Seeriaga

Seeriaga is a traditional ritual and performance practice found among Seerian-speaking communities, blending prophecy, narrative song, and ritual dance. It is typically performed during harvest celebrations, communal decision-making, and rites of passage. The term seeriaga is derived from a Seerian root meaning “to see” and an agentive suffix, reflecting its focus on visions and their interpretation.

Historically, seeriaga appears in Seerian chronicles from the medieval era as a means to interpret omens and guide collective choices. Over time it evolved into a public ceremony with standardized roles, music, and choreography, while retaining its function as a channel for communal guidance and reflection.

Practice: A seeriaga performance generally opens with a ceremonial greeting and a call-and-response chorus. A lead seer, assisted by narrators called seeriadors, presents visions received through trance, dreams, or symbolic signs. Visions are interpreted with reference to myths, seasonal calendars, and current community needs. Music—drums, flutes, and rattles—accompanies the recitation, while costumes use colors and masks to denote status, gender, or season. The audience participates by offering questions, making offerings, and voting on proposals derived from the visions.

Social and regional variation: Seeriaga exists in regional variants with differences in ritual timing, instrument sets, and costume motifs. In many communities, it is protected as intangible cultural heritage and taught through apprenticeships within families or guild traditions. Contemporary practice often occurs at festivals and designated cultural sites, while some communities maintain smaller, privately observed rites.