Solenzo Do, the smith's voice

do

Source term: rhombe

do: the divinity of the Bwaba association, and the name of its bullroarer. dobwɛlo: Do's feast; dotwolo: Do's return.

Each year in March or April, when new leaves come onto the trees and the rains are near, Do comes out at Solenzo. For four days the blade that bears the god's own name is whirled overhead, and only a smith may turn it. A sacrifice brings it out and it circles the village; next day the sacrifices go to the ancestor house of every lineage; on the third and fourth days it returns to its altars. On the fifth the leaf masks appear. The Bwaba say Do commands the rain, the plants and the animals, and a good farming season is its reward. Boys learn Do in the bush, going out four times, once to each side of the village, because no one knows from which direction an enemy will come. There they are shown what the mask really is and swear silence by eating the leaves it is made from; to betray it is death. Later grades are taught at night how to run the annual rites.

le rhombe doit être tourné par un forgeron

the bullroarer must be turned by a smith

Achille Tanou, 2024, p. 15

Particulars

Object

A pierced oval blade on a cord, whirled overhead; called do, the name of the divinity.

Function

Sounded by a smith during Do's four annual days in March–April, before the rains: the blade's coming out and circuit of the village, sacrifices at every lineage's ancestor house, and its return to the altars, before the leaf masks appear on the fifth day.