rituals of the khoisan people
RITUALS
Rituals are systems of symbols acts to clothe those conceptions in attempts to deal with the questions often asked about beliefs (Scupin, 2004: 341)
The significance of the birth of a baby into a family symbolises growth, richness, and heir of the family name. It also symbolises womanity for the mother as this shows that she can bare, children, and manliness for the father as it will later show that he can protect his family.
(Schapera, 1963-103) “Sexual intercourse was very much a sensitive topic between the parents and their unmarried children, yet the children exercised its cause. “Unmarried women who were pregnant sometimes practiced abortion, where the child would be buried alive. This occurrence was seen as a disgrace to the family as the new born child was a child of wed-lock; therefore it was essential for the young girls to secure marriage first”. This shows that the Bushmen had high standards of mores, violation was not excused. It can also be seen as a taboo which viewed the occurrence as offensive.
“With married women though, when labour was far advanced, the woman’s husband made a small fire outside the hut and carefully kept it going. No pots could be put over this fire nor could anything be cooked or roasted over it. The author adds that it was believed that if this custom was neglected, both the mother and the new born would go blind. Thus, the father could not be present during the delivery (I.Schapera-113). This resembled the traditions and customs the bushmen practiced and how far the father would go to protect his family from all kinds of harm. In the events of the mother dying shortly after birth, more often than not the child is buried together with the mother (I.Schapera-114). This symbolises the vital importance of the role of a mother in a child’s life, in terms of nutrition, nurture and early stage development”.
Rituals are systems of symbols acts to clothe those conceptions in attempts to deal with the questions often asked about beliefs (Scupin, 2004: 341)
The significance of the birth of a baby into a family symbolises growth, richness, and heir of the family name. It also symbolises womanity for the mother as this shows that she can bare, children, and manliness for the father as it will later show that he can protect his family.
(Schapera, 1963-103) “Sexual intercourse was very much a sensitive topic between the parents and their unmarried children, yet the children exercised its cause. “Unmarried women who were pregnant sometimes practiced abortion, where the child would be buried alive. This occurrence was seen as a disgrace to the family as the new born child was a child of wed-lock; therefore it was essential for the young girls to secure marriage first”. This shows that the Bushmen had high standards of mores, violation was not excused. It can also be seen as a taboo which viewed the occurrence as offensive.
“With married women though, when labour was far advanced, the woman’s husband made a small fire outside the hut and carefully kept it going. No pots could be put over this fire nor could anything be cooked or roasted over it. The author adds that it was believed that if this custom was neglected, both the mother and the new born would go blind. Thus, the father could not be present during the delivery (I.Schapera-113). This resembled the traditions and customs the bushmen practiced and how far the father would go to protect his family from all kinds of harm. In the events of the mother dying shortly after birth, more often than not the child is buried together with the mother (I.Schapera-114). This symbolises the vital importance of the role of a mother in a child’s life, in terms of nutrition, nurture and early stage development”.