Ovimbundu spirit voices on the hunt

Source term: bull-roarer

The Ovimbundu boys vanished into an initiation camp in the bush that no woman could approach, sworn on pain of death never to reveal what was done there. Only once in all that time were they seen: when, as part of their training, they raced across the countryside to hunt, kill and carry a wild animal back to camp. They came covered in white ash, wearing only loincloths, and the men running with them wore the costumes and masks of the spirits. Above their cries rose the wild sound of the bullroarer, a thin oval of wood whirled on a string: the voices of the spirits.

Above their cries came the wild sound of the bull-roarer, a thin, oval piece of wood attached to the end of a string and whirled to produce a whistling sound, thought to be the voices of the spirits.

Laura Boulton, The Music Hunter (1969), p. 73

Particulars

Object

A thin oval piece of wood on the end of a string, whirled to a whistling roar.

Function

Sounded as the voices of the spirits when the secluded initiation boys, ash-covered and accompanied by masked spirit-men, raced out to hunt and bring a wild animal back to their camp.