The water of life
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2138285 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Agathe Schmidt (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1955 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 23-28 |
| Publication date | 1955-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00020185508706946 |
| OpenAlex | W2140586398 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
SYNOPSIS This article describes a female fertility rite performed at the end of December 1938 by the people of Bamessing village in the Bamenda division of the British Cameroons, West Africa. The master of the ceremonies was a male, Ndefun, and the leader of adolescent girls was a woman, Funwe. The object of the ceremony which no male other than Ndefun may attend, is to wash away in a stream issuing from the fertility shrine of Fun‐beko the guilt that keeps a woman barren. Barrenness is regarded as a consequence of adultery and to cleanse themselves barren women wash in this stream. To cleanse the young maidens so that they may bring to the Chief for his use uncontaminated water from this stream, they are also washed in this stream. This water is used internally and externally by the chief and is said to promote thereby the fertility of man and beast and crop
Adultery · Ancient history · Archaeology · Ceremony · Ethnology · Fertility · Geography · Political science · Population · Rite · Rite of passage · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African Studies and Ethnography · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Anthropology · Demography · Gender Studies · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.03 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1995 - 1995 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |