ABSTRACT
The Female Spirit cult in Hagen was performed at generational intervals in a cult site which had been established specifically for the ritual. This Spirit has been described as an unopened female who makes herself known to the men of a group and in particular to chosen cult leaders. She appears to the men in dreams or in visions and reveals where her cult stones can be found. The Female Spirit is a mediating figure who because of her transgressive qualities is also transcendent. Her cult also answers to problems of infertility, as is evident from the account in G. F. Vicedom and H. Tischner. The hambua ritual was performed along one chain of territories in a valley system, kirao being enacted in the adjoining chain. The Hagen cult deals with fixed gendered relationships on the one hand and the fluidity and expansiveness of exchanges on the other.
