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• Intangible Sacred Sites
Burial places,
fisokina
and
vato
are the most visible and best-known sacred places. However, there are many special sacred places
where anyone with a wish to fulfill may go to make a
joro
. Where specific objects are visible, it is easy to respect all the symbolisms
attached to them. Sometimes however, such objects have long disappeared, but the rituals remain in the memory of the certain
members of the community.
Sometimes a place may become
fady
such as when a dead body rests at that site, for example, during a funeral ceremony or when
it is being transported from the morgue to the village. Such an event only lasts a short time and leaves no specific trace on the place,
but since it happened, the place must now be remembered and respected. Therefore, the sanctity lies more in the collective memory
than in the actual event, thus making it intangible.
Any individual traveling in the region must respect any omnipresent and invisible sacred concepts, as well as any unwritten rules.
A great deal of social unrest can arise by going against such rules. In such cases, penalties can range from a simple warning to
sacrificing a zebu.
When a population, or even the older generations, does not remember precisely when or how special symbols or places such
as trees, waterfalls, or a simple boulder have become sacred, they are systematically referred to as ‘of
vazimba
origin’. This term
frequently comes up in conversations. Similarly, when a place has a somewhat unusual aspect about it, it is qualified as
vazimba
.
Therefore, this name, which originally designated the first inhabitants of Madagascar, becomes an adjective to describe all the mythic
beings and stories that still persist in the minds of many Malagasy.
Initially, the local population was reluctant to reveal their sacred places. Sometimes their revelations were made indirectly since some
of their practices are judged to be non-compliant with official religions. Therefore, while ensuring respect for people’s confidence, the
social team collected various stories concerning the origin of a
fady
for specific areas, such as: the
Riana
waterfalls; the
Tany mahery
,
lit. ‘resistant’ land; the
fanariana nify
, a place where milk teeth are thrown away; or the
fanariana tavony
, a place where the placenta
is buried. Therefore, according to local customs, certain places are chosen by each clan to bury the
tavony
or placenta of a newborn
or to throw the milk teeth when they are not thrown on the roof of a house. As for stillborn babies, they do not have the right to be
buried in the traditional family tomb; therefore a specific location is designated outside each village.
There are no distinctive signs or symbols to indicate to foreigners the kind of behaviour and attitude to be adopted near such kind
of places. However, the spatial organization of a village complies with such codes, even though they are not written or posted for
foreigners to see. Failure to comply with such unwritten rules, even inadvertently, will make communities uncomfortable even if they
might not outwardly show it.
