Thahu, sometimes called nzahu, is the word used for a condition into which a person is believed to fall if he or she accidentally becomes the victim of certain circumstances or intentionally performs certain acts which carry with them a kind of ill luck or curse. A person who is thahu becomes emaciated and ill or breaks out into eruptions or boils, and if the thahu is not removed, will probably die. In many cases this undoubtedly happens by auto-suggestion, as it never occurs to the Kikuyu mind to be sceptical on a matter of this kind.

It is said that the thahu condition is caused by the ngoma, or spirits of departed ancestors, but the process does not seem to have been analysed any further.

We are now in a position to realise the attitude of the Kikuyu mind towards thahu, and it is considered that the term curse, in its mediaeval sense, expresses it. Everyone will remember in the Ingoldsby Legends the pitiable condition of the Jackdaw of Rheims after he had been cursed by the Cardinal for stealing his ring; now this would appeal to a Kikuyu, and he would at once say the jackdaw was thahu. In one of the cases of thahu, quoted hereafter, it is possible for a person to lay a curse maliciously on a whole village by breaking a cooking pot, and in another instance, a father can lay a curse on his son for disobedience. We thus have parallel instances from both higher and lower civilisation; in the first, the Cardinal curses the jackdaw with the help of the supernatural powers with which he [104]is invested by virtue of his sacred position, and in the lower culture it is apparently held that any person can inflict a curse by invoking the supernatural powers of the ngoma, or spirits, of the dead ancestors.1

The position has, indeed, changed but little. It would appear probable that as the priests gained power, they arrogated to themselves the monopoly of laying a curse upon their flock; but the freedom with which people use the conventional formula of curses to this day is evidence, however, that the power to inflict a curse was formerly at the disposal of all. It is nevertheless important to realise that when curses were believed to be effective, and in the case of malicious ones, punishable by native law, people were more careful about the custom than Europeans are to-day, when all belief in the power of a curse has died away.

Some people use the term ceremonial uncleanness to express the meaning of thahu, but, as far as my inquiries go, the phrase inadequately explains the Kikuyu ideas on this question. Acts which cause a person to become thahu are also often found to be enumerated under the heading of “prohibitions” and “tabus.”

The similarity between thahu and tabu is somewhat striking and worth considering. Tabu appears usually to be applied to some act or object by a man who often acts in the dual capacity of ruler and magician. There is, as far as can be discovered, no record of a Kikuyu thahu having been imposed by any known personage, but these beliefs must have originated somewhere, and it may be that they were originally imposed one by one by great medicine men in former times, and have thus become incorporated in what may be termed the tribal religion.

The removal of the curse is effected by a process of lustration which, in the more serious cases, has to be done by the mundu mugo, or medicine man, and in [105]others by the members of the native council, or kiama; the latter is an interesting case of the overlapping of judicial functions and those of a sacerdotal character.

The lustration ceremony is almost always accompanied by the slaughter of a sheep and anointment with the contents of the stomach, the white diatomaceous earth called ira being used in some cases. The purification is called tahika.

In a few cases smoke is used as a purifying agent and seems to be considered effective in some more trivial ones.

The reality of this aspect of Kikuyu life and thought may easily be under-estimated, but it is important that all who wish to gain a deep insight into native affairs should understand it and give the phenomenon its true value. To give the question a practical application, it may safely be said that no Kikuyu native who becomes thahu during the course of his employment by a white master, will rest until he has been freed of his curse or ill luck, and he will probably desert with wages due to him in order to get rid of it; he cannot afford to wait, the risk is too great.

There is another curious side to the question; a Kikuyu, when he is circumcised, undergoes this rite either according to the old Kikuyu custom or according to Masai custom; the physical operation and result are the same, but the ceremonial varies, and for some unfathomed reason, a man who is circumcised Masai fashion can do certain things or encounter certain circumstances with impunity which would, if he had been circumcised Kikuyu fashion, render him thahu. This is a very curious fact, and the Kikuyu themselves do not seem to be able to give any reason for it. The matter should, however, be made the subject of further research, as my information is derived from the southern branch of the tribe, and many customs which are dropping into disuse in that area, and thus losing their inner meaning, are found to be very much better known in Kenya Province or Mwaitumi, as they call it. [106]

List of Thahu.—I will now proceed to give a list of thahu which I have collected with the assistance of the Kikuyu chief Kinanjui and his kiama, or council, of athuri, or elders; the question of the two classes of circumcision will be discussed later.

(1) If a small child dies and the mother carries the body away into the bush, the woman is thahu, and if the husband cohabits with her before she is purified, he becomes thahu and the woman is cleansed. The man carries the thahu away with him, and, what is worse, may transmit it to his other wives. If the man becomes thahu in this way it is much more serious for him than the woman, and a mundu mugo, or medicine man, has to be called in: the woman has to be purified by three elders, athuri ya kiama, and an elder woman, mwirui. For instance, if a man has two wives and the younger had become thahu, the senior wife would shave the head of the woman who was to be purified; a sheep is killed, and she is smeared with tatha, or the contents of the stomach.

This thahu only falls on those who have been circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion: if the man has been circumcised according to Masai custom he does not become thahu.

(2) If a woman who has assisted at a birth cohabits with a man before the end of the umbilical cord of the newly born child has shrivelled up and come away, and before she has bathed herself ceremonially, the infant, although not her own, will become thahu. To remove the curse from the child the principal elder of the village kills a sheep and smears the woman with tatha, the contents of the animal’s stomach, and thus cleanses her.

This applies to those circumcised either according to Kikuyu or Masai fashion.

(3) If a man touches or carries a corpse, he becomes thahu until he is cleansed. The lustration is performed by members of the local council of elders, athuri ya kiama, and the final purification by a mundu mugo, or [107]medicine man. If he cohabits with a woman before he is cleansed she also becomes thahu.

(4) Stepping over a corpse inflicts a thahu of a very serious nature, and the person contracts a sickness called mangu (possibly leprosy). He is said to break out into an eruption, and the fingers come off and the nose rots away. To remove this thahu, both the elders, athuri ya kiama, and the mundu mugo are called in; the latter procures the bone of an elephant, and this is placed on the ground, the athuri forming a circle round it, and the patient then steps over the bone; the mundu mugo afterwards purifies the man in the usual way.2

This thahu applies to both sections of the tribe, viz., those circumcised Kikuyu fashion and those circumcised Masai fashion.

(5) During a marriage ceremony five goats have to be presented to the athuri ya kiama and are killed for a feast. After they are slaughtered the eyes of the carcases have to be removed, and if, during this process, an eye becomes cut or broken, the bride becomes thahu, and unless something is done will not bear children; the father of the girl has to present a sheep to the athuri, and the girl is purified by them—this not being a matter which necessitates a medicine man. This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(6) On the occasion of a birth, the young men of the village kill a sheep for a feast called mambura; if the man who slaughters it cuts his finger and his blood drips on to the meat, he is thahu until he is purified by the athuri ya kiama.

This again applies to both sections of the tribe.

(7) If a man, the head of the village, attends the circumcision of a child at the hut of one of his wives, he is thahu until the children who were circumcised in the hut are cured; a mundu mugo then comes and [108]purifies him and the woman in whose hut the children were circumcised.

This applies only to the men circumcised Kikuyu fashion, for in that section it is the custom for the village head to sleep in the hut where the circumcision has taken place, and he becomes thahu, whereas it is the custom for a village head who was circumcised Masai fashion to sleep in another hut until the ceremonies are quite over, thus escaping the thahu.

(8) If one man kills another, and comes to sleep at a village and eats with the family in a certain hut, the people with whom he has eaten become thahu, and the skin on which he has slept is thahu and may infect anyone sleeping on it. This is a case for a mundu mugo, who is called in to purify the hut and its occupants.

If, however, the owner of the hut and his family have been circumcised Masai fashion they do not become thahu.

(9) If an important elder dies he is buried by his sons and they are thahu until purified by the athuri ya kiama. They are smeared with oil and their heads are shaved during the ceremony; this is not considered a very serious thahu. If they have been circumcised Masai fashion they can be purified forthwith, but if they belong to the other section it is necessary for them to isolate themselves until the new moon appears.

(10) When a child is born the father kills a sheep, of which a large part is given to the woman who has assisted at the confinement, and if, before he has pegged out the skin and divided the meat, he is summoned away from the village on urgent business (my informant gave an example, and said: “Suppose he was arrested and taken away as a prisoner”), the infant is thahu and the principal elder of the village has to kill a sheep, take a strip of skin from the forefoot of this animal, and fasten it as a bracelet on the wrist of the infant to remove the ill luck.

This applies to both sections of the tribe. [109]

(11) If children are being circumcised at a village, and the owner of the hut where the ceremony has taken place goes away to sleep at another village before he is cleansed, and, say, on the way, meets a crowd of people, the children who were circumcised will all be thahu. This is a case for a mundu mugo.

This only applies to those circumcised Masai fashion as, by Kikuyu fashion, the man does not sleep at another village.

(12) If two men who were circumcised at the same ceremony fight and blood is spilt, they are both thahu until a mundu mugo comes and removes it. He kills the usual sheep and the athuri or elders put a strip of the skin of the sheep on the wrist of each of the two men. Persons who are circumcised at the same feast are called wakini. This holds good for both sections of the tribe.

(13) If one man circumcises his children according to Masai fashion and another according to Kikuyu fashion, and the former should eat meat killed by the latter, the former will be thahu and vice versâ.

(14) If a person belonging to the Mweithaga clan sleeps in the hut of a person belonging to another rika or clan, the people of that hut become thahu; this is a case for both medicine men and elders, and applies to both sections of the tribe.

(15) If a man throws some earth at his wife, both become thahu; this is a case for a medicine man, and both have to be purified. This only applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(16) If food is eaten from a cracked pot the persons eating it become thahu and a mundu mugo has to be called in. This affects both sections of the tribe.

(17) The wives of smiths are usually decorated with armlets made of twisted strips of iron called mithiori. If a man enters the hut of a smith, and cohabits with a woman so decorated, he becomes thahu. A sheep has to be killed and a supply of honey beer provided; a strip of skin from the sheep is placed on the wrist of the [110]man, the woman, and any children she may have; this bracelet is placed on the left wrist of females, and the right wrist of a male. The purification ceremony is performed by another smith.

This thahu affects both sections of the tribe.

(18) Persons eating food in a smithy become thahu; the smith himself can purify one from this curse.

It affects both sections.

(19) If a bead worn on a warrior’s neck or waist falls into food, the persons who partake of the food become thahu; if such a bead falls into the grain store and becomes inadvertently cooked with the food the result is the same. This only affects persons circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(20) If a Kikuyu has had his crops protected by magical processes performed by a medicine man (to protect in this way is called ku-roga), and someone takes food from a garden so protected, he becomes thahu, and this form of thahu can only be removed by the medicine man who has roga-ed the plantation.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(21) If a man has connection with a woman from behind, they are both thahu. This is a very serious thahu and both the athuri ya kiama and a mundu mugo are necessary to remove it, neither the man nor the woman being allowed to eat any of the sacrificial sheep.

This applies to both sections.

(22) If a man beats his wife and draws blood, the woman is thahu, and the man cannot sleep in her hut until she is freed from it; the elders are called in and kill a sheep. The two persons concerned are not allowed to eat any of the meat, and the skin is reserved as a fee for a mundu mugo who is called in to perform the formal lustration.

This affects both sections of the tribe.

(23) If a woman is carrying a baby on her back, and it slips out of the leather garment and falls to the ground, it is thahu; the child must not be lifted from [111]the place where it fell until a sheep has been killed on that spot, and this is a case for both the elders of kiama and a medicine man. Both sections of the tribe are affected by this.

(24) If an elder or a woman when coming out of the hut slips and falls down on the ground, he or she is thahu, and lies there until a few elders of kiama come and slaughter a sheep near by, and some blood and tatha (contents of the stomach of the sheep) are rubbed on the spot where the person fell. The elders then say, “So-and-so is dead, let us bury him,” and they plant a sprig of the bushes called mukuria and muthakwa on the site of the mishap. This applies to both sections.

(25) If a man marries a woman and she steals anything from a member of her father’s clan, she is thahu, and milk will flow from her breasts without any natural cause, and any child she bears before the thahu is removed will be thahu. This is a matter for the athuri, or elders of kiama; a sheep is placed on the woman’s shoulders, and its throat is pinched until it micturates on the woman’s body, the sheep then being killed, and the contents of the gall bladder, mixed with urine from its bladder, poured over the leather garment of the woman, and her navel touched with a little of the mixture. The milk that was unnaturally flowing from her breasts will then dry up, and by this sign they will know that the thahu is removed.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(26) If a man’s son commits adultery with one of his father’s wives, and the father is still alive, the father becomes thahu and not the culprit, the reason given being that the father takes the thahu because he begot the son. The erring woman does not return to her husband, she is not thahu, and can still bring food to her husband, but he does not cohabit with her, and her hut is broken down. The son who has transgressed in this way has to make peace with his father by a formal present of a big male goat, nthengi. This thahu can [112]be removed by the athuri ya kiama; it is a very serious matter, and if the thahu is not quickly removed from the father, he will die.

It applies equally to both sections of the tribe.

(27) If a person touches menstrual blood, he or she is thahu; or if a man cohabits with a woman in this condition he is thahu. The person who is contaminated will first take some cow dung and then red ochreous earth (thiriga) and plaster it on the part of the body touched by the blood; ochre is said to be used because it is the same colour as the blood; the woman from whom the contamination came is also thahu. The mundu mugo has to be called in to purify the persons.

This applies to both sections.

(28) If one woman is circumcised Masai fashion and another Kikuyu fashion, and the child of the latter is suckled by the other woman, the child becomes thahu: this is a case for a mundu mugo.

This applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(29) If a hyæna comes into a hut at night, kills a goat and the owner kills the hyæna in the hut, the hut will be abandoned, and the whole village has to be purified by the kiama.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(30) If a hyæna defæcates inside a village, the village and its inhabitants are thahu, and this is a case for the kiama to arrange; the usual sheep is killed and must be eaten by the people of the village. If a person belonging to another village eats any of the meat, a hyæna will come and defile the village where he lives.

This applies to both sections.

(31) If a woman is carrying a gourd on her back and it falls and breaks, she is thahu. This is a matter for the elders of kiama to arrange.

(32) If a goat should come up to where people are sitting, and try to suckle a woman’s breast, the woman is thahu, and the goat has to be taken away and slaughtered at the village of the woman’s father, [113]the elders of kiama being called in to purify the woman.

This applies to both sections.

(33) If a woman is milking a cow and the calf climbs up on her shoulders while she is so occupied, the calf is not allowed to suckle the cow again and is forthwith slaughtered; this is a case for the elders. The people of the village must not eat any of the meat, half being taken by the woman to her father and the other half eaten by the elders.

This applies to both sections.

(34) When a woman has recently been confined and the discharges are still unfinished, it has sometimes happened that a cow has come along and licked the stool upon which she has been sitting. In such a case she must immediately tell her husband; if not, he will become thahu and die, and all the other people in the village will become thahu in a lesser degree and get ill. The cow has to be killed without delay by the elders and eaten by them; no person of the village must eat of the meat unless he has been circumcised Masai fashion. Three elders in Kikuyu are said to have died from this thahu within recent years.

It only applies to those who have been circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(35) If a cow is out grazing and its tail becomes twisted round a tree, it is thahu, and must be slaughtered there and then; it is killed by the owner, and the elders receive the saddle and the young warriors the neck.

This only applies to cattle owned by persons circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(36) There is a white bird called nyangi (the bird nyangi is in Swahili called furakombe); if one is seen to settle on a cow, and the cow is not killed, the owner of the cow will be thahu and die. The cow must be killed there and then and the meat divided up, the elders receiving the saddle, and the neighbouring warriors the neck, whilst no person belonging to the [114]village must eat of the meat. The herd of cattle also need to be purified, and the owner of the village, assisted by the elders, must take a female sheep which has not borne a lamb, and a male goat; these are slaughtered, and the intestines and bones of the animals (termed ichua) are placed on a fire, which is lit to the windward of the cattle kraal, and the smoke passing through the kraal and among the cattle will purify the herd. Should the bird be killed among the cattle, the whole herd would die.

This applies to both sections.

(37) If a cow’s horn comes off in a person’s hand the animal is thahu and is slaughtered, and the meat is eaten by all. This applies to both sections.

(38) If a bull or bullock leaves the herd when out grazing and comes home alone, and stands outside the village digging at the refuse heap (kiaraini) with its horns, it is known to be thahu, and is forthwith killed by the owner. This applies to both sections.

(39) If a goat is giving birth to a kid, and the head appears first and the body is not born quickly, it is said to be thahu, and is slaughtered by the owner. No woman must touch the meat of such an animal or she would become thahu; men only can eat it. Moreover, if a goat which is in kid should die, no woman must touch it or eat the meat, the idea probably being that her fertility might become contaminated. This applies to both sections.

(40) If a woman bears twins the first time she has children, the twins are thahu, and an old woman of the village, generally the midwife, stuffs grass in their mouths until they are suffocated and throws them out into the bush. If, however, a woman first bears a single child and then has twins they are not thrown out.

If a cow or a goat bears twins the first time, the same practice is observed, and a necklace of cowries is placed round the neck of the mother. This practice is observed by both sections. Some kill both mother and young, and a medicine man is called, who leads a [115]sheep round the village and then sacrifices it to remove the curse.

(41) If the side pole of a bedstead breaks, the person lying on it is thahu, and a sheep must be sacrificed; this is a matter for the kiama to arrange, and a bracelet called rukwaru, cut from the skin of the sheep, must be placed on the wrist of the person, or he or she is liable to die. This applies to both sections.

(42) A malicious person will sometimes, out of spite or in a fit of rage, take up a cooking pot, dash it down to the ground and break it, saying the words urokwo uwe, “Die like this.” This is a very serious matter and renders all the people of the village thahu; it is necessary for the people of the village to pay as much as seven sheep to remove the thahu. This is naturally considered a crime according to native law, and the offender is punished by the elders of kiama, who inflict a fine of seven goats. This applies to both sections.

(43) If a son seriously disobeys his father, he can be rendered thahu by his father rubbing ashes on his buttocks, and cursing him, saying, “May you be eaten by my anus.” The son will have to take a sheep and then a male goat and a jar of honey and crave his father’s forgiveness. The father slaughters the animal, and rubs his navel and his buttocks with the meat, and the curse is removed. This applies to both sections.

(44) If the head of a village has a quarrel with another man, wounds him with a simé or sword, and blood is spilt in the village, the village becomes thahu, unless the offender takes his adversary and leads him round the outskirts of the village, letting the blood drip on the ground as they go; the elders will then have to be called in, a sheep is killed, and they purify the village. This applies to both sections.

(45) If an idiot or maliciously-minded person picks up a skull, walks round a village with it and leaves it on the “thomi,” or “place of conference,” the village is thahu, and is in very serious danger. The elders are first called in, and they take a sheep and drag it round [116]the confines of the village by the same route as that taken by the person with the skull; the animal is killed and pieces of the intestines are dragged round the village. The meat of the sheep is only eaten by very old men. Six other sheep then have to be killed by the elders, and finally the medicine man has to purify each person in the village.

(46) If a wild animal is killed among a flock or herd of animals out grazing the beasts are thahu; they can be purified by the owner and the kiama; a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire lit to windward of the infected flock or herd, and the smoke cleanses them and removes the curse. Vide Tylor’s “Primitive Culture,” Vol. ii, pp. 430–434, “Fire serves for purification in cases too trifling to require sacrifice.” This applies to both sections.

(47) If domestic animals are attacked and stung by bees they are thahu; a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire lit to windward of the herd and the smoke removes the curse. This applies to both sections.

(48) If a son curses his father seriously he becomes thahu; he has to bring a sheep, which is eaten by his father and mother, the fat is melted and all three are smeared with it; the son then has to peg out the skin of the sheep in front of his mother’s hut. This applies to both sections.

(49) If a person strikes anyone who is herding cattle, etc., and draws blood, the flock or herd is thahu; the offender must pay a sheep, which is killed by the elders, and a strip of skin (rukwaru) is placed on the wrist of the offender; no young person is allowed near during the ceremony. This applies to both sections.

(50) If the droppings of a kite or crow fall on a person he is thahu; he must shave his head and bathe at a river, and the elders kill a sheep and fasten a strip of the skin on his wrist. The skin of the sheep must not be pegged out to dry in the village where the person lives. This applies to both sections. [117]

(51) If a woman sleeps with her leather garment inside out it is unlucky, but she is not thahu, the procedure being for her to spit on the garment and turn it the right way. This applies to both sections, but is considered much more unlucky for a woman circumcised Masai fashion.

(52) When a man dies, the eldest son gives one bull or a big male goat (according to his means) to the athuri ya kiama for a feast, and the elders then teach him his duties (kirira). The next step is to give the elders a male sheep (ku-hukuria), which must not be eaten by the children, the object of this being to cleanse the village of the deceased. Now if a son has not made these gifts nor gone through the necessary ceremonies marking his succession, he cannot participate in the sacrificial feast which has to take place at the sacred fig tree after the death of an elder (called ku-hoya Engai). The principal wife of the deceased can attend the sacrifice, but not the other wives and their children. And should they do so they will become thahu and it is a case for a medicine man to arrange. The women and children from the neighbouring villages can go.

If a sacrifice is made at a sacred fig tree to invoke rain only, athuri ya kiama can attend and eat it. No woman must go near. These rules apply to both sections.

(53) If children are being circumcised at a village according to Kikuyu fashion and the head of the village goes on a journey before eight days have elapsed or, according to Masai fashion, before four days have passed, he and those of his children who have been operated on become thahu; this is a case for the medicine man to arrange.

(54) If a child has been circumcised and, on the first occasion after the ceremony on which he leaves his village, the goats and sheep come back from grazing and enter the village before he returns, he is thahu. He cannot return to his village until it is removed and [118]must sleep at a neighbouring village where some of the other boys, who went through the ceremony with him, reside. To remove the thahu, his father has to kill a sheep and place a strip of skin (rukwaru) from the animal on his wrist.

(55) If a father picks up one of his children and places it on his back or shoulders, the father becomes thahu and the child will die, the result being the same whatever the sex of the child; if he carries the child in front of him there is no evil result. This is a case for a medicine man to arrange, and it applies to both sections of the tribe.

(56) If a person should be bitten by a hyæna or a dog he or she is thahu and a medicine man has to be called in; he kills a sheep and places a bracelet, or rukwaru, of the skin on the wrist of the patient. This applies to both sections.

(57) If a dog dies in a village it is a very serious matter; the head of the village and his people are thahu, and the elders are called in. The village head provides a sheep which is slaughtered, and the stomach contents (tatha) are sprinkled round the village, which is then ceremonially swept by the elders; the medicine man is then called in to purify all the people of what is called the mugiro of the dog. (Note.—The mugiro means the pollution produced by the blood of the dog having fallen on the ground of the village or the death of the dog in the village.) This only applies to the Kikuyu section of the tribe.

(58) The children and grandchildren of brothers and sisters cannot intermarry. Breach of this rule is considered to be a very grave sin, and all children born of such marriages surely die; the thahu on them cannot be purged by any ceremonial. The parents are not affected. It sometimes happens, however, that a young man unwittingly marries a cousin; for instance, if a part of the family moves away to another locality a man might become acquainted with a girl and marry her before he discovered the relationship. In such a case [119]the thahu is removable; the elders take a sheep and place it on the woman’s shoulders; it is then killed, the intestines are taken out, and the elders solemnly sever them with a sharp splinter of wood from the mukeo bush, and announce that they are cutting the clan “kutinyarurira,” which means that they are severing the bond of blood relationship existing between the pair. A medicine man then comes and purifies the couple. This only applies to the Kikuyu section of the tribe.

(59) If a parent goes on a journey and, during his absence, one of his or her sons cohabits with one of his father’s wives, the parents are thahu, and upon his return will be seized with illness. This is a case for the medicine man, who has to be called in to perform a lustration ceremony to purify them; the offending son is not affected. Sprigs of the mahoroa, muchatha, and mitei bushes are bound up together and dipped in water, and the water is sprinkled over the couple, a little being also sprinkled at the gate of the village. This only applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion. It is curious to note that practically the same custom is observed by the A-Kamba.

(60) If a Kikuyu native kills a man belonging to another tribe he is not thahu; if he kills a man of his own tribe, but of a different rika, or clan, to his own, he is not thahu; if, however, he kills a man belonging to his own rika, or clan, he is thahu, and it is a very serious matter. It can be arranged by the elders in the following manner:

Two trunks of the plantain or banana tree (called miramba in Kikuyu) are placed on the ground parallel to each other, and an elder sits on each; one of them is then lifted up by another elder, and the offender has to seat himself on the tree trunk exactly in the same place; the other elder is then removed and the elder brother of the deceased or brother next in age to him is put in his place.

The mothers of the offender and deceased then bring [120]to the place food made of every kind of field produce grown by the tribe, as well as meat; the usual sheep is killed by the elders and a little of the tatha, or stomach contents, is sprinkled over the food which was provided by the mothers of the two parties.

The two elders who first sat on the plantain trunks then solemnly eat a little of this food, and also administer some to the offender and the brother of the deceased. Two gourds containing gruel made of meal are then taken, and the elders put a little of the tatha in each, and one gourd is sent to the village of the offender and one to that of the deceased. The remaining food is divided among the assembly.

The following day the elders proceed to the local sacred fig tree (mugumu), and kill a sheep. They deposit some of the fat, the chest bone, the intestines and the more important bones at the foot of the tree, and eat the rest of the carcase. They say that the ngoma, or spirit of the deceased, will visit the tree that night in the shape of a wild cat and eat the meat, and that this offering will prevent the ngoma of the deceased from coming back to his village and troubling the occupants.

A medicine man then has to come and purify the murderer and the brother of the deceased.

This ceremony is not considered legal, and cannot be performed till the blood money has been paid.

The above case is a good example of the two stages of the removal of a more serious thahu; in the first place, the spirits of the deceased ancestors, including that of the murdered man, have to be appeased, and the personal defilement due to the spilling of blood, which falls on both the murderer and the family of the murdered man, has then to be removed by a separate ceremony performed by the medicine man. It is interesting to note that only the medicine man can remove this latter.

The above thahu applies to both sections of the tribe. In giving these details, my informants explained [121]that according to Kikuyu native law, the blood money for a man was a hundred sheep and goats, and nine sheep and goats in addition for the elders. If, however, a man could not raise a hundred goats it was the custom for him to give three daughters in payment, plus the nine goats for the elders.

The Kikuyu were formerly only allowed to eat the following wild animals and birds before being circumcised: partridges (ngware), pigeon (ndutwa), and hyrax (mi-kami). Many will not eat wild game throughout their lives, and people follow the custom they have been brought up to observe; those that eat it probably had Asi or Dorobo ancestors. A person who eats wild game does not become thahu. This same view is held by both sections. The repugnance to eating this kind of food probably had its origin in totemism, but all traces of this belief seem to be lost in S. Kikuyu.

(61) If a tree falls on a hut it is considered extremely unlucky; the hut, however, will not be abandoned, but it is necessary for the head of the village to kill a ram which is led round the village before being killed. If this were not done, the owner of the village, or at any rate the woman who lived in the hut, would become the victim of a thahu or curse. The owner of the village, however, may not enter the hut until the sacrifice has been made to appease the ngoma or ancestral spirits who inflict the thahu. This applies to both sections of the tribe, viz., those circumcised Kikuyu fashion and those Masai fashion.

(62) If a jackal (mbwei) comes into a village and calls at night when the inhabitants are asleep, the people say that a spirit is calling for meat, and it is considered very unlucky. Next morning the owner of the village will take a male goat (nthenge), lead it round the village, and kill it at about the spot where the jackal called out. Pieces are cut from the loin, lungs, heart, and each of the limbs, and piled up into two little heaps as offerings to the ngoma, who are believed to have [122]called out through the medium of the jackal. The sex of the ngoma is not known, and therefore to be on the safe side two little heaps are laid out, one for any male spirits and one for any female spirits. No bone must be broken in any meat offered to the spirits.

Next morning the elders go to the place where the two offerings of meat were deposited and pour out a libation of beer on each. They then address the ngoma as follows: “O ye spirits, take this meat and beer and give us goats and cattle and children, and do not bring thahu to this village.” The people of both circumcision guilds follow this procedure.

(63) If a certain snake, called nyamuyathi by the Kikuyu, enters a hut, it is necessary to pour some milk or fat on the floor for the reptile to drink; it may drink and leave, or it may not. If it does, well and good; if not, the owner of the village has to kill a sheep, cook some of its fat, and pour it out in the hut, saying at the same time: “We offer you some fat to drink, we beg of you to leave us.” It is believed that a ngoma, or spirit, has come in the guise of a snake, and on no account must such a snake be killed. After the sacrifice of the sheep has been made the snake will always go, but it disappears mysteriously and no one sees it leave. If the snake remained in the hut, the wife who owned the hut, and her children, would be thahu.

(64) If a stranger comes to a village and dies in a hut there, the hut is completely abandoned if the owner belongs to the Kikuyu guild; a large hole is made in the side of the hut by taking out several of the wall slabs or planks (mihirigo); the corpse is left inside and the hyænas come and carry it off. The hut is then left to fall into ruin, and no articles, such as cooking pots, beer, jars, etc., are removed from it. The men who break the hole in the wall are even considered unclean, as much as if they had handled the corpse, and after performing the duty they go straight off into the bush and stay there until they have bathed and been anointed with tatha (the stomach contents of a sheep); [123]finally a very old woman comes and shaves their heads; they are then ceremonially clean and can return to their families. A medicine man (mundu mugo) has, however, to come and purify the whole village in the usual way.

If the owner of the village belongs to the Masai guild the consequences are not so serious. The family leave the hut temporarily until the corpse has been carried off by the hyænas; they then kill a goat or sheep near the door of the hut, take a little of the fat from the stomach of the animal, and place a small portion on the cooking fire of each hut. This removes the thahu due to the death of the stranger and all is well.

(65) If a new hut is built in the village and the wife enters it and finds herself menstruating on the day she lights the first fire in it, the hut has to be broken down and demolished the very next day. The woman must on no account sleep a second night in it; a thahu is on both the woman and the hut. A medicine man has to be called in to purify ceremonially the woman and her children, a new hut is built and the medicine man ceremonially sweeps it out with a broom made of the twigs of the mukenya, mahoroa, and michatha bushes; he then collects the sweepings and throws them outside the village. This custom applies to both sections of the tribe.

This custom also has another phase which is as follows: If on the day a hut is built, the wife, who is the owner of the hut, is away from the village and finds herself menstruating, she cannot even return to the village, but has to seek shelter with neighbours for three days. On the fourth day she returns, bringing with her a gourd of water. When she reaches the thomi, or meeting-place outside the village, she pours some of the water into a half gourd and washes herself. She can then enter both village and hut without further ceremony. This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(66) When a new hut is built, the first fire to be lit [124]in it must be brought from a fire out in a shamba, or field, not from another hut. If fire cannot be obtained from a shamba it is first obtained from another village; with this a fire is lit in a shamba and burning sticks are taken from that fire. The Kikuyu state that they are afraid to get fire direct from another village in case they bring some unknown thahu along with it or with the firewood; they consider it a great risk, particularly for the children, who might get thin and ill in consequence.

Two or three days after the first fire has been lit a male sheep has to be slaughtered by the owner of the village. The meat is cooked in the hut, and the blood is poured out on the village thomi, then beer is brewed and a libation of it is poured out inside the hut near the door and on the thomi or village green. The above applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion. Those circumcised Masai fashion make the first fire in a new hut by friction with a firestick, and the wood for the first fire must come from two of the trees sacred to this branch, viz., mutamaiyu and mutarakwa (juniper).

(67) Anyone can impose a thahu upon the owner of a hut by plucking out a handful of thatch from over the door and throwing it on the ground. The thahu apparently affects the wife who lives in the hut, and she is apt to be attacked by a wasting disease. To remove the evil effects, a number of elders and a mundu mugo, or medicine man, are called in; they kill a ram or young ewe, which has not yet borne, near the door of the hut, and sprinkle the tatha inside the hut and at the door. They then take a rough brush made of twigs of the marario and mahoroa bushes and sweep up the tatha. This proceeding purifies the hut. They also sprinkle some of the tatha on the thatch over the door and put some muthakwa and mukenia sprigs in the place where the piece of thatch was taken.

Only the elders and the medicine man eat the meat of the sacrifice; none of the inhabitants of the village must touch it, and even the brothers of the owner of [125]the hut may not eat any. If the hut is not thus purified, it must be forthwith destroyed.

Should the thatch be pulled out unintentionally by a drunken man, he will only have to pay a goat for the purification ceremony. If, on the other hand, it is done with evil intent, the kiama, or council of elders, will fine the offender five goats. The writer is indebted to Mr Beech for bringing this example to his notice.

If a man goes to sleep at a strange village, and if the owner belongs to the same rika as himself, he is told to sleep in the hut of one of the wives of the owner. If this woman has lost a child and has not performed the usual purification ceremonies after a death, the man will return home with a thahu and will pass it on to the wife in whose hut he sleeps on his return home.

It is necessary for the hut to be purified as in the previous case, and then the man and his wife have also to be purified.

Again, if a wife goes and sleeps abroad and cohabits with a man who has assisted in the burial of a corpse or touched a corpse and not yet been purified, she will, on returning home, bring a thahu to her husband, and the same ceremony of lustration has to be undergone.

(68) The last of the Kikuyu thahu which will be quoted is one of some importance, as it may be, in primitive culture, the germ of one of the beliefs which affects the life of civilised peoples: this is the ill luck which is attached to the seventh day.

A herdsman will not herd his flocks for more than six days, and on the seventh must be relieved by another man.

If a man has been on a journey and absent for six days he must not return home on the seventh day, and must observe continence on the seventh day; rather than return to his village on that day he will go and sleep at the house of a neighbour a short distance away. If this law is broken, serious illness is certain to supervene and a medicine man (mundu mugo) has to be called in to remove the curse. Both sections of the [126]tribe are subject to it, and both male and female are affected. Moreover, the live stock of the offender will become sick.

This belief makes it easy for the missionaries to explain to the Kikuyu the meaning of the Christian observance of the Sabbath.

An important point in connection with thahu in Kikuyu which previously escaped notice is that an owner of a village, if he belongs to the Kikuyu circumcision guild, cannot enter or sleep in a hut which has been ceremonially purified until two days have elapsed, or for two months if he belongs to the Masai guild. This prohibition has a very practical effect, for in cases where the whole village has to be purified to rid it of some serious thahu the owner of the village would naturally be homeless for either two days or two months, as the case may be. To obviate this difficulty the purification ceremony is carried out in two instalments: one half of the village is done first, and a little later the medicine man returns and performs the lustration ceremony on the other half; the people are not thus greatly inconvenienced.

A variant of the word thahu in Kikuyu, which is often used by the old men, is nzahu.

It appears upon inquiry that not every elder in Kikuyu has the power of removing thahu, but only such as have lost a wife who is a mother.

If a wife dies and leaves children, the husband calls in two athuri ya ukuu (these are the very senior elders), a muthuri ya kiama (elder of council), and an old woman past the age of child bearing.

They kill a lamb, mwati, or a ram, and the elders then take the tatha (stomach contents), pour them into a half gourd, njeli, dip a bundle of leaves in the tatha and sprinkle the hut. This ceremony is believed to remove from the father and his children the thahu left by the death. The half gourd is then placed at the bed head of the father. A medicine man finally comes and purifies the whole family. If his generation or age is [127]junior to that of the elders who come to perform the above ceremony he cannot participate in it, but has to sit apart.

After this the father is considered to be eligible to take part in ceremonial connected with the removal of thahu, but only if he is a qualified muthuri ya kiama ya imburi nne or mburi ithano; that is to say, if he has reached the grade to which the entrance fee is four goats or five goats.

Partial Immunity of Elders from Thahu.—The elders of the highest grade, ukuru, are as a rule proof against the incidence of thahu. They probably acquire a certain sanctity from their communion with the deity when they take part in the performance of sacrifices at the sacred trees and can thus be considered as a primitive priesthood. If, however, they assist in the burial of a corpse and cohabit with their wives within two months, they will be stricken with illness. If they participate in the native oath ringa thengi, they must be celibate for four months, and if they assist at the kithathi or githathi oath ceremony, they must remain so for five months, or nothing can save them. In all the above cases they must, like ordinary people, be purified by a medicine man before they can resume their marital relations.

Thabu in Ukamba.—In Ukamba thahu is called thabu or makwa, and the popular attitude towards it is very similar to that existing in Kikuyu, but it does not appear to be such an important factor in the lives of the people, and for some reason or other does not seem to have reached such a high development. It is looked upon with awe, and people generally dislike to discuss it. The bulk of the elders can therefore only give one or two examples of it. They declare that the only people who can give much information are the atumia ya makwa (elders of makwa) and atumia ya ukuu (elders of ukuu), and these important people undoubtedly endeavour to envelop the beliefs in mystery. [128]

The incidence of makwa or thabu does not appear to be nearly so frequent in Ukamba as it is in Kikuyu. The Kamba, in fact, sneer at the Kikuyu, and say they are full of makwa. Moreover, owing to the reticence of the Kamba on the subject, it is not easy to collect examples. Mr C. Dundas, who has assisted in this inquiry, had to pay a fee of a bullock for himself and a goat for his interpreter before he could get any information on the subject. These fees admitted him to the grade of mutumia ya ukuu. All inquiries, however, had to be conducted in a low tone, and no one was allowed to listen. The following are all that have been discovered up to date, but there is little doubt that others exist:

(1) On the death of a man the village is unclean and must be purified by the elders, and during the period of purification strict continence must be observed by all those resident in the village. If a man fails to observe this rule he will become afflicted with makwa; also the woman, providing she belongs to the village where the death has taken place. Moreover, if a daughter of the deceased who is living away from the village visits there within eleven days of the death of her father, she will become afflicted.

The curse is removed in the same way in either of the above cases. A brother of the deceased must first cohabit with his wife. He then brings a goat and the afflicted person brings some beer. One of the elders then collects twigs of the movu, mulale, and muteme bushes; these are pounded up with water, and the mixture is called ng͠nondu. Some of the ng͠nondu is poured down the goat’s throat, the idea probably being to purify the animal ceremonially. The patient then walks three times round the goat, and the animal is lifted up by the elders. Its throat is cut and the blood spurts over the patient’s head and body. A piece of stick is then placed under his left arm and another between the toes of his right foot; two elders take hold of each of these sticks and pull them away saying, “We [129]purify you.” The belief is possibly that by some magical process the defilement is passed into the sticks. Subsequently the brother of the deceased again cohabits with the same wife, and the patient is then cured.

(2) A man may not lie on his mother’s bed, or even take any articles from it, without becoming makwa. Upon the death of his father he inherits, and is then entitled to use, his father’s bed, which was, of course, also occupied by his mother, and it is therefore necessary that he should be protected from any evil which may come from this. So the elders make a mixture called ng͠nondu, and smear the soles of his feet with it; they also sprinkle the framework of the bed. They say that if this were not done the son would become makwa if he even put his foot on the bed. If a son becomes makwa through transgressing this law before his father’s death, he has to be purified as in the previous case. It is suspected that this prohibition was devised as a safeguard against incest, but if the theory is correct the natives seem to have forgotten the reason. A man, moreover, may not sit on his brother-in-law’s bed without incurring thabu.

Reference is invited to the author’s work on the “Ethnology of the A-Kamba” (Camb. Press), p. 65, discussing the danger to a girl if a stranger touches her menstrual blood; this is a clear case of makwa, which falls on the girl in consequence.

Some of the prohibitions mentioned on p. 102 op. cit. are also cases of makwa, and on p. 97 op. cit. there is an account of a man who was suffering from thabu or makwa. At the time, unfortunately, the importance of the phenomena had not been fully recognised.

(3) If a man dies and leaves young wives, the sons usually take them over; but, of course, a son must not marry his mother. A son cannot, however, succeed to one of his father’s wives until the elders have performed certain ceremonies. If he cohabits with her before these are carried out he will become makwa. [130]

To remove the curse in this case the ceremonial is as follows: a paternal uncle of the offender collects the elders and provides beer for them; the woman concerned brings a goat. The elders make some of the ng͠nondu mixture, which is handed to the patient, who pretends to pay it to the elders. The elders then bring a branch of a tree called muuti and tell him to pay it to his uncle. He does so by throwing it at his uncle, saying, “I pay you before the elders.” This looks as if the spirit of the deceased father were offended, and ceremonial payment had to be made to the brother of the deceased, who for the time being represents him.

A piece of wood about fifteen inches long, cut from a mukingezia tree, is then brought. This is first inserted into the vaginal passage of the woman, and the man’s penis is then touched with it twice or thrice. One of the elders afterwards carries the stick away and throws it across a river saying, “I throw this evil away.” In the evening the uncle cohabits with the woman. The makwa is thus believed to be removed, but the man can never have anything to do with that woman again. He can, however, marry another of his father’s wives after the elders have performed the necessary rites.

(4) After the death of a father none of the sons may take honey from the father’s hives until the paternal uncle has first done so. Any who break this law will become makwa. It can, however, be removed by the uncle, who brings a sheep, and he, the elders, and the mother of the patient lead the sheep three times round the patient; at the conclusion of the third turn the sheep is lifted up and its throat is cut, and the blood is allowed to spurt over the patient. The animal’s throat is cut by one of the elders, whose forearm is held by the uncle and the mother. After this ceremony the patient is believed to be cured, and he can take honey. It may be that this was devised to prevent a son rushing off into the woods after his [131]father’s death and annexing any honey he found, irrespective of whether such and such a hive would fall to his share when the elders decided as to the division of the estate.

(5) If a woman loses a young child by death it is necessary for her to have her breasts ceremonially purified by a qualified elder, or it is believed that any future children she may bear will die of makwa.

(6) If a man cohabits with a married woman in the woods while the cattle are out grazing, it brings makwa upon the cattle and they will die. The woman, however, is generally afraid of evil falling on the precious cattle, and confesses. The cattle are then taken out of their kraal, medicine is placed on the ground at the gate, and they are then driven back over the medicine, and this lifts the curse. The woman has also to be ceremonially purified by an elder.

(7) If a woman who has borne children is forced by a man a curse is said to fall on the children and they will die. The evil can, however, be averted if she is purified by an elder; the man has to pay a goat and the expenses of the purification ceremony.

(8) If a hyæna defæcates in a village during the night a makwa falls on the village, and the elders have to kill a goat and purify (tapisha) the village.

(9) Some medicine men have the power to place a makwa upon one of their wives who is a particular favourite. This is done by medicine, but the details are kept secret. If a man seduces the woman in question it is said that death will ensue unless he can by payment induce the medicine man to lift the curse.

(10) If a person goes to his mother’s native village and eats food there, and if by any chance a death has occurred in that village and the funeral ceremonies are not completed, he will be stricken with makwa. Even if a wife goes to pay a visit to her father’s village under the above circumstances the result is the same. This form of makwa can only be removed by a medicine man. [132]

The little known Thaka or Tharaka people in the Tana Valley south-east of Kenia also believe in makwa, and use the same word for it. A few examples have been collected by Mr C. Dundas, and are given below:

(1) If a village is ceremonially unclean for some reason or other, and a man cohabits therein with a person of the opposite sex before it is purified, they are both stricken with makwa.

(2) If a man belonging to a village has been absent on the occasion of a death and at the necessary subsequent purification of the village, he may not enter until a sheep has been killed and the contents smeared on the threshold of his mother’s hut. If this lustration ceremony is omitted he is stricken with makwa.

(3) After the death of the head of a family the sons may take the younger widows to wife, but not until the brother of the deceased has ceremonially cohabited with the principal wife of the deceased. If this rite is not observed before a son marries one of his father’s widows, he will become makwa.

Little is yet known of the procedure which has to be adopted to remove the makwa, but it is said that only medicine men can do so. An elder, seen recently, who was covered with small sores, and some of whose toes had dropped off, was stated to be suffering from makwa, due to infringement of the rule mentioned in example (1) above.

A new road was recently opened in Kikuyu country, and where it crossed the Ruiru River a bridge was built. At one end of the bridge an arch, made of bent sticks, was erected, and on this a small wicker-work arrangement was suspended. Over the bent sticks a strip of the skin of a sheep was entwined. This was called “rigi,” and was a miniature of the wicker door of a hut. The Ruiru River at this place is the boundary between two sections of the country, and the object of the model door was to prevent evil influences, or thahu, entering the neighbouring area by the bridge. The strip of [133]skin was taken from a sheep which had been sacrificed there.

There is a curious belief in Kikuyu with regard to the burning of a hut. If a hut is burned down, the owner must not lodge the goats from that hut in the house of a friend, the idea being that the hut caught fire as the result of some kind of thahu, and that the goats are probably infected with the thahu and may thus bring sickness to other people’s animals. There was, for instance, a case where a hut was destroyed by fire, along with several goats, but the people dare not eat the carcases, although the meat was apparently quite wholesome.

When a burnt hut is rebuilt, a goat is slaughtered to prevent the new hut from being destroyed by fire. The meat of the goat is eaten by the elders, and the skin is given to an elder who has had a hut burnt. But although he may use the skin he must not sell it.

Extinction of Fire in a Hut.—Though not definitely connected with the thahu beliefs, the ill luck which is associated with the extinction of fire in a hut is rather interesting to note.

If a man has several huts it is considered extremely unlucky if the fire goes out in all of them in a single night. He must at once summon the elders, who kill a male sheep and sprinkle some of the stomach contents or tatha on each fireplace. If his nearest neighbours live some little way off, he relights the fire by means of a fire stick, mwaki ku-thegetha, but if they live near by he begs some fire from them. When the sheep is killed they also fry the fat in a cooking pot and sprinkle some of it in the village and pray to Engai (God)—“We give thee fat to drink, and beg thee not to extinguish the fire again.”

When fire goes out in the hut of a medicine man it is not necessary for him to kill a sheep like ordinary people, but he feels the ill luck all the same. He dare not travel next day, and if anyone comes to him for [134]medicine or to be purified, he will not perform the ceremony until a whole day has elapsed.

The elders who were interrogated about this were quite clear that it was God who put out the fire and not the ngoma, or spirits.

Effects of Breaking a Tabu.—A curious case of the results of an infringement of tabu recently came to the notice of an officer in Western Ukamba. He was inspecting the hospital, and found there a Kamba porter stricken with illness; his face was much swollen and covered by a kind of congested rash, and his testicles were also swollen. On inquiry, he stated that his affection came on suddenly after eating some hartebeest meat, and that he belonged to the Aitangwa clan, in which this was a forbidden meat. The officer immediately sought out an intelligent Mu-Kamba, who knew nothing about the incident, and asked about the Aitangwa and their tabu, or makwa, and without hesitation he was told that hartebeest meat was forbidden, and described exactly the symptoms from which the porter was suffering as being the result of breaking the prohibition. It was said that the man would have to sacrifice a goat and go through a purification ceremony to get rid of the affliction. The final result was not heard.

These phenomena are very curious, and psychologists would no doubt attribute them to self-hypnotic suggestion. It must, however, be remembered that a man who breaks the clan tabu is probably, before breaking it, very sceptical as to the evil effects, and, being sceptical, would presumably be proof against the hypnotic auto-suggestion.