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56 Sacred rituals observed during a matriarch’s burial My mother died on March 17, 2000 and I attended the ritual cleansing, ukugesiza amakhuba, on April 8 at Sankonjana Close relatives gathered in the hut where the beer brewed for the occasion was placed. The men, mostly Nyathis, sat on the side of the hut, isilili sesilisa (the right side as one stands facing the hut). The women sat on the female side, isilili sesifazana. “Sitshengiseni uutshwala bempisi,” demanded my father, Menyezwa. Literally, he meant beer for the hyenas - the two men who had placed the corpse in the grave. Because these men, ‘hyenas’, were the most defiled, they enjoyed favoured status. The two women who had brewed the beer pointed at one calabash frothing at its mouth. This was the calabash set aside for the ‘hyenas’, to dispose of as they saw fit. They could, on their own, do justice to the beer. Alternatively, they could share it with other people. The latter was the case. My father, in his capacity as medicine man and chief of protocol, took a little beer, insipho, and ingwebu and mixed them. He smeared the faces of the ‘hyenas’. This was followed by the sprinkling of all the people gathered in the hut, ukuchela. A fly whisk, itshoba, was used. Aunt Mthethephi Nyathi carried a small beer calabash, expertly balanced on her head, and led the procession to the grave, some distance from the homestead. Normally, women are buried at the rear of the homesteads – next to the granaries that house the products of their labour. Before the advent of Blair toilets, this was the area where women went to answer the call of nature. On this occasion, the granary area was waterlogged following the heavy rains induced by Cyclone Eline and so an anthill had been chosen. In the past, men went to the front of the homestead to empty their bladders. The head of a household was buried next to the cattle fold, which was always in front of the village. The word, spoken or silent, is the key to communicating with the departed spirits. That responsibility fell on my father. He drank a little, ukucabula, from the beer calabash and spat on the ground. He repeated the procedure, this time swallowing the beer. The calabash was passed around and the same procedure was performed by all present. The little beer remaining was poured on the ground. The empty calabash was then placed on the grave covered in stones, intaba, and umphafa / umlahlabantu tree branches. Relatives then had the opportunity to address the departed spirit, probably 57 the first time since the separation of body and spirit. Following this the mourners streamed back home. The next stage involved the cleansing of implements used during the digging of the grave. Using cleansing herbs, amakhambi okuchela, and a bit of beer, my father sprinkled these. Meanwhile, items of clothing and utensils had been piled up in front of the kitchen hut. Next to these was another cleansing mixture. Relatives dipped their hands into the mixture and touched all the items. This ritual is known as ukubamba impahla. Items of clothing were gathered in one place to await yet another ritual – ukuchitha impahla, the distribution of the deceased’s clothing. ...

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