Ceremonial Blessing by a Medicine Man (Kikuyu).—This is believed to be efficacious, upon certain occasions, against evil and as a purification. The medicine man gives the supplicant a powder made from an aromatic root called muhokora. It is of a greyish brown colour; a little is poured into his hand and he eats it. The medicine man also eats some, with the object, perhaps, of showing the patient that nothing bad has been mixed with it.
The medicine man then takes a long narrow gourd with tiny holes on one side of it and shakes out, as from a pepper castor, a powder made of the roots of the muhokora and mchanja muka plants, and at the same time uttering a prayer. The patient receives the powder on his hands and rubs it on his head and down the middle of his forehead. The medicine man now takes a draught of beer and ceremonially spits a little on to each of his breasts, first, however, spitting a little on the ground as a libation to the ngoma, or ancestral spirits.
The general idea of the purification ceremony is of a dual character; its first object is to cast out the contamination of an evil influence and, this being done, to re-establish normal relations between the worshipper and his deity. It is believed that among African natives the idea of the evil influence is not very concrete, but among other peoples the evil influence assumes the shape of a demon, the nature of which may be identified by a magician and expelled by him by the use of appropriate formulæ. The one is a higher development of the other. In Math. xvii. 14, and [Mark ix. 14], for instance, we find the founder of the Christian [[138]]religion playing the part of the magician and casting out an evil spirit. The only parallel to this class of procedure among the African natives under investigation is the curious Engai possession of the Kamba and the ritual undertaken to cure persons possessed: the odd point about those ceremonies, however, is that although the afflicted person for whom the dances are convened may be cured, others will be seized during the proceedings, the affliction apparently becoming infectious.
Kithangaona cha muchi—The Purification Sacrifice for a Village (Kamba of Kitui).—If sickness becomes prevalent in a village, the headman will consult a medicine man, who may declare that the spirit (imu) of a person who died long ago is bothering the people and needs appeasing, and he will therefore order a fowl to be taken round the village ceremonially and killed. This is supposed to be very efficacious in restoring the good luck of the village, and is done as follows: the village head will walk round outside the village with some ashes in his right hand and a fowl in the left; on reaching a point opposite the gate of the village the fowl will be released and allowed to fly inside. It is then caught again and its throat is cut and the knife is afterwards buried in the cattle kraal. The children of the village eat the fowl. The village head then prays to the deity (Engai) to remove the sickness and keep it from the village, and afterwards prays to the imu, or spirit, of the deceased person who is supposed to have brought the sickness. It is stated that they first pray to Engai because the imu is believed to have gone to Engai.
The aiimu which afflict villages are said to be usually those of deceased medicine men who, when alive, were supposed to communicate with Engai in their dreams. They declare that they have seen someone glowing like a fire, giving such and such a message.
There is another kithangaona cha muchi, which [[139]]also deals with sickness in a village, but differs from the previous example in which a fowl is used. As with European physicians, the practice of medicine men varies for individual patients.
The magician, having decided that the sickness is due to the imu of a deceased person, will order the women of the village to grind some mawele or wimbi flour and cook it and make porridge.
The porridge is brought to the hut of the afflicted person and some butter is added; the people present dip their wooden spoons in the porridge and each one eats a little and then throws some on to the floor as an offering to the imu; the senior wife of the village head commences and the others follow suit.
The village head then brews some beer, drinks a little, and pours some out to the troublesome imu. Having done this he kills a he-goat, cuts a strip of meat from the breast, cooks it, and deposits it at the door of the hut. It is probably eaten by the village dogs or fowls, but this does not matter.
The people then pray to the spirit and say, “We have given you food, beer, and meat, we beseech you to allow the sick one to recover.”