The "Bitter Chicken" of the Four-Month Ritual Silence
The ceremony to begin the ritual silence of four "bitter months" (wulla padu ) is a simple one, conducted first in the Sea Worm House in Tossi, then in Bukubani, and later in Hangga Koki in Bangedo and Kaha Malagho in Balaghar. In 1980, I witnessed the rite in Tossi, as raw rice was scattered to dedicate a chicken from each house in the village, with these words:
Since the year is beginning | Maka a kabondi nya ndoyo |
And the rains will start to fall | Mono a kawungo nya ura |
We ask to plant a few seeds | Wokandi ha wini we kingoka |
We want to sow a bit of rice | Tonda ndi ha pare we kingoka |
So we brought you this chicken | Maka henene a manu |
Slinging the gizzard on the shoulder | Na wyunggangongo wutena |
Lifting his crest like horns | Na kyadungo lalerona |
To say there will be no more loud | Nja do kingyoka na kendero takeka |
And no more careless giggling | Na madico lainera |
You won't hear the sounds of flutes | Nja pa rongo li pyoghi |
You won't hear the singing of fiddles | Nja pa rongo li jungga |
We will all be off digging the land | Onikya la dari cana |
We will all be off weeding the grass | Onikya la batu rumba |
Bringing the hoes to work the land | Dukindi ha pangale haka tana |
Carrying the knives to cut the bushes | Tomandi ha katopo teba rama |
So that now | Tana henene |
What we place at the edge of the | Pa tane ela tilu wu katuku |
Let it come up like little chicks' feet | Pa witti ana manu we ki byandaka |
What we set beside the seed platform | Pa tane la londo wu pawini |
Let it rise like calves' shoulders | Pa wonggo ana ghobango weki byaka |
The one with a shrimp's waist | Hena a kenda kura |
Silences the fiddle's song | Na riri we kingyoka a li pyoghi |
The one like a banyan blossom | Hena a walla kawango |
Quiets the flute's sound | Na leta we kingyoka a li jungga |
There will be none who go a node too | Nja do kingyoka na dowa handalu |
There will be none who overstep one | Nja do kingoka na pala hawuku |
The spirits were assured that the human community would follow the
Before the pasola battle can begin, the Rato Nale, or "Priest of the Year"
(here, Ra Holo), must circle the playing field on a consecrated horse. 1980.
Photograph by the author.
calendrical prohibitions, and in return they were asked to provide an abundant crop for the next harvest.
Small offerings of a bit of chicken meat and cooked rice were placed in eight different locations in the house, drawing different domains of social life together meaningfully and relating them to the cycle of the seasons. The first share went to the right front corner of the house and the base of the main pillar, conduits to the Creator and the Great Spirit of prosperity (marapu bokolo ). Then other offerings were made to the Elder Spirit (marapu matuyo ) at the rock and tree altar in the center of the ancestral village, to the spirits of the dead along the front veranda, to the spirit of hunting and of domestic animals in the rear corners of the house, to the place where wealth objects are stored near the hearth, and to the guardian spirit of the gateway. In this way, the prohibition was spread to different domains of social life, and ancestors, affines, animals, and men were bound together to concentrate their energies on producing a successful harvest.
The prohibitions of the bitter months forbid noisemaking and a wide
variety of activities that could endanger the growth of young rice plants. These include children's games, large animal sacrifice, and the manufacture of white substances that might seem to compete with the production of full, white grains of rice. The prohibitions were summarized by the Rato Nale thus:
You cannot make any noises, such as | Pa heringo a puni-puni |
beating the drums and gongs | bendu tala |
playing the flute and fiddle | poghi dungga |
rhythmically striking bamboo | katendango katonga |
You cannot sing the refrains of group | Lodo hanggelico |
or personal ballads | lawitti |
sing to drag stones or house pillars | bengyo watu, bengyo pongga |
recite traditional narratives | ngara kedoko |
You cannot play games with the top or | Mangguna kadiyo kalaiyo |
play with bamboo darts or seed | mbuke kule |
play hide and seek (outside) | kambuni kandaba |
play search and find (in the house) | kambuni kaloho |
You cannot cut pandanus leaves | Ghoto panda |
You cannot dye white thread | Betingo kamba |
You cannot tattoo the arms and legs | Ta kamandu |
You cannot put bells on horses' | Ta langgoro ndara |
You cannot boil salt | Pandende mahi |
You cannot bake limestone | Tunu katagha |
You cannot spear pigs, slaughter | Ndakuro wawi, teba karimbyoyo |
cut goats' throats or beat dogs | ropo kawimbi, palu bangga |
The complex list of prohibitions defines precisely those activities that, as nale festivities approach, will be permitted and even joyously engaged in. The origin narratives describe the sea worms as having been won through a series of contests, so the repetition of these contests (the top and discus, jousting, and beachcombing) serves to regenerate the vitality and fertility of the year. By means of temporal regulation, apparently frivolous children's games become a means for recreating the social order.
The period of the bitter months is a time of intense agricultural activity, when fields are prepared and the new crops of corn and rice are planted.
Most people live in their garden huts, usually located several hours or even days from their ancestral villages. They devote all day to preparing their gardens, with none of the distractions of ritual gatherings.
By late December or early January the crops have been planted, and the phase of preparation for the New Year starts with the moon called Nale Kiyo. The priest of the sea worms, Rato Nale, begins to "brood" adopting a pose of immobility and spiritual concentration, which is also ritually enjoined on the female mourner at funerals (kabuku kalalu ). He "sits like a hen on her eggs, like a sow sheltering her young" (bei myanu na kabuku tongo taluna, bei wyawi na karekongo anana ). By remaining totally inactive, he controls the forces that activate the seasons, keeping the calendar in place and maintaining time as it has been culturally constructed. Symbolically female during this period, he provides a model of self-discipline and self-control that rules by example rather than by decree.[2]
The whole region would be in danger if the Sea Worm Priest were to violate any of these restrictions. Should he leave his house, fierce winds would tear apart the tender young rice plants. Should he eat any of the taboo foods, lightning bolts would strike the fields. Should he fail to control the calendar and coordinate feasting within a seasonal pattern, a tidal wave would engulf the whole coastline and destroy the ancestral villages. As the master of time, the priest of the sea worms represents the collectivity, both the land and the people, and should he fail in his duties, all would suffer.