DISEÑO DEL TIMÓN

The Varemba people are responsible for the construction of reality associated with the initiation sites. The social learning theory represents the social construction of reality and it maintains that human beings are capable of creating reality. What people know and believe about the construction of the world is conceived to be true because human beings are responsible for its creation (Le Comte, 2000). The social learning theory is about the reality that people create and not what they find. This means that the Varemba people do not search or question the reality of the sacred initiation sites, because they all contribute to its creation.

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In line with this view, most respondents in this study acknowledged that the initiation sites for the Varemba ritual are sacred and they are treated with awe and reverence. Chief Chitanga confirmed the sacredness of the initiation sites by emphasizing that no one is allowed to visit these places during the ceremonies except the initiates and the ritual leaders. Misfortune befalls any culprit who dares to intrude. After the initiation rites people may visit these places but they should observe the taboos linked to such places. Most respondents from Rinnete and village Nine under Chief Maranda, confirmed this view. Some Varemba initiates noted that terms like, kuMusasa (bush camp), kuChiremba (a place for circumcision), and kuGomo (mountain) are frequently used when referring to the places of initiation with the connotation of sacredness.

All the chiefs interviewed agreed that the reasons why the Varemba people chose secluded places that are far away from the community for the initiation rites is that they want to maintain privacy and secrecy. The other reason mentioned by the chiefs was that the initiation sites are places where the ancestral spirits reside, so by being at such places the initiates are well- positioned within the spiritual realm of the divine.

Every religious society has a system that defines and expresses the sacred and profane, a moral community that enforces a set of collective behaviours, rituals, norms and rules of the believing society (Giessen, 2006). Durkheim notes that, rituals are a means of bringing individuals together as a collective group. He also conceived religion as a phenomenon that is founded on the ritual separation of the sacred from the profane in which the sacred and the social collectivity were insulated by ritual prohibitions (Turner, 2006). During the field study, the researcher observed that the Varemba circumcision and initiation rites were performed at two different mountains, which the respondents considered as sacred. According to Durkheim, the sacred could be defined as that which people take to be unquestionable and responsible for societal moral realities (Giesen, 2006). The Varemba people in the view of Durkheim do not question the sacredness of their initiation sites. The initiates from areas under Chiefs Maranda and Neshuro mainly use Mazhou Mountain for the initiation rituals while initiates from areas under Chiefs Chitanga, Negari and Mazetese mainly use Songogwe Mountain. The Mountains are several kilometres away from the villages and they are located near major rivers. Mazhou is close to Bubi River and Songogwe is close to the Mwenezi River. Eliade (1995) made a distinction between the sacred and the profane in which he argues that the sacred is defined by the absence of the profane. In the

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case of Mazhou and Songogwe, the Mountains are distinguished from the profane world by virtue of being secluded and by the existence of the numinous, which deeply influence the belief and the lives of the Varemba people. Mountains were associated with divinities, for example, the Jews and the Muslims held a similar belief about the sacredness on certain mountains, which they linked to the receiving of divine revelation by prophets in their religions. Therefore, the Varemba initiation ritual is performed in a sacred space distinguished from any other by virtue of the sacredness that makes it appropriate for the initiation ritual to occur.

Six village heads interviewed from these areas emphasised that both rivers are perennial and are sacred because they are believed to be inhabited by the mermaid spirit. Village head, Chikapa (aged 43); from Chizumba village under chief Neshuro confirmed that:

Makomo iwayo anoera . Gore rega rega tinoona moto uchipfuta mugomo imomo munaMazhou kana mvura yave kuda kunaya. Iro Songogwe unonzwa maungira evanhukadzi vanenge vachitswa zviyo muduri, kana kunzwa mabhero emombe dzamusingaoni. Ukaenda mugomo imomo ukataura zvinyadzi, kuita tsvina, kana kutuka haudzoki zvakare.

[Those mountains are sacred. Every year we witness the whole Mazhou Mountain engulfed in flames of fire towards the rain season. In Songogwe Mountain, you could hear sounds of women pounding grain in a mortar. You could as well hear bells of invisible cattle grazing in the mountain. If you get to the mountain and defecate or if you utter words of profanity you risk disappearing forever.]

The myths surrounding the initiation sites serve to authenticate the beliefs about the Varemba initiation sites. The magnitude of sacredness surrounding these places of initiation is influenced by the enormity of the belief held by the Varemba people about the myths and rituals defining the places. The mythical stories narrated about the Mazhou and Songogwe mountains symbolise the presence of the sacred. Eliade supports this view by pointing out that, myths and rituals act as symbols of the sacred and that they are understood from the believers’ point of view (Cox, 1992). In the Varemba ritual, the manifestation of the sacred is told in myth and re-enacted in ritual. As they do so, the lives of the believers are transformed by coming into contact with the sacred world. The Varemba initiation ritual is powerful in conveying moral obligations to the initiates because it exists in myths that stipulate what is expected from the individual. Myths are important because these make the ritual meaningful. Without myths the Varemba ritual would have ceased to have meaning and would have become extinct. Through ritual, believers can

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retrace myths back to the origins of the world where there was chaos and disharmony, and in so doing they find themselves renewed (Bell, 2009). Eliade relates ritual to cosmogonic myth, and emphasised that the ritual recreates creation. This relationship evokes the theme of birth, death, rebirth, degenerative chaos and regenerative order (Bell, 2009). In Eliade’s view, the identification of human acts with divine models are preserved in myths and enables people to experience the world morally, authentically, meaningfully and consciously (Studstill, 2000). The sacredness of the Varemba ritual sites explains why the Varemba go to secluded areas for the rituals. The ritual transports the individual to the time of the myth, thereby bringing him closer to the spirit world (Eliade, 1963). The myth and ritual patterns of the Varemba people continue to speak to the imaginations of the new generations, making them conscious about life events.

Through symbol and ritual performance of primordial times, the believers identify the historical past with the here and now and through this re-enactment, the participants consider themselves to be truly human, can sanctify the world and render meaningful the activities of their lives (Studstill, 2000). The myths are important among the Varemba because through rituals they convey certain ethics valuable to the existence of the society. The Varemba people continue to create myths and revive the ancient myths that keep the initiation ritual meaningful.

The sacredness of the mountains and their significance among the Varemba people epitomises their link with the Jewish ancestry. The Jews associated the Supreme Being (Yahweh), the promulgation of the Covenant and its renewal, new beginnings, new life, health and wellbeing with high places such as Mount Horeb. Similarly, according to Chief Chitanga, the sacred mountains Mazhou and Songogwe are places of cleansing and renewal of individuals’ lives.

When the Israelites sinned against Yahweh, they were expelled from Canaan into the wilderness, where they would suffer as a way of purging them for their sins. In the wilderness, the Israelites were sanctified and made righteous as God’s people (Hosea 9:9). The Varemba initiation ritual compels the individuals into the secret and closed society to dedicate them to the transcendent and purge them of their previous lives. The sovereignty of the sacred at the initiation places provides a platform for the Varemba initiates to move from the state of ‘nothingness’ into the state of ‘somethingness.’ This action symbolizes a new beginning and a change of the states of consciousness of the initiates.

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Commenting on the rivers at the initiation sites, one traditional healer named Hakata (aged 53) from Rinette village Nine, confirmed that the Varemba initiates use water from the nearby rivers for bathing and cooking. During the time when initiation is not taking place, the initiates would be taught how to catch fish in the nearby rivers. He also emphasised that these places preserved some religious consciousness of the community enshrined in the sense that the mountains are sacred and that they are places of residence of ancestral spirits. However, Hakata maintains that these places are also preferred because they have dense forests which are suitable for privacy required during the initiation ritual. The Varemba circumcision and initiation ritual is sacred because it is performed in a highly sacred environment of revered mountains and rivers.

Terms used by the Varemba people point to the key issues of the ritual. Whilst they use terms like musasa or chiremba for the sacred sites of initiation, the few Shangani people interviewed refer to the sites as hoko, meaning ‘where circumcision takes place.’ Maposa (2011:483) in the study of the Shangani people used the word hoko to mean the same. To the Varemba of Karanga origin, hoko means a circumcised and pointed penis without a foreskin. The word has sexual overtones, derived from hoko, which refers to a wooden peg. The earth signifies the female sex organ and the drawing of the peg into the earth symbolises sexual intercourse. The Varemba people treat sex as sacred because of its association with the earth and fertility, and the metaphor is a symbol of the relevance of the ritual, to deal with issues of sexuality.