Nggwal Walipeine
Arapesh · numen · Arapesh traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Nggwal Walipeine is the venerable, decrepit manifestation of Nggwal, the tambaran that belongs to old men at the summit and close of the ritual system. Where its fierce counterpart Bunafunei embodies consuming power, Walipeine embodies exhaustion and release: entering this grade brings men the consolation of no longer being driven by the spirit's demands, the reward of a lifetime given over to the cult. In Tuzin's account the two phases together dramatise the whole span of masculine existence, the spirit ageing in step with the men who carry it.
Domains
- mens cult secrecy
Powers
- grant the senior consolations of the highest grade
Relations
- sibling: Nggwal BunafuneiThe aged senior phase set against the fierce junior phase of the same spirit.Tuzin 1980, The Voice of the Tambaran, chs. 7-8, on the paired manifestations of Nggwal. (primary)
Sources
- Nggwal Walipeine is the aged, fifth-grade manifestation of Nggwal, the tambaran of old men, marking the final stage of the cult and of the male life course.: Tuzin, Donald F. 1980. The Voice of the Tambaran, ch. 8, 'Nggwal Walipeine: The Consolation of Old Age'. Berkeley: University of California Press. (primary)