Rituals of Pramáti

The rite of the huntress is performed by all žena (women) upon beginning menstruation and marks their transition into adulthood where they are known as lovkyně or huntresses. Villages take turns hosting the ritual that takes places over three nights of a full moon. The lékař (medicine woman) of the host village presides over the ceremony. She first explains the virtues of a huntress power, grace, and sisterhood while uninitiated žena sit and lovkyně stand. While major themes are always covered a lékař is sermonizing and is given leeway to address topics as she sees fit. Power is understood to be the mastery over one’s life and the ability to overcome obstacles. Grace is living one’s life as a sister and how you treat your fellow žena. Sisterhood is loyalty and generosity towards your marriage, sisters, daughters, village, and the Pramáti. Each žena going through the ritual will then stand facing away from her people towards the highest peak declaring herself loyal to Matka (first mother) and the Jaguar spirit. Then she will turn and facing directly towards her family in attendance and swear loyalty to them. After all initiates have spoken oaths they are lead into the jungle by the hosting village’s porazit (best hunter). They will ascend into the highlands where spirits are said to roam in the fog. The porazit tells ghost stories of Tuchal the thirteenth daughter of Matka who was unworthy as they ascend into the jungle. They may bring no provisions and have to rely on their skills for food, drink, and shelter. The porazit will leave the girls where they will remain in the jungle for the next three nights and retrieve them on the morning of the third night and return them to the village where a feast awaits them. This ritual fulfills the pact made between Matka and the Jaguar spirit that only the worthy may live on the islands. There are dangers in the jungle and girls that die in the ceremony are thought to be worthy. The rite of the huntress reinforces the bonds that hold Pramáti society together. It also demonstrates the hardships of living outside the community and shows the benefits of doing what is expected of you.    

The act of marriage in Pramáti society is between two lovkyně or adult females. All lovkyně may enter sexual relations with either other unwed lovkyně or mizera (men). It is not uncommon for lovkyně to have at least one birth before marriage. After a dating period many lovkyně will opt for a marriage. The ceremony will be held on the island of the village the wed lovkyně will live if not both from the same village. Marriage ritual is performed on the beach at dusk on the side of the island were the sunsets. No one presides over the marriage, but the entire village will be in attendance along with relatives of migrant spouse. The spouses stand in front of each other in the surf with their prodigy either standing behind them or carried in the case of infants. The spouses take turns swearing loyalty and generosity to each other before Matka and the Jaguar spirit with their hands placed over the others heart. After the spouses have sworn oaths to each other then they will repeat oaths with their hands over their new families’ hearts until all of the new family has sworn oaths to another. Mothers will swear for their daughters if too young to speak. After oaths are spoken there will be a feast in the new families honor, and on the next morning it is common for the construction of the family’s chata (hut) to be built if one doesn’t already have one. To the Pramáti marriage is the ultimate union of sisterhood. Like Matka and the jaguar spirit you start not of the same flesh, but end linked by spirit. Marriage is a choice and not required for procreation a unmarried mother will rely on her sisters and mothers for help attending a daughter. Marriage is not about children, but rather about being more like Matka and the Jaguar spirit which means you have a better chance of being reincarnated as a jaguar.

The rite of prodigy is called potomstvo and lovkyně that wish to have daughters will mate with the village mizera. There is a great deal of risk involved with mating with mizera due to their venomous nature. For this reason mizera are typically forbidden in a chata. The mizera will be ritually cleaned with sea water this task is usually performed by a spouse or mother skin contact is avoided.  After he has been cleaned he may enter the home and will be fed by the family. This feast is to sate the snake spirit inside the man, and should reduce the potency of his venom. The mizera will then be cover with volcanic clay while incantations are spoken this is for the protection of the lovkyně and reduces contamination of skin contact. During this feast the lovkyně will imbibe zuta an intoxicating root extract which helps commune with spirits and eases tension. The mizera will then lie on his back while the family sings to the spirits. If he is erect then he will be mounted if not his snake spirit must be coaxed into his penis. This is done with hands of the woman being mated or the mizera. The singing continues during the mounting and intercourse with the family in attendance. When the mizera has ejaculated he will take his leave and the lovkyně will clean herself with seawater thus ending the ritual. The Pramáti believe that a woman must die a little in order to receive a spirit into her womb this partial death is done with the aid of men’s venom or semen. Without mizera women could not have more daughters. Complications, difficulty, and death associated with child birth are considered to be due to the venom. The ritual cleansing and protective elements reinforce the dangers males possess and how it should be meet as a family. In contrast sex between women is considered private further elevating the preferred relationship between women.

The záměr, the governing body of a village, have different responsibilities that belong to the porazit, lékař, and dozorce. Each controlling a different sphere of  Pramáti life: hunting/fishing, spiritual life and health, and community relations. However in matters of great importance or conflict they form a triumvirate council which will hear grievances or decide courses of action. A common accusation is one of witchcraft were one believes another has caused them illness or misfortune through spirits. If an accusation is made the záměr will hold a public trial. The lovkyně of the village with form a circle around the accused and accuser with the accused and accusers facing the záměr, and then hear testimony from the accuser and accused. Others may then offer witness and the záměr will question whomever they believe may be useful for determining a resolution. After everyone has said their piece the záměr will ask Matka and the Jaguar spirit for guidance, and retire into a chata for discussion. Everyone else remains in the circle until the triumvirate returns. Often a consensus can be reached, but only two or the three need to agree on guilt or innocence, and punishment. Even if someone has a dissenting opinion the záměr speak as one in public. Upon returning to the circle they give their ruling on the matter. Punishment is often token restitution. More serious matters such as murder or killing a jaguar, both rare, can result in harsh punishment such as exile to the sea effectively removing one from the island life cycle. Keeping harmony is important to Pramáti life as dealing with the trails of island life is difficult enough without infighting. The záměr mantels allow for consolidation of directive and mitigating fear. The záměr offer guidance in different aspects of life such a where to hunt, how to tend sick, or dealing with other villages or male counterparts. The witchcraft trails are to sooth difference in productivity or prestige. The circle encompasses the accuser and accused displaying their behavior for all. This has strong peer pressure effects, and is designed to curtail bad behavior. Speaking as one show that unity is important, and allows a dissenting záměr to save face in public.

Birth is attended by immediate family and the village lékař. Birth often takes place in the family’s chata. The mother will often stand or squat while pushing during long labor she may rest by sitting or lying down. While standing her spouse or family will help support her. The lékař will draw the Jaguar spirit on the mother’s stomach for protection and to help insure a girl is born. If a girl is born she will be named and after bonding with the mother she will be presented to the village by the lékař declaring they have a new sister and celebrated. If a son is born he may nurse before being taken away. The family will grieve and mothers often weep. Having a son is one of the harder trails in Pramáti life, and no one talks about their sons. The village will act as though nothing happened. The boy will be taken to the dozorce whom may care for it in the intermediate or give it to the care of the village mizera. The dozorce will then begin to look for a new village for the son. The boy will remain unnamed until he is four and his new village dozorce will name him. Many boys perish. Girls immediately have the status of žena which places them above all males.

In the rite of the huntress young menstrual žena are explained the values before the entire Pramáti community and spend three nights in the jungle under the full moon. After being explained what it means to be a lovkyně the girls swear oaths to their family, Matka, the Jaguar spirit, and community. The girls are then taken to the highland of an island were they will remain for three nights. And when they return they will be lovkyně. The girls are separated when they swear oaths because all uninitiated žena sit for the explanation of values, but only those going through the rite swear oaths. The liminal period is the time in the jungle where the girls forced to rely on each other and their own skills to survive. They are realizing the value of village life and the rigors of island life in general. This prepares them for the responsibilities of providing for oneself in adulthood. They are reincorporated when they return to the community and now have the status of lovkyně or huntress.  

Marriage is exclusive to lovkyně it is performed before ones village and family. One makes a pact with another lovkyně and their offspring to treat as your own. This is done on the western beach of the island which they newly formed family will live. A lovkyně may partake in different kinds of intercourse with men and women before marriage, but after she is loyal to one woman. To be a good lovkyně and married is a Pramáti ideal. You transcend your native family and take on more sisters, daughters, and mothers. Placing your hand on your new family’s heart and swearing oaths to them is a very bonding experience. You are reaffirming how one should behave in family life through these oaths. In Pramáti marriage spouses’ and their offspring are separated from their old families and villages by placing them in the surf. The surf is not of the island. They are in liminal stage until they completed their oaths and are welcomed back into the village. The feast and hut building are reincorporation into the village life as a new established family which takes place over ones native family.

The Pramáti believe in a cycle of reincarnation where upon death they enter the spirit world and for lovkyně can be rewarded by becoming a jaguar for a period before returning as a spirit to be reborn. Mizera are stuck in the snake cycle and all mizera spend sometime between lives as snakes. So it is not surprising that each perform different rites. Uninitiated žena cannot become jaguars, but their death rituals are similar. First the deceased žena are cleaned with sea water by their family. Then all the women in the village and family from another village will form a funeral precession into the jungle. Every member of the village and families will build a funeral pyre together using oily trees. The village lékař will offer up the persons spirit for judgment by Matka and the Jaguar spirit, and then set the pyre ablaze. Burning a corpse expedites the transition into the spirit world otherwise the spirit would remain trapped in the body until decayed. Smoke and fog are associated with the spirits, and the persons spirit will make its home in the fog or become a jaguar for a time.

Ritualizing by non-dominate group:

Just as mizera do not participate in žena death rites neither do they participate in mizera rites. The mizera believe they are more of the earth than their female counterparts. Their time spent as a snake proves their resilience for how else would one move without arms or legs without resilience. The mizera have no need to offer up their brother for judgment nor expedite his travel into the spirit world which will result in becoming a snake. So they offer their brother instead rest. They dig a shallow grave and line the inside with palm leaves and lay their brother in fetal positions. They cover him with dirt and plant taro on top of him. The mizera wish him a long and peaceful rest. Mizera see death a temporary respite from the mortal realm and spiritual rebirth.

Adulthood of mizera is marked by the growth of facial hair. This means he may partake in potomstvo. While this is the only status important to žena amongst his mizera peers he is not considered a man until his first potomstvo. After which they will mark him with a serpent. This is done in secret from the žena and then he is considered a man among his peers. There is no title for him, but he is recognized by the mizera for possessing the serpent. A boy is separated when he begins to grow facial hair. He has expectation of potomstvo, but has yet proven his ability. Until he has completed potomstvo he is not quite a man nor a boy among his peers this is the liminal period. After completing potomstvo the young man understands his place in Pramáti a nervous young man may take multiple attempts. If he can’t perform they may stop calling on him. He will be used and often will receive benefit only when he is effective. To be used and somewhat rewarded is mizera life. All mizera respect the hardship of their brothers and know that if they aren’t effective they will be further pushed to the fringe of Pramáti society, and those on the fringe don’t fare well.

Pramáti

I am Osaba of the Pramáti, and it is my honor to speak with you about my people. Within my people I am a mizera or a male. We live on volcanic islands called Maeter in the Pacific Ocean. We make our settlements in the lowlands of the tropical jungle. It rains often on Maeter and the temperature changes little through the year. There is a wet season which makes the islands streams gorge. The highlands of the islands are sacred places of spirits waiting to be reborn. Our people number around 600 hundred with almost three women to every man. Most villages consist of about 50 people scattered across 12 settlements that represent the twelve daughters of the first mother Matka. Matka brought us to Maeter to save our people from the venom that consume mizera. We are taught that across the seas men have power and are cruel and violent, and no one is reborn. Here the Pramáti live in peace with žena, or women as you call them in power. When Matka first arrive she learned the secrets of the jungle from the jaguar spirit. The jaguar told her as long as we remain here our spirits will reborn into future generations. The žena that lived the most honorably would be reborn as jaguars for a time before returning to human life, and the mizera would live as snakes between lives.

            The žena are our hunters and fishers. The hunt monkeys, birds, rodents, frogs, lizards, and the most prized and dangerous being boars. Most fish and game are kept among women. Only during special ceremonies are fish and game shared with men. No Pramáti should ever kill or eat a jaguar. Punishment for such an offense is exile from the islands to drift in the sea until death where ones spirit will be trapped in the depths. Women are also forbidden to eat snakes as they are believed to be harmful to ingest, but may freely kill snakes. Snakes are one of the few animals mizera may kill and eat without permission from žena. Men also eat insects, and there is no harm associated with women eating insects it is just considered less desirable then meat. The žena hunt with obsidian tipped spears called kopí. Men are forbidden to touch or use obsidian and kopí they are beyond our place. Game and fish is shared between a group of hunters or fishers that work together, which they in turn trade to one another or barter for other goods such as canoes, jewelry, and other surplus.

            We mizera grow dalo which you know a taro. We use stone axes to clear jungle and work fields. We also collect plantains, coconuts, mangos, nuts, and edible flowers. A portion of all we grow and collect is tribute to the žena. Only during certain ceremonies do we get to eat meat and fish. We kill snakes because they are dangerous, and eat them to make us stronger. This also releases their spirits so they may be born again.

            We understand all žena are related to Matka, however žena are most closely related to their mothers and sisters. A mother and her daughters will live together in a chata. The chata construction may vary slightly from island to island, but usually consists of straight narrow sticks lashed together with a conical thatched roof atop. The chata mark a family’s personal space consisting of mothers, daughters, and sometimes grandmothers. Males live together in one large communal chata. Males are related to their mothers and sisters, but never their fathers even if he is known. The žena value baby girls and baby boys are sent to live in other villages in the chata of the mizera in that village. There are no family bonds between fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, or between mates. All men that live in a chata together consider themselves brothers. We Pramáti lack the word ‘father’ as you understand it. Mizera are mates to žena not fathers to žena. Women have mobility between villages by marriage, so every žena line has a mark which is scared onto boy’s backs this prevents incestuous mating between mizera and their žena offspring.

            All mizera are relatively equal, but nothing marks their transition into adulthood other than facial hair.  However young žena are not considered adults until they complete the rites of the huntress. When the jaguar spirit spoke to Matka she told her that she was worthy, but that her daughters would need to prove themselves as huntresses. All the žena that begin their first menstruation during a year are brought togather to prove themselves as huntresses. They are explained the virtues of a huntress power, grace, and sisterhood. After oaths to the jaguar spirit, family, and Matka are given the young žena are sent to the jungle high land to test themselves against the wild and free roaming spirits. They spend three nights before, during, and after a full moon. They are not permitted to leave the high lands until they are finished. It is rumored that Matka had a thirteenth daughter who was disloyal and lazy that did not pass the jaguar spirit’s test, and that she wanders the highland seeking those unworthy. They call her Tuchal. When the young women return at dawn after their last night in the highlands they are regarded as lovkyně or a huntress.

             A žena that has become a lovkyně can marry if she chooses. Marriage between lovkyně is recognition of exclusivity of sex between women. Sex is encouraged between women as they are considered ideal lovers. Sex with a mizera is simply for procreation, it is highly ritualized, and considered somewhat dangerous. Marriage is considered a partnership. Unwed žena may have sexual relations with any similarly unwed females. Wed lovkyně are often first cousins unless they wed outside their village. Generally the younger woman goes to the older women’s village or whoever is best able to provided. A new chata is built for the newly wedded lovkyně if neither already has their own. The ceremony is celebrated with feasts. The lovkyně places their hands over each other’s hearts and swear oaths of loyalty and sisterhood. If they have daughters the ritual is repeated until every member of the new family is bond to one another. Daughters brought into a marriage should be treated as daughters born into the marriage. You are considered a bad lovkyně if you don’t love your partners daughters as your own.

            Lovkyně can also preform the rite of prodigy called potomstvo. Marriage is not required. Often an unwed mother may stay with her mother and sisters who help raise any daughters. The principle of potomstvo is that a man’s venom (semen) enters a women and kills her just enough to allow a spirit to enter her womb. All bodily fluids of a grown man are considered venom. Before a man enters into a chata of žena he must be cleansed with water. The mizera is feed a special meal prepared for him this is said to state his inner snake spirit as not to be to potent, and insure a girl is born. A lot of time and planning go into preparing the meal recipes are often passed down from mother to daughter. After he has been cleansed and has eaten, the mizera will be covered in moist volcanic clay the color of greenish gray while incantations are spoken. This is to protect the Lovkyně from further envenomation than necessary. The Lovkyně imbibes zuta a plants whose roots provide a relaxation and somewhat intoxicating effect. The Lovkyně must entice the man’s snake spirit into his penis. After which she mounts him, and her family or marriage partner will chant to the spirits calling them down from the mountain side. The potomstvo is over when the male ejaculates. After which the mated Lovkyně is ritually cleaned. Potomstvo is only preform once a menstruation cycle for a female wishing to conceive, and she may choose different mates if she chooses. She has no specific rights to any mizera. A mizera may generally perform potomstvo once a day or night if he is popular among his Lovkyně.  

            Lovkyně also have the ability to take up the mantel of Purpose called záměr. There are three záměr. One is the porazit or best hunter. She is respected as the best hunter among her village, and often leads groups and teaches youth. In some villages the porazit may be held by the best fisher. Another záměr is lékař a medicine women or spirit healer. She advises people on spiritual matters, heals the sick, and is midwife to expectant mothers. A village may have multiple lékař, but only one is considered a záměr often the oldest, but sometimes is younger if she is considered the most powerful. The last záměr is called dozorce, they have two main responsibilities. One is to overseer the males, and the other is to mediate relations between villages. The dozorce is directly responsible for deciding the fate of mizera born into a village. She decides if the baby mizera is a worthy gift to a neighboring village. She is also expected to plan gatherings between villages typically held on moonless nights. She picks who may attend with her to another villages gathering. The záměr control each control their own sphere of influence. On matters of great importance, in settle disputes, or to bring disciple they may form a tribunal. A simple majority often decides the outcome, and their decisions are given as a whole with one voice. Their discussions are often private so to never alienate any one dissenting opinion.

This symbol shows the jaguar spirit that spoke to Matka. This symbol also is used to represent Lovkyně after they finish the rites of the huntress. It is important in that it encapsulates the ideals of the huntress power, grace, and sisterhood. As adults in their villages they have responsibilities. It is interchangeable with Matka, the jaguar spirit, the Lovkyně, and their ideals.

This symbol of the serpent spirit represents the Pramáti’s understanding of potomstvo. Mist, smoke, and steam are all associated with spirits. We believe that spirits spend most of their time in the highlands when not occupying either an animal or person. In order to be reborn a spirit must enter a womb, but only if the womb is between the world of the living and the spirit world of the dead. The snake symbolizes male’s role within Pramáti society and in the ritual of potomstvo.  The mizera are a crucial part of the cycle of rebirth. The water represents the limitation of Maeter to rebirth spirits away from the islands.

Dalo, or taro as you call it, is the symbol of záměr. It shows them as sheltering leaf protectors of the village. It symbolizes their mastery over men, spirits, and nature. Each notch in the leaf represents a different záměr, and serves to remind us they are not perfect. Rather than three different symbols it reminds us that záměr must work together in bonds of sisterhood, and speak with one voice. The dalo can also represent a village, and when multiple dalo are displayed together it means a gathering of villages. It is also important to know that when other resources are scarce the Pramáti can rely on dalo for substance. As they should rely on their záměr in time of need.

The hibiscus flower is the symbol of marriage among the Lovkyně. The stamen represents the two lovers joined together never to be separated. The petals represent the joined Lovkyně’s family and village which surround and strengthen the marriage. The Pramáti also believe the village and family should do their best to keep a marriage strong. This means not tempting either lover. The three leaves symbolize the three pillars of a huntress grace, power, and sisterhood.