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Grenada Carnival, Grenada, 1984

"Giving the devil his due with greased bodies and dead snakes, Carnival revelers play 'jab-jab,' patois for Satan. The Evil One must be appeased before one can gain entry to heaven, says the street-theater script—bizarre, but all in fun."

Grenada's Carnival is celebrated in mid-August to avoid a conflict with the anniversary of their independence from Great Britain on February 7.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Marking Time in Grenada," November 1984, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by David Alan Harvey