POLOKWANE – Over the years certain myths or acts have been considered taboo by elders in the community. In this day and age, most youth do not know these traditions and continue to practice them.
Martha Tshivhula debunked some of these myths:
Myths:
• Men should not wear hats indoors.
• Women are not allowed to wear pants or dance seductively.
• Do not leave a spoon in the pot while cooking, it will cause stomach aches.
• When there is a funeral and a wife has been widowed, other women who still have husbands should not enter as they will lose their husbands as well.
• A pregnant woman should not accompany someone and turn before reaching the destination, as the child will not make it.
• A woman should not sleep on her back.
• Before the umbilical cord of a newborn falls off, the child and the mother are not allowed any visitors or to visit.
• When a child gets sick, the parents must sleep separately.
• When a boy has just returned from initiation school, the parents must sleep separately.
• When a female is on her period, she must be isolated. She must not cook, clean or come into contact with other people.
• Pregnant women are not allowed to carry other babies.
• A widow or widower must wear black and isolate until after the mourning period is over.
• Children who only have top teeth, are not allowed near sick people as the sickness will intensify.
• Girls should not exchange clothes, especially underwear.
• Children should not be beaten using a thatch broom, nor is it allowed to be placed in an upright position.
• Girls should not eat or drink while standing as they will be married far from home.
• If you approach a house and there is a walking stick outside, do not enter.
• Children are not allowed to drink or eat from their father’s plate. If they want to some of his food, it has to be dished up onto another plate.
• A bride is not allowed to enter her parents-in-law’s room. The marriage will not last.
• No bride may have her laundry or her husband’s laundry done by someone else. The marriage will end.
• Do not put or remove a closed pot from the stove. You will end your life. Open it first.
• Do not serve a man the first or last portion of food. He will be last in life or first in tragedy
She says most of these were put into place for the sole purpose of maintaining order. They were said to be a taboo and would awaken evil spirits or upset the ancestors.
“Although most people have become religious, back in the day it was a norm to want to please the ancestors,” she said.
Read the full story in this week’s Bonus.
