Every woman who owns a plantation
goes out with her daughters into the cornfields and makes a bonfire
of the branches and leaves of certain trees. After that they pluck
some of the eleusine, and each of them puts one grain in her
necklace, chews another and rubs it on her forehead, throat, and
breast. "No joy is shown by the womenfolk on this occasion, and they
sorrowfully cut a basketful of the corn which they take home with
them and place in the loft to dry."
The conception of the corn-spirit as old and dead at harvest is very
clearly embodied in a custom observed by the Arabs of Moab. When the
harvesters have nearly finished their task and only a small corner
of the field remains to be reaped, the owner takes a handful of
wheat tied up in a sheaf. A hole is dug in the form of a grave, and
two stones are set upright, one at the head and the other at the
foot, just as in an ordinary burial. Then the sheaf of wheat is laid
at the bottom of the grave, and the sheikh pronounces these words,
"The old man is dead." Earth is afterwards thrown in to cover the
sheaf, with a prayer, "May Allah bring us back the wheat of the
dead.
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