Maby-beer and the puberty ritual for Carib girlsArticle 10 of 16 The blissful afterlife of the Carib Indians.

The end of puberty for the Carib boys (Caribbean).

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It should be noted here that the passage ritual of the Carib boys does not involve the mabi. This ritual has 3 degrees. The first one addresses the young boys from 9-10 to whom the village chief solemnly offers bows and arrows, symbols of the right to hunt and fish, of the end of childhood in the maternal environment. The announcement of the passage and the ceremony are accompanied by the sharing of cassava beer.

The ritual of the second degree is more important and much more strenuous. It is comparable to that of young girls in that it gives the right to enter the adult world, to marry, to participate in cachiri (beer sharing) and go to war. The candidates aged 15-16 must fast for a month in isolation in a hut far from the village, then be beaten, bloodied with the remains of a bird of prey, washed and finally admitted to the warrior's circle. There again, each stage is accompanied by the sharing of cassava beer.

The third degree, which is even more difficult, is reserved for those who become village chiefs or warlords.

 

Maby-beer and the puberty ritual for Carib girlsArticle 10 of 16 The blissful afterlife of the Carib Indians.