**19. Bringing the Water Buffalo Home**

After the storytelling competition, the water buffalo is led into the family home, which is a form of divination. If the water buffalo enters the house freely and calmly, it is a poor sign. An unruly and difficult entrance is considered a good sign and interpreted as the animal's willingness and impatience to return to heaven. If the water buffalo enters and looks to the right, it is considered a poor sign. Looking to the left is good, with looking upward the most auspicious. The water buffalo was then brought to the sacrifice area, a nearby clearing next to woods (Figure 17). The animal is tied to a decoratively carved pole of maple (Peng 2018b). Adjacent to the sacrifice site, a ritual altar was established.

**Figure 17.** Badai Shi Changwu and offering the water buffalo to the spirits at the outdoor altar. (Photo: Thomas Riccio).

Traditionally, the sacrificed water buffalo had to be male and taken care of by the family since the spring. "Today, you can buy a water buffalo and bring it from another place in one day" (Peng 2018b). The water buffalo used for the La Yi demonstration was from Fenghuang County, approximately forty miles away, and borrowed from a friend of Ma Mae for the day. "Water buffalos are very valuable and used for work this time of year, and we were lucky to find one" (Ma 2018b).

The young bull was two years old, beautiful and powerfully built. In choosing a water buffalo to sacrifice they had to adhere to specific criteria to ensure acceptance by the gods. Thecriteriaarethatthebuffalo


3. It must have a square head;


