Wala

The wala are the female spirits of water, land and fertility in the Abelam world, the generative and complementary counterpart to the male order of the nggwalndu enshrined in the men's ceremonial house. They dwell at springs, pools and other marked places of the country, and are bound up with human conception; some accounts describe them as serpent- or python-formed beings who enter women at sacred sites to initiate pregnancy. Sources differ on their precise form and reach, but their role sustains the deep Abelam opposition and complementarity of male and female generative powers that Diane Losche made central to her account of the society.

Domains

• conception
• water and land

Powers

• quicken the womb and initiate pregnancy
• inhabit water-holes and marked places of the land

Sources

• The wala are female spirits of water, land and fertility, complementary to the male nggwalndu cult, associated in some accounts with conception and with serpent form.: Losche, D. (1982), The Abelam: A People of Papua New Guinea, Sydney: The Australian Museum. (secondary); Hauser-Schaublin, B. (2016), Ceremonial Houses of the Abelam, Papua New Guinea: Architecture and Ritual, Adelaide: Crawford House. (secondary)