ATDTDA (34): "the afterbirth went into the ground" (949.38)

[Tim Strzechowski]

[...] Also fostering the cultural significance of siblingship were the beliefs and ritual activities centering on the placenta, its relationship to the unborn fetus, and the interactions between the afterbirth and the individual born at the time of its expulsion. Throughout the course of a woman's pregnancy, the placenta, or temuni , was viewed as a sort of "elder sibling" to the developing embryo—for, like an elder sibling, the temuni nourished and protected the fetus, guiding its growth and maturation. This potentially beneficent relationship continued throughout the "younger sibling's" life, although it was perhaps most crucial during the first forty-four days of the child's existence. The temuni's guardianship over the newborn during this critical period was partially ensured by a ritual known as "planting (or burying) the afterbirth" (taman temuni ). A brief consideration of the essential components of this ritual as conducted in contemporary Bogang affords valuable insights i
nto certain of the themes mentioned above, particularly since villagers view this complex to be of great antiquity (see also Lewis 1962, 147; McKinley 1975, 220–234)
 
Local accounts and my own observations indicate that the disposal of the afterbirth required a midwife (bidan ), or some other woman regarded as competent, to cleanse it and to oversee or conduct the other preparations preceding its burial. The hole into which the temuni was to be placed could be dug by either a male or a female; however, both the location of the hole and the gender of the person chosen (typically from among the onlookers) to place the afterbirth within it depended on the gender of the newborn. In the event of a female child, the hole was dug beneath the central, most inaccessible, protected, and private section of the mother's house, where the resident females slept, thus symbolizing female centrality within the household. If the child was male, the temuni was placed underground either in the open garden or below the verandah (serambi ), which was exposed on three sides, unprotected, and quite "public," the part of the house where males slept and guests were recei
ved and entertained. The child's gender also determined how villagers reckoned the temuni's gender and what items were selected for placement into the hole along with the afterbirth (for instance, sewing needles or other "typically female" items in the case of a girl).

Once a hole roughly two feet deep and eight or ten inches across had been prepared, the covered temuni was laid gently at the bottom and covered with loose dirt until not much of a depression remained. Bits of coconut husk and small twigs were then piled atop the depression and ignited with embers from the kitchen hearth, and the midwife or whoever else had filled in the hole recited Koranic incantations over the flames. This recitation marked the end of the burial of the temuni, although the mother's kin generally constructed a rough lean-to over the hole to prevent rain from falling on or otherwise dampening it. Further, if they were conscientious (rajin ), they would rekindle the flame daily throughout the forty-four-day period corresponding to the mother's observance of dietary taboos. This act would guarantee the complete "drying out" of the temuni and thus decrease the probability of the child crying incessantly or falling ill from stomach or abdominal pain (sakit perut ).

This ritual illuminates important issues bearing on cross- and parallel-sex siblingship. On one level we have an unambiguous statement concerning an individual's behavior toward siblings: protective toward younger and respectful toward elder siblings. Yet at the same time, the elder/younger relationship is symbolically confined to parallel-sex siblings; a male child's sibling spirit is an "elder brother," that of a female is an "elder sister." This does not mean that individuals are not encouraged to protect and further the interests of younger siblings of the opposite sex. Nevertheless, parallel-sex siblings are represented as bound together through moral obligations of a greater (or in any event different) sort than those obtaining among cross-sex siblings. For that matter, the convergence of interests and identities among parallel-sex siblings is symbolically realized in the spatial aggregation or segregation of afterbirths according to sex—namely, the clustering of female temun
i beneath the house proper and of male temuni in an entirely separate spot underneath the verandah or in the immediate garden area. Here we have a ritual statement that brings into focus not only the shared—though essentially complementary (rather than structurally equivalent)—interests and identities of opposite-sex siblings, but also the marked social distance that should characterize all their interactions. [...]

http://tinyurl.com/3z3vdx

http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft6m3nb481;brand=eschol


[...] The placenta is believed by some communities to have power over the lives of the baby or its parents. The Kwakiutl of British Columbia bury girls' placentas to give the girl skill in digging clams, and expose boys' placentas to ravens to encourage future prophetic visions. In Turkey, the proper disposal of the placenta and umbilical cord is believed to promote devoutness in the child later in life. In Ukraine, Transylvania, and Japan, interaction with a disposed placenta is thought to influence the parents' future fertility. The ancient Egyptians believed that the placenta was imbued with magical powers. [...]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placenta