Virgins of the Corn
There was a very interesting story in the Swazi News a week ago, an account of a traditional practice revived in Hhelehhele by Chief Mnikwa. What happened was that an army of army worms (caterpillars) had been feeding on the chief’s mealies and veggies, so he asked local schools to release over a hundred and fifty maidens for the weekend. The girls turned up at the chief’s homestead, slept there overnight, then stripped naked the following morning and headed for the chief’s fields. When they got to the fields they began singing traditional songs and hand-collected the army worms before flinging them into the nearby river to the accompaniment of more traditional songs. The chief then urged his neighbouring chiefdoms to use the same tactic to get rid of the insects. As expected, SWAGAA condemned the ritual; a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture dryly remarked that he would have preferred a ‘more scientific’ method to get rid of the crop pests.
The newspaper report was, also as expected, unfortunately low on details but high on sensationalism. I would have liked to know, for example, if the girls acted on their own, without any involvement by men, and if the girls had to remove every item of their jewellery as well. I would like to know because this is a Nomkhubulwana ritual known as kukhalela amabele (crying for the corn). The newspaper report said that the ritual was performed here 45 years ago, but the custom is much much older than that.
Nomkhubulwana was a Sky Princess associated with fertility and harvest. In times of drought, poor growth of crops or the appearance of insects such as army worms, prayers would be made to her and offerings from the land would be given.
From the time of human prehistory the regenerative creative force of both humans and the earth has been seen as female and therefore it comes as no surprise to know that Nomkhubulwana was represented as an unchanging virgin—an everlastingly beautiful maiden—who never got old and never got pregnant, so her breasts would always be full and uncovered. All girls of marriageable age were linked to her. She epitomised health, female energy and the fertility of humans, animals, and the soil. Beer, for example, would sometimes be brewed by the girls and offered to the Princess. The girls would pour the beer onto the soil and sing a fertility prayer: ‘Princess, here is the food eaten by men. Bless us, so that we may feel horns around us.’ (Horns, of course, are male symbols.)
It is interesting too that this story appeared at this time, for we are currently approaching Easter, and ‘Easter’ derives from the Anglo-Saxon name ‘Eastra’ or ‘Eostre’. Eostre was a Northern Sky Princess associated with fertility and harvest. Her festival was held annually around this time of the year, at the time of the Northern Spring Equinox (which is March 20 this year), and the rituals associated with her are, like those of Nomkhubulwana, related primarily to the fertility of people and crops. This is the time of year when a month was named ‘three milkings’ because the grass was beginning to grow abundantly and the local village beauty was elected a ‘queen’ and so on. Many of these traditions linger on and they certainly underpin the Christian celebration. The resurrection of a man and the rebirth of plants are not that dissimilar as far as ideas go. There are many who believe the ‘crosses’ on our ‘hot cross buns’ were originally a pair of crossed horns.
In all of these traditions the feminine element is pronounced. What cannot be denied from the Swazi Times story is the obvious inference that naked Swazi women are believed to hold a lot of power, and that this power has a connection with crops and the soil. We are still an agricultural nation, after all, and our ties to the land’s fertility are strong. The story of the virgins of the corn runs through every facet of our traditional Swazi culture—note, for example, the photo of our first note—and especially connects to our major festivals of Umhlanga and Incwala.
There was a very interesting story in the Swazi News a week ago, an account of a traditional practice revived in Hhelehhele by Chief Mnikwa. What happened was that an army of army worms (caterpillars) had been feeding on the chief’s mealies and veggies, so he asked local schools to release over a hundred and fifty maidens for the weekend. The girls turned up at the chief’s homestead, slept there overnight, then stripped naked the following morning and headed for the chief’s fields. When they got to the fields they began singing traditional songs and hand-collected the army worms before flinging them into the nearby river to the accompaniment of more traditional songs. The chief then urged his neighbouring chiefdoms to use the same tactic to get rid of the insects. As expected, SWAGAA condemned the ritual; a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture dryly remarked that he would have preferred a ‘more scientific’ method to get rid of the crop pests.
The newspaper report was, also as expected, unfortunately low on details but high on sensationalism. I would have liked to know, for example, if the girls acted on their own, without any involvement by men, and if the girls had to remove every item of their jewellery as well. I would like to know because this is a Nomkhubulwana ritual known as kukhalela amabele (crying for the corn). The newspaper report said that the ritual was performed here 45 years ago, but the custom is much much older than that.
Nomkhubulwana was a Sky Princess associated with fertility and harvest. In times of drought, poor growth of crops or the appearance of insects such as army worms, prayers would be made to her and offerings from the land would be given.
From the time of human prehistory the regenerative creative force of both humans and the earth has been seen as female and therefore it comes as no surprise to know that Nomkhubulwana was represented as an unchanging virgin—an everlastingly beautiful maiden—who never got old and never got pregnant, so her breasts would always be full and uncovered. All girls of marriageable age were linked to her. She epitomised health, female energy and the fertility of humans, animals, and the soil. Beer, for example, would sometimes be brewed by the girls and offered to the Princess. The girls would pour the beer onto the soil and sing a fertility prayer: ‘Princess, here is the food eaten by men. Bless us, so that we may feel horns around us.’ (Horns, of course, are male symbols.)
It is interesting too that this story appeared at this time, for we are currently approaching Easter, and ‘Easter’ derives from the Anglo-Saxon name ‘Eastra’ or ‘Eostre’. Eostre was a Northern Sky Princess associated with fertility and harvest. Her festival was held annually around this time of the year, at the time of the Northern Spring Equinox (which is March 20 this year), and the rituals associated with her are, like those of Nomkhubulwana, related primarily to the fertility of people and crops. This is the time of year when a month was named ‘three milkings’ because the grass was beginning to grow abundantly and the local village beauty was elected a ‘queen’ and so on. Many of these traditions linger on and they certainly underpin the Christian celebration. The resurrection of a man and the rebirth of plants are not that dissimilar as far as ideas go. There are many who believe the ‘crosses’ on our ‘hot cross buns’ were originally a pair of crossed horns.
In all of these traditions the feminine element is pronounced. What cannot be denied from the Swazi Times story is the obvious inference that naked Swazi women are believed to hold a lot of power, and that this power has a connection with crops and the soil. We are still an agricultural nation, after all, and our ties to the land’s fertility are strong. The story of the virgins of the corn runs through every facet of our traditional Swazi culture—note, for example, the photo of our first note—and especially connects to our major festivals of Umhlanga and Incwala.
Labels: Swazi customs
posted by swazi @ 12:31 pm
