The traditional Swazi wedding ceremony is called umtsimba , in which the bride is committed to her new family for the rest of her life. The ceremony is a celebration that includes members of both the bride - and the village of the groom's birth. There are stages for marriages that last for several days. Each stage is significant, consisting of symbolic movements that have been passed down from generation to generation. The first stage is the preparation of the bridal party before leaving their village. The second stage is the actual journey of the bridegroom from their village to the village of the groom. The third stage is the first day of the wedding that lasts for three days, and begins on the day the bridal party arrives at the village of the groom. After that the actual wedding ceremony takes place which is the fourth stage of umtsimba . The fifth stage takes place a day after the wedding ceremony and is known as kuteka , which is the actual marriage. The final stage may occur the day after the wedding day, and is when the bride gives the groom's family a present and is the first night the bride spends time with the groom. Although traditional wedding ceremonies have evolved in modern times, the details below are based on the anthropologist Hilda Kuper's historical report and the sociological research depicting tradition
Video Umtsimba
Before the bride goes
The bride's father told friends and family that her daughter was getting married, and the village head was told there would be a wedding. After that, Daddy tells and invites the neighbors to the wedding. The father also appointed two men and two women to accompany the untusimba to the groom's house. The grass mats and the grass sweeps are made by the young bride, her relatives and friends, who the bride will bring when she leaves her parents' home. He also carries a handmade gift for his father-in-law, which signals to them a spirit of hospitality and generosity.
Almost all functions and ceremonies of Swazi include a traditional beer called umcombotsi , which is brewed along with other drinks by elderly women from the village to travel the bride to her female home. If the groom lives close, the bride picks up a bottle of beer known as tshwala beliqaka to the groom's house, showing them that she has come with the full consent of her family.
After the message has been sent to the future family that the preparations have been made, the bride and groom (umdimba ) are gathered together, mostly young girls and women who are relatives and friends of the bride. The size of an umtsimba is a matter of pride for the bride's family and may exceed fifty. Important parties of the bride's assistant are 1) ematshitshi (girl who has reached puberty but has not chosen a lover yet) 2) Maps Umtsimba
Departure day
The day of departure is marked by intense activity, with young people wearing their best traditional dress. Inkomo yekususa umtsimba (a cow to send the bridal party) is killed and the meat is cooked and eaten. The bride's father and elderly relatives ensure that the meat is properly allocated among the group members. The inyongo (gallbladder) is set aside for the bride by the first-born son of his father's grandfather. The Lisokancanti performs a ritual in which it presses the bile to the mouth, the bridal forehead, to the center of his face, to the right arm and right leg. This is done to strengthen it and give him good luck. The bladder is then pumped and tied with a rope over his forehead. Here it is
The bride is then educated by older women on marital difficulties. He was urged to practice restraint, never responding to insults with humiliation, and was deeply reminded that he represented the honorable name of his family. He was warned against allegations of jealous and lazy wives, and possibly beatings from her husband. After the marriage school, the bride's father pronounces her daughter's farewell and bless her. The lisokancanti of the bride's grandfather, then issued instructions and suggestions to two designated men and women. He instructed them to make sure to return the cow insulamyembeti (teardrop), which will be mentioned later. The bride and tingcugce have a ludzibi (a girl who helps carry a suitcase) to bring clothes and blankets to the older bride and girl. Young men are also helpful. The bridal party then began to sing and dance the wedding songs and they set out. Two of the songs they sang are as follows:
These songs explain that the bride is in great demand. As a special aid, she was sent to the groom. Depending on the distance between villages, a trip to the groom's guest house may take a few days. Along the way, the bridal party is accommodated in the homes of relatives and certain friends. Today, trips to the groom's guest house tend to have a much shorter duration, in part because of the availability of modern transportation.
The arrival of the bridal party (day 1)
The bridal party aims to arrive at the bridal house at sunset because it is believed that the ancestral spirits are most active and very welcoming and bless the bride. When the bridal party approached the bridal guest house, the bridal party members danced to make their presence known. They waited outside the gate and waited to be greeted. The bridal party formed a bow, with the bride at its center, people began loudly praising the clan's name and praising its ancestors. The singing ended when the female relatives of the groom, wearing a rattle on their ankles, appeared to greet the party. When the bride begins to sing the first song, a boy from the village of the groom leads the bride and lady tingcugce (single woman) to her future mother-in-law. Kneeling, the bride put a white strand in front of her mother-in-law, and said: "I came to pay allegiance". The mother-in-law replied: "From whom did you come?" The bride replied, "I was sent by my father". The bride and her party are then taken away to rest while the groom's family continues to sing and dance as a welcome sign of welcome. The bride and her girls slept in the same room. He has not seen the groom.
Before sunset, the bridal party goes to the river where they eat and drink. The bride's family arranges that a cow or a goat is known as sahukulu . Each member of umtsimba receives some, but adult girls are not allowed to eat offal. The bride herself was excluded from the party sahukulu and only ate the food prepared for her from home or from relatives. The party then returned to the prepared room provided by the groom's family.
Wedding ceremony (day 2)
The wedding party arrives early to prepare and dress, away from the activities of the guesthouse and the wedding. Preparation is long because the bride intends to impress all with the entry: she's wearing a cow leather skirt from the house and clothes with a feather called sigeja . Beads and wool cover her face, and her head is decorated with a crown ( sidlodo ) consisting of two large black feather bunches from a long-tailed widowbird. The community arrived, expecting to be entertained by the dance umtsimba . The women in the village carried long carved knives while the men held spears and shields, because they knew that the group would dance that afternoon.
The umstimba remains in the river. A young male messenger was sent to the bride of the groom's family to invite the party to join the groom. The bride, concealed by her 'brother', danced alone to her mother-in-law, flanked by her bridesmaid, and then joined the dance by the public. The audience gives small gifts including coins, fruits, and candies for dancing groups. The
At the end of the day, a cow is killed - a sidvudvu (porridge) or an inkhomo yemtsimba (cow from umtsimba), or indlakudla (eat food). This gives the bridegroom the right to eat at the bridal guesthouse, and must be distinguished from sahukulu which is theoretically taken by force and eaten away from the homestead.
Murder sidvudvu is a symbol - during skinning, the juice of umsasane (stomach) should not spill because it could indicate that if it spills, it means that the man has bride by the way family and therefore have to pay a fine, in the form of a cow. The umsasane was washed in a river by a man, and then sent to the mother of the bride (or if she lived far away, for the old woman of the bride's group) along with her left hind legs from the cow. The rest of the meat is shared between two families, the bride receives the right hand and the man on the left.
Wedding day (day 3)
The mekeza
The wedding day is known as lilanga lokuteka . The elders in the family members of the groom gathered before sunrise to call the bride: "Come out, mom, and mekeza , now I marry you". Mekeza does not have an English equivalent, but describes the bride's lament in leaving her family and childhood behind.
The bride remained silent and sadly symbolically, as a man from a side-by-side bridegroom called her to mekeza , while her friends shouted at her to leave. As the day progressed and the sun rose, the bride was accompanied by her girls to a cattle ranch to mekeza , wearing her waist skirt from the house.
The bridesmaids walked slowly from east to west in the cow shed, while the bride leaned on the spear from her husband's house, crying. The spear is symbolic, made up of iron and wood, with iron symbolizing death and wood from the tree that symbolizes life. The bride is wearing a black leather skirt ( sidvwaba ), which signifies her new position in the community. Her girls followed behind her singing sad songs. Mekeza's songs are repeated continuously, and have traditionally dealt with family importance, marital difficulties and the importance of livestock for his family. These songs also serve to highlight the importance of respect, obedience and obedience to the bride. Finally the bride signaled to her siblings, who had been hiding, to 'rescue' her - a symbolic movement. He sings:
The bride 'escaped' to her room with her wedding party, while the groom's family called her: "We brought you back, mother, with cow, cow with red line". This cow, always light-colored, is known as the insulamnyembeti - eraser away from tears - and shows the bride's mother that her men appreciate the care she gives to her daughter. The mekeza can last from two to four hours and is very tiring for everyone.
Umhlambiso
After the reluctance of the bride to leave her family, she is now trying to find a new family. The
The next attitude featured the task of the bride for childbirth: she was taken to the cow by an elderly lady, where the bridesmaids surrounded her singing mekeza songs. The old woman closed the bride with fat and her face with a red ocher. A child from the groom's family is placed in his lap and is told: 'This is your mother', and the child is also covered in fat. Then the bride is given a leather apron, tied under her armpits, which is a sign of a new wife or a woman in her first pregnancy. The wedding party returns home, and the bride lives in her new home.
Lobola transfers occurred, which included the transfer of livestock from the bride's family to the bride's family. This can happen several months or years after umtsimba . The Swazi tradition states: "akulotjolwa intfombi kulotjolwa umfati" meaning that, the price of the bride is paid for a woman who is legally bound in marriage and not to single women. However, currently lobola is mostly paid before married couples, when women are not yet legally bound.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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