Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 328
father would eat first, then the mother, followed by the child. We do not know which ritual was
carried out with the small aperture pot visible in Plate 41b, or whether the beer was once served
in it.
Plate 41c: Calabash on top of a twin pot
for a girl under one of Buba's granaries
Plate 41d: A twin pot of a girl with the typically
divided aperture under one of Buba's granaries
Plate 41c and 41b show a tughdhe ghwala, a twin pot for a girl, which was also kept under one of
Buba's granaries. Plate 41b shows a divided aperture and the tongue-shaped bridge across the
aperture (c), representing a clitoris according to dada Dukwa. We discuss the rituals around the
birth of twins in great detail in Chapter 3.19. Buba's pot had some fibre around its neck (a) and
reportedly it always had to be covered by a calabash (b). During ancestor ceremonies such as har
ghwe or har jije these pots had to be filled with beer, as were all the other ritual pots.
Plate 42a shows a twin pot for a boy, and we see how the mouth is divided into two funnels (a)
with two small apertures (b). Unfortunately we do not know the meaning of their shape, but
recognise the difference between a twin pot for a girl and one for a boy. Neither do we know
whether this twin pot for a boy would also have to be covered by a calabash while not in use, as it
was presented to me outside of its familiar spatial context.
Plate 42a: Twin pot for a boy has two small apertures (b)
326
We will learn more
about the importance
of twins later in the
relevant chapter, but
want to point out here
that the Mafa had a
pot which looked like
the twin pot for a girl.
However, unlike the
Dghweɗe girl twin
pot, the Mafa one was
not for a twin girl but
for a child born feet
first. My Mafa friends
explained that the
