Mandari rain rite
56 x 56 mm | Negative film nitrate
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
JB.8.7
Accession Number:
1998.97.272
Description:
A Mandari Köbora rain rite being performed at a shrine in the centre of a homestead, shortly after the first rains had begun.
The goat (bought by Buxton) to be sacrificed to the spirits is tethered to a shrine-stake, whilst the officiating man stands with an axe, probably making an invocation.
There are two lines of creeper attached to the shrine, both having ritual significance.
The first one runs to the top of the shrine post from surrounding hut roofs, and then down to a peg in the foreground.
This line represents the 'bringing of rain down to the earth'.
The second line is attached at a low level to a small post in the shrine, and runs along the ground to another small post in the foreground.
This line is made to 'catch the wind and thunder and to disperse them, making the rain safe'.
Partially in frame to the left can be seen Buxton's police sargeant minder with his rifle resting between his knees.
Photographer:
Jean Carlile Buxton
Date of Photo:
1952 April 2
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Bahr el Jebel Khor Moni
Group:
Mandari Köbora
PRM Source:
Ronald Carlile Buxton via Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Acquired:
Donated 1988
Other Owners:
Jean Buxton Collection
Class:
Ritual , Ritual , Religion , Animal Husbandry
Keyword:
Shrine , Animal Goat
Activity:
Ritual Activity
Event:
Ceremony
Documentation:
See Related Documents File. Buxton field notebooks in Tylor Library.
Other Information:
In Religion and Healing in Mandari (Oxford, Clarendon Press 1973) Jean Buxton notes (page 337) that 'At a rain rite of the Nile-dwelling Köbora I saw a more complicated arrangement of creeper ropes employed, one for 'bringing the rain down to earth' and one pegged from the foot of the shrine out along the ground to 'catch the wind and the thunder and disperse them, to make the rain safe', in effect a form of storm or lightning conductor.' [Chris Morton 8/3/2005] There is a lengthy account of this rain rite performed on April 2nd (1950?) in Buxton's field notes JB1/1/4 (Book IV) pages 55-57, held at the Tylor Library, University of Oxford.
[Chris Morton 9/3/2005]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 8/3/2005 [Southern Sudan Project]
