The journey Bedu takes from the bush to the village represents the journey that initiates take from childhood to adulthood. Children and the uninitiated are told that Bedu is a wild and dangerous animal in the bush; to see it means certain death. Before the period of the dances begins each year, a number of 8 to 10 year old boys and girls are initiated - one of the most dramatic moments in discovering Bedu. During the initiation ceremony the children are introduced to the "steward" mask and the performer who wears it. They are sworn to secrecy. Thus for each individual the terror of the wild bush Bedu is domesticated.

In the village Bedu becomes a less fearsome entity. Babies and the elderly are greeted by Bedu, who is believed to offer them protection from disease. Elders exhibit their authority by commanding Bedu to move in particular ways, for example, like a snake.

Legend has it that Bedu was discovered in the bush by a father who had taken his sick child on a journey in search of medicinal roots. One day Bedu showed up at their camp, touched the child who was instantly cured, and disappeared. "Bedu of the bush" is generally seen to have stronger powers than "Bedu of the village". There are two Bedus, a wild animal (bush Bedu) was/is domesticated to the extent that it was humanised (village Bedu). The fear of children and initiates is that for a wild animal; the confidence of the initiated and the elders in greeting and being touched by Bedu, attribute to it the predictability of a domesticated animal. Identifying Bedu as a piece of wood is the first step towards discovering Bedu's true identity; a wooden figure painted in three colours and wearing a costume. It is only after the initiation, when the first layer of the disguise has been removed, that Bedu becomes an interesting subject to dance with, to believe in and to think about.

	In Yérékaye, the small Bedu mask, Yadjié carries out the initiation © Karel Arnaut 1994

The initiation consists of telling nine and ten-year old boys and girls that there is a difference between the village Bedu and the bush Bedu. It provides the basic information for them to perceive the activity as a performance - not merely the wild animal running around the village. Only for the initiated is Bedu a dance and a masquerade. In order for children to be informed about this state of affairs, children should be able to "keep a secret".

Only people from the past are recorded as having seen bush Bedu. People are constantly told that if they see Bedu now, they will die. Bedu therefore attains the status of an abstract concept, a theoretical construct. Therefore to be shown the difference between Bedu and the mask is to become aware of a distinction between something empirically attestable and something theoretically assumed. "Knowing Bedu" it seems, is intellectually more demanding than "knowing the other sex," because it separates and links two things of a different order. Nonetheless, during the performances and throughout the work of Bedu, the opposition between the sexes remains the main focus. "Knowing the other sex" is not merely a precondition for understanding the Bedu masquerade, it is a reality that is being staged, played with and reflected upon.

A story about initiation:

Adama Outtara describes how he and the elders conduct an initiation into the Bedu mask at his village, Ouélékei:

"We go and show him Bedu today. And when he goes in, he will have to tell everything that is bad. He will say: 'Yes, honestly, it is my mother who beat me' and 'I stole too, these are my faults'. We say: 'If you do not tell all your faults and we initiate you, you will stay in its belly'. But he says 'It is all that I have to say'. We tell him, 'It is not too bad, come here, it is Bedu, go and knock'. And he says 'I cannot knock.' Then Bedu comes a bit closer, it steps back, and sits down. We say: 'Good, if you do not speak the truth Bedu will swallow you. Then we will have to take the pestles to beat it, so that it throws you up again.'

Then, we show him Bedu.

When we are finished, we say: 'You are initiated now. Under no circumstances must you tell your friends how you were initiated today. You say that it swallowed you and that the elders beat it and that it threw you up. That is what you are going to tell them'."