Consequences
“If anybody kills the python without letting people know what he or she has done, it would not take long before the person begins to have a series of problems and that is why anybody who kills it would always tell others what has happened.
“For example, if such a person is in a vehicle that is involved in an accident, only the person would sustain injuries; others would be saved. The person could also be cultivating land and accidentally injure himself with the hoe or cutlass, and such wounds would never heal until investigation reveals that such a person killed a python sometime in the past without telling anybody.
“Sometimes, people, including the person that killed the python would cry like when somebody dies. The people that cry are just people that are around and who understand what the culture says regarding killing a python. Then they would get a carton, put the python inside it and bury it before other rites would be carried out.
“Yes, it could be buried in a coffin. A person who wants to accord full respect to it would buy a small coffin and bury it because, at the end of the day, it is all about burial.”
Other traditional rites after the burial
Okeke further said: “Other necessary rituals after the burial include the fact that the priest in charge of the python could demand a fowl or a goat to be slaughtered. Whatever their demand, it would be provided so that the sacrifice would be complete. Even if you are a visitor in this village, as long as you keep to the rules guiding us here, the python will not harm you in any way.
Religion
“Well, you know that all over the world, religion is supposed to be a personal choice. But here you find Christians wishing that tradition be abolished, so that everybody will follow Christianity. But so far so good, there has been no clash. Christians are worshipping their God while the traditionalists are equally doing their own thing. There is no problem between the two at all in this village.”
Source: Daily Sun
Discussion about this post