Mate Bian

The mate-bian, the 'souls of the dead', are the venerated ancestors of the sacred house who form the focus of Tetum domestic cult. Incorporated through mortuary ritual into the community of the forebears, they watch over their descendants, uphold custom and the moral order, and dispense both fertility and affliction according to whether the living honour their obligations. The dead are held to gather at Mount Matebian, the 'mountain of the souls' in eastern Timor. The benevolent ancestral mate-bian are distinguished from the dangerous, unquiet ghosts of those not yet incorporated or of those who died badly.

Domains

• death and the ancestors
• moral order and custom

Powers

• watch over the descendants and uphold custom
• dispense fertility and affliction

Sources

• The mate-bian are the venerated ancestral dead of the sacred house, who watch over descendants and dispense blessing or affliction; the dead are said to gather at Mount Matebian in eastern Timor.: David Hicks, Tetum Ghosts and Kin, 2nd ed. (Waveland Press, 2004) (secondary); David Hicks, A Maternal Religion (Northern Illinois University, 1984) (secondary)