Fatidra: blood brotherhood

Some malagasy people do the fatidra ceremony to have a new brother. For example Ikotofetsy and Imahaka were two fictive scoundrels who became blood brothers in order that one would not do any harm to the other, but it was at the end of their tricky adventures. It still exists in the malagasy culture.

According to Lavondès , a Fati-drà is a ceremony in which two individuals who vow mutual fidelity and trust by a ceremony involving the mingling of their blood. ( Le fatidra est le lien de parenté artificielle ( et partielle) qie sont susceptibles de créer volontairement deux individus non parents et la cérémonie qui permet de l’établir).

You can read this article: Henri LAVONDES. Magie et langage: notes à propos de quelques faitls malgaches, Année 1963, vol 3, numéro 3, p 109-117.

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