Hermann Hochegger A NECKLACE TO REJUVENATE, A CALABASH TO NOURISH.

Paying attention to the riches of the CEEBA archives, with more than 5000 folktales,1

allows one to appreciate the large choice of variants concerning the theme of this
work. One should note that this book does not publish all the folktales recorded on this
topic. The versions with the theme of the magic ring are very numerous. We have chosen only a limited
selection. 

A look at the numerous variants presented in this volume reveals that
the hero who becomes owner of a magical object expresses his wishes,
which are characterized by concern for the community, and rarely by
egotistical appetites. He asks for the emergence of a property, a large
and healthy village, factories, good roads, trucks, and money for
everyone. The girl who asks her magic ring for running water in the
house (see Sakata 4) expresses a care for modern improvements that will
be available to everyone. 

The large variety of objets, jewelry, ornaments, instruments, utensils, plants,
fruit, and animals is presented like an impressive assemblage in oral
literature. Let us see some themes in detail. 

* Objects that procure money, treasures, luxury, properties, and
extraordinary riches (See variants Buma 1,6,23,24,29,33,35. Sakata 3,8.
Mbuun 2. Mbala 1. Mputu 1. Dinga 1. Kwese 2. Suku 3. Lulua 7,8.
Ndengese.)

* Objects that bring help in difficult
situations. (See Cok 2,5. Kanyok 1. Lulua 2. Songye 2. Tetela 1. Buma
2,5,7,9,10,21. Mbuun 4. Yansi 2,9,10.)

* Objects that punish adversaries. (See Cok 5. Kaniok 1. Luba 1,2.
Lulua 2,4. Songye 2. Tetela 1. Dinga 6. Suku 1. Ngongo 2. Buma
24,31,36.)

* Objects that give information. (See Sakata 1,2,5,6. Buma 18,19,20,28,30,34. Yansi 6,9,10,14. Lulua 5. Mbuun 1.)

* Objects that metamorphose. (See Songye 1. Buma 4,20. Kwese 3. Hungana. Pende 1)

* Objects that heal. (See Yansi 14,15. Dinga 2. Lulua 4.)

* Objects that raise a dead person. (See Kongo 1. Sakata 7. Buma 22. Cok 6. Mongo.)

* Objects that can be eaten. (See Dinga 3. Kwese2,4. Pende 1. Ruund 1. Buma 8,16,31. Lulua 4,5. Ngongo 1.)

* Objects that make one invisible. (See Suku 3. Lulua 4.)

* Objects that give a husband, a wife, children, servants, soldiers.
(See Ngongo 3. Yansi 3,8,11,12,13. Kwese 1. Kanyok 2. Buma 11,12,37.
Ntomba. Mbuun 5,6. Tetela 2. Teke. Sakata 3,4. Hungana. Dinga 4.)

* Animals that give money. (See Yansi 1. Kwese 2. Kongo 2. Suku 1,6. Buma 24.)

There is an evident relationship between "symbols-words" (folktales, myths) and

"symbols-acts" (rituals).

In the ritual of the people studied in this volume, the ring assumes a variety of
functions. First it is used in a friendship pact, an alliance,
engagements, or a marriage. Next, the ring plays the role of good luck
charm. It must bring good luck, money, success, strength, and good
health. The well known rites serve to prepare the guardian rings against sorcerers or malevolent beings.2

The words uttered during the ritual presentation of a good luck ring to its client visibly resemble the words of
folktales: 

"I give you this ring which will serve you for everything. 

May there be no more problems with your enterprises!

Thanks to this ring, your work will go marvelously.

I entrust it to you because you came to ask me 

of your own will; I cannot deny it to you.

Be convinced that henceforth your life is 

guaranteed and full of success."3

There are ritual rings to wear prior to the hunt which protect the hunter from the claws of a ferocious
animal. 

In the ritual of healing, the sick person must lick the ring of a diviner-healer
(exorcist) to receive healing.4

Certain folktales remind one of the rituals during which the officiant prepares a ring at the cemetery or from a genie
(siren).5 We point out that fish are considered to be like children of the water
genie; they help acquire or find magic rings. 

Some folktales speak of a ring acquired through a dog.6 One should
remember that there is a ritual relationship between the dog and the
dead.7

                                  
The ritual importance of the necklace8

The ritual symbolism of the necklace may be explained on one hand by the influence9 that it exercises on the person who wears
it: the idea of tying, holding, reserving for a function (a chief installed in public
office, a girl taken for a forced marriage), and on the other hand the meaning of objects which make up the
necklace: beads or cowry shells (money, ornaments), leopard teeth (political power), peanuts
(fertility), palm nuts (fertility), palm nuts kernels, pebbles (to
enclose, hold), chicken feathers (fertility), and feathers of the eagle or the parrot
(political power).

The people of this region offer necklaces of beads to genies and special necklaces to idols or to the
dead.

                             
The ritual importance of the bracelet10

In the world of ritual, the bracelet signifies the power of protection and of
healing, power of direction (lineage and chiefdom), engagement, pact,
benediction, luck, honor (twins), endurance (moribund), and
reinforcement. The attentive reader easily notes the relationship with magical objects.11

Associated with the symbolism of the ARM, the ritual use of the
bracelet is explained by the color and by the material of which it is
made: vine, raffia, thread, beads, metal, animal skin, or hair of an
elephant's tail. To place an anklet on the ankle aims at restoring
health to a sick person. 

The symbolism of the
ring, a circular object, evokes the idea of unity, of a consistent
whole, from which no element comes out without having been expelled.
That is the sense of the chef's ring, charged with watching over the
unity, the protection, and the wellbeing of a lineage, or a village.
The ring of a sick person reassures him of its protection against the
sorcerer's powers or against the shades of aggressive dead people. A
person who feels menaced by sorcerers may protect his soul by paying a
specialist for a guardian ring. In the Tetela tale "Ring, shrink
yourself!" the hero find his liberation thanks to his magic ring. 

The Motif-Index of Folk-Literature of Stith Thompson permits us to see
in which country there are folktales concerning magical objects. See
B100, B103, D950, D960, D980, D1050, D1057, D1065, D1069, D1073, D1074,
D1079, D1122, D1131, D1153, D1162, D1170, D1210, D1211, D1225, D1254,
D1275, D1372, D1394, D1401, D1450, D1454, D1456, D1463, D1469, D1470,
D1472, D1476, D1610, D1973, D1976, D2130.

In recent research among the Indians of South America, the variants of
this motif were recorded by Johann Wilbert and K.Simoneau:13

* The D950 motif is found among the Gê (Northern), the Bororo, the Gê
(Southern), the Chorote, the Chamacoco, the Nivaklé, the Toba
(Northern), the Ayoreo, the Yanomami, the Makka, the Cuiva, and the
Sikuani. 

* The D1050 motif was recorded among the Mocovi, the Caduveo, and the Sikuani.

* D1057 among the Mataco.

* D1122 among the Warao.

* D1162 Guajiro (Southern), Chamacoco, Makka.

* D1170 Gê (Northern), Mataco.

* D1211 Mataco, Bororo, Toba (Southern)

* D1225 Chamacoco

* D1254 Mataco, Toba (Northern), Bororo, Chorote, Toba (Southern), Sikuani

* D1275 Selknam, Gê (Northern), Mataco, Toba (Northern), Bororo, Gê
(Southern), Guajiro (Southern), Chamacoco, Nivaklé, Mocovi, Toba
(Northern), Ayoreo, Caduveo, Yanomami, Yaruro, Makka, Cuiva, Sikuani. 

* D1401 Toba (Northern).

* D1450 Mataco.