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6. The house-building ritual The building of the great house begins by setting out a piece of land. Just as in the building of a real boat, a measuring cord, the name of which, lerlol, is derived from a woman's belt, is used for this. There is, however, an important difference: in the building of the house the belt of the founding mother is used. The cord is traditionally unwound from a small wooden statue, which represents this woman. The marked-out land, the 'in-board' space, expressly represents the first female ancestor. The main post All sections of the house are seen as parts of a 'boat'. The only exception is the main post, which symbolically, has a meaning of its own. This is apparent from its name mekamulol, which means 'the one who holds the helm'. The main post is, as it were, the helmsman of the imaginary boat and is the representative of the first male ancestor, the hunter with his trophies. During the ritual this latter element is expressed in the phase in which the main post is positioned on the piece of land that has been demarcated by the measuring cord. Before the positioning ceremony takes place, the post is first wrapped in a basta, an imported cotton cloth several metres long, which, because it has come from afar, is compared to the hunter's trophies. At the same time, a large number of pigs and goats are slaughtered in the name of the main post, while the expression 'lwamat' is repeated - 'it (the main post) stabs (the animals) to death'. This clearly makes known the fact that the first male ancestor had an impressive capacity for killing. 'Great hunter' Here, too, there is identification with the sun as a 'great hunter'. The main post must be erected as this heavenly body appears above the horizon. The post's position - within the marked-out plot of land it is placed to the east, where the sun rises - also suggests such an identification. There is also identification with the full moon. This, too, is considered to be a 'great hunter', its status partly resting on the rich nocturnal harvest the sea yields during this phase of the moon. The full moon, and in particular 'the full moon with rings' (halos), indicates, so it is believed, a man at sea steering towards his 'prey'. This identification is expressed in the moment the main post of the house must be erected - at full moon. In placing the main post in its hole within the demarcated piece of land the symbolic helmsman boards the boat, depicting, as it were, the sexual union - marriage - of the first male and female ancestors. The boat can now be set in motion: the foundation of society has been laid. Gold as seed An interesting point is that besides the depiction of the founding father as a 'great hunter', the relationship between life and death is again expressed in the use of jewellery. Just before the main post is placed in the ground, a pair of gold earrings is traditionally deposited in the post hole. In terms of the symbolic meaning of the jewellery and its placement in the post hole it would seem that just as in the boat building ritual, here, too, the male seed is represented by the trophies of the hunt. Completing the house After the positioning ceremony, the completion of the house is dominated by the concept of coolness. All the construction rules are directed at achieving conditions in which life can grow in the symbolic boat; that is to say, in which society can develop - a situation identical to the final phase of the construction of a plank-boat. | |
