La Madre, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The following day was spent in observing the interactions of the people who lived in the village. I was particularly struck by the deference shown all women by both men and older boys. The younger males acted pretty much as their counterparts elsewhere in the world, but even they never argued with older females. It was astounding to me that pre-pubescent boys would defer to their older sisters, rather than pick fights with them. That alone convinced me that this society was superior in many ways to my own culture.

The day passed quickly in the company of Antiguilla, and I was constantly glad that she had consented to not only guide me to her village, but to then act as interpreter and social facilitator. On my own, even if I had found this place, I would have had no chance to learn what had come so easily in a few short hours.

As evening approached, we walked to a bend in the small river that ran nearby. Antiguilla had referred to it as the communal bathing place, and said that all the women met there daily to bathe and talk. She said the men would do the same as soon as we had finished, but there was no hurry. Males were expected to wait for females to go first, and they not only accepted that, but they implicitly believed it was the right thing to do.

I was momentarily shy about undressing in front of all these strangers, but soon overcame it. All eyes were on me as I removed my clothing, and I was hoping my body would pass muster with them. Apparently it did, because as soon as they confirmed that I really was a woman, with all the same equipment they had, they returned to their conversations.

Antiguilla and I waded to where the elder was bathing, and we soon added our own voices to the common talk. I chose that moment to ask the question that had been bothering me for quite some time, and began, "I noticed today that when couples paired off, the man I assumed to be the husband was one of those whose penis was missing. Is that always the case here?"

After she passed on my question, and then received an answer, Antiguilla replied, "That's the way it's always been. The husband has to be a eunuch (she didn't actually use that word, but that's what she meant), or he may cause his wife to bear his child. It's always been that way, and that's the way it will always be."

My next question was already out of my mouth before she'd finished speaking. "Then who fathers the children?" That question was soon interpreted and answered, and the response was, "The breeders put the babies in the women's stomachs. They are selected on the basis of their penis size, and then trained from puberty in the ways of pleasing a woman. That way the woman will always find pleasure, whereas if the husband were allowed to breed with his wife, his small penis would bring her little joy, and his sons would also be small."

I then asked, "Why do many of the older boys and men have only half their penises? What is the reason for that?"

Antiguilla laughed before passing on my question, and was soon joined in laughter by the elder before she replied. Her reply was unsatisfying to my raging curiosity, but I resolved to curb my impatience after she had said, "All your questions will be answered at the ceremony tonight. When you see La Madre, you'll have your answers. Please be patient until then."

Since the promised ceremony was to begin shortly after sunset, I was sure my curiosity could be controlled for that long. I changed the subject by asking about other aspects of village life under a matriarchy, and was pleased to listen to all the information that brought forth.

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The ceremony was held in the largest building in the village, which was normal procedure in my experience. I didn't know if the structure held the icons or statues the people worshipped, but assumed that's where they were housed. My impatience to gain all the knowledge I could about this strange society made the intervening hours pass slowly, but at last we arrived at the entrance to the ceremonial building, and we joined the stream of half a hundred women and older girls who were slowly filing through the doorway.

No one had dressed following the afternoon bath in the stream, and I followed suit, even though I was somewhat uncomfortable about being naked in front of all these strangers. Cultural anthropologists learn early that the old saying, "When in Rome, do as Romans do", is a truism. By practicing their customs, I would put the villagers at ease, and that would make it easier for them to be open and truthful with me. Therefore, I was unclothed along with all the others.

I noticed immediately there were no men admitted to the ceremony, and did not find that surprising. It was obvious that this culture was a true matriarchy in every way, and that meant that women were totally in charge. After a few hours being totally immersed in the lives of these people, I found myself accepting the rightness of that situation, and realized with a start that I was no longer questioning it.

The most obvious thing I observed, and the one that was contrary to my expectations, was that there were no icons or statues of gods or deities in the room. Never before had I studied a village that had none of those objects on display. It occurred to me then that at no time during my stay here had any of the people referred to a supernatural being. Was it possible they did not believe in such things? I resolved to ask that question in my talks with Antiguilla in the morning. Meanwhile, I was most interested at the present at finally meeting La Madre, and resolved to make a good impression on such an important person, knowing that would make my research much easier.

Mantotini was standing on a raised platform at one end of the room, also totally nude. The rest of us seated ourselves in a semicircle in front of her, and remained in respectful silence. When all had entered and taken their place on the mats, she began speaking. Antiguilla leaned close to me and interpreted what was said, whispering softly so as not to disturb the others. The synopsis of her words presented below is much more simple than what she said, due to the fact that she was trying to express herself to me in bits of English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Nevertheless, the gist of my notes are true to what she explained to me.

She began, "The women of our clan are gathered here tonight to make decisions important to the survival of our society. The choices we make tonight have been made by our mothers and grandmothers, and their mothers and grandmothers before them. We live in the way people were meant to live, and only by following the traditions may we continue to do so."

"I call Consuelo to come before us, and bring her son for judgment. He has reached the age of decision, as shown by the first growth of his pubic hair. Make your decision wisely, my sisters." She then stood silently while two people entered the room. As I looked back over my shoulder, I saw that the first person was a boy of about twelve years of age, as naked as the rest of us. The wisps of hair on his crotch testified that he had entered puberty, and I understood then what was meant by the "age of decision".

He was escorted, or more accurately urged forward, by a woman I assumed was his mother. She walked closely behind him, with one hand in the small of his back, silently nudging him toward the dais where the elder stood. It seemed to me that the boy was moving in a distracted way, almost as if sleep-walking. At no time did he look at the women seated there, seeming to have eyes only for a spot directly behind Mantotini. As the pair passed my position, I saw that the boy's wrists were tied behind his back, and again filed a question to ask Antiguilla as soon as I could.

At last they arrived at the edge of the platform, then stepped up to its surface. At his mother's urging, the boy turned to face us. As soon as they were in position, Mantotini spoke and Antiguilla translated, "This boy is here for our judgment. Let it begin."

Another woman then stepped onto the dais, holding something in her hand that looked very much like a short tree limb that had been elaborately carved. As she moved to the center of the stage, the torchlight revealed that she was holding a huge phallus in one hand, and two short lengths of cord or vine in the other. That was certainly not out of the ordinary, since I had seen similar things many times in my travels. Since this was the first item I'd seen here that bore any resemblance to an icon, I was highly interested to see how it would be incorporated into the ceremony. I didn't have long to wait, and what happened needed no interpretation whatsoever.

The mother knelt in front of her son and began to fondle his penis, startling me to the point that I almost gasped in surprise. Antiguilla obviously noticed my reaction, because she turned and smiled at me. I'm sure I was blushing, both from embarrassment and at having lost my professional composure. I made a promise to myself that no matter what else happened that night, I would accept it and show no reaction.

In a matter of seconds, the boy's member began to stiffen in response to his mother's attentions. She then took his erection in her mouth, and began pleasuring him. When it was plain to all that he was near orgasm, she withdrew her mouth and held out one hand to the woman who was holding the phallus and cord. She took the cord and double-looped it loosely around the base of the penis, and then said something to him. Antiguilla again whispered in my ear, saying, "Make it bigger, my son. Try with all your might."

I could see the boy straining to make his penis grow as much as possible, and his efforts were rewarded. I had never in my life seen such a large penis on a boy of that age, and was sure it was easily eight inches long and two inches across. His straining added at least half an inch to its length, and also some to its diameter. It was truly impressive then, to me at least. The other women seemed to be disappointed though, as was evident in their subdued sighs and head shakings.

As soon as she judged her son's penis was at it maximum dimensions, the woman pulled the ends of the cord and then tied them together. The discomfort this produced was evidenced by the boy's soft whimper, which was immediately shushed by his mother.

She then stood beside her son, and again held out her hand to the assistant. She took the phallus and held it aloft for all to see, and I heard the women assembled there say something in unison. The interpretation was, "Judge him. The time has come for him to enter the world."

The woman then lowered the carved phallus and placed it along the top of her son's penis. It was easy to see that his member was almost one inch shorter than the thing, and that brought cries of disappointment from the women. She then moved the thing to the tip of his cock, and began to slide it in place around it. I realized then that the phallus was hollow, and the opening was easily three inches in diameter.

She moved the thing until it was tight against his body, and then insinuated one finger between it and his crotch. She then pushed downward, forcing his penis to a sloping angle. The phallus easily slid off him, and she caught it in the other hand. The cries of disappointment from the seated women rang loudly, soon followed by another chant which my companion interpreted for me as, "La Madre! La Madre! La Madre!"

As they chanted, the women began to point toward the center of the platform, and I assumed they were indicating Mantotini. Then I remembered my earlier confusion of the two, and recalled the laughter that had invoked. My error was revealed then when the elder stepped to the side, and the chanting women continued to point to the same location. I realized then that what I had assumed to be the rear wall of the room was actually a curtain, or maybe a movable wall, that had been woven of long reeds and grass. I was sure then that The Mother was behind that curtain, and I would soon see her. I waited with mounting anticipation to see the mysterious tribal leader, wondering who she would be.

The mother again stood behind her son and directed his body to turn away from us, and to face the rear of the dais. At that moment, the curtain began to move aside, and the chanting seemed to grow to a fever pitch. My own excitement was growing along with that of the other women, even though I had no idea what would soon be revealed to my eyes.

When the curtain had moved sufficiently to allow the torchlight to penetrate, I saw a small alcove there. Something was sitting in that alcove, and I quickly realized it was not a human being at all, but rather a fearsome figure. I knew at last that I was seeing the icon or statue I had expected to see all along, and waited impatiently for the curtain to be withdrawn entirely so the entire thing would be visible.

At last I saw La Madre in her entirety, and she was indeed fearsome. She had been carved in the shape of a kneeling woman, and had been decorated with grasses, feathers, and many other objects. The expression on her face was designed to strike terror in the hearts of all those facing her, and I have to admit to feeling a twinge of fear myself. I couldn't imagine what the naked boy was feeling, even in his drugged state.

The central feature of La Madre was her wide-open mouth. It was very much oversize, lending it almost a cartoon effect. That effect, though, was countered by the very fierce teeth that had been set in the upper and lower jaws. They looked to be formed of clam shells, which I knew to be very sharp. In fact, many cultures used those shells for shaving before the introduction of steel razor blades, and they did the job quite well.

It was at that point that something clicked in my brain, and all the clues I had been given in my short stay here came together to form an answer. When the woman began to urge her frightened son forward, with his erection pointing the way to La Madre, I knew what would happen in the next few moments.

Mantotini had moved to stand beside La Madre, and she watched with a fiercely intense expression on her face as the boy was pushed closer and closer to the open mouth. When he was about three feet away from the figure, his mother once again knelt in front of him. She was given another cord, and wasted no time in wrapping it tightly around the shaft of her son's penis, immediately behind the head. That done, she once again stood behind him and nudged him forward.

At the last moment, she guided the penis into the gaping mouth of La Madre, stopping just short of the second cord. I realized then that the chants had reached almost deafening levels, and the women seemed in a frenzy of excitement. My own excitement couldn't be contained either, and I knew that a large part of it was sexual arousal. My very erect nipples mirrored those of every woman around me, and the scent of excited women was heavy in the air. I was sure my own scent was part of it.

There was a short pause after the cock was in position, and then the mother nodded. Mantotini then placed one foot on a sort of lever that protruded from the side of the statue, and violently pushed it to the floor. I'm sure that what happened then was very rapid, but to my senses it seemed to be in slow motion.

I saw the lower jaw of La Madre spring upwards, and with no hesitation the teeth passed through the head of the penis and then closed against the upper jaw. The boy screamed then, and sagged back against his mother. She had been ready for that reaction, and stood there supporting him.

After a few seconds, she levered his semi-conscious body around until it was once again facing us. Almost impossibly, the chants seemed to increase in volume as the women saw his now headless member, with the final drop of blood just then falling to the platform. I could see many of the women had hands in their crotches, sometimes their own, sometimes their neighbors. A sideways glance at Antiguilla told me that she was pleasuring herself, and it took the greatest of self control for me to keep from doing the same thing.

Why was this gruesome spectacle so arousing to the women, and indeed even to me? Never in my life had I harbored tendencies toward sadism, or so I thought. However, what I had just witnessed was truly arousing to me, and even my "civilized" veneer wouldn't let me deny it.

As I looked back to the stage then, I saw the assistant was kneeling in front of the boy. She was pushing a short piece of hollow reed into his urethra. Then, holding a small pot in one hand, she brushed some sort of semi-liquid substance on the mutilated shaft of the penis with the other. Antiguilla had recovered from her orgasm by then, and at my questioning glance said, "It will heal the wound very quickly. It's made of sap from the man tree, mixed with crushed seeds from the man flower." That did very little to clear up the formula of the substance, but in my state of mind it didn't matter to me.

I assumed that would be the end of the ceremony, and watched as the mother and son slowly walked out of the room. As I started to rise, Antiguilla placed a hand softly on my arm, saying, "There is more. Three more will meet La Madre tonight. Do you wish to stay?"

I knew that I wanted with all my heart to see other males meet La Madre. My throat was simply too tight at that point to say anything, so I just nodded my head in mute agreement. We settled again to await the next part of the ceremony.