Kaguru [in Nguru mountains, Morogoro & Dodoma provinces, Tanganyika]

legends of tribal origins

p.

legend

32

"they divided into their clans at a place called Chiwepanhuka. ... By chiwe (small rock) people may sometimes even mean "buttocks," or "vagina," or the female fundament. In the great trek, Kaguru are said to have come from the west ... and traveled eastward ... . Of course, the west is also associated with the dead, whence the unborn come. Nor only were the marchers’ right sides turned southward and their left sides north, but people marched in double files, men on the right of a column, women on the left, and the entire group going toward higher ground."

76

"Kaguru associate the west with death, ... for children are born out of the land of the dead. ... Bodies are therefore buried with their feet pointing eastward in continuation of their progress from out of the west." {Do the dead circumambulate a sphairical world in order to arrive again at the west?}

magical rites

p.

rite

32

"A man wishing to perform countersorcery cuts the bark of a mwiyegea tree (sausage tree, Kigelia pinnata), first on its west side, then on its east, whereas

a person practicing sorcery cuts first the east side and then the west.

 

Ordinary or natural processes are associated with a progression from west to east, whereas

unusual or powerful, even dangerous supernatural ones may be associated with a progression from east to west."

142

"Ordinary love potions (chipendo) preserve or increase the love which one already feels, and these can be made by anyone".

144

"Means of divination vary :

gazing for patterns in a bowl of water or oil,

listening for sounds in a pot,

casting beans or sandals on the ground, or

watching for movements of grass in a bowl of water or

how wicker trays fall when balanced on a gourd. ...

 

The diviner ... may then sell counterwitchcraft (malegu or mhingu)."

145

"Another way of detecting a witch was to assemble people and then give one medicine (imausa, probably datura). That person became crazed and would seize likely witches".

146

"If a host fears witches, he strews branches of euphorbia (igole) or Ehretia sp. (mukilika) (which have blinding sap) at entryways to ward them off."

ordinary rites

p.

rite

64

"traditionally Kaguru shaved body hair, especially pubic hair (ujoya). ... In mourning and at initiation, the head is shaved."

97

"mentioning good fortune is often a sure way of losing it. Kaguru are therefore likely to disparage their children ..., especially to strangers. Kaguru say that if the dead heard children praised, they would strive all the more to draw them back."

124

"fear of the dead caused persons to be rushed into their graves before they actually died."

125

"Children are ... told that the deceased was devoured by a monster (dikoko). ... The corpse ... is sometimes referred to as the nhembo (elephant). The duty of the watani is "to tie up the elephant" (kuhaga inhembo)."

pp. 98-102 omens of future events

p.

omen

98

[the 4 categories of omen :]

"ndege is a minor deviation from order, not necessarily negative in its implications,

kwinja greater and invariably negative, and

mauliso horrible.

Ugego is ... very dangerous to others but rectifiable."

 

"In both Kaguru and Swahili ndege (sing. and pl.) means both "bird" and "omen."

104, n. 15

"Kaguru folklore has many instances of birds with magical powers; see Beidelman [: "The Bird Motif in Kaguru Folklore." ANTHROPOS 69:162-190] 1974c."

104, n. 16

"a list of Kaguru omens (ndege) ...; see Beidelman [: "Kaguru Omens". ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY 36:43-59] 1963e:47-49."

99

omen

its prognosis

 

"repeated noise from a nightjar or a blue monkey"

"death"

 

"repeated tapping by a woodpecker"

"successful journey"

 

"meeting a lone woman when setting out on a journey"

"unsuccessful venture"

 

"meeting one man or a man and a woman"

"success"

 

"stubbing one’s right foot on a trip"

"success"

 

"stubbing one’s left"

"misfortune"

 

"repeated injury while away from home"

one’s spouse is committing adultery

 

"omens may be either good (luswamu) or bad (fiha)".

104, n. 17

kwinja ‘perversity’ is not considered to include bestiality by humans.

99

"Animals of different species ... having sexual relations", however, is considered to be kwinja.

104, n. 18

There is "a fuller set of examples of kwinja ... (Beidelman 1963e:49-51)."

100

In a case of kwinja, "the employment of prophylactic or corrective medicines should restore the regular temporal pace of activities."

 

"mauliso indicates unequivocal disaster. ... Mauliso portends occurrences utterly ... unescapable. Here are a few examples : a wild animal which would not normally enter a house or cattle-byre does; thus, ... if a zebra, giraffe, or antelope does, it would be; a nightjar or owl enters a house".

 

Ugego ‘supernormal development’ is in reference to "precocious ... infants. These are termed figego (sing. chigego) and include twins, breech deliveries, those born with teeth, those who cut their upper teeth first".

101

"Figego are said to develop into extraordinarily clever, strong, and vigorous persons, but at the expense of their kin about them, whose strength is correspondingly sapped".

102

"Lighting began to strike alarmingly near." This alarming danger had been (supposedly) induced by "the chigego in our midst".

pp. 106-110, 116-118 tales concerning the land of the spirits of the dead

p.

tale

107

The spirits of the dead may become, temporarily (during their incursions into the world of the living), baboons, monkeys, wild swine (warthogs?), guinea-fowl, or crows, and in that guise feed on crops being cultivated by their living relatives (and then become human in their appearance whenever they return into their own world of the dead) – this can be confirmed by visits by living persons to the world of the dead, shewing that the wounding of a wild animal raiding a garden may be the actual wounding of the spirit of a dead relative (who can convalesce later, in the world of the dead, from the injury).

108

"the corpse and the unborn child within the woman’s womb were talking with one another. ... The corpse asked the unborn child, "You comrade, who are from the land of the spirits, is it a good home there?" {"ask a child seven days old about the place of life" (GTh 4:1), the place of life being the land of the spirits} The unborn child replied, "The land of the spirits is good if you were good in the world." Then the unborn child asked the corpse, "You, who are my comrade, how is

109

the world from which you come?" The corpse replied, "... in the world laughing is bad {cf. bad result, namely disapproval (B-Re>s^it 18:13), when the mother of Yis.haq (‘Laughter’) "laughed within herself" (B-Re>s^it 18:12) : Yis.haq’s mother S`arah was "old, and well stricken in age" (B-Re>s^it 18:11); praecisely as this Kaguru unborn child’s mother "was an old lady (mudala)" (p. 108)}; frowning is bad. ..."" This mudala-mother "used to pick okra (dilenda)" (p. 108); "Dilenda (okra) is a creeper collected for edible leaves" (p. 120, n. 3), just as the leaves of the grape-vine are picked for their edibility.

108

"the corpse and the unborn child within the woman’s womb were talking with one another. ... The corpse asked the unborn child, "You comrade, who are from the land of the spirits, is it a good home there?"

"ask a child seven days old about the place of life" (GTh 4:1), the place of life being the land of the spirits.

 

The unborn child replied, "The land of the spirits is good if you were good in the world." Then the unborn child asked the corpse, "You, who are my comrade, how is

cf. repetition of goodness implied in /kapal/ ‘to repeat’ (Strong’s 3713), the stem of /Makpelah/ (Strong’s 4375), name of the cave wherein (B-Re>s^it 23:19) S`arah’s corpse was interred.

109

the world from which you come?" The corpse replied, "... in the world laughing is bad

cf. bad result, namely disapproval (B-Re>s^it 18:13), when the mother of Yis.haq (‘Laughter’) "laughed within herself" (B-Re>s^it 18:12)

 

[this Kaguru unborn child’s mother "was an old lady (mudala)" (p. 108)]; frowning is bad. ...""

Yis.haq’s mother S`arah was "old, and well stricken in age" (B-Re>s^it 18:11)

108

This mudala-mother "used to pick okra (dilenda)". ["Dilenda (okra) is a creeper collected for edible leaves" (p. 120, n. 3).]

The leaves of the grape-vine are plucked on account of their edibility.

110

From at the base of a musingisi-tree, a baby was carried off by an eagle into a "pond". {is this a fish-pond, and the eagle a fish-eagle? just as the Kaguru "eagle" was found to be the ghost of the dead grandmother of the child, so likewise in an Ila myth a "fish-eagle ... withered away to bones" (DNM, p. 117a). In Mohave myth, Mastamho the "fish-eagle" god released "fish and water fowl" (MCM) from the netherworld.}

GTh = Gospel according to Thomas http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gth_pat_rob.htm

DNM = Tamra Andrews : Dictionary of Nature Myths. Oxford U Pr, 2000. http://books.google.com/books?id=7jS65aClvFEC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq="fish+eagle"+myth&source=bl&ots=oT29dpRFO5&sig=V2MQjjpiXn9ODKZ23AnmfyNWMAk&hl=en&e

MCM = http://www.mojaveindian.com/creation.htm

pp. 112-115 the condition of spirits of the dead

p.

spirits of the dead

112

"Upon death the living spirit is transformed into an ancestral ghost, a musimu, which ... may temporarily take the form of an animal or bird. ... After the spirit has left the body (ifimba, corpse), the bodiless spirit hovers near its former home before being sent back to the land of the spirits ... . ... The land of the spirits is difficult to reach, is far away, and is ...

113

beneath, in bodies of water. ... Some Kaguru also say that the land of the spirits is a dark place. The beings of this land live in villages and conduct affairs similar to those on earth. The most influential persons on earth are correspondingly the most influential ghosts ... . ... Also, ghosts miss the young who have just left them to be born. Desiring these young to return, the ghosts must be soothed and consoled for this loss. ... In their normal quiescent state ghosts are referred to as wagona (the ones who sleep). ...

114

As long as there is no trouble, the ghosts are sleeping peacefully ... . ... If a kaguru or his family are plagued with difficulties, he visits a diviner (muganga), who uses divination (maselu or mulamulo) to determine the cause. If the cause of the trouble is divined to be ghosts, it must be determined which ghosts are the cause and what must be done to remove their annoyance. ... ... Kaguru rites of propitiation (tambiko or mufiko) involve ... the libation or aspersion (kunyaga) of beer".

115

[propitiatory prayer to spirit of the ancestral dead] "The ancestor is asked to bring his comrades (wayago, your comrades) with him. ... Sometimes a prayer asks the indulgence of all those ghosts whose names have been forgotten. ... The dead are compared to many birds clustering upon a single millet stalk".

p. 120, n. 7 [belief among the " "Lugulu, ... who are closely related to the Kaguru and who neighbor them" :] "the ... spirit-world is inhabited ... by people who betake themselves to their old pursuits, amuse themselves with their old frolics and beguile the time with gossip and good fellowship of kindred spirits" ([J. Mawinza : "Reverence for Ancestors in Tanzania with Reference to the Luguru." CAHIERS DE RELIGIONS AFRICAINES 4:239-248] 1968:246)."

pp. 121-129 "joking partners"

p.

watani

121

"Each Kaguru stands in a relation of utani toward persons called watani (sing. mutani). These or similar terms and practices are found over a wide area of East Africa and are generally spoken of as "joking partners," person[s] who stand in reciprocal "joking relations" with one another".

136, n. 2

"Kaguru utani is similar to the institution among their matrilineal neighbors, the Ngulu, Lugulu, and Zigula."

122

"Watani sweep (kushagila) graves clean, removing the overgrowth of weeds. ... Tidying graves achieves a corresponding rehabilitation of the abode of ghosts in the land of the dead. Watani slay the sacrificial ... fowls ... . The creature slain is often black, a color associated with rain." {cf. [Az.] black rain-god Tlaloc}

"So too visiting watani ... make ... obscene sexual remarks, accuse their joking partners".

124

"Kaguru forbid sexual relations with members of a spouse’s clan. ... the kin of the two culprits face supernatural danger, ... the offenders ... themselves are not endangered supernaturally. ... The watani kill the sheep and twine its intestines (lutembu) around the couple’s loins."

pp. 139-144 beliefs concerning sorcery & witchcraft

p.

doings of "witches"

141

"Witches cover great distances by means of hyena familiars, which they hug by the belly as they race through the sky with fire shooting out of the hyena’s anus. [cf. also p. 187] ... They sometimes feed these familiars blood stolen from menstruating women ... . ... Some witches employ anteaters, which burrow under the walls of houses, enabling a witch to enter. ... Night-dancing witches travel naked, walking upside down, smeared with white ashes. ... Witches sometimes possess sticks to beat graves of victims, making the dead rise to follow the witches ... . ... Some Kaguru place charmed stakes at the corners of graves to frighten away witches. .... Kaguru believe that if one sees cats having [sexual] intercourse one will die because witches are the hovering about to collect what is spilled. ...

142

Witches ... have a ... deadly substance [praepared] from pulverized skulls and teeth. ... Musukule transforms a victim into a zombie (isoki, pl. masoki), which then works for the witch. ... Only a witch makes ndele, which forces an unwilling person into violent sexual passion for someone whom he or she would otherwise dislike."

pp. 160-180 social functions of folktales

p.

function

161

[social satire :] "As Empson notes, "accepted official beliefs may be things that would be fatal unless in some degree kept at bay" ..., and the fantastic, grotesque, and mocking quality of many tales does that ... . ... Imaginative moral inquiry is at the heart of many Kaguru stories."

181, n. 3

"Hallpike is wrong to claim that preliterate peoples are poor at hypothetical thought ... (cf. Beidelman [: "Review of Hallpike : The Foundations of Primitive Thought." AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST 4:812-813.] 1981c)."

T. O. Beidelman : Moral Imagination in Kaguru Modes of Thought. IN U Pr, 1986.