CHAPTER X

SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS
Oracles — Bull- roarers — Shouts — Horn Language — Drum Language — Other Voices — Message Writing — Members' Signs — Society Signs — Staves and Batons.
ORACLES
Two Tbo societies boast " voices " after the similitude of the Delphic oracle, Ayaka and Okonko, and there is evidence that Oro and Egbo, and a few other associations, also once had the very material support of kindred phenomena.
The Okonko oracle is the Aro-Chuka Igzoe-ka-Ani (in native parlance, " The Long Ju-ju Man "), still said to be heard in a natural amphitheatre among the hills between Old Calabar and the Niger, some- where in the direction of Abo. Litigants used regularly to visit this spot for the settlement of their diffi- culties until the military punitive expedition of 1902 attempted to put an end to the superstition and its accompanying sacrifices. Details of the success of the expedition vary, but the litigants still go, maybe not quite so regularly as before, and without the loss of life that was formerly a marked feature of the rite. The losers of the " law-suits " decided by the oracle now pay " costs " in mere loss of goods instead of loss of liberty or of life.
That of Ayaka is located at Awka, a village on the right bank of the Niger, some twenty-five miles east of Onitsha. This oracle was also the
157
158 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
cause of a military expedition, in 1905, but has also survived. A few huts were burned, a few lives lost, a few people intimidated, and, it is said, the rendezvous of the oracle was shifted, but the rite continues, a little shorn of former glory perhaps, and " many thousands of people, a very large majority of the inhabitants of the district in fact, still show undisguised pride in the possession of so wonder-working a ju-ju as Abwala-Akzva.
The town of Awka has long been famous as the headquarters of the Nri guild of blacksmiths, a band of men of high prestige not only as workmen but as priests, and this guild " owns " the oracle. As was the case of Belity the Babylonian Lady of the Mountains, Ahwala-Awka is said to be feminine. She is the reputed daughter oi I gzoe-ka-Afii of Okonko. But she is addressed always as " Father," and the masculine pronoun is used in addresses to her. Igzoe-ka-Ani, " the king who is greater than the world he rules," is one of three deities who patronise the oracle, the others being Eblu-okpa-bin, " the one who receives you graciously and fills your basket," and Abzvala-Azvka herself.
A village, Ezi-Awka, guards the shrine, its houses being built right up to the edge of the only accessible side of a ravine, wherein dwells Abzvala. The dwel- lings of the Ayaka officials, who keep strict watch against trespassers, are along the narrow and tortu- ous entrance path, over against an open square of some size, where stand the ruins of ritual huts and the special lean-to building that shelters the ancient and giant drum of the society. Just beyond the last house an opening in the bush can be seen, a rough track in the semi-darkness caused by thick foliage. This " descends for some seventy yards or so and then further progress seems stayed by a wall. This is a natural rock-face, through which a guarded entrance has been cleverly made, leading into what
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 159
appears at first total darkness but which is really a downward path through the perpetual twilight of unbroken bush. Beyond this, about twenty-five yards further on, in a leafy bower, stand the two sacred trees." (Only one tree is now standing, and this is fast decaying from the vast amount of iron driven into its trunk, in the form of nails, by the litigants.) " To the right of the trees is another narrow opening between high rocky banks, and beyond this an artificial winding alley ending in a cul-de-sac. Here all must stay save the highest officials."
Those seeking the aid of the oracle are blind- folded before leaving the village, and are guided every step of the way. At the cul-de-sac they are made to stand with their backs to the kamanu or secret place, whilst their guides shout a description of the visitors and a precis of the cases they have brought to be tried. " 0 Abzuala-Awka, hear us," they cry. " Great Igwe-ka-Ani, hear us ; hear us, 0, Eblu-okpa-bin : we bring to thee this problem : solve it by thy power : we do not know, but thou knowest : by heart and head thou knowest : thou tellest the righteous from the unrighteous : the innocent are thy friends : the guilty thou dost slay : hear us, thou that revealest all secrets : hear us, thou that punishest without fear of consequences : hear us, thou that givest life to reward the guiltless and deprives of life the guilty : hear us, great Ahwala- Awka : hear us, mighty Igwe-ka-Ani : hear us wise Eblu-okpa-bin.''^
Then there issues, apparently from the bowels of the earth, a thunderous voice, that causes utter consternation to all the strangers present. " E-enenen- dum-e-en-nzvam-a-a-nwam" This has been inter- preted, " 0 my sons, my disciples, my friends, you are right ! It is I who have the power of life and death : who know falsehood from truth ! He who
i6o WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
often proves me learns a lot : he sees clearly : he is unafraid, for he has clean eyes ! " Commotion follows, rumblings, whistlings, tornado-like crashings, and the Osu-Abzcala, the priest of the oracle, warns all to stand still " lest they be swallowed up by the Wrath of the Gods." Then follows the judgment, and the successful suppliants are given a feather and the others heavily fined, and both principal and witnesses add nails to those already in the sacred tree.
The return procession is then formed, the strangers not having the bandages taken from their eyes until the square is reached. A feast is held, amidst cries of the successful, " Ahwala neylum ugo-ugo- ugo ! " {Abzvala has given us the eagle-feather ! ) It is an expensive business. There is an initial gift of goats and fowls. At the cul-de-sac they place as much money as they can afford on a prostrate tree- trunk. There are the nails, roughly-shaped staples and arrow-heads, to buy. There are donations to all concerned, and two cows for the officials, one for their ownership and one for the feast.
BULL-ROARERS
The instrument known as a " bull-roarer " is the " voice," or one of them, of many of the societies. It interprets the messages of the deities. It is found in many parts of the world, and is usually of very simple construction, being a lath or two laths of thin wood and a piece of string or tie-tie creeper, the " roar " being produced by the rapid twirling of the instrument above the head of the performer.
That of Ogboni has two laths of camwood, the wooden parts being called ishe Oro and the string part ashe Oro. This society also has a smaller in- strument called aja Oro, Oro's dog. The Egugu name
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS i6i
is bini-elimidu, the speaking of the spirit. The ode-gilli-gilli of Ayaka differs from some of the others in having notched edges.
When that of Nkanda sounds out in the sacred enclosure, and any of the novices show fear of the noise, their tutors say, " Surely you are not afraid ! You who up to now have been impudent to every- body ; you who have had no respect, no reverence, even for your elders ! Do not run away, for if you do you will never learn what it is that the gods wish to say to you ! "
SHOUTS
BuNDu has a society " shout," a long-drawn- out cry well known in the districts where the society functions. The members when making it raise their arms above the head as they begin, letting the cry become a weird shriek, then stoop down and touch their toes with their finger-tips, meanwhile softening the cry, and finally bring the body back to normal position, the cry dying away softly and lingeringly. Nkimba is known by a long trilling that penetrates the darkness in unearthly manner and carries long distances.
Egbo makes a distinctive noise by holding a leaf over the mouth, and Ayaka uses a bit of small reed with a spider-web mouthpiece stuck on with liquid rubber. The sound produced is " very like that made by blowing through a comb enveloped in thin paper." The " speech " of Boibente is made by a leaf in a split cane.
The Tongo-Players herald their approach by hooting like owls, Lubuku by a thin whining supposed to be the voice of spirits, and Butwa by imitation of animal noises. Ampora calls its members together by using a tortoise-shell as a gong,
i62 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
and the members of Poro can recognise each other by day or night by a sHght inflexion of the voice learned in the puberty school.
HORN LANGUAGE
The language of horn-note is as highly developed in some societies as it is amidst the Bakwiri and Duala tribes. The horns used are those of antelope, eland, hudu, reed-buck, and bull, hippopotamus and elephant. The blowing hole is usually at the side near the tip. Some have holes for purposes of notation, and some have bottle-shaped and other gourds fixed to the larger end to assist in modulating the sound.
The PoRo bull-horns are four feet or more in length ; tied in pairs with a communicating hole, the sound passing through both.
Ogboni has a set of five hippo-horns, secured together like pan-pipes, and pierced with holes of varying dimensions. The instrument is obviously old, and the musicians have been supplied from one family for many generations. The sound pro- duced ranges five tones and some semi-tones, is uncanny in its higher notes, vigorous in volume, and terrifying to the unexpectant.
Some membership grades, as in Butwa and Okonko, are known by the kind of horn carried.
DRUM LANGUAGE
The cadence of the African drum-notes once heard is always remembered. From the point of view of music it is haunting, and because the sounds are telling a story, sounding out a command or con- veying a message, they are mysteriously fascinating^
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 163
" We received detailed news of the death of a white baby," says a missionary, " two days' journey by steamer from the place where the news originated."
The players are inheritors of a code of drum- speech, as effective as morse, that defies translation by the uninitiated, and that has never been divulged to any person not belonging to the families who supply the players. The instruments seem to actually syllabize, and the inflection of a phrase, its cadences, its intreaty or threat, its importance, its amuse- ment, are perfectly transmitted. So real and so natural is this language to those who use it that they unconsciously " speak drum " to one another, conversing in the staccato phrasing of their playing.
Few drummers use more than two notes, the " male " and " female," but these they inflect as they wish. " Presently Sakutu, our own drummer . . . will abruptly and terrifically split into accurate lengths of tumult the quiet day crying out to the rim of the horizon our message. Everywhere the villages will give ear to that message, until seventeen miles from here, in the neighbourhood of Njabilobe, the last vibration dies."
The usual playing position is between the knees of the operator. They may be beaten or thrummed or played by friction. Some have a thong across the membrane and others a lace through it, these being manipulated by moistened fingers.
The YsAj YO'^G fan ge IS an ancient war-drum made of the thigh-bone of a chief who was for long an active enemy of the Limba tribe, a narrow strip of hide being tightly stretched from end to end. This is struck with a bamboo hammer.
The Yassi kereh is a hollowed tree trunk. It is large enough to be played upon by three men (honorary officials of the society) sitting side by side. That of Penda-Penda is also part of a tree.
i64 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
shaped roughly like an hour-glass. It is claimed that even cattle recognise the call of this drum and come in from their pasturage when they hear it.
The Okonko drum at Umu-Nze is housed in a lean-to building, which it almost entirely fills, and is of some artis- try in workmanship. The height of the actual cyl- inder is eight feet five, its depth seven feet ten, and its width five feet eight, the ornamental extensions at the sides bringing this last to ten feet two. It is hewn from a single block of uroko, and shows signs of great age. The playing surface is small, and the player sits raised above the height of his instrument. There is a tradition that the drum was the work of a man of Amawbia, who had earned a great reputation for his instruments ; that it took him twelve months to complete, and that he was sacrificed over his finished work that his blood might " tone " it.
This society also uses small drums like clay pots, held under the left arm and pierced with two holes. They are played by beating the top hole with the open palm, the other palm being used to close and unclose the hole at the side. They emit a mellow booming sound that rises or falls as the lower hole is covered or left open.
Ogboni has a set of five drums, upon which a highly specialised language is produced. They are known as a " family," the largest being the " bull." Upon them " sound out messages varying
Okonko Drum.
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 165
in tone from the cackle of roosting birds to the howl of a leopard, and from the squeak of a frightened puppy to the trumpeting of a rogue elephant."
The Ndembo drum is the complete skin of a goat or antelope stretched taut about a wicker frame. There is a diaphragm let into the back that is played upon, kettle-drum fashion, with sticks.
PoRO has several sangboi, bowl-shaped, with holes on the underside. The largest has several skins, one being that of a European Slaver who had the ill-luck to sell an official of the society into slavery.
OTHER VOICES
BoRi and Masubori use baknjah, a type of xylo- phone, played by men called yele, as is the marimba of PoRO. The wooden keys, from twelve to forty in number, are carved from hard resonant timber, generally rosewood, scooped out slightly at the centre. They are laid on two parallel bars, straight or U-shaped. Under each key is suspended a bladder- thin calabash, containing cobweb in differing quan- tities, graduated in size, which act as resonators. The keys are struck with metal rods or sticks with rubber heads. The largest appear to have the fewest chords, being mostly pentatonic, but some of the smaller have the greatest compass of any African musical instrument. Of their makers nothing is known. Most are old, and are treasured and guarded. If there is a method of tuning them this is kept secret.
Penda-Penda has a stringed instrument that resembles the seven-stringed barbiton of the ancient Persians, that was made famous by its use amongst the classical Greeks and Romans. Butwa has a chansa, a guitar-like instrument of several strings. Ndembo has a nsambi, cithera shaped, a wooden
i66 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
box lengthened by bamboos, the strings being stretched from the Hmit of the box to the curved ends of the bamboos. It has a harp-like sound, and is used frequently to accompany solo singing. When played softly, and when the singer's voice is modulated, the performance is not without merit.
Masubori also has the ar ghoul, a wood-wind device of two reeds bound together and blown into by the same breath. They are of different lengths, the shorter having holes for the fingers to cover. It emits a droning sound. This society also has an instrument akin to the Scottish bagpipes.
Ampora and Poro use syrinx or flutes of guinea- corn stalks or vegetable reeds or bamboo. They have only one note, but a dozen or so musicians can make melody on them by sounding out the note of their particular reed at exactly the right moment. Some are very shrill and penetrating, others have a dove-like note.
Tlie last-named society also uses a flute of seven holes, each covered by cobweb, of sweet but mournful tone. Dyoro uses bone flutes.
BiLi have big whistles that must be blown by the candidates, the players being beaten whilst they blow.
BuNDu use schgma and sehgura, rattles made of bottle-gourds covered with a loose meshwork of seeds. Nkamba and Nkimba use benjiie, rattles of cane in which are split shells. Okonko also has an official rattle.
This last society, with Ayaka, Nri, Org, and others, uses anvils as musical instruments, striking out the tunes or delivering the messages with ordinary hammers or iron bars.
Okonko also has a society bell, the ogenne, of smelted iron, three feet in length and oval in shape, with flattened edges, and reputed to be ancient and valuable.
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 167
Several societies teach a whistled language, some- times helped by a small instrument placed in the mouth, or before the lips. That of Ayaka and Okonko is a hollow ball of clay, about the size of a billiard ball, having two holes, one at the top for mouthpiece and one at the side for fingering. The notes, blown piccolo-fashion, are shrill but can be surprisingly varied. During the war between the Nkpaw and the Ogiddi peoples these instruments were said to have been much used for signalling purposes. The Ampora youths are taught to speak to each other with sounds made through the stalk of a pawpaw leaf.
MESSAGE WRITING
A DuBAiA man will send a message by the aid of a small stone, a piece of charcoal, an alligator pepper, a few grains of maize, and a bit of rag. These might be interpreted as follows : As this stone is hard so is my body — I am well. As this charcoal is black so is my present outlook : but as it can be again used so I may have another chance. As this pepper is hot so is my thought towards you — my heart is warm when I think of you. As this corn is parched so am I for news of you. I cannot come to you, but here is a bit of a garment I have worn — its touch will keep me in your remembrance.
The Batshok members of Chibados have a system of communication by means of bits of folded material, each fold conveying a part of the message, their straightness or crookedness, their neat or ruffled aspect, being eloquent to the initiated.
Kemah, Oyeni, Raruba, and other societies use kola nuts to interpret their wishes (their use is widespread in Africa as tokens of welcome), Lubuku members send honey, and Iban-Isong and Ndito-
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Iban send sugar. A Butwa " threat " may be con- veyed by a fagot, each stick being part of the message, and a Mungi " punishment " may be suggested by a bamboo stick charred at one end. Nkimba send powder and shot and Ndembo a razor.
Ogboni members are clever in the use of cowries. Three on a string, all facing the same way, may indicate an unanimous decision (" all the members are of the same mind ") ; if there is a space between the second and third it says " Ogboni meji li o mo idi Eta " (" Two Ogbonis know the meaning and matter of the Three.") One on a short grass cord may be defiance, two strung face to face indicate remembrance, and enmity if back to back. If there is a feather between the two facing shells it says " Come without delay," and if the two in the same position are filled with soap and camwood-powder it is a demand for truth and faithfulness. Three filled with pepper suggest caution, a string of five may tell of mortal sickness, six sent to a woman is a declaration and to a man a token of affection and loyalty, but seven can sever friendship, end a visit or be an invitation to a festival. Eight may clinch a business transaction or be the favourable answer to the six from the lover. Nine may indicate intention to punish or a hope that health is im- proved. Ten on a piece of leather mean as genuine a welcome as ever black man can give to white man, and forty strung upside down once started one of those long inter-tribal wars that this society used to make part of its propaganda.
The significance of certain numbers has already been referred to when mentioning the society councils, but it may be noted here how often that of three occurs. Dyoro and Org boast a triple guardian- ship and a triple power. (The members of the first often say, " Nothing can overcome the power of the Three.") The religious rites of Bori and some
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 169
of the rites of Poro, Ampora, and other societies' are performed three times. There are generally three chief officials other than the Head and his Deputy. Most of the oaths are triple. Some of the grade signs are in threes, as the staff, the horn, and the bag of the Ajalija of Okonko ; as are also some of the acknowledgments of one grade to another. A tabu is often lifted by a threefold rite, the ceremony of Ndembo being the firing of three little heaps of gunpowder. The Bundu songs are sung three times, and often the ceremonial dances are in groups of threes. Some of the doctor's prescriptions are in threes, as the Banban charms, " three seeds for smallpox, three scales for skin disease, three beans for rheumatism, three shells for childbirth, etc." The Egbo doctors divide their rewards, the goods or cash paid to them, into three divisions, one for the gods, one for the society, and one for them- selves. Some of the society signs are triple, as in BoviowAH, BuTWA and Ndembo.
MEMBERS' SIGNS
The signs by grip or touch of hand are carefully thought out. In the salutation of the shaking of hands, for instance, a ceremony becoming more and more popular, they, as did the Gnostics accord- ing to old Epiphanius, by a touch or tickle of the finger on the other palm tell their secret. Poro scratch with the middle finger the palm presented to them, the response being given in the same way. BuTWA has a touch of the fingers to the head, followed by a movement of them down the face with soft lingering pressure as they descend. Kangar and Kemah members make horns above their brows with upraised first fingers, or double down the first two and keep the others raised. An Adamu man
I70 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
strokes the muscle of his right arm and murmurs a word that might be interpreted " strength," and the women of Katahwiriba crook the left arm as if holding a child on the hip.
Egbo has a shuffle or side-step that carries recognition as well as respect.
KuFONG makes knots in string, or cord of vine, whilst talking, and if the listener is a member he will take the string and add an answering knot.
Most members are given something to wear, this acting not only as a charm but as a sign of recognition : rings, anklets, bracelets, plumes, bunches of leaves or twigs, coronets, etc. Some of these may be ordinary, but the method of wearing them will be secret, as is said to be the way the blossom is worn behind the ear of a Chibados woman. The old, heavy, metal rings, like the copper anklet of Okonko, are not now much in evidence. Kufong and PoRO used to be known by brass big-toe rings. Beads are frequent, especially the long, blue, pipe beads. Egbo and Ogboni wear bracelets of long glass beads, blue or yellow or black-striped. Bovio wah wear groundnuts of three kernels. Poro has a little plume of plaited elephant grass and thorn, and Idiong a plain fibre circlet for its probationary grade, and one with the fibre thickly covered with folds of goat-skin for those of full membership. The Tongo-Players wear a leopard's tail.
SOCIETY SIGNS
Each society has one particular sign that may be used by all its members. These are invincible as protective agencies. Their presence is as sufficient as that of the highest official, indeed, of all the officials. It has supreme authority. " A sure way of gaining redress, whether vengeance or the collecting of a
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS
171
debt, is to send the society sign." Placed against
the entrance to a village it is the most formidable
tabu known, a prohibition against, say, trespass or
theft, more formidable than any police, African
or European.
These society signs may be one or several. PoRo has five. A bunch of leaves, a bundle
of twigs, a plume, a spiral, and two double pyramids.
In the war year of 1898 in Sierra Leone these signs
were often recognised by the native
scouts employed with the British
troops, and their presence was said
to have fostered the insurrection. The
kind of leaves used, their direction,
the number of the twigs, their lengths,
etc., all had a meaning. The spirals,
called dimomoi, may be of twisted
green palm or creeper, and may be
seen outside the outer gate of the
sacred enclosure, hanging from crossed
bamboos or two young trees tied
across each other. It is also worked
into the pattern of the reed or bamboo
huts. It is said to be the personal
sign of the Grand Tasso. The two
double pyramids may also be part of the decorative
schemes, or they may be seen scratched on house- walls and marked in the dust of the road near a village. They are always placed point to point as here indicated.
Egugu has its mutathia, sacred leaves. Ndembo has a bundle of crooked twigs, nkita,
distortions, and adds to them twisted roots, gnarled
stems, and drawings of clubbed feet and humped
backs, and other things broken, ugly or fragmentary. Ampora has a half-burned leaf.
172 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
Egbo has a peacock feather, and also uses the old Pythagorean symbol of friendship, a pentagram, the original form of it owned by the society being said to be a five-pointed meteorite that fell long ages ago some- where in Nigeria. It is a " sacred stone " kept oiled and clothed in a covering of hide by the officials. The design may be traced in society decorations, especially that of the staves.
Org has many signs ; that of the peacock feather, as Egbo, and that of the human form (two tiny stones of ancient carving, illustrated elsewhere, said to represent its guardian deities, and probably of phallic origin), and, as Aiyasa and others, that of the double pyramid, superimposed lengthwise ; the outline that appears on most of the sacred possessions.
KuFONG has a divided pyramid, base down- wards. The members trace this, with a toe, in the dust, or suggest it by holding a stick in the palms with one end against the chest, or, when they desire to bring good luck to a friend, write it in water on the wall of the house of that friend. It is said that water only is used so that the quick eyes of the family guardian deities may detect it, but those gods of doubtful intentions may miss it altogether.
BuTWA also has signs of crooked things, but its chief sign is shaped like a miniature sign-post.
It may be a variation of the cross patee. .,,
It is sometimes indicated by crossed — -^^^^^T^^ sticks, or three strands of some material, I
or shaped by a careful arrangement of '
small stones.
TiLANG uses the same pattern with the crossed
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 173
ends closed. The Sherbro members of this society- view the symbol with great reverence, picking up and preserving anything that they think t-^^^,^.'^ approximates it in shape or appearance. U->l^--J
Banban has two signs that may be I
of similar origin, one section or sign •
being made with a single upright and P>j 1^^ the other with two. This last may have been originally a half section of a sign like that of Andomba, a society using a complete diagram in all respects answering to the cross patee. This is found scratched upon the stones used by the officials for divination. A some- what similar design is found amongst the members of Kofoo and Nanam.
Orisha uses a pattern of small irregularly made small pyramids within lines of ^j^^y.-^^ji^,m double circles ; sometimes seen t^\y\/^yl made in washes of various ^ (^ (Si (^ a colours on the walls of the ^/^ /j\ /j\ /3i^ houses of members. It is a C0i^4i:
cS> (S> unique of its kind.
Idiong has a sign of the kind known as swastika or fylot or gammadion, the symbol known in so many parts of the world. It j"
is found as a mural decoration, and may p— »■ y^ be seen marked against the threshold of , J
a house as a protection; much in the same way as it was found on the step of the House of the Trigolium in Dougga (Thugga), having been marked there thousands of years ago. This sign is also used by Dus and Dyoro.
That of Malanda is a double-
•56^ 3^ headed arrow, sometimes seen with
the barbs closed and looking like two small double pyramids joined by a connecting
174 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
line. (On the east side of the Continent, among the Basuto, this sign is used as a warning of personal or tribal trouble and strife.)
The Mycenaean double spiral in some form or other is seen in Adamu, Gelede and Nda. There is an ingenious explanation of the presence of this sign on the West Coast. As far back as the
Minoan Age, it is said, negro mercenaries were used in Mediterranean wars, as wit- nessed by the finding, by Sir Arthur Evans in the house of a citizen of Gnossos, Crete, dating about 1600 B.C., of a fresco depicting African soldiers led by a white captain. Clay models of castellated towns and fortified buildings, exactly resembling similar prehistoric houses in Crete, have been found, it is claimed, by the Germans in the Kameruns.
HuMoi, Ikung, Njembe, Kono and Belli- Paaro also use spiral signs, the last-named having in addition an outline that suggests a tau cross, frequently seen worked into mural and other decorations; the posses- sion of this being probably accounted for in like manner as the double spirals above mentioned.
AiYASA has one that can be described as two pyramids superimposed, and variations of this may
be found in Oro, Epe,
Mborko, Sindungo, and
some other societies. That
of the last-named has a
dotted circle inside the
central diamond.
The Tongo-Players use the sign of the leopard
claw, in the forms illustrated. This is a frequent sign
right across the continent, on the eastern side being
SOCIETY VOICES AND SIGNS 17S
known amongst tattoo marks as the " hen's foot." One writer commenting on these converging lines has drawn from the sign, or read into it, a connection with " the name of the Son of Ptah, the Light of the World."
The Masubori signs suggest an animal pad, a human form, and the head of an
ancient spear. They . are found marked
^If ^m, ^^m^ /I ^ °^ ^^^ society im- '* '^ plements and inclu-
ded in decorative works. BoRi has kindred signs. Phallic signs are frequent in Org, Egbo, Nimm, Katahwiriba, Orisha, and other societies. They
Phallic Signs.
are in the form of the human body as images or sketches, or in that of pictured indications of infibulation, either male or female muzzling.
Okonko has modelled figures of tinted clays decorated with strips of raphia palm. Egbo and Nimm use the tortoise symbol, the emblem of mother- hood and fecundity as ancient as the world itself. There are pictures in some of the council houses of old pederastical practices. In the districts influenced by Belli-Paaro, Egbo, Ebere, Ekkpo-Njawhaw, Dus, Dyoro, Izyoga, Kong, Mungi, Nanam and
176 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
others, upright conical stones, wooden shafts and shaped rocks, sometimes grouped about an altar, may be found. These may be linga or lingam stones such as are used in the worship of the supreme Hindu deity Siva. The pillar in the Egbo council house is here illustrated from a descrip- tion sent to the writer. It is about six feet high, and is cut from a single stone.
All the above chief signs of the societies are occasionally found marked on the bodies of the members, either permanently by tattoo process or temporarily, for festival purposes, in paints and washes. The two divided triangles of PoRO are put on the back, with two lines beneath them that pass round the waist and incline upwards to meet at the pit of the stomach.
Other marks and colourings are as follows : Mori makes geometrical designs. Nkaxda puts on the temples circles of the red ointment of tiihda wood. OvRA covers the stomach with closely knit lines. LuBUKu puts a vertical line down the centre of the forehead. Bundu paints its signs on the back and loins. Kufong makes three marks on the chest. Yassi covers all the body with circles of many- coloured washes, white, yellow^, black and brown predominating. This society also makes a single maze-like line on the cheek. Tormai paints red the upper part of the body. Egbo puts the ekiu mark of the mbazvkazu grade in camwood dye on the forehead, that of the Okii Akama grade on abdomen and back of shoulders, and the yeUow mark of Nkanda in five circles on head, chest
The E?bo Pillar.
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and back. Penda-Penda paints a crescent, with points upward.
Most ancient or medieval things in Africa, from old Carthage to New Cape Town, are decorated with some form of the serpent symbol, a fact due to phallic mystery, or simply to the love of a curving line, therefore it is not at all surprising that many of the societies include some form of this design amongst their signs. This may be a mere indication or the complete drawing, such as can be seen in Kure, Ofi- OKPO, OviA and Raruba designs. It is frequently included in the ornamen- ted staves carried by the officials, as in this one of the last-named society. " Flying serpents " are heard of in many parts of the land. In Ashanti they are one of the eight things
invoked to secure the foundations of a new house, and in Angola they are said to form the staple ingredient of a medicine given for a certain purpose to brides.
A society sign frequently seen is two young trees tied so that their stems cross each other, this being a usual custom near sacred enclosures and places. Often from the crossed portion hangs the secret sign worked in plaited fibre.
Kure Medicine Bowl.
STAVES AND BATONS
Some of the official staves have been described in the account of the Okonko grades. That of Oro is a sapling of the haronga madagascariensis, known as the bloodstick (amuje, Yoruba). That of
178 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
PoRO is a long carved stem, decorated with seven cowries, all strung one way. That of Egbo is cleverly ornamented in metal inset with ivory and crystals, and surmounted by a metal pentagram. Its Eturi grade carries one of African mahogany curiously and cleverly carved. The mithegi of Egugu and the stave of Bori are said to be ancient and valuable. That of the Tongo-Players is long and knobbed, with sharp pieces of metal like knife- blades inserted at the head. That of Ndembo is a distorted crook, the warped stem being deeply indented with the marks of a once entwining vine. The Nkimba mvwala is of ironwood, carved and inlaid with a fantastic pattern in metal. On it are four knobs or bosses, differing in size and position, each denoting an essential constituent of the authority of the society. The boss near the head and the largest in size is called " Mercy " ; the next, nine inches below and next in size, is called " Anger " ; the next is " Judgment " ; and the last " Slavery." " The best is first, the worst last. It is an order of merit which could hardly be improved upon at West- minster or Washington. Mercy, Anger, Judgment, Slavery, but the first and largest, that nearly always in the hand of the chief official, is Mercy — an element quite as conspicuous in judicial heathendom as it is in judicial Christendom."
Batons may be carried by, or in front of, the chief officials; an elephant tail, the symbol of African royalty, preceding those who preside over the important Law-God societies. The two here illustrated are more elaborate than most. That of Bundu is a heavy shaft of metal and
Bundu and Malanda Batons .
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ivory, probably of Portuguese manufacture, above which is fixed a conventual design in brass and copper with pendent tassels of ancient, gold thread. That of Malanda is a wand of some hard wood, about fourteen inches long, elaborately carved, and polished by use during long centuries. It is sur- mounted by a human head, tiny because boneless, long-haired as if of a woman of other than Negroid race; the skin ivory-like with age and oil.