mellowyellow
Well-known Member
At the Himba of Namibia in Southern Africa, the date of birth of a child is fixed, not at the time of its arrival in the world, nor in its design, but much earlier: since the day the child is thought about in his mother's mind.⠀
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When a woman decides she's going to have a child, she settles down and rests under a tree, and listens until she can hear the song of the child who wants to be born. And after she hears it, she comes to the man who will be the father of the child to teach him the song. And then, when they make love to physically design the child, they sing the song of the child together, to invite him.⠀
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When the mother is pregnant, she teaches the singing of this child to the midwives and older women of the village. So, when the child is born, old women and people around him sing his song to welcome him.⠀
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As the child grows, the other villagers learn his song. So if the child falls, or gets hurt, he always finds someone to pick him up and sing his song. Similarly, if the child does something wonderful, or successfully passes through the rites of passage, the people of the village sing his song to honour him.⠀
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If, at any time during his life, the person commits an aberrant crime or social act, the individual is called in the centre of the village and the people of the community form a circle around him. Then they sing his song.⠀The tribe recognizes that the correction of antisocial behaviour does not pass through punishment, it is by love and reminder of identity. When you recognize your own song, you don't want or need to do anything that would harm it.
And the same way throughout their lives. In marriage songs are sung together.⠀And when, getting old, this child is lying in his bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his song, and they sing it for the last time.
Via Robby Bellastoria.
