Bantu Beliefs and Magic / With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war

by C. W. Hobley

(43) If a son seriously disobeys his father, he can be rendered thahu by his father rubbing ashes on his buttocks, and cursing him, saying, “May you be eaten by my anus.” The son will have to take a sheep and then a male goat and a jar of honey and crave his father’s forgiveness. The father slaughters the animal, and rubs his navel and his buttocks with the meat, and the curse is removed. This applies to both sections.

(44) If the head of a village has a quarrel with another man, wounds him with a simé or sword, and blood is spilt in the village, the village becomes thahu, unless the offender takes his adversary and leads him round the outskirts of the village, letting the blood drip on the ground as they go; the elders will then have to be called in, a sheep is killed, and they purify the village. This applies to both sections.

(45) If an idiot or maliciously-minded person picks up a skull, walks round a village with it and leaves it on the “thomi,” or “place of conference,” the village is thahu, and is in very serious danger. The elders are first called in, and they take a sheep and drag it round [[116]]the confines of the village by the same route as that taken by the person with the skull; the animal is killed and pieces of the intestines are dragged round the village. The meat of the sheep is only eaten by very old men. Six other sheep then have to be killed by the elders, and finally the medicine man has to purify each person in the village.

(46) If a wild animal is killed among a flock or herd of animals out grazing the beasts are thahu; they can be purified by the owner and the kiama; a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire lit to windward of the infected flock or herd, and the smoke cleanses them and removes the curse. Vide Tylor’s “Primitive Culture,” Vol. ii, pp. 430–434, “Fire serves for purification in cases too trifling to require sacrifice.” This applies to both sections.

(47) If domestic animals are attacked and stung by bees they are thahu; a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire lit to windward of the herd and the smoke removes the curse. This applies to both sections.

(48) If a son curses his father seriously he becomes thahu; he has to bring a sheep, which is eaten by his father and mother, the fat is melted and all three are smeared with it; the son then has to peg out the skin of the sheep in front of his mother’s hut. This applies to both sections.

(49) If a person strikes anyone who is herding cattle, etc., and draws blood, the flock or herd is thahu; the offender must pay a sheep, which is killed by the elders, and a strip of skin (rukwaru) is placed on the wrist of the offender; no young person is allowed near during the ceremony. This applies to both sections.

(50) If the droppings of a kite or crow fall on a person he is thahu; he must shave his head and bathe at a river, and the elders kill a sheep and fasten a strip of the skin on his wrist. The skin of the sheep must not be pegged out to dry in the village where the person lives. This applies to both sections. [[117]]

(51) If a woman sleeps with her leather garment inside out it is unlucky, but she is not thahu, the procedure being for her to spit on the garment and turn it the right way. This applies to both sections, but is considered much more unlucky for a woman circumcised Masai fashion.

(52) When a man dies, the eldest son gives one bull or a big male goat (according to his means) to the athuri ya kiama for a feast, and the elders then teach him his duties (kirira). The next step is to give the elders a male sheep (ku-hukuria), which must not be eaten by the children, the object of this being to cleanse the village of the deceased. Now if a son has not made these gifts nor gone through the necessary ceremonies marking his succession, he cannot participate in the sacrificial feast which has to take place at the sacred fig tree after the death of an elder (called ku-hoya Engai). The principal wife of the deceased can attend the sacrifice, but not the other wives and their children. And should they do so they will become thahu and it is a case for a medicine man to arrange. The women and children from the neighbouring villages can go.