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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Sotho fertility symbolism
Author:Murray, ColinISNI
Year:1980
Periodical:African Studies
Volume:39
Issue:1
Pages:65-76
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
Lesotho
Subjects:rainmaking
Sotho
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Women's Issues
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00020188008707550
Abstract:The Sotho-Tswana peoples reveal in their symbols and in their ritual practices a predominant concern with the vagaries of the weather and the vicissitudes of the seasonal cycle. This concern is reflected in beliefs about the mystical capacity of traditional rulers to invoke the rain. All the Sotho-Tswana believe in the rain-making powers of their chiefs, although many of the ritual techniques traditionally employed are either obsolete or obsolescent. In this capacity the chief personifies an idea implicit in Sotho-Tswana cosmology - that the natural order and the human social order are linked. The taboos in Sesotho social life are explained by Basotho in terms of their relation to the agricultural cycle. The author explores a number of structural contexts which manifest the symbolic elaboration of this theme. Initially, he explores the manner in which Basotho attempt (or attempted) to manipulate the forces which govern its 'objective' counterpart, the connection between rainfall and the fertility of the land. Ref., notes.
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