Icilanga-mulilo lutambi lwa IciBemba. This pre-marriage ceremony is primarily between the son-in-law and the mother-in-law. The ceremony takes place before ubwinga (wedding ceremony). The purpose of icilanga-mulilo is:
Ukushikula umulumendo (to make free the groom) so that he can be free to eat what is prepared for him by the mother-in-law;
Ukushikula umulumendo (to make free the groom) so that he can be free to bath the hot water prepared for him from the mother-in-law's house;
To show the son-in-law the variety of food available in his mother-in-law's house;
To give the son-in-law the opportunity to indicate to the mother-in-law the types of food he doesn't eat (so that they don't prepare such food for him in future).
Icilanga-mulilo IS NOT
- about umukashana (the bride);
- for teaching umukashana how to prepare food;
- for teaching umukashana (the bride) about the meanings of food;
- for teaching umukashana (the bride) about marriage.
In the olden days, the bride and groom would often come from different villages. When the groom visited the bride, he would only eat and bath water from the bride's grandmother. Only after ukushikulwa (through icilanga-mulilo) would he be freed. A token of amashikulo was put on the food and in a cup of hot water. Zikomo
