The first division in time is into ‘male’ and ‘female’ years. Alternate years are male and female respectively. Circumcision can only happen in a male year. The main internal division of the year is into wet and dry seasons, with intermediate periods between them (fig. 52).

A skull-festival can only be held during the wet season as can the rohtumyo jar-ceremony. The ‘sticking of the bow’ occurs only in the dry season. The circumcision rites begin in the rainy season and continue until the beginning of the dry season (fig. 52). There is another event reserved for the dry season, the waalgbaro ‘doorstep of the skull-house’, when the environs of this hut are cleaned and the structure reroofed. This is often amalgamated with the donyo agricultural rites and, in some areas, is inseparable from them. The village may also be swept, cleaned and ‘repaired’ at this time.

It is clear from fig. 52 that the opposition wet/dry orders the ritual cycle. After the information presented in figs. 40 and 41 and the constant identification of pots and heads, it will come as no surprise to learn that the end of the rains, the drying of the rainstones, the firing of the mountain called ‘Boy's Head’, the baking of the pots, the shaving of the donyo organisers’ heads, the removal of growth from the skull-house and the roasting of the first millet ‘heads’ all occur at the same time.