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They Look With Two Eyes: Twins in Mafa Society
| Article
# : |
19832 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1991 |
2,475 Words |
| Author
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Jose C.M. van Santen
Jose C.M. van Santen specializes in feminist anthropology and
the position of women within Islam. She teaches in the
Department of cultural Anthropology at Leiden University in
Holland. |
The mist started on Wednesday. Large clouds of dust rolled down the Mandra Mountains, blocking out the sunshine and obscuring the horizon. Unusual for this time of year, the mist was a great concern. As it lingered, the Mafa labored to find a cause. Finally, after a few days, the mist's cause became clear. The word spread:
A man had died. His wife had given birth to four sets of twins but he had foolishly failed to organize any of the appropriate rituals or sacrifices. Little wonder, then, that some of his children had died. His death was their revenge.
On Saturday, the distressed family gathered to perform the necessary rituals. On Sunday, the mist slowly disappeared.
In many African societies, like the Mafa in north Cameroon, twins have a special position. On the one hand, the birth of tsakalay (twins) is considered a great blessing. Twins "run is the family" and some people are certain to have them, which is a source of pride. Twins are believed to be endowed with special gifts from the gods and are considered to be clairvoyant: "They look with two eyes" as the Mafa say. On the other hand, twins are also believed to possess dangerous powers: They can bring blindness, madness, or, as in the case above, premature death to their parents.
Parents of twins have to make many concessions to there offsprings' desires. They must always give each one the same object: If they give one twin a new piece of cloth, they have to give the other one the exact same thing.
The father of twins always wears a small calabash attached to his left wrist with a piece of rope. Both parents wear bracelets: the mother on the left wrist and the father on the right. Thus the parents of twins are always identifiable. More importantly, this custom protects them against the twins' supernatural powers.
The Mafa believe that twins are only half human. Twins come from the wild grasses, the trees, and the mist. Their existence precedes humanity, dating back to the primordial past.
Twins, who are not engendered by their father, must choose their own mother. As Mafa legend has it:
An unsuspecting woman might be walking alongside a road as twins carefully watch her passing by. If
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