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

Next morning the elders go to the place where the two offerings of meat were deposited and pour out a libation of beer on each. They then address the ngoma as follows: “O ye spirits, take this meat and beer and give us goats and cattle and children, and do not bring thahu to this village.” The people of both circumcision guilds follow this procedure.

(63) If a certain snake, called nyamuyathi by the Kikuyu, enters a hut, it is necessary to pour some milk or fat on the floor for the reptile to drink; it may drink and leave, or it may not. If it does, well and good; if not, the owner of the village has to kill a sheep, cook some of its fat, and pour it out in the hut, saying at the same time: “We offer you some fat to drink, we beg of you to leave us.” It is believed that a ngoma, or spirit, has come in the guise of a snake, and on no account must such a snake be killed. After the sacrifice of the sheep has been made the snake will always go, but it disappears mysteriously and no one sees it leave. If the snake remained in the hut, the wife who owned the hut, and her children, would be thahu.

(64) If a stranger comes to a village and dies in a hut there, the hut is completely abandoned if the owner belongs to the Kikuyu guild; a large hole is made in the side of the hut by taking out several of the wall slabs or planks (mihirigo); the corpse is left inside and the hyænas come and carry it off. The hut is then left to fall into ruin, and no articles, such as cooking pots, beer, jars, etc., are removed from it. The men who break the hole in the wall are even considered unclean, as much as if they had handled the corpse, and after performing the duty they go straight off into the bush and stay there until they have bathed and been anointed with tatha (the stomach contents of a sheep); [[123]]finally a very old woman comes and shaves their heads; they are then ceremonially clean and can return to their families. A medicine man (mundu mugo) has, however, to come and purify the whole village in the usual way.

If the owner of the village belongs to the Masai guild the consequences are not so serious. The family leave the hut temporarily until the corpse has been carried off by the hyænas; they then kill a goat or sheep near the door of the hut, take a little of the fat from the stomach of the animal, and place a small portion on the cooking fire of each hut. This removes the thahu due to the death of the stranger and all is well.

(65) If a new hut is built in the village and the wife enters it and finds herself menstruating on the day she lights the first fire in it, the hut has to be broken down and demolished the very next day. The woman must on no account sleep a second night in it; a thahu is on both the woman and the hut. A medicine man has to be called in to purify ceremonially the woman and her children, a new hut is built and the medicine man ceremonially sweeps it out with a broom made of the twigs of the mukenya, mahoroa, and michatha bushes; he then collects the sweepings and throws them outside the village. This custom applies to both sections of the tribe.

This custom also has another phase which is as follows: If on the day a hut is built, the wife, who is the owner of the hut, is away from the village and finds herself menstruating, she cannot even return to the village, but has to seek shelter with neighbours for three days. On the fourth day she returns, bringing with her a gourd of water. When she reaches the thomi, or meeting-place outside the village, she pours some of the water into a half gourd and washes herself. She can then enter both village and hut without further ceremony. This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(66) When a new hut is built, the first fire to be lit [[124]]in it must be brought from a fire out in a shamba, or field, not from another hut. If fire cannot be obtained from a shamba it is first obtained from another village; with this a fire is lit in a shamba and burning sticks are taken from that fire. The Kikuyu state that they are afraid to get fire direct from another village in case they bring some unknown thahu along with it or with the firewood; they consider it a great risk, particularly for the children, who might get thin and ill in consequence.

Two or three days after the first fire has been lit a male sheep has to be slaughtered by the owner of the village. The meat is cooked in the hut, and the blood is poured out on the village thomi, then beer is brewed and a libation of it is poured out inside the hut near the door and on the thomi or village green. The above applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion. Those circumcised Masai fashion make the first fire in a new hut by friction with a firestick, and the wood for the first fire must come from two of the trees sacred to this branch, viz., mutamaiyu and mutarakwa (juniper).

(67) Anyone can impose a thahu upon the owner of a hut by plucking out a handful of thatch from over the door and throwing it on the ground. The thahu apparently affects the wife who lives in the hut, and she is apt to be attacked by a wasting disease. To remove the evil effects, a number of elders and a mundu mugo, or medicine man, are called in; they kill a ram or young ewe, which has not yet borne, near the door of the hut, and sprinkle the tatha inside the hut and at the door. They then take a rough brush made of twigs of the marario and mahoroa bushes and sweep up the tatha. This proceeding purifies the hut. They also sprinkle some of the tatha on the thatch over the door and put some muthakwa and mukenia sprigs in the place where the piece of thatch was taken.

Only the elders and the medicine man eat the meat of the sacrifice; none of the inhabitants of the village must touch it, and even the brothers of the owner of [[125]]the hut may not eat any. If the hut is not thus purified, it must be forthwith destroyed.