Maasai drink blood direct from ox

In the Maasai tradition, every man has to pass few personal rite of passage, and four collective ceremonies, that transfers a whole age-group from one stage to another.  The last collective ceremony is the ‘Manyatta Oloirikan‘,  a ceremony that unite two Maasai age-groups (right hand and left hand) into one age-set. The ceremony  take place  every 15 years (Last one was in 2004).

Toward the end of the ceremony, a big black bull is killed, The skin in its throat is cut and separated from its body to form  a shape  of a bowl. Than, the main vein is cut, and blood flow to feel the ‘bowl’. Every participant has to kneel down and drink the blood that is mixed with milk, direct from the bull, as seen in this photo.

‘Oloirikan’  means chair or stool in the Maa language. In the height of the ceremony, each participant get the traditional stool, made from one piece of wood and has four legs.

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