Deblé Hermaphrodita

In the rites dedicated to the cult of the ancestors and in the funeral honors of the members of the Pore participate two types of statues, the Pombibele, children of the Pore, who represent spirits and are borne by young initiates and who are represented as a couple, and Deblé.

The deblé, is almost always a female statue and in this case, exceptionally, it is a hermaphrodite figure. The main purpose of these statues is to appear in funeral processions and mourning uprisings although it also participates in ceremonies of the pore and in rites of passage such as births, initiation and marriages.

Its carriers beat the ground cadentiously to drive away evil spirits and obtain the favors and protection of ancestors.

They are elongated statues with a thick pylon-shaped base to resist beating against the ground. Women are always represented with generous breasts to enhance their motherhood. Normally they carry ritual scarifications. These statues are kept in the place destined for initiation, the sacred forest or synzanga, headquarters of Katyeleo. Often they carry on their forehead four stripes in the form of a cross whose arms are not touched, or a small bump in the middle of the stripes, which is the symbol of Katyeleo, mother of the earth and feminine divinity of the Senufo.

The statues Pombibele and the Deblé are very similar and very often subject to confusion. The Déblé They carry a handle on the top of the head to allow their grip and be able to hit the ground thus marking the pace of the steps. Mango of which the Pombibele, which are mainly used in the funeral honors of the Pore members.

Hermaphrodite figures are frequent in the African statuary, but we do not know any other deblé of this nature. Deblés can be classified as funeral or initiation statues, in this case it will be included in the section of hermaphrodite figures. Brown patina.