Abstract
MR. AMAURY TALBOT here describes the beliefs of the Ibo and Ijaro tribes of the Degamo division to which he was posted in 1914. For the most part they centre around the cult of Ale, the Mother- Earth goddess, and her consort, the Thunderer. Mr. Talbot describes at some length the Mbari houses or shrines and the ceremonies connected with them. He has brought considerable acumen to bear on the interpretation of these rites; but perhaps his most pregnant suggestion is made in connexion with the cult of the Great Drum. By an ingenious line of reasoning, he unravels the symbolism of the representation of the tortoise and identifies it with the female pudenda. Of the many ceremonies and beliefs connected with the promotion of the fertility of the crops which serve to illustrate the principles of the “Golden Bough,” the most striking is that relating to the priest of the Elele Yam cult, whose office, like that of the priest of Nemi, reverted to the man who succeeded in slaying him.
Some Nigerian Fertility Cults.
P. Amaury
Talbot
By. Pp. xi + 140 + 36 plates. (London: Oxford University Press, 1927.) 12s. 6d. net.
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Some Nigerian Fertility Cults . Nature 120, 801 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120801d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120801d0