Earlier in the week on our knowledge Tuesday, we gave a succinct summary of how the Nupe traditional marriage formality is carried out.
Though we may have left out some information on the procedures carried out during the marriage rite. We have decided to let you in on what was missed out of the equation.
We move forward to shed a little spotlight on the importance of the stool ritual to the Nupe culture.
Significance of the stool at a Nupe Traditional marriage
In the Nupe society, during the wedding ceremony, the bride is told to sit on a stool when she is called out. It is said that the essence of this tradition dates to the fact that the bride sits on it as an unmarried lady but rises as a wife.
The practice is done in an orderly procession starting from when the bride’s aunties lead her out into the middle of the compound, where she sits on a wooden stool, and her face unveiled.
A handful of people form a circle with a small bowl of water at hand. They sing, pray, and chant. An aunt fetches water from the bowl with her cupped palm, pouring it unto the bride-to-be’s head, washing her into the state of marriage. When she emerges from this ritual, it will be as a married woman.
The pot breaking ritual at a nupe traditional marriage ceremony
But before then, her best friend must do something crucial: step forward from the crowd and break a clay pot three times.
The clay pot is usually one brought days before by the proposed husband’s aunties. Upon the breaking of the pot, the woman is deemed married. The rite ends.
Like we readily advise, learning is nonstop and today we have just shed light on a vital routine many are not in the know about.
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