Abstract. – According to the mythology of the Lyéla of Burkina Faso, the purpose of a marriage is to provide sexual satisfaction to both partners rather than – and contrary to the widely spread assumption – procreation. Still the Lyéla have a number of customs related to marriage, childbirth, and the death of the infant. Those customs are more complex in relation to twins, as they attend to such issues as immortality of the soul, the destiny of individuals, and the conceptions concerning life after death. [West Africa, Burkina Faso, the Lyéla, mythology, afterlife, marriage, childbirth]