Sacred Ritual

There once was a man who had heard of a sacred ritual from a remote tribe in Africa. No one from outside the tribe had ever been allowed to witness the ritual. It was very intriguing. The tribe was very civilised, but this yearly ritual was such a strong tradition that they would not give it up.

The man was doing a study in Africa and went and spoke to the head of the tribe. He asked, begged, and pleaded for an opportunity to witness the ritual. The tribe leader got together with the tribal council and discussed this issue. "Our ritual has been performed for thousands of years, and no one outside of our tribe has ever witnessed it. Our daughters are marrying outside of the tribe, and I am concerned that this ritual will die in a few generations. I feel that we should allow one outsider to witness this, and share it with his children."

One of the tribal council spoke up and said "This outsider must become one of our tribe by marrying one of our own. He must be sworn to secrecy, and never put the details of our ritual into any written form. It is our tradition that this ritual has never been written down, nor do we feel that it should be."

The tribal council gave a hearty cheer at this speech. The tribal leader considered carefully the words of his tribal council, and went and spoke with the mann who had asked to witness the ritual.

"My council and I have come to an agreement. You may witness the ritual if you become one of our tribe by marrying one of our daughters. You may not ever write down the details of this ritual, and you may only share it with your own children, who must also share it with their children."

The man was ecstatic, because the time of the ritual was near, but he loved the tribal leader's daughter, who also loved him. He had been hoping to be able to marry the beautiful woman, and this was his dream come true. "With your permission, Great Leader, I would like to marry your daughter. I love her very much and I believe she loves me also."

The tribal leader then consulted with his wife and his daughter, and agreed to the marriage.

The time of the ritual finally arrived. The entire tribe packed for the trip to the site of the ritual. Although the weather was mild, the man noticed that the tribe was packing winter coats, heavy boots, hats and gloves. The tribe then climbed the highest mountain in the area, to a remote spot within where there was a wide opening and perfectly flat.

The man was thinking "After all these years, I finally get to witness the most sacred ritual of this tribe. I made a promise to never write it down, and share it with my children. I will keep these promises, but what a privelege to be among this tribe at this time."

The tribe arranged themselves in a large circle, and the ritual began:

"You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out..."