The Tsikafara rite in Tsimihety country

Life is made of inequality and the man, to live his humanity, must assume this inequality inherent to the life. With this inequality, the man becomes a being of desire and sometimes a subject to be desired, because the difference creates a social emulation with the only aim of demonstrating that one is not a rascal. A Tsikafara rite is a rite through which the tsimihety ask the ancestors to help them fulfill a desire. With one hand placed on a sacred stone, the subject-desirer begs the ancestors to channel all cosmic fecundities to work in his favor. In return, he promises a sacrifice in case his wish comes true. When the desire reaches the shore of reality, it gives rise to a sacrificial rite of joy where the happy-desirer is freed from his promise. Beyond the rite, the Tsikafara takes on various symbols that refer to the deep identity of the Tsimihety and it reveals in itself the quintessence of the Antandrona thought.