing “beards” or changing their expressions.

Speaking with some young residents of the area regarding Lennox, one said, “He’s the ‘Woodsman’, he’s a real boss. The things he does are the kinds of things that you see on TV from Africa. Everybody around here respects him. Nobody would ever trouble him, no matter the hour he comes down.” Lennox said: “I enjoy doing this but this is a serious thing, this is not fun or a joke to me. It is real and I experience the realness first hand so I must play my part. The spirits give me peace, strength and love for everything on earth.” Lennox recently became the URP foreman for the Blue Basin area and holds his position with pride. “I actually feel closer to plants than animals. With my position in the project, I can make sure that the nature is taken care of. We would usually sweep out and make sure that all around the museum is cleaned up every day.” Looking to the sky in a philosophical manner, Lennox said, “In the end I just want to see everybody happy. Let people know that we can unite and sit together, pray together, feast together and live without any war or fighting. Let life be a celebration.”