She who must be surveyed Guardian Unlimited March 2003
Posted on 06/13/2005 10:41:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Makobo Modjadji, the famed rain queen of South Africa's Balobedu people, has died of unspecified causes after just two years in power, the Modjadji Royal Council said Monday. She was 27.
The queen was admitted to the Medi-Clinic in Polokwane on Friday with symptoms that included vomiting and died Sunday, council spokesman Clement Modjadji told the South African Press Association. He did not disclose the cause of death.
The Balobedu of the northern Limpopo province believe magical powers are passed down from queen to queen, allowing her to transform clouds and create rain at a special ceremony held each November.
Modjadji, who was crowned in 2003 at the age of 25, was the tribe's sixth and youngest queen and the only one to be formally educated. The tribe is one of the few in Africa to have a leader who comes from a female line of succession.
H. Rider Haggard's classic novels "King Solomon's Mines" and "She" first drew the world's attention to the legendary rain queen in the 1880s.
Her power was so feared that the Balobedu were left in relative peace for centuries despite the wars that raged around the region.
In times of drought, caravans of gifts were sent to their community, more than 150 rural villages set near thick forests full of rare cycads.
While the rain queen is monarch, she governs through a council of men. Custom forbids the queen from marrying, but the royal council chooses consorts for her for the sake of procreation.
The queen is served by a number of "wives" - women sent by the tribe's many villages and whose children are considered hers.
Modjadji was chosen to succeed her grandmother, Mokope, who died in 2001 at the age of 64. She was crowned in a light drizzle, seen as a sign of her power.
While modern meteorology has robbed the rain queen of much of the awe she once commanded, her cultural influence is acknowledged even by secular politicians. Modjadji's predecessor received visits from former presidents Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk.
Mandela grew friendly with Mokope Modjadji and once gave the queen a four-wheel-drive vehicle and a sedan to help her reach her home up a steep and winding road.
A funeral is tentatively planned for Friday. Burial rituals must be completed before the council decides who will be the next rain queen.
Sounds like a pretty good job...
Cause of Death: Dehydration.
So she was the raining Queen. Is there a successor? Has anyone checked the 7 day forecast?
She who must be surveyed Guardian Unlimited March 2003
Makobo Modjadji
That's fine--just be careful that you don't accept an offer of free tires from Winney.
My favorite African Queen.
Sad. Such a short reign.
Doctor: So, how's our patient doing?
Nurse: Fair to partly cloudy yesterday; sick as a parrot today.
Say, that's the one I just got an e-mail from; I'm helping her establish a bank account here in the States so she can get her frozen funds out of her oppressive country. I get a cut of the assets too.
So, the Rain Queen no longer reigns.
From the symptoms, sounds like she may have been drinking from the Great Grey-Green Greasy Grimey Limpopo River.
One man one vote there... right??
Seems like the making of a mess. Forgave how much bloody dept??
Bring back the Brits!
I would appreciate being served by a bunch of wives, but they can keep their children.......... ;^)
"I am Jeffe Jofur, the King of Zamunda!"
"I am Jeffe Jofur, the King of Zamunda!"
Bogey was gay? Say it isn't so! ;-)
Hahahaha
Well, unless I misunderstood him when he said "A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz", I think not.
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