Ekewane - The Sorceress Read online

  Chapter Thirteen.

  Puberty

  Puberty hut.

  The sun was high when Ekewane awoke.

  Her mother was sitting nearby looking at her strangely.

  “Ekewane, we will build you a special hut and you must stay in the hut for a while. We will feed and look after you, and you must not leave the hut.”

  She was about to ask why, but still felt miserable from the night before, so thought it would be nice not see anyone for a while and be looked after. So lay down again. She did not ask where Eiru was, she felt too tired to care and soon fell asleep again.

  When she awoke again her mother and other women of the tribe accompanied her to a small hut near her parents’ hut. Her small hut faced inland and she could not see the sea, but could hear the waves as they crashed against the reef. The hut was small and not very sturdy, but inside it was decorated with fine mats and scented flowers.

  She was only allowed to leave her hut to go to one of the special rock pools to bathe. Her mother and other women of the tribe prepared special food for her, and massaged her body with sweet-scented coconut oil. Fresh flowers were threaded through her hair and her mats were changed often.

  At first Ekewane enjoyed the attention and the fact that she did not have to look after her younger siblings, or carry the water from the pond. At first she felt wonderful, but then started to become restless. She missed her friends. Eiru would come often and visit her and they would play string figures, but Emarr and Bagonoun were strictly forbidden to see her and did not ask Eiru about them.

  Ekewane’s mother came every day and sat besides her, teaching her the different chants for different spells. She often brought with her various plants and showed her how to grind and mix the potions. Often chants accompanied the blending and healing process.

  “One day our people will come to you for help. They may need to heal wounds, but often you will need to call the spirit world to help,” explained Emanear.

  Ekewane was quiet for a while. She wanted to know more about the spirit world, but was too embarrassed to ask.

  Emanear knew that her daughter had many questions to ask so waited patiently. Ekewane was in turmoil, she understood that she was going through a difficult time -a time when she was discovering being a woman and a sorceress.

  “Are there many different kinds of spirits?” finally asked Ekewane. Her mother nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

  “We will be able to help those who are ill or have been cursed?” Her mother nodded again.

  “There were those in our old village that had great powers over the dark spirits?” Her mother nodded again.

  “How. How do you cast these spells? Can we cast dark spirit spells?” Ekewane asked silently too embarrassed to look at her mother.

  “Yes, we can.”

  “How?”

  “Ekewane, our power is great. We can call on the spirit world to heal or to harm. But the evil spirits are difficult to control. If you call them from the spirit world and use their power, part of them will remain with you. You must decide for yourself what spirits you will call, but remember, our power should be used to help others and not ourselves.”

  Emanear sat there, her mind drifted to the past when she too had asked her mother these same questions. Her mother had answered her as she did to Ekewane. Her daughter would have to decide her own future; all she could do was to pray to their ancestors to help guide her.

  The months passed and finally the day came when her mother said: “You are now a woman Ekewane, and soon we will have to look for a husband.”

  Ekewane’s fear rose, but she controlled her voice and whispered: “I do not want to get married. Why am I so different from the other girls?”

  Her mother just put her arm around her shoulders and quietly said: “You do not choose to become a woman, the spirit within you takes you through each stage of your life, you cannot choose . . . you are different from others, but I do not know why.”

  Ekewane was quiet for a moment, and then asked? “ Are Eiru, Emet or Iud women?”

  “Emet and Iudi had their celebrations before you, when we were back on our island. I am sorry Ekewane, but although our family is powerful, we belong to the Ramaoide class; your ceremony will not show the wealth and power of our family. We cannot kill pigs or chickens they are needed for breeding. I am sorry,” she said sadly.

  “I don’t care about celebrations! I want to leave this hut. I am tired of lying here all day,” she thought to herself, but did not speak, not wanting to hurt her mother. Then it occurred to her.

  “Do boys also go through this isolation and ceremonies?” she asked curious, wondering if Emarr and Bagonoun were also locked up.

  “Yes,” replied simply her mother.

  “Is that why Emarr and Bagonoun have not visited me?”

  “No, both boys have had their ceremonies back on the islands. It is taboo for them to visit you whilst you are in this hut.” Then she stood up and looked down at her troubled daughter. “Tomorrow is your last day. Tomorrow night we will have a great celebration.”

  Ekewane sat there amazed. “A woman, that’s why my body is changing!” she thought.

  She knew that her body had gone through changes during the past months. She was no longer as thin as before. On her old island she could now marry and have children of her own.

  That thought terrified her. She remembered on her island when a woman was pregnant she wore a special mat and was only allowed to eat certain food. The husband also had to eat a special diet, and he was not allowed to cut his hair.

  When the baby was due a maternity hut was built and a special birth mat was laid on the floor. During labour, boxes and other closed containers within the hut had to be opened. Soon after the baby was born, both the mother and child were given a little seawater to drink as a cleansing agent. As soon as the baby was born a great celebration would take place.

  Ekewane also remembered that many of the women died at childbirth. The thought of marriage and childbirth terrified her, but she knew it was the way of her people, it would be expected of her.

  “Ugh!’ she yelled frustrated, “I don’t want to be a woman! What is ahead of me?”

  The next day her mother and other women of the village came to her, rubbed her body with coconut oil and perfume made from sweet smelling flowers on the island. They combed her long black hair with coconut oil until it shone. Her skin had become paler since she had not been in the sunlight for three months and she had put on a little weight. Her mother then gave her a new skirt made of finely woven pandanus threads that felt soft on her body. A belt of dainty shells and small feathers was placed around her waist. A wreath of scented frangipani and hibiscus flowers went around her head. Finally, her mother placed an exquisite necklace made of rainbow coloured shells and long black frigate bird feathers.

  “It is nicer than Emet’s!” Ekewane thought.

  “Why am I comparing myself to Emet? Why do I care?”

  She quickly dismissed these thoughts and tried to look like she was enjoying the ceremony, but on the back of her mind was the expectation that was now placed on her. She knew that this was an important and proud event for her parents, she would smile, and anyone looking at her would think she was happy.

  The sun was setting and the fires were lit. Ekewane was accompanied out of her hut and placed onto a small stretcher. Then four young men of the village, including Emarr and Bagonoun, carried her around the tribe that had gathered there to celebrate, and then they put the stretcher down beside the large fire. Instead of enjoying being the centre of attention, she felt embarrassed, and cringed as people sang in her honour. The villagers offered her gifts. She was told that she could not give them away as was the custom of other gifts given on different occasions.

  Ekewane sat there smiling; she wished the celebrations would end. An abundance of food had been cooked for the occasion. She noticed that there were milkfish and mangoes.

  “They
have returned to the lake without me,” she thought sadly.

  The singing continued and then Emet, Iud with the other girls started dancing.

  “Ugh!” Ekewane thought again, and looked to see where Emarr was.

  He was sitting around the fire next to Bagonoun smiling up at the girls.

  “This is supposed to be my celebration!” Ekewane thought angrily. Again she was frightened by the intensity of her feelings. “Why should I care?” she thought again to herself.

  The singing and celebrations lasted most of the night. Then at last, her mother led her back to the hut that she had previously shared with Eiru. As she silently walked away with her mother, she did not see Emarr quickly glance up at her.

  When Ekewane arrived at her hut, her mother handed her a casket made from pandanus leaves: it was woven with the pattern of their tribe. Her mother then hugged her again and left.

  She removed her fine jewellery, and placed them into the small casket. She also had her gifts, put them just inside the door in a basket, and then crawled onto her mat and fell asleep exhausted.

  Eiru awakened her as she silently entered the hut and lay down beside her. “I have missed my friend,” Ekewane thought, “Eiru is always so peaceful and loving, she is never angry -like me, why can’t I be more like her?” And with that thought she fell back to sleep.