Sotho fertility symbolism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2138670 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Colin Murray (0000-0003-1870-1764) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 65-76 |
| Publication date | 1980-01-01 |
| 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 | 10.1080/00020188008707550 |
| PMID | 12278515 |
| OpenAlex | W2080062225 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 7 |
This paper deals with the traditional beliefs and mythical folklore of the Sotho-Tswana ethnic tribes of South Africa. Their ritual practices are predominantly concerned with the weather, the vicissitudes of the seasonal cycle, and, especially the rain-making powers of certain individuals. It is well known that rain, in all civilizations, is a symbol of fertility. Thus, adolescent girls and young women, as mediators of the association between water and fertility, can be relied upon to bring the clouds and torrential downpours. The characteristic Sesotho explanation that babies come from the river is clearly an allusion to the water of the womb, and the river is generally recognized as a methaphor of the womb. Also, the onset of menarche involves rituals having to do with the drawing and pouring of water, another clear allusion to the beginning of fertility
Allusion · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Fertility · Folklore · Geography · Ignorance · Literature · Political science · Population · Sociology · Symbol (formal · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Anthropology · Demography · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
Fluidities of personhood in the idioms of the Maloti-Drakensberg, past and present, and their use in incorporating contextual ethnographies in southern African rock art research
A survey of social ecologies in the freshwater biomes of highland Lesotho and the adjacent Eastern Cape, South Africa
Widows and ritual danger in Sotho and Tswana communities
Things of the outside teach me
Reflections on Two Sticks
The Cognitive Rationality of Taboos on Production and Reproduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1990 - 2022 (33) |
| Highly cited | No |