The Malagasy taboos or fady form part of the Malagasy customs, and have been passed down from generation to generation. The so-called fady is unique among other practices because of the punishments that directly affect the individual and can lead to life-threatening disabilities. It can also be dangerous to descendants of those who willingly disobey and denigrate it. Fady is basically based on the belief in secret powers that the ancient Malagasy used to believe in, although we no longer hear about many of them today.

There are many types of fady in Madagascar, including fadin-tany or land taboos, fadin’ody or traditional medicine taboos and fadin-drazana or traditional taboos.

The Fady is a specific taboo placed on a community or place which inhabitants, visitors and immigrants, have to respect to avoid curses and the accusation of a sin or “manota fady” in Malagasy. It can be something that you can do or eat but is forbidden in a particular place. Even so, the taboos are not necessarily the same in different places in Madagascar, it just depends on the local customs. For example, it is forbidden to eat or bring food with pork before swimming in some rivers or seas, but there are places where such a restriction is not applicable.

The magic of traditional Malagasy medicines or "ody" - from the term fanafody or medicine - also has its fady called fadin'ody. To make it simple, the ody is like something that goes out and then returns to the place it came from. It is like coming back home. It is mainly used to help people cure evil spells or diseases. Fadin'ody are the things that cannot be done during the treatment if one wants to succeed in the healing process. Healers, or those who have been chosen by their ancestors in this practice, often inform their patients about the fady to be observed. For example, there are animals that cannot be eaten during specific follow-up treatments.

The very origin of the taboo itself is still unknown, but what we know so far is that the taboo comes from ancient ancestors who are considered worthy and respected. Thus, there is also the so-called fadin-drazana that the members of a given family or a community must respect.

There are also many types of fady that have been instilled for educational purpose. For example, Malagasy people are not allowed: to point a finger at a tomb at the risk of losing the guilty phalanx or making the offending person a leper; to kick the wall at the risk of causing the death of the maternal or paternal grandmother; to whistle after dark, otherwise the ghosts will come.

Sources: New York Times, Antsirabe Tourism, Madagascar Treasure Island