The final test is the initiation ceremony. The Twasana must drink the blood of a dying goat, and vomit it out. Then their tongues are split open and an ointment made from fresh chicken blood and herbs is rubbed into the wound.
| Rite & Traditional Custom, 3rd prize |
| Traditional Healer ( Twasana) Initiation Ceremony |
| Guy Stubbs(South Africa) |
| In the Bush Buck Ridge district of Mpumalanga,
South Africa, the Shangaan speaking people have both Nguni and Sotho ancestral
heritage. A Twasa is a traditional healer in training and needs to train
for up to 6 years. The final test is the initiation ceremony. The Twasana must drink the blood of a dying goat, and vomit it out. Then their tongues are split open and an ointment made from fresh chicken blood and herbs is rubbed into the wound. |
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| 1. Drinking blood. | ||
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| 3. Washing. | ||
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| 5. While the initiates recover, the spectators dance and sing. | ||
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| 8. Playing drums. | ||
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| 9. "Chicken Dance": the initiates walking like chickens. | ||
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| 10. Dressing up: Initiates are dressed in their traditional healer outfits then undressed for the last stage of the initiation. | ||
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| 11. Cutting the chicken's throat. | ||
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| 12. The chicken blood mixed with herbs is rubbed into the wound. |
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