ON WORSHIP AND OFFERINGS—OCCASIONS FOR WORSHIP.
“None shall appear before me empty.”—EXOD. 23, 15.
STARTING ON A JOURNEY (ULENDO), WAR, OR HUNTING EXPEDITION.
14.—PRAYERS AND OMENS.
When a man intends to set out on some expedition he goes to the chief
of his village, and tells him. The chief presents an offering (mbepesi)
to the spirit of his predecessor. This offering consists of a little
flour, which he puts down very slowly at the top of his bed, or he may
go to the verandah of the house of his deceased brother. As he puts down
the offering he recites the words, “My son has come, he goes a journey,
enlighten his eyes, preserve him on his journey, escort this child, may
he return with his head unscathed (literally ‘green,’ wa uwisi). Please,
please, let him undertake the journey, and be very successful.”
If the flour do not fall so as to form a cone with a fine point there
is a bad omen, and the journey is deferred. The remedy for this state
of matters is to resort to the oracle (chisango) (I). It is seldom,
however, that a bad omen is found at this stage, though some say it
is possible. The oracle will explain what is the cause of the bad
omen. Probably the man will be told to “try again”. If the cone form
beautifully on this occasion, then it will be clear that the god wanted
him merely to delay for a day or two, and for some good reason; but if
the cone still refuse to form, resort is again had to the oracle. The
oracle sets to work, and finds that some deceased relative has a hand in
this obstruction. This relative must be propitiated by an offering. Or it
maybe that a witch (msawi; Chinyasa, mfiti) is the cause of the trouble;
then it is the duty of the oracle to declare who the witch is. This leads
to a serious state of matters, which will very probably end in the death
of this witch.
A person cannot go to hunt with any assurance of safety till the witch
has drunk the poisoned cup (mwai).
We were much affected by a case of this kind that came under our notice.
A village chief, Matope, was led to believe that he was bewitched. First
his principal wife became seriously ill—the disease was consumption—she
was treated with the usual English remedies, and Mrs MacDonald made a bed
for her, which took the place of the hard mat upon which the poor native
lies down to die. As the native fare is hard as the native bed, and the
poor invalid could not relish it, we sent her some soup every day, as
well as sugar of which she was exceedingly fond. Ultimately the disease
ran its course, going through the same stages as the terrible malady does
in England. One day the husband came to me and said, “There is mourning
at our home”. The simple words revealed at once that the wife of the
village chief was dead.
We fully expected that, notwithstanding our remonstrances, some one would
be accused of causing her death through witchcraft; but perhaps owing to
the interest that we had taken in his wife all along, no one was accused
on this occasion. He had four wives besides, and he soon supplied the
place of the deceased by buying another wife, who was “very good to her
children”.
Then a little after, the son of one of his other wives having gone out at
midnight, a leopard came upon him and caught his foot just at the door
of the house as he was running in. The lad was badly bitten, and his
mother induced Matope to have resort to the usual methods of detecting
witchcraft; the result was that Matope’s own mother was pronounced a
witch. We were very sorry for the poor woman. She lived in another
village, over the stream from her son’s hamlet. She had always shown
us the greatest kindness and hospitality. She was fond of joking and
fun, but this sentence made her an object of dread and aversion. Every
native now shrunk from her, and her life became a burden. We tried to
do everything for her; we gave her presents; invited her to come and
see us, and cautioned her against drinking the poisoned cup. We made
the village chief promise that it would not be administered. The result
was that there was some delay in drinking the ordeal. We made every use
of this respite by talking on the matter with Kapeni, the chief of the
country, who was her brother, and who promised to use every influence
on her behalf. Her son, the village chief, was a very successful hunter.
During the delay he could not go to hunt. The superstition was too strong
for him. At the same time his mother was anxious to break the spell that
bound him, she was so sure that she was innocent. She drank the dangerous
cup and died, and however dearly the liberty was purchased, the hunter
could now go forth to his usual pursuit.
So much for the danger of being suspected of witchcraft, a suspicion
that might arise from flour not falling in the form of a cone. But it
is seldom that a bad omen arises while the chief is in the mere act of
putting down the flour. After the flour is put down, and has formed a
shapely cone, he carefully covers it with a pot, and leaves it all night.
During the night he may have a dream about the journey, and this will
decide his course. But if he is still undecided he visits his offering
early in the morning. Should he find that the cone of flour is broken
down on one side (mbali jimo jiwalwiche), that it has not its proper
point (lusonga), the omen is bad. The flour is thrown away in the bush,
the journey is forbidden by the spirit, and cannot be thought of; and
the result is an appeal to the oracle (chisango). But if the flour has
preserved its conical form the omen is good, the divinity has accepted
the present and granted the request. The village chief tells his man to
go forth with confidence.
The Wanyasa depend more upon the dream during night than the appearance
of the cone. Some of them say, “Of course, the flour will form a cone if
it is put down carefully, and the cone will maintain its form if the
rats are kept away”. The Magololo chiefs would not send their children to
school until they dreamt.
When the chief has decided on the journey he gives his man a thread
(lupota), which is tied round some part of his person, as a token that
the god goes along with the expedition. He may give an oil vessel
(chisasi) for a similar purpose. The man now takes the necessary supply
of food (inga) and fire-arms, bids his wives good-bye, and sets forth on
his journey.
15.—CEREMONIES OBSERVED BY THE WIVES OF TRAVELLERS.
The village chief may immediately call the wives that are left behind,
and advise each one to behave with discretion during her husband’s
absence, as otherwise she may mar his domestic peace, or even cause
his death (82). These wives must observe certain customs during their
husbands’ absence. If at any time one of them have a dream she must
present a private offering. (In describing the worship connected with
a journey, we have been assuming all along that the expedition is of
interest to the village chief. This is nearly always the case, for one
thing the chief wishes to pray that his villager may be safely restored
to him). Should a man undertake a journey that is entirely private, then
he may perform the offering himself, or ask his wife to do it for him.
They would put down the flour, and watch the formation of the cone as the
chief does. All the particulars connected with the success and failure
of omens are the same, and if they are relatives of the chief the god
invoked is the same. If they are not related to the chief they may pray
not to the god of the village, but to the god of their own family.
While a woman’s husband is absent she goes without anointing her head or
washing her face. She must not bathe, she scarcely washes her arms, she
must not cut her hair. Her oil vessel (chisasi) is kept full of oil till
his return, and may be hung up in the house or kept by the side of her
bed. This neglect commences, according to some, as soon as her husband
has gone. Others allow the moon “to die”; they wait for the new moon
before they begin this species of mourning (kuwindika). It continues till
the husband return.
16.—KICKING AGAINST THE STUMPS.
The expedition has started at last—surely all detention from bad omens
is at an end. By no means. In a few days the leader of the expedition
may appear at the village with all his men. He has hurt his toe on the
stump of a tree (chisichi)! The natives, in preparing their ground for
cultivation, cut down nearly all the trees. They do not cut close to
the earth as an English forester would do. They find it much easier to
cut the tree at a thinner part, and leave a stump. Such stumps are all
over the cultivated land, and are often found on the footpaths. If a
superstitious man strike his foot on one of these at the beginning of an
important journey, he considers it to be ominous of evil.
When Julius Cæsar was landing in Africa with his army, he stumbled and
fell. This was an unhappy omen. But his presence of mind gave it another
turn. He cried out, “Oh, Africa, I embrace thee”. The less superstitious
natives calm their fears by a similar method. While some speak with bated
breath of the danger of picking up a buck that died of itself, others
say “We always pick them up and eat them, and are very glad to have the
chance”.
If a superstitious man kick against the stumps, there is no hope for his
expedition, he goes back, and the affair is referred to the oracle in the
usual way.
A man whose heart is set upon a journey is sometimes wicked enough to
disregard an unfavourable omen. His men call his attention to it, and
he says “Yes, it is a very unlucky thing; we shall go to the oracle as
soon as we return!” This is an evasion nearly as bad as that of the Roman
General, who, when told by the soothsayer that the sacred chickens would
not eat, said that he would make them drink, and kicked them overboard.
Whether the consequences to the native that treats the omens in this
off-hand manner are always as serious as they were to the Roman we have
not heard. The native who has an unfavourable omen is not at ease in his
mind; but we think that these superstitions will soon be overcome in the
minds of future generations.
17.—ILL-OMENED SNAKES.
Some of the strongest superstitions are associated with snakes. If a
snake of bad omen, as a sato (python) or a lukukuti, cross the path
of a traveller, it is a sign that he will meet with disaster on his
journey, and at once he returns to his home. But if the traveller is
already on his return journey he does not go back, but goes on to his
village expecting to find that everything has gone wrong there. This omen
generally betokens a death at the village. If the snake is seen on the
right hand, the omen betokens that there is some danger on that side of
the road, and similarly if the snake is seen on the left.
Regarding this form of superstition, I once asked a native that strongly
professed his belief in it, whether he would turn back on meeting a snake
in his way if I gave him a letter for Zomba, and told him that it had to
go on quickly. He said, “No; he would not turn back when a white man sent
him.” Why? “Because,” he said, “you would laugh at me, and ask why I had
not brought the snake home for a specimen!”
When a sungula (rabbit) crosses the path it betokens that the chief will
die.
There is a great number of similar superstitions. But it is noteworthy
that there is no such superstition about thunder as was among the Romans.
To them thunder is ever welcome, associated as it is with refreshing
showers.
When the men have been gone some days the villagers conclude that the
journey is prospering—the god is accompanying the party. If the chief
want to send out others before this party come back, he must send another
spirit with them, and there will be no difficulty in finding several
suitable escorts among the spirits of his deceased relatives.
After the caravan has been gone for some time the villagers begin to
anticipate its return, and to talk of the wealth that it will bring. It
may be a hunting expedition, or a journey to the coast to buy beads and
cloth, guns and powder, in exchange for ground nuts, slaves, or ivory.
As the caravan approaches the village, the news of its arrival goes on
before quick as lightning. All eyes are turned toward the direction
where the long absent ones are expected to appear. Already some of the
villagers are rushing forth to meet them. The returning party fires a
salute; the guns of the village reply. All are in ecstacies of joy. The
women run out with handfuls of flour, and sprinkle on the heads of the
returning heroes. The caravan goes on amid shouts of joy, straight to the
village chief, and deposits the goods under his care.
18.—THANKOFFERING.
The chief immediately makes an acknowledgement to the spirit that
escorted the party. He goes to one of his wives and asks her for flour
that he may present an offering. He puts down part of this flour in the
same way as he did when the expedition started. Then he wets the rest of
the flour, and puts it down beside the dry portion. This water-and-flour
is supplementary to the dry offering (mesi gakwe). As he presents it he
says, “Now we are happy, my children have come back, you have given us
much.” When he has finished he claps his hands as a salutation to the
spirit, and retires. This expression of thanksgiving is generally made in
a private manner.
PUBLIC REJOICING.
Now begins a season of public rejoicing. The whole hamlet makes high
holiday. The women may now bathe, and cut their hair, and anoint their
bodies with oil. So may their returned husbands. During their journey
these men had refrained from using salt. They were afraid to use it (82),
for they said, “Perhaps our wives are not behaving well in our home,
and we shall die”. Now the chief prepares a great banquet, and calls a
medicine man, who puts a charm into the food; the travellers eat of this,
and henceforth they may use salt freely.
A large quantity of beer is brewed, and as soon as it is ready the chief
and all his visitors go to the verandah of the house of the deceased
chief, where all larger offerings are presented. They carry flour and
beer, and perhaps some such offering as tobacco. The chief is the first
to invoke the spirit saying, “Please, please, Ching’ombe,” or whatever
the name may be, “here is beer for you, drink it, we want to live well
at our village, and to drink in peace”. He will mention also the happy
circumstances connected with the expedition, and hint mildly that when
another expedition is necessary they will look for a similar service from
the spirit. The sister of the deceased chief will also be an offerer,
and any others who may be closely related. They first put down a little
offering of flour, and then each takes a cup of beer to pour on the
ground as a libation. After the others have presented their offerings the
chief finishes the worship by presenting all that is left.
Many guests may be invited. Any that happen to arrive before the offering
has been given will accompany the party that goes to present it. All
in the village may be present at this offering. It is a kind of public
worship. Whatever may be the rank of his guests it is the village chief
himself that acts as high priest. Even the chief of the whole country
if present would only stand and look on. As soon as the offering is
finished, the beer drinking begins. Great is the rejoicing in the village.
If an expedition were unsuccessful, if, for instance, some one died or
goods were lost, instead of this rejoicing there would be a mourning. The
god would be considered to have deceived them, and behaved very badly.
After the expedition has been the occasion of a public rejoicing, the
god is acquitted of all blame. Yet, strange to say, many successful
expeditions of this kind—especially when they have been to the coast with
slaves and ivory—are the most unfortunate things that could happen to
a district. Soon after the beer drinking is over, the goods have to be
divided, and in a large proportion of cases so great contentions arise
that the chiefs kingdom is divided also.
Other occasions for approaching the gods occur in cases of sickness (19)
or famine (20). On these we shall not dwell so long, as the foregoing
principles generally apply.
19.—SICKNESS.
When a man is ill he puts down an offering to his deceased father or
mother, saying, “I wish to give you a sacrifice; can you tell us what you
want? and I will bring it you”. He first gives this offering himself. He
may say, “I am very ill, I wish you to restore me; perhaps a witch wants
to kill me, restrain this”. Then he looks for a good dream. An offering
of flour is put at the side of his pillow to tempt the spirit to come. If
the spirit come not, he tells the chief of his village, who may give an
offering in like manner, or he may go at once to the sorcerer (mchisango)
and say “We want to see the spirit that has been invoked”. After making
inquiries, the sorcerer says the spirit wants such and such; then the
required offering is given. If the sick man recover, the matter rests
there. In cases that are more serious, the sorcerer will tell him that
bad spirits (masoka) have got into his house, that some one has bewitched
the house and all his usual places of resort, that he must have another
house in the fields. There are other manifest advantages attending this
retreat from the busy village.
A house in the fields is built and prepared perhaps that very day. We
have not known many cases where the invalid ever returned. Sometimes a
poor consumptive patient, when removed to such a house, is drenched with
rain, as the thatch is not so good as on the other house.
REJOICING ON HIS RETURN.
Great is the rejoicing on the invalid’s return to the village, if ever
he return again. Much beer is brewed. The usual sacrifices are given to
his god. The recovered patient says, “Now I am happy, I have health;
drink you this beer”. Mats are spread out, he sits down upon one, and the
physician (msing’anga) is called to his side. The physician pours beer on
his patient, and after that, water, and then begins to shave his head.
The physician does not present any offering to the village god; but he
gives a thank-offering at his own home to his own gods. He returns thanks
that “he found medicine for yonder sick man”.
20.—PUBLIC SUPPLICATION FOR RAIN.
We have seen how the natives invoke the gods when they pray for a
prosperous expedition (14) and for health (19). We shall now see what
they do when they pray for a good crop—which generally means, in their
country, praying for rain.
When there is no rain at the proper season there ensues much distress.
Famine is dreaded above all other evils. After private offerings
have all failed the chief of the country calls a national meeting
for supplication. Much beer is brewed and offered to the spirit. The
chief addresses his own god; he calls on him to look at the sad state
of matters for himself, and think of the evils that are impending. He
requests him to hold a meeting with all the other gods that have an
interest or influence in the matter. A council of the gods is believed
to be held, and if any god act as an obstructive he is specially
propitiated according to the direction of the prophetess.
After the supplication there is a great dance in honour of the god. The
people throw up water towards the heavens as a sign that it is water that
is prayed for. They also smear their bodies with mud or charcoal to show
that they want “washing”. If rain do not come they must wash themselves
in the rivers or streams. If rain fall, they are soon washed in answer to
their prayers. When the good crop follows, they present as a thanksgiving
the first heads of maize and some pumpkins. Before they begin to eat
the maize themselves some of the cobs are roasted and offered under the
prayer tree (4). In smaller crops, as beans, there is no special offering.
In the South of Africa the power of rain-making has been claimed
completely by the rain-doctors. Even here the sorcerers have a great
power. Still the chief maintains what we think must have been his
prerogative in the earliest times. Does this not shew that these races
are a stage nearer the primitive manners than in the South where such a
priesthood has been developed?
DREAMS afford another occasion for offerings (41).
THE NATURE OF THE OFFERINGS. GENERAL OFFERINGS.
21.—THE NATIVE FLOUR.
Of the ordinary offerings to the gods (which are just the ordinary food
of the people), flour is the commonest. The natives eat it themselves
in the form of porridge, but they never present it thus to the spirits
except on the day of a person’s death, or by special request. This
offering, though common, is not made ready without a great deal of
trouble. The poor native woman seems to be occupied at milling flour from
morning to night. The process is like this—First, she takes corn from the
cob, puts it into a mortar with some water, and begins pounding to remove
the husks (maseta). These are separated by sifting (kupeta). She next
puts the husked grain (msokolo) again in the mortar, and does as before.
By this time all the husks are off. After this the corn is steeped in
water for some time, when it is called mlowe. This she puts into a mortar
without water, and pounds again. When the third pounding is finished, she
resorts to another process of sifting (kusenyenda) and obtains flour,
which may be broken down to any degree of fineness by repeated pounding.
Many harder portions (lusenga) need pounding again.
This native flour is given to the spirits (misimu) either quite dry or
with a little water stirred into it.
22.—NATIVE BEER.
The beer is made from maize or millet (D).
It is not like English beer. It is really a thin gruel, and serves for
food as well as for drink. It is a very wholesome beverage for the
natives, and it is well that they use it rather than other stimulants.
The natives have a great desire for wine or brandy (they apply the
Brazilian word Kachaso to everything of this kind). We may illustrate
how far this craving exists by mentioning how often chiefs and headmen
request Kachaso. Sometimes we have prepared a little tincture of ginger,
and seen it greedily drunk. Mrs. MacDonald was one day clearing out
old bottles, a few of which contained lime juice in the bottom, and
it was sad to notice how the persons that received these bottles were
entreated by others “to give them some of the brandy”. When a person
was thus entreated, even after he had tasted the old rotten stuff, he
said he had only a very little for himself, and hastened away as if
determined to enjoy it alone! When we were on the Kwagwa River, a little
above Quillimane, much merchandise was brought, and the first thing
that was asked in payment was kachaso. The boatmen between Quillimane
and the Missions were in danger of doing a great deal of harm in this
way, as they brought up rum and such stuff, and traded on their own
responsibility. Chiefs can procure kachaso readily enough, especially
from the slave traders. One time at Blantyre there was hardly a drop of
wine for a whole year, but the chief of Sochi had obtained some, and sent
a messenger to us to ask for wine glasses! Another chief that we had
opened up intercourse with, sent us a bottle of rum as a return present.
Of course everyone gives things that have thus passed through the hands
of the natives the cold shoulder, as it is not known what they are made
of!
The temptation to drunkenness is one of the most terrible that the
country can be exposed to. The natives go down before this temptation
at once. A great deal of their drinking is an aping of the manners of
Europeans as seen on the coast. We think that the civilisation of this
race should be accomplished by total abstainers if possible. People who
tamper with the natives by offering them brandy or by mixing wine and rum
that they may make them drunk for their own amusement, are exceedingly
thoughtless. In this country, unfortunately, any one can sell as much
liquor as he likes without paying any license: and the effect of drinking
brandy or such stimulants is sometimes very deplorable. One of the
Magololo Chiefs or Headmen, as reported to me, seemed to go quite mad
when he received a supply of brandy. He went about killing his people
for the purpose of amusement, much in the manner of King Mtesa. On
such occasions there used to be a great rush of people to the Mission,
representing that their chief had drunk brandy, had killed very many of
their friends, and wanted to kill them. They implored the protection of
the Mission in the most earnest manner.
23.—THE EFFECTS OF NATIVE BEER.
But the native beer does not produce such serious consequences, although
many fights and wars arise out of it. One must drink a great deal before
it intoxicates, and by the time a man has consumed half a barrel of gruel
he will be more inclined to sleep than to quarrel. Should he simply talk
nonsense, his more sober friends pay little attention to him. At a great
beer-drinking the guests may lie down and sleep where they were drinking.
What do the natives think of the crime of drunkenness? When asked, “Do
you say a man has a bad heart if he gets drunk on beer?” they reply “No;
he may not have a bad heart”. But on further questioning they insist that
such a man has certainly “a very bad head!”
24.—BEER AS AN OFFERING.
We have seen how the flour is used, both as an offering and as a sort of
oracle according to the way in which it falls—according as it forms a
cone or not. The beer may be used in the same way, both as offering and
oracle. If when poured on the ground it sink into one spot as it would
do in sandy soil, then the deity receives it, but if it spread over the
ground there is a bad omen. Beer-drinkings may be held on the conclusion
of favourable journeys and on many other occasions. Besides there may be
beer drinking without any special reason, as when a man wants to treat
his friends: but even in this case there is an offering.
As soon as the beer is ready the man goes to the village chief and
carries some with him. The village chief presents this offering to the
village god. There is no special prayer, except “I want that my beer may
be sweet”. After the village chief comes back from the offering he drinks
some of the beer himself, and declares the feast open. Among others the
custom is simply for the brewer of beer himself to put down a little in
his own house, with a prayer to the spirit that his beer may be sweet.
25.—SPECIAL OFFERINGS.
All the offerings are supposed to point to some wants of the spirit. If
a spirit were to come saying, “I want calico,” his friends would “just
say that he was mad,” and would not give it. “Why should he want calico?
What would he do with it? There was calico buried with him when he died,
and he cannot need more again.” But if the request is at all reasonable
(as when an old hunter asks animal food), it will be quickly attended
to, and personal taste carefully consulted. In cases of this kind they
may anticipate his wishes. When a deceased smoker wants tobacco his
worshippers put it on a plate and set fire to it. If a spirit ask a house
they will build him one.
It is a general rule that these special offerings are in answer to
special requests, and such special requests are made known either by the
oracle (chisango), or by dreams, or by the prophetess. The requests of a
more serious character, involving the sacrifice of human beings, are made
known chiefly through the prophetess (5, 3).
Near Lake Moere the people have idols that represent a departed father or
mother. They present them with beer, flour, bhang, and light a fire for
them to smoke by.—(Livingstone).
We shall now say a little about such special offerings and the way of
presenting them.
26.—OFFERING OF A FOWL.
They generally kill the fowl by wringing its neck. Some speak of cutting
its throat, and making the blood flow down. This is akin to an Arab
method, but as the natives practice their offerings this custom is
neither essential nor common. When the fowl is killed they simply lay it
down at the prayer tree (4). If it be taken away during the night the
spirit has accepted it. If it be known to have been carried away by a
leopard, the leopard was commissioned by the spirit, or if the deceased
was a hunter he may himself have taken the form of a leopard. The fowl
may lie till the ants eat it, and the offerers are quite satisfied. This
fowl may be given uncooked, or it may be either roasted or boiled as
indicated in the request made for it.
27.—OFFERING OF A GOAT.
A goat may be offered in the same way, only it is not likely that the
whole animal will be given, unless the offerer is very rich. One leg is
usually sent to the spirit, while the remainder is eaten by the villagers
themselves. In conversing with natives on these offerings, we have often
inquired whether the person that advises the offering may not sometimes
appropriate it, and thus cheat the spirit for whom it was intended. We
have often thought that the bones of these offerings might play a great
part in the superstitions connected with cannibalism and witchcraft
(107). The same might be said of the bones of human beings (28) that are
thus sacrificed; but the bones of the lower animals would do as well for
imposing on natives, who are not anatomists enough to know the difference.
It is not considered necessary that these offerings be taken away by
the spirits. It is sufficient that they are placed there, and that the
spirits may come and lick them.
28.—OFFERINGS OF HUMAN BEINGS.
Sometimes the prophetess will announce that the spirit demands the
offering of a man or a woman. As soon as this intimation has been given
all set upon the victim that may have been indicated. If wanted for a
deity residing on a mountain, the victim is stripped, his garments are
cut up into narrow bands, with which the legs and arms are secured. The
victim is not killed, but tied to a tree. If a beast of prey come during
the night and devour the unfortunate being the deity has accepted the
offering. Where wild animals are not abundant a little house is built on
the hill side, and the person with his legs and arms securely fastened,
is put inside and left to die of hunger.
If the deity live beside a lake or river, the man or woman, after being
stripped, and having the legs and arms securely fastened, is tied to a
large stone and thrown into the lake or river. The crocodiles may seize
the offering at once, but in any case death is the certain result, as the
stone prevents the victim from swimming.
The victims in such cases are usually slaves; but if a freeman were
to set fire to the grass or reeds beside a lake, and cause a great
conflagration close to the chosen abode of the deity, he is liable to
be offered up to the god that is thus annoyed; but if he be the owner
of many slaves he can easily redeem himself, one of his slaves will be
offered instead, and something paid to the prophetess to facilitate the
transaction.
The vast immolations of human beings made at the grave of a chief we
shall consider under another heading (32).