The Dipo ceremony marks the passage of Krobo girls into womanhood. For 3 weeks the girls undergo ritual training to become a woman. At its completion the girls are presented to the community of chiefs elders, family and potential suitors. Initiated Krobo women are considered among the most desirable in West Africa.At the beginning of the Dipo ceremony each initiate enters a ritual house, sheds her clothing symbolic of childhood, and is dressed anew by her ritual mother. Tied around her waist is a single strand of carnelian beads for protection during this vulnerable time.At left: A ritual mother guides a girl’s hands to demonstrate the proper rhythm of grinding millet. At right: to mark the end of one stage of life, and the beginning of another, each initiate’s head is shaved except for a small tuft of hair at the crown of the head, which will be removed when the iniation is complete.Carrying calabashes on their heads, the initiates make their way in a long procession to the river to bathe. This washing ceremony is both a purification rite and an opportunity to teach girls how to cleanse themselves in the ritualised manners of the Krobo people.Calabashes are filled with water, white chalk, and leafy branches and the Krobo girls wash together in groups, splashing the water over their heads. Cleansed in body and spirit, Dipo initiates are then blessed by the village shrine priest who tells them “Today, you are a pure woman. Today, you are holy. Bathe well before you go to Tekpete (the sacred stone)”.Wearing pure white strips of calico around their heads and crisscrossed over their chests, the initiates must remain silent during the most sacred of rituals. Each girl has a leaf placed in her mouth to turn her thoughts inward and to remind her of the obligation not to speak until the ceremony is over. As the girls proceed to the sacred grove accompanied by their ritual mothers, they carry long sticks called Dimanchu, which literally means “to make you a woman”. Each initiate has been splashed with chalky water to ward off any evil forces that might overcome her.Regarded as the climax of the Dipo rituals, the blessing of the sacred stone takes place in a special grove of trees on the outskirts of town. Tekpete refers to a legendary stone that the Krobo carried down from Krobo mountain in their original homeland. Still revered as a focus for worship, the stone plays a special role for the initiates, who are brought to it for a test of their virginity.One by one, the girls are led into the interior of the sacred grove and greeted by three priestesses dressed in white cloth. Each initiate is lifted and lowered onto the sacred stone three times. Only when the priestesses are satisfied that the girl is a virgin will they pronounce her worthy of Dipo. The girls are then raced home on the back of their guardians for fear that they may be kidnapped by men from other tribes hiding in the forest.In preparation for their Outdooring ceremony, when the girls will be presented to the public as women, a special headdress called Cheia made of bent cane covered with charcoal and oil is fashioned on the head of a young girl to signify that her virginity has been established and she is now ready to continue her initiation into womanhood.Two Shai girls relax together before the final stage of their initiation. Having studied the arts of dance and music during the final week of Dipo instruction, they will now learn about the subtleties of seduction.The Krobo are some of the oldest and most famous makers of ground glass beads in Africa. Denoting family wealth and social status, each type of bead worn has a name and significance. Blue beads, called Koli, mean “something you love very much”, and are associated with affection and female tenderness. All shades of yellow symbolize maturity and prosperity. White beads represent purity, and when worn by initiates, denote virginity. Krobo initiates, wearing Dipo-pe straw hats and white loincloths symbolizing purity, learn the Klama dance.Preparing for their outdooring ceremony, two Krobo female initiates perform the Klama dance. With small rhythmic steps and heads turned demurely downward, the dancers embody quiet elegance. The different movements of the dance practiced by each clan over three weeks of Dipo training are designed to reveal the beauty of the dancers. Suitors watching from the sidelines will often approach a girl’s family after the ceremony and make an offer of marriage.Due to pressures from the Christian Church to curb animist rituals, the younger sisters of the initiates are often put through the Dipo ceremony along with their older siblings, producing a generation of very young initiates.The Krobo are renowned for their glass beadwork. The large yellow beads worn by the initiates are seen as imitations of the bodum bead which is believed to have magical properties. Bodum beads are shrouded in mystery and are among the most coveted in Africa. Dipo initiates wear beads of all colors, and of considerable value.Culminating three weeks of intense ritual instruction, the Outdooring Ceremony officially presents Krobo girls as women to the community of chiefs, elders, families and potential suitors. Adorned with layers of glass beads and swathed in lengths of printed and handwoven fabrics, the girls perform a series of dances, the most energetic being the Adzawale. Waving cowtail fly whisks, the participants run in a circle chasing one another and end in an embrace of three or more women.Watched by potential suitors at the Outdooring Ceremony, it will not be long before the Krobo initiated girls pass into married life and motherhood. Initiated Krobo girls are considered by many to be the most desirable in West Africa.In celebration of the completion of Dipo training, the graduates adorn themselves with layers of glass beads and swathe themselves in lengths of printed and hand-woven fabrics. Some girls will dance in their Outdooring Ceremony wearing a collection of beads worth thousands of dollars.Imitating the ceremonial dress of their older sisters, young Krobo girls are initiated into womanhood. Traditionally, the girls undergo Dipo initiation during their late teenage years in preparation for marriage. Due to pressures from the Christian Church to curb animist rituals, some parents put all their daughters through Dipo at the same time, producing a generation of very young initiates.In Krobo culture, beads are a vital part of female adornment, reflecting social status and often providing protection. A baby receives her first beads seven days after birth. Later, she receives a strand of waist beads that she will wear throughout life. At the time of her Dipo Ceremony, she is adorned with layers of powdered glass beads to enhance her beauty and status.
