The Ty’aka
This one was pretty fun to write! It's a bit more formally written than the other stuff I've done due to the context, but hopefully people will still enjoy it.
In all, I lived with the Ty'aka coyote tribe for a little over a year. The tribe received little contact from the outside world, but they still showed an incredible kindness towards me as a stranger when I first arrived. They were understandably wary of welcoming a cat into their midsts, but as I proved myself to be friendly and respected their ways of life, they eventually began to accept me.
As quite a spiritual people, ritual and worship of their gods were an important part of their day-to-day lives. I had hoped to observe each of their annual traditions before I left, however the tribe was fearful at first that the presence of an outsider could anger the gods or taint their rituals. To appease them I spent the Growth and Fertility festivals indoors with cloth tied around my ears to drown out the sacred sounds.
Afterwards, the tribe seemed to grow to the idea that my presence in the village wasn't angering the gods. Quite the opposite, in fact - after the forest bloomed early that year, some of the tribesmen began to regard me as some kind of lucky influence, that their kind treatment of an outsider was causing the gods to smile upon them.
I believe this the reason they eventually invited me to watch the Hinoria, their rain ceremony, which was held every year just before the summer months. Of all the ceremonies I saw during my time with the Ty'aka, it was the Hinoria that still sticks in my mind as perhaps the most beautiful and profound of their customs.
The crowds began to gather around midday, with the youngest and strongest appearing first and the elderly taking comfortable positions towards the back of the clearing in the centre of the village. When the sun sank below the trees and twilight descended, the tribe's leader appeared dressed in a kusar, a kind of ceremonial wrapping tied just above his right shoulder. If the anecdotes of the villagers were to be believed, the technique for wrapping this sacred garment was known only to the highest of the priests and would have taken them two entire days to wrap, during which time the leader was blindfolded so as not to betray the teachings.
As a small selection of warriors beat began to beat their drums, two priests appeared on either side of the leader. They untied the kusar on his shoulder, each took an end, and danced around him in time to the music, slowly unravelling the cloth as they went, their complex movements casting shadows across the gathered crowd. As the leader's torso came into view the drummers increased their tempo, and the dancers kept up flawlessly. This strange dance continued for around an hour, gradually revealing more of the leader's fur. Finally, as night fell upon the village, the two priests gave one final emphatic twirl, the music climaxed, and the final loop of fabric was undone, leaving the leader standing naked before the assembled crowds. An odd silence fell over the village as the priests rolled up the sacred fabric (it must have been fifty metres long) and the shorter of the priests removed it from the stage, as the taller remained with his leader, who stood stoically, exposed for all to see.
A moment later, the shorter priest returned, this time with a small wooden bowl, which he presented to the leader with a curtsy. The leader gave a short nod of approval, and the taller priest sank to his knees. I already knew at this point that the Ty'aka had no pretensions regarding sex - however, the next part of the ritual still took me off-guard.
The priest began to caress the leader's testicles, uttering a solemn chant as his actions caused the leader's length to emerge from his sheath. These actions too must have had some long-practised ritual behind them - the motions were slow and deliberate, intending to bring as much pleasure to the leader as to Hi'nor, who they believed to be watching. As the leader's heavy testicles began to tense in in anticipation, the taller priest took his penis into his maw, placing his paws on the leader's thighs and tracing symbols in the coyote's fur with his claws.
As the leader orgasmed, he let out an exaggerated howl, presumably to let those at the back of the village know that his part of the Hinoria had come to an end. To an ecstatic cheer, the priest pulled back from the leader's manhood, and let the seed in his muzzle dribble into the bowl the smaller priest was holding. I later learned that the village leaders were chaste - it was their job to abstain from sex in all forms until the festival, in order to ensure a copious release to please Hi'nor. Judging by the fullness of the bowl held by the smaller priest, I have to assume that he'd performed his duties admirably.
With this, the leader moved, still naked, to the largest of the drums, which had been unoccupied until now, and began to play a slow, heavy beat into the night. As he played, a younger coyote, also nude, walked onto the stage, lying on his back on a raised dais some villagers had quickly moved to the centre of the stage. The two priests quickly surrounded him, dipping their fingers in the bowl and using the seed within to paint ritualistic symbols over his body. For the most part he remained completely motionless as they worked, save for a small gasp as they painted Hi'nor's crest above his sheath, the tail of the great bird looping over the area of flesh between his sheath and testicles.
The priests exited the stage as they waited for the seed to dry, and the woman I had sat next to explained this part of the ritual. Hi'nor smiled on virgin male coyotes as they celebrated their 18th cycle, she said, and it was considered a great honour to be chosen to lead the Hinoria. The young coyote on stage was most likely a future priest of their tribe, perhaps even leader.
Suddenly, the fires were stoked, and the edges of the stage appeared to burst into flame. The young coyote rose, held aloft a ceremonial staff, and began to dance in sweeping motions across the stage. As he danced, the fires seemed to dance with him, following his motions and shining off the sigils transcribed in seed on his naked body. The music followed him too, almost as though it were taking his lead, and he flowed majestically along the front of the stage.
As the music changed pace, the staff vanished and he began to dance with two large, coloured ribbons. The switch was so graceful that it was hard to distinguish when it had even happened. He danced and twirled across the stage, never missing a beat, the ribbons and the fires encircling him as though they were one and the same.
The music reached a crescendo, and he fell to his knees at the front of the stage and all the fires were extinguished in an instant. As the final drum beats echoed through the now-silent clearing, the village was lit only by the faint light of the moon.
What happened next will stay with me until the day I die - it began to rain. Warm, torrential rain, mere seconds after the end of the ritual. At this point I must say that, which I respect the ways of the tribes I visit, I'm a man of science and I've never before felt compelled to believe that these rituals promise that the flowers will grow or that the rains will fall.
However, as I watched the rain fall on the young coyote panting on stage, washing his naked body clean, it was impossible not to feel touched in some way by Hi'nor's blessing.