Pato kil, initiation into the bullroarer

tem'ar kil

Source term: rhombe, tem'ar kil

tem'ar kil: the bullroarer of the pato kil Luan Distinct from the blown tem'ar ne luan of other Luan rites.

Pato kil had no effigy. In north Ambrym a Luan was a secret rite that a village bought from its owner, and each one had its own emblem: a painted figure on the front of a ritual house, a black mannequin with club and bow, a two-faced head shot through with arrows. Pato kil had only the bullroarer. Its whole ritual was initiation into the tem'ar kil, which the men made themselves; they were not brought over from Malekula, as had been supposed. Candidates for a Luan lived apart for four to six months under a ban, unwashed, every distinction of rank set aside and all eating at one fire, and on the day of the final ceremony they rubbed themselves with coconut oil.

Particulars

Object

Locally made bullroarers, called tem'ar kil; form and size not recorded.

Function

The pato kil Luan had no effigy; its ritual consisted essentially of initiation into the bullroarer.