Hello everyone, I hope you are all well and that your respective activities are going well. Today I'm sharing a pen drawing of a calabash, but I'll be discussing religious practices related to the calabash in Benin.
Calabash and Religious Practices
The calabash is associated with popular beliefs and their mental representations. Offerings to certain deities are presented in a small calabash during ceremonies accompanying rituals that strengthen family ties. Priests of the traditional religion say that "the calabash is the dish in which they give food and drink to their gods and goddesses." When sacrificial animals are slaughtered, their blood is poured onto the altar or the statue of the god; but sometimes, it is presented to them in a small calabash.
To cure an illness or ward off bad luck, a spirit or genie can be invoked. He may ask for an offering of shards or broken calabash, or the sacrifice of an animal to be deposited in a calabash with or without a lid, at a crossroads or at the edge of a wood. In the Ajatado and Yoruba cultural areas, some of the deceased are buried with a small calabash containing ritual objects. Calabashes of water or food are placed on the graves for the benefit of the dead. The Danwé, or mixed-race Fulani of Parakou and its surrounding region, jealously guard the practice of commemorative ceremonies for their dead. Objects specific to these rituals must necessarily be placed in a calabash.
The Oil Seller, the Ghost, and the Calabashes
One day, a palm oil producer sent her daughter to the market. At that time, the markets were frequented by both the living and the spirits. One of the spirits came to buy oil and paid in cowrie shells, the currency of ancient times. The girl noticed that one was missing and asked for it.
Without a word, the ghost took leave of the child who followed him, ordering her not to follow him. Once he arrived in the land of the dead, he put her to the test: "Go and gather three gourds: those that say 'Gather me! Gather me! Gather me!', leave them aside and take three that have remained."mute. Halfway there, on the way back to the land of the living, you will break one, the second near your house, and the third when you arrive there. "Understood!" said the girl.
Halfway there, as soon as she broke the first mute calabash, many slaves and horses emerged and accompanied her. Near her house, she broke a second one; goats, sheep, rams, and poultry, more than two hundred in number, appeared and escorted the child. As soon as she broke the last calabash, all the rooms of the house filled with cowrie shells.
Calabash and Traditional Motifs
The calabash is a container used since prehistoric times, and is relatively fragile. However, the decorations follow ancient models and sometimes closely resemble those engraved or painted on cave walls. The Fulani woman sells her milk in a calabash different from those used by her customers. Calabashes also serve more personal purposes, and the decorations commissioned from the artisan as a gift serve to convey a message. They are based on representations ofFruits: orange, mango, pineapple, banana, or numerous animals, both domestic and wild: cow, lion, antelope, bird, snake, crocodile, leopard, particularly in Borgou.
This anecdote is inspired by old books about calabashes. I tried to give the traditional calabash a slightly robotic, even robotic, character through my blue ballpoint pen drawing (see the different stages).
Thank you for reading. Until the next article, take care.
