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

Chapter 24: INTRODUCTORY

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About This Book

Ethnographic investigation of Kikuyu and Kamba religious life that documents rites, magical practices, and beliefs governing sacrifice, taboo, initiation, divination, healing, witchcraft, and ancestral observances. It analyzes ceremonial forms, the roles of ritual specialists, and the social logic tying prohibitions and charms to community cohesion and responses to illness, misfortune, and death. Comparative reflections situate local customs within wider Bantu religious patterns, and appended observations consider social and cultural changes in East Africa following the war.

[Contents]

INTRODUCTORY

In this section a variety of matters, many of which have a bearing on the beliefs of the people, but which cannot be legitimately placed under either Religion or Magic, are dealt with.

The section dealing with the constitution of the people shows how the council of elders grades into the primitive priesthood.

A chapter on Kikuyu dances is included, and for this the author has to thank the Hon. C. Dundas. Many of these dances take place either at planting time or near the harvest, and also at marriages, and undoubtedly come under the class of fertility ceremonies. They may thus be considered to come under the heading of either Religion or Magic, although it is not always possible to say to which they belong.

A chapter has been added on the position of women in tribal organisation, and this subject is particularly recommended to future investigators. [209]