Dotted about Kikuyu are numbers of great wild fig trees (Ficus capensis), many of which are used from generation to generation as sacred shrines or places of sacrifice, called mugumu or muti wa Engai.
Certain big medicine men like Njau wa Kabocha have special trees; it appears that the original choice [[41]]of a tree as a sacred place devolved on certain notable medicine men, and if a sacred tree happens to fall owing to age, the elders assemble there and sacrifice a ram and a male goat; they eat one half and leave the other half of each carcase at the tree and pour the fat over the stump of the fallen tree to appease the deity.
It is then the duty of the local magician and the elders of ukuru to choose another tree. They sacrifice at the new tree, and if their prayers are answered they know that it is acceptable to Engai, but, if after several trials no result is obtained, they dedicate another to the service of Engai.
The idea of sacrilege is very marked. If, for instance, an impious person cuts a portion of a sacred tree, dire results are believed to ensue, and the elders make the offender pay a ram and a male goat. These are sacrificed at the tree, and the elders apply a strip of the skin to the place where the incision was made in the tree and anoint it with fat and the tatha or stomach contents. The breast of the ram is cut off and hung in the tree, and the remainder of the carcase and the whole of the carcase of the goat, eaten by the elders.
No beast or bird can be killed or shot in a sacred tree. The sacred tree and its environs is often called Kithangaona cha inja, which means the “sacred place of the ceremonies.” On the occasion of a sacrifice the elders of ukuru send word to the elders of Athamaki or Athuri ya mburi nne or elders of four goats and any senior to that grade, saying tuthieni mutini—“Let us go to the tree.” No elder whose father is alive can attend. No elder must go to the tree in a state of anger; no one must display anger with a wife, child, or even a stranger the day before he attends at the tree.
Elders of both of the circumcision guilds go together to the sacred tree and also elders of all clans.
If two elders, or their people, have a blood feud they are not allowed to attend or take part in a sacrifice [[42]]at the sacred tree until the feud is at an end; if they do, they are supposed to die.
A person who is alien to the tribe, but who has been formally admitted to it, may attend a sacrifice.
Oaths or ordeals are not administered at the sacred tree.
Strict celibacy must be observed the night before they go to sacrifice and the night after. The night before, they sleep in their usual huts, but the night after, they sleep in the thengira or goat hut. The morning following the sacrifice they go and bathe in a river and then resume their ordinary life.