The sacred dance

by W. O. E. Oesterley

II

As far as one can gather from the evidence there seem to be, in regard to this type of dance in its more primitive forms, two purposes which are apparently quite distinct. The first has for its object the quieting or propitiation of the ghosts of those slain in battle; in this case the dance is not the central rite, but none the less indispensable. The following is an example of this among the natives of the Indian Archipelago:

In the island of Timor, when a warlike expedition has returned in triumph bringing the heads of the vanquished foe, the leader of the expedition is forbidden by religion and custom to return at once to his own house. A special hut is prepared for him, in which he has to reside for two months, undergoing bodily and spiritual purification. That these observances are dictated by fear of the ghosts seems certain; for from another account of the ceremonies performed on the return of a successful head-hunter in the same island we learn that the sacrifices are offered on this occasion to appease the soul of the man whose head has been taken off. The people think that some misfortune would befall the victor were such offerings omitted. Moreover, a part of the ceremony consists of a dance accompanied by a song, in which the death of the slain man is lamented and his forgiveness is entreated.

An argumentative plea, addressed to the slain man, is then pronounced in extenuation of the unfortunate necessity of his having had to lose his head[297]. It is evident that in this case the entire ceremony is an act of propitiation to the soul of the slain lest his ghost should bring some evil on the head of the slayer; the dance is, of course, performed as a compliment to the enraged ghost.

We take another example from a different part of the world:

Among the Roro-speaking tribes of British New Guinea homicides were secluded in the warriors’ club-house. They had to pass the night in the building, but during the day they might paint and decorate themselves and dance in front of it.... Finally, those warriors who had never killed a man before assumed a beautiful ornament made of fretted turtle shell, which none but homicides were allowed to flaunt in their head-dresses. Then came a dance, and that same night the men who wore the honourable badge of homicide for the first time were chased about the village; embers were thrown at them and firebrands waved in order, apparently, to drive away the souls of the dead enemies, who seemed to be conceived as immanent in some way in the headgear of their slayers[298].

Here again, while the dance does not form the central part of the ceremony, it is evidently an essential part of it, performed in honour of the slain. The interior of the warriors’ club-house was evidently considered a place of safety, hence the retirement into it during the night, the time when the ghosts were most to be feared. The dance which followed next day must be regarded as an act of propitiation; this concerned the veterans. The novices had their special dance, also a propitiatory rite, while the firebrands hurled at their heads in the evening gave the quietus to the ghosts of the men slain by them.

Once more, among the Arunta of Central Australia it is likewise the custom to perform a vigorous dance on the return from battle[299]. In this case the dance comprises the whole ceremony, from which one can gather the importance of it in the eyes of these people. It is difficult to say whether the dance here is an act of propitiation or whether it serves to frighten away the ghosts of the slain, who are supposed to follow their slayers; probably, we should say, the former, since the frightening away of ghosts usually takes a different form.

As a few examples of many these cases of the dance taking place after the return from victory show that one of its purposes was the propitiation of the ghosts of the slain.

We turn now to some other instances in which the dance had a different purpose. An old historian of Madagascar informs us that

while the men are at the wars, and until their return, the women and girls cease not day and night to dance, and neither lie down nor take food in their own homes.... They believe that by dancing they impart strength, courage, and good fortune to their husbands; accordingly during such times they give themselves no rest, and this custom they observe very religiously[300].

A similar result is believed to be brought about by dancing, according to Mr Fitzgerald Marriott, among West African tribes. He says that while the Ashantee war was raging he

saw a dance performed by women whose husbands had gone as carriers to the war. They were painted white, and wore nothing but a short petticoat. At their head was a shrivelled old sorceress in a very short white petticoat.... All carried white brushes made of buffalo or horse tails, and as they danced they sang, “Our husbands have gone to Ashanteeland; may they sweep their enemies off the face of the earth[301]!”

Again, among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, “when the men were on the war-path, the women performed dances at frequent intervals. These dances were believed to ensure the success of the expedition.” The same holds good among the Yuki tribe of Indians in California; the women at home danced, believing that this would ensure victory. So, too, among the Haida women who danced and sang while their husbands were away fighting; also among the women in the Kafir district of the Hindoo Koosh of whom Sir George Robertson reports that he

more than once watched the dancers dancing at midnight and in the early morning, and could see by the fitful glow of the wood-fire how haggard and tired they looked, yet how gravely and earnestly they persisted in what they regarded as a serious duty[302].

In all these cases the dancing is in the nature of sympathetic magic, and has, therefore, an entirely different purpose from that of the previous instances cited, namely that of ensuring victory. While in the cases of ghost-propitiation the dancing, though essential, is subordinate, in the sympathetic magical, or telepathic, type it is central.

One other example is worth giving, for it is one in which the dancing takes place as a welcome to the warriors on their return from battle, and is, therefore, not of a telepathic nature; on the other hand, it does not appear to be undertaken with the idea of propitiating the ghosts of the slain, while the frightening of them away is not done by the dancers. Frazer, quoting van der Roest[303], gives this example in the following words:

In Windessi, Dutch New Guinea, when a party of head-hunters has been successful, and they are nearing home, they announce their approach and success by blowing on triton shells. Their canoes are also decked with branches. The faces of the men who have taken a head are blackened with charcoal. If several have taken part in killing the same victim, his head is divided among them. They always time their arrival so as to reach home in the early morning. They come rowing to the village with a great noise, and the women stand ready to dance in the verandahs of the houses.... The day is spent very quietly. Now and then they drum or blow on the conch; at other times they beat the walls of the houses with loud shouts to drive away the ghosts of the slain.

If, as seems probable, we have here a case of the dance taking place as a welcome home, and as a mark of honour to the victorious warriors, then we are justified in regarding it as the remains of the fuller form of the dance which was performed during the whole period of the absence of the warriors, and with a different object. In any case, such a remnant, involving a transition from one purpose to another, would be in the natural order of things,—the original purpose of the dance being an act of imitative magic to effect victory, the remnant being merely a form of welcome home to the victorious warriors; and such a transition could be paralleled by analogies, as every folklorist is well aware[304]. In course of time the original purpose or purposes of the dance would be completely forgotten, and when a reason was sought it would be simply and solely that of the welcome to the home-coming victors.

It is this latter, and this alone, which is the purpose of this type of dance in the Old Testament. But that the custom, like all ancient customs, must have a long history behind it, and that the ostensible purpose or purposes of such customs vary according to the cultural stage of the people among whom they are in vogue, will be generally allowed. We venture, therefore, to suggest the possibility that in its very much earlier phases among the ancestors of the Israelites some such objects as those indicated were connected with this type of dance.