presents flowers, incense, rice and water to the goat, worships it and
whispers prayers in its ears, promising the animal that its soul will
soon be liberated. He also worships a special sword supposed to con-
tain divine power. Another participant raises the sword and chops off
the goat's head in one stroke. The head is taken to the altar to be
offered to the goddess. The man who offered the animal takes it away
to share as food with friends and relatives.^2[230] Everyone gathers to witness the formal induction of a new shaman.
During a long series of dances led by senior shamans, the new special-
ist is led repeatedly back and forth between a small pole erected in
one of the houses and a tall one in the middle of the village. He is
then instructed to "play," in fact to struggle with a ram, trying to
open its mouth and bite its tongue. The villagers follow all this until
another ritual officer enters the melee, cuts clean the head of the ram
and rips open the chest to give the new shaman the palpitating heart.
The new shaman, now blindfolded, puts the heart in his mouth and
climbs to the top of the pole where dangerous witches, it is said, will
try and make him fall off. An assistant climbs behind him and unties
the blindfold. The shaman is now formally recognized as strong
enough to fight witches and evil spirits.^3
Candidates for initiation—young boys who will become full men as
the result of a year-long series of rites, in a secluded space outside the
village—are told about their imminent death during the impending
ritual. They are advised not to struggle when the time comes, for if
they do they might be killed for real. They are taken to a large pool
and held down in the water, struggling to get some air, by the grown
men. The women gather at some distance and try to peer between the
rows of men hiding the candidates. Then the "killer" appears, holding
a small blade with which he touches the bellies of the boys. He goes
off and returns with a large spear, and this time plunges it right
through the stomach of each boy (or so it would seem from a dis-
tance). The boys, supposedly dead, are then taken away on their
elders' shoulders and brought to their initiation camp where they will
stay for a year.^4RELIGION EXPLAINED