Where Humans and Spirits Meet, 1-3 [Unguja, i.e. Zanzibar]

Contents

Cap.

Title

PP.

1.

Introduction

1-24

2.

Introduction to Zanzibar

25-41

3.

Spirits, possession and personhood

42-59

4.

Makabila, people and spirits

60-80

5.

Human concerns, spirits and relationships

81-94

6.

Between self and other

95-108

p. 158 grammatical praefixes to nouns, in Swahili

declensions : grammatical number

singular

plural

denotation

m-

wa-

humans, animals

m-

mi-

plants

ki-

vi-

objects

ji-

ma-

materials

u-

u-

abstracts

     

other

denotation

ku-

verbal nouns

ya

genitive (‘of’)

mahali

places

terminology [mostly in Swahili]

p.

term

meaning

8

tolewa

exorcised

10

mgeni

guest

33

utu

humanity

 

mtu

person

43

wanyama

animals

45

umbwa

created

 

pepo

air / wind

47

kiumbe

animated being

 

fani

worthiness

51

adabu

proper behaviour

 

zoea

accustomed to

58

mwili

body of living person

 

mfu

corpse

104

nia

intentions

 

hamu

longings

 

fikira

thoughts

112

tamaa

desire

 

as^iki

lust

 

mahaba

passion

 

maono

emotions

113

mzuri

kindly

 

mwema

generous

p. 12 authoress’s personal encounter with a spirit

"During a ritual called ngoma ya kibuki – a ritual performed on behalf of ... spirits ... called masheitani ya kibuki – the spirit named Ndamarufali, who had embodied a woman ..., came over to where I was sitting and put a khanga over my head. Then the spirit Ndamarufali took the censer, held it under my chin and, while holding one hand on top of my head, started to move my body in a circle. This is known as one way to call upon spirits in order to get them to inhabit people. As this was happening I began to tremble, and one of my legs started to move to the rhythm of the music in the way special to the movements of spirits of this kind. At the same time I felt ... a sort of sadness, as if everything that was going on around me was happening far away. ... Afterwards I was told by people present that a sheitani ya kibuki had passed through my body (pitia), although the spirit had not risen to my head."

p. 25 geography

"Zanzibar ... consists of two main islands – Unguja ... and Pemba".

p. 23, n. 1:10 some tribes in Zanzibar

tribe

origin

Ma-kumbaro

Gujerat ("-kumbaro indicates ... a caste of ... potters")

Wa-ngazija

Comoro Is.

p. 23, n. 1:11 cursing

"Halbadiri, a liturgical invocation usually used to destroy a person who has wronged the one doing the reading. When Halbadiri is read, the person whom the reader intends to harm will be affected only if she/he is guilty."

p. 38 erudition acquired by humans from erudite spirits

"both men and women can achieve knowledge through being inhabited by spirits of both the same and the opposite sex. ... among learned spirits known to men and women in Zanzibar Town, most appear to be male spirits – although ... one female spirit from Arabia called Maimun is known for her learning. This spirit may inhabit both women and men. ... Concerning questions of knowledge, ... for women it is to a greater extent their spirit’s knowledge or rank that counts. Regarding notions of knowledge, spirits are understood to possess education that makes them dominant not only in relation to specialists ... and ritual leaders, but also in relation to Muslim clerics and other sages."

p. 40, n. 2:12 names of other countries

country

its name in Swahili

Nazija

Comoro I.

Musqat.

Manga

H.ad.ramawt

S^eher

p. 58, n. 3:6 how spirits can be espied by humans

"Special verses from the Qur>an are written ... on a piece of paper that has been wrapped around rice; ... coconut oil smeared on the paper; and ... on the eyelids of the one wishing to see the spirits. All the windows and doors in the house must be closed so that only a small peephole remains, through which one can observe the spirits."

p. 42 possessing-spirits discipline their hosts

"Ngoma ya sheitani is what ... is called a spirit possession ritual."

"Spirits ... cause suffering whenever they are dissatisfied with the behaviour of their viti (seats; sing. kiti), that is, the persons embodying the spirits, or when they find that their seat does not treat them with respect."

pp. 45-46 spirits with a worldly existence

p. 45

"spirits, like humans, have bodies of their own – although the spirit body in invisible in the human world. ... The spirits are said not to have bones ... . {Sometimes human dancers are, in African praise-descriptions, likewise said to lack bones (thereby their sinuous dance-movements).} ... Spirits are ... able to take human shapes – but when they do, they will have hoofs instead of human feet or have eyes like fish, that is, vertical pupils. {Eyen having vertical pupils include those of cats.} They can also make themselves visible in the human world by taking on the shape of a cat.

p. 46

Spirits are governed by the natural laws of space and time, but they can travel extremely quickly and can fly through the air. ... Spirits, like human beings, are born, grow old and die. {This is also a Bauddha doctrine, applied to deva-s.} Spirits, however, live much longer than humans, and may live up to seven hundred years. ... Spirits ... can hear and see, and they have emotions (maono), passion (mahaba) and desire (tamaa). The spirits, like human beings, are gendered – they are either female or male; they marry and give birth. In contrast to human beings, there are no homosexuals among spirits. ... all ... [are] – with the exception of angels – sexual beings. ... spirits are created from fire -- ... when spirits die they melt away like candles."

"the spirits ... lived on earth before human beings but ... after the angels. {cf. the successive "root-races" inhabiting the world, according to the Theosophical Society} The God ‘set the rules’ (toa amri) that the spirits should go away and leave the earth to human beings. ... the spirits had been given the ability to fly through the air and to understand every language and they were ... more educated than human beings."

p. 47 an experience (described by a woman-informant) with wealth-giving spirits

"My mother ... had asked the spirits to help her so that she would succeed in business. Afterwards, when my mother found herself in a good situation she decided that she should thank only God for her success. ... One misfortune after the other happened and my mother eventually lost the property she had managed to acquire with help from the spirits. And, at that point it was ... too late to ask the spirits to forgive her for her arrogance."

pp. 47-48 possessing-spirits of different religions; how Christian and Muslim spirits should be treated differently

p. 47

"spirits, ... some are Muslims, some are Christians, and some are even pagans (kaffir). Some are like kings, some are just ordinary, and some are like slaves."

p. 48

One woman "has a sheitani ya kibuki (a Christian spirit from Madagascar). Yet she insists ... that she is afraid of being overpowered by her spirit."

 

Another woman "has a Muslim spirit from Arabia (sheitani ya ruhani) whom she appreciates. She ... says that her spirit looks after her. She always remembers to inform her spirit about important events in her life as well as in the life of her significant others".

p. 59, n. 3:15 "people of African origin living on the islands in southern Iran, are possessed by spirits from Zanzibar."

pp. 48-49 how spirits enter, or otherwise take control of, the human body

p. 48

"spirits enter your body through your feet {thus likewise in Haiti} and follow the blood vessels (mishipa) up through your body, until they reach the head and

p. 49

thereby take control over your body.

Spirits may also only pass through the body. In such cases, the human body shivers and sometimes a short scream is heard. ...

Spirits ... sit on your back and point their fingers at you (kupa kidole), and by pointing their finger at you, they take full control over your body. In situations where a person becomes frozen in a certain position, yet trembles with intensity, ... the spirit is pointing her or his finger at the person."

p. 51 personality

"Tabia (habits) is the term used when someone is referring to a person’s character or personality. In order to explain a certain personality, one would refer to a person’s star (nyota), which would then be examined according to certain astrological principles".

pp. 54-57 personal account by a woman who hath "Christian spirits from Madagascar (shetani ya kibuki)"

p. 54

"I was very ill before I found out that I had a shetani ya kibuki. I became very thin. {do Christian spirits cause anorexia?} ...

p. 55

Night and day I heard snakes. [p. 59, n. 3:13 : "Dreaming about snakes, as well as caves, is seen as a sign that the person has a sheitani ya kibuki." {"As Moseh lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up." Immanuel was born in the Cave of the Nativity.}]

p. 56

... my spirit climbed to my head. My spirit told ... that he wanted a ritual lasting for seven days ... . ... But I had ... to purchase brandy ... – twenty-seven bottles."

p. 57

explanation of this woman’s alcoholism in terms of the Christian eucharist :- "That [she] drinks alcohol is sometimes explained, both by herself and others who know her, as an urge she has because of her Christian spirit from Madagascar. Her spirit makes her drink alcohol. The spirit wants alcohol and can get it only through her." {This would imply, perhaps, an Eastern Orthodox connection, inasmuch as in that denomination , but not in Roman Catholicism, the laity partake of liquor for Holy Communion.}

SOCIAL IDENTITIES, Vol. 5 = Kjersti Larsen : Where Humans and Spirits Meet : ... Identified Spirits in Zanzibar. Berghan Books, Oxford, 2008.