In waaqeffannaa spiritual society ritual of rainmaking, the maallimaa (, or rainmaker) tries to control and manipulate nature by rituals where Waaqaa provide rain through His divine Holy Ayyaanaa. Rain symbolizes fertility (hormaataa), human life or even the life of the creation is connected with rain and water. The Soul of human is first emerged from the Holy Water of Walaabuu (bishaan gubbaa), the Ruudaa. And so Wet or greenery is considered as the media of communication to the creator Waaqaa. The holy Ayyaantuu of the waaqeffannaa spiritual society, Innoo, uttered that human shall hold and use wet things such as greenery of coqorsaa while forwarding their request (kadhannaa) and offer their thanks (galataa) to Waaqa, bless each other (eebifannaa), make dhibaafana (pouring) and provide sacrifices (haarsaa), as Wet (jiidhaa) things are sources of life. Normal rain unless heavy enough to cause trouble, is the source of life. Nothing revives without wetness. Life fails to continue without water or rain. And therefore, to sustain life, one of the greatest wisdom of the Creator Waaqaa, rain shall come at its expected time without interruption and also goes back keeping its proper rhythm regularly. If this could not happen, there is something wrong which went out of track, that is, out of the venue of peace. Mallimaa, the symbolic rainmaking ritual, symbolize the mysterious rainmaking myth among the antique Waaqeffannaa spiritual society.
The concept maallimaa is derived from two Oromo words: malli and maa. The term malli stand for the words ‘solution’, ‘answer’, ‘resultion’, or ‘root’. It refers to a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem. It refers also to the successful action of solving a problem. The term maa (, or maalii) refers to the word ‘what’. And the two words together form the concept malliimaa or maalliimaa symbolizing the wonder or mysterious time event in antique waaqeffannaa spiritual society. In ancient waaqeffannaa spiritual society argaadhageettii, there was a myth told and retold which symbolize the mysterious event occurred during a severe drought in antique.
In ancient past, there was a time where severe drought affects the whole land of the Waaqeffannaa spiritual society where men, animals and plant life were severely affected by it. Looking for the way out, a group of elders from all over land of the Waaqeffannaa spiritual society gather together to discuss on how to avert and restore life and peace on the land and agreed to consult the Ayyaantuu, the holy men of the land. And they went to the Ayyaantuu to consult him on what to do to reconcile with the Creator Waaqaa and regain peace on the face of the land.
They went to the Ayyaantu at His sacred Galmaa, the ritual house of the waaqeffannaa spiritual society, and explained to him the purpose of their visit. They asked him “What can we do to reconcile with God (Waaqaa)?” He, the sacred one, said unto them, “Waaqaa will look at your tear and fulfill your demand if you offer a life of a man as sacrifice.” Returning from the house of the Ayyaantuu, the elders sit to discuss on what and how to do about what the Ayyaantuu said unto them. They discussed among themselves and decide to draw a lottery to choose one among them. The lottery was drawn and went in favor of Odituu, the father of Siibaa. And so Odituu is going to be offered as sacrifice. He, Odituu, was a father of five children from his two spouses.
And then the elders who went to the Ayyaantu for consultation sat with Odituu to discuss on how to go about and said unto him “Look Odituu, Your junior spouse has only one child and you do not need to bother her; but your senior spouse has four children and If you ask her, she may give you one of them. And so go and tell her all the details. We do not have an option otherwise you will be offred as sacrifice”. And then Odituu was shocked and stay silent for awhile and he was in tear. After staying quiet for awhile Odituu suddenly stand from his seat and said unto them “O (my) Family, let’s go to my senior spouse’s house, the house of Sibaa’s mother, tell her all the details and hear what she will say to us together. I will agree with her decision.” And he proceeds in front of the elder to his house. The elders accompanied him and walked to the house of Sibbaa’s mother with him.
While they (the elders and Odituu) was walking towards the house of Odituu’s senior spouse, she, the senior spouse, seeing them from afar (distance), wait them standing in front of her door holding her back. As the elders approaching her, she said to them from a distance loudly “you the respected elders, why you come (are leading) to my house without prior notice. No one told me you are visiting me. My soul told me that you haven’t come to my house without reason (for peace) without notice. You are not looking okay, why?” As she was uttering this she was growing angry and angry, and she said unto them “I am looking into your inner soul, with what evil mission you come to me (my house)?”
The elders stay calm and said unto her “O our sister, May you invite us into (your) the house, let us get to the house first.” And then she proceeded and get into the house and let them to enter the house. When the elders get into the house all her four sons (Sibbaa, the elder, Abbaadhoo, Idooroo and Soolee, the junior) were (there) sitting in the house.
She invited them to sit but she was standing wondering what to say next. The elders invited her to sit and told her all the details and the reason for their visitation. Then they said unto her “we have been wondering the whole day visiting the Ayyaantuu, discussing what to do and how to do… finally we came to you to discuss with you about the situation, and to have your blessing. We want your blessing from your stomach/heart”. Odituu, Her husband, said to her “Look my love; it is (my) word. It is the command from the Holy Ayyaantuu. Whatever your decision will be I will accept with my full heart”. Hearing all what the elders and her husband said, she replied, “Ok, give me time. May I go and have a time with my kids and made my mind on what to do. Let me go to the other room with my children, look at their eyes and decided what to do and inform you my decision. Wait me over here until then.” The elders allowed her to make her mind and said unto her “Okay, go and have time with your kids, chat with them and make your mind. And let’s know your decision”. She walked with her all four children to the other room at the back door. Looking at their eyes one by one, she failed to choose one from four of them and said to them calling their name one by one “O my boys, whom will I give to them? O Soolee, the visually impaired, o my shining star (Bakkalchaa Koo), I will not let you die. O Idooroo, the soft one, the tender, I will not let you die too. O Abbaadhoo, the devourer, I will not let you to die. O Sibbaa, the snatcher, he who grabs and runs, I will not let you to die too.”
And then she looked to their eyes once again one by one, and kissed all of them and cries out loudly. She said “O my sons, whom will I going to give to them?” “I will not, I will not…” she shouted loudly. She cried and makes her children cry too. After a while she calmed down herself, made her mind, wiped her tear from her face and from the face of her children and walked through the back door with her children to hide from them. After waiting for awhile, the elders call out her and her children but nobody replied. When they go out of the house and went to the back door, they find out the door is open and nobody was there.
They discussed for awhile and agreed to visit the house of Odituu’s second wife. They walked out of the house of Odituu’s first spouse and went to the house of his junior spouse, the mother of Odituu’s junior child. While they were walking to her house, she, Odituu’s junior wife, looking at a distance saw that a group of people are walking towards her house. She run to her house and wait them at her door. When the elders arrived at her house, she said unto them “O the blessed elders, welcome to my house, who are you who dare to visit a junior wife’s house?” And she welcomed them with bright face and happiness. Turning her face away from the guests she said “O Waaqaa, who is these blessed elders who dare to visit my house?” She turns back to their face and asked them “What brings you to my house? What a blessed legs leads (you) to my house? You the blessed elders, what makes you to come to the house of a mother of the only Son?” “What shall I prepare for you? Do you want something to eat? Something to drink? May I prepare you a coffee? Everything (to drink and eat) is abundant in this house?”
The elders detailed out to her the problem they encountered and the reason why they visited her house before they agreed something to eat or drink. They also told her what Sibbaa’s mother did to them. After hearing carefully what the elders said to her, she said unto them, “So do you asking me for my kid, the only one?” “Yes, if it is your blessing otherwise Odituu is going to be offered as sacrifice,” replied the elders. She said to them “It’s OK! If it is so, I need your blessing. With your blessing and if Odituu stay alive, God will give me another child with the help of your pray. You know I am his junior wife; if so; you will bless and offer me the position of the senior one. I want that position. To do so let’s Sibbaa’s father fulfill the necessary requirement to anoint me as his first wife. If incase I did not had another child from Him again, may he does not push me to adopt the children of his other wife (Sibbaa’s mother), but from other family members.” And saying these she turned her face to her Son and said to him “O my boy, the only one. May your father’s Waaqaa and your mother’s Ateetee be with you! Go my boy; go with the elders and your father. Go with them the place they want you to take. Do not say No to what your father says to you, do not look back once you be out.” And she kissed him and handed over him to the elders saying “Take him! And do with him what Waaqaa showed you to do.”
The elders and Odituu took him to the mount and sat under the shade of Odaa sycamore tree, smoked myrrh, prepared coffee and asked Waaqaa to reconcile with them. The kid was very handsome with long hair and at age of below eight.
They uttered as
“O Waaqaa,
We brought our child for reconciliation.
Reconcile with us,
Give us your peaceful rain (rain of peace),
Give us peace,
Do not count our wrongdoing on us more than this,
May this thing not repeated again!
Forgive us,
May our descendant and animals not suffer more!
Conclude the suffering here,
Reconcile with your creation,
Humbaa”
And they present their grievance in front of Waaqaa with tear. And then Odituu, the father of the boy, tie (cover) the eyes of his kid, tell him to lay down and prepared to slay the kid. When he took a knife and put the knife on the child’s throat to slay, a dark heavy cloud mixed with heavy wind covered the whole land where no one can see each other. Odituu put his knife and cut the throat, then the cloud and the heavy wind cleared from the land; and the cloud is already changed to rain, the rain of peace. When the cloud clears from the surrounding, the one Odituu cut its throat was not a kid but it was Ram. It was not only the Ram, but also Qallacha Qaalluu and Caaccuu, the symbolic stuffs of the divine eye of the Creator Waaqaa that was descended (revealed) from the Bishaan Gubbaa. When he turns aside the kid was standing beside him, his father, being his Eyes Covered. Odituu, the father, turn to him and hugged him and cried out so loudly and he uncovers the kid’s face (eye) and kissed him. When they looked to the kid’s eye, his eye was shining with glowing rays of light, and no one can look into his eyes. His eye was as heavy as glowing rays of the sun. The shock of the rays from his eye put all the people there into the ground. They failed to hold on to the light coming through his eyes. And then the elders (ayyaantuu) run to the kid and cover his eyes and blessed him as
“Let your eye not hurt us
(Ija doomi),
Let your Spirit rule
(Ayyaana qaroomi)”.
When they uncover his face after the blessing, all the men that fall down arise and return to life. With this the rain of peace continues to rain on the face of the land and restored the life of animals and plant on the land. From then onwards, the descendant of that mysterious kid named maallimaa and with the grace of Waaqaa Gurraachaa, they blessed with the art of rainmaking. And so in the antique waaqeffannaa spiritual society myth, the concept maalimaa symbolize the mysterious occurrence of rainmaking.
The cocept maallimaa stand for both the name given to a person whom Waaqaa enlighten to influence rainmaking or stop raining, and the name given to the Ayyaanaa, the spiritual connection in charge of rainmaking. The Maallimaas are hereditary spiritual men/women, that is, the office of maallima transfer from father to sons. The maallimas are spiritual rainmaker whom Waaqa enlighten them to help people with His blessing of rainmaking. They are people filled with the divine holy ayyaanaa of rain making (maallima) by creator Waaqa. And so, the authority of the Maallima is divine origin, and hereditary. The rainmakers are filled with this Holy ayyaanaa and guided by it to make rain and/ or stop raining. They do prayer, offer sacrifices (haarsaa) and communicate Waaqa to make rain or stop raining.
The maallimas, therefore, mediate the rainmaking if the rain do not come at the expected time or mediate to stop rain if the rain continues to rain at unusual or unexpected time. The maallima, the ayyaanaa responsible for guiding this is filled on the descendant of the sacrificial boy to mediate with Waaqa, the divine power authorized to do or undo everything. If the rain is heavy they pray to Waaqa for stopping or cease the rain. If the rain does not rain at the expected time, they pray to Waaqa to give the land rain. The maallimas have their own galma where they ask Waaqa to fulfill their wish and to thank Waaqa for his gift or the accomplishment. The ritual practice done there, in the Galma, is called Dalaguu.