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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 1:57 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:42 pm
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:37 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:55 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:52 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:21 pm
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On the fourth day after death, the soul ceases to linger by it's body. The corpse is then left atop a Tower of Silence (basically an elevated area where scavengers can pick it clean) until the bones are picked clean of the flesh, and then the sun and wind have scourged and polished them (cleansing them of the taint of death), the bones are then stored in a vault at the base of the tower.
Corpses beyound the fourth day are considered unclean, as the soul (spark of life and light) has fled, and all that remains is the dead flesh. Also, it is an added bonus that the otherwise useless corpse can serve a purpose by keeping pesky vultures well fed, and away from the rest of the community.
In modern times this almost never occurs. Efforts are made to let scavengers pick the bones of the dead and then leave the bones out for the sun to bleach, however, most areas have very strict laws regarding disposal of the dead, laws which forbid the funerary methods of my faith.
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:39 am
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Okay- this is mostly a C&P job- but hey.
A number of rites mark my path- many of them found in a number of cultures.
Baptism is performed on infants. While my friend Cory was baptized only once and in a river when she was three months old, I myself was baptized several times in a number of churches and one river.
This has a twofold reason according to Bibi Robin.
Firstly, purification rituals such as Baptism (which also tie in to Mokado Laws) are powerful things. Water holds a large place in the Purity Laws. For example, amongst the Mokado Traditions I do uphold, I wash my face upon leaving the restroom.
Secondly, a number of churches give small presents to the infants they baptize. This helps provide for the infant.
Puberty is a major step for a young person. For the first time in their life they are at risk, but they also gain a new set of utilities at their disposal, with new boons and banes.
At this time young women experience a new stage in their life. Parts of their body are now considered Mokado- or “unclean”. For the first time in a young man’s life he is at risk of coming into contact of Unclean things that will make himself unclean.
Now- while many young women would consider this a vile oppressive slander against the “POWER OF TEH UTURIS! AND MENSTRAL BLOOD!” it is not so much a “bad” as “different” thing within my path.
A prime example would be found in my Bibi Robin’s family. She married into a family that was far more traditional than the one she was born into. While she does have a separate apartment that she uses while she is bleeding, she is also very “energized” at this time. The other thing to consider is that while a number of modern feminists would cry oppression, it is important to note the kind of power that Mokado holds. If my Bibi Robin wished, she could make her husband impure should he slight her- and that would make his life all kinds of difficult.
I have heard that this is a common punishment for unfaithful husbands, though I couldn’t say fore sure as I have never witnessed it.
Marriage is an important step in a person’s life. It is the foundation of the family, and it is also a time of magic, specifically a blessing of bok. My wedding was very simple. A small address to my ancestors, my gods and spirits that favor us. A number of traditions were kept in order to bring good luck, including a six pence in my shoe. We exchanged rings, walked in a circle, said vows and drank some delicious mead and ate some lovely sweet bread.
It was a small wedding. It cost only about seven hundred dollars including the rings- and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Divorce is usually openly marked as a somber occasion due to the importance of family. Men spend a period of time in a state of Mokado. Women usually are cut with a knife if they have slighted their husband in any way. How deep the cut marks the measure of the slight.
Blood Brother/Sisterhood is a special ceremony in which a person is marked a member of your family. Males are called phral, females phen. While the details of this rite are not for outsiders, the mark of Brotherhood/Sisterhood extends the bok of the family, the love of the two parties concerned, and binds them together in a way I cannot begin to articulate.
I have lost one Phral, and the injury from that is something that still marks me to this day.
“Coronations” done in public are a form of Hukni. Many Dilo and Puyuria will pay good money to see a “G~ Coronation”.
The “real” coronations are more like big parties often celebrating the birth of grandchildren and the establishment of a new vitsa or kumpania- with a new Dom Baro/Borroa and Kralisi.
Death and Mourning have a very strange position within the path. On the one hand, tending to the dead is considered a great honor. On the other hand, the dead until they have returned to Puv are Mokado.
There is also a practice a number of people call Shul Bresh Saydiba- a Cemetery Cult. Regular visits are made to the grave, offerings of food and gifts, and often at the funeral itself personal belongings not meant to be passed down are burned, along with wax images of items the person would need but did not own.
Spiritual rites of passage And Roles within the community are often marked with celebrations. This includes the announcement of a new healer or “shaman”, as well as the official reorganization of a woman as a Baba or Fooral, and a host of other important stations within the community.
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