CHAPTER III

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BELIEFS ABOUT GOD.

ARTICLES 1-107.

The following statements on the Ethology or the customs of these races are taken from the very words of the natives themselves. Natives are generally quite agreed as to what their customs are. Where they gave different views I have noted both, after finding that both had real authority. I do not think I have admitted any point of importance without having heard at least four natives on the subject. The statements are translations, as far as possible, from the _ipsissima verba_ of the negroes.

1.—THE NATURE OF MAN.

An ancient philosopher was asked by his friends when he was dying what they should do with him after his death. “All very well,” was the reply, “if you can catch me.” The Materialist tells us that there is nothing to catch, that there is nothing that runs away from the body at death, but the Spiritualist says, “You have only the remains of the man there—only the instrument that he used to work with”.

What is the position of these African tribes with regard to this question? They are unanimous in saying that there is something beyond the body which they call spirit (lisoka) or pure spirit (lisokape). Every human body at death is forsaken by this spirit; but the spirit of a child that dies about four or five days’ of age gets nothing of the usual attention (45).

2.—IMMORTALITY.

“Do these spirits ever die?” Some I have heard affirm that it is possible for a troublesome spirit to be killed (5, 4). Others give this a direct denial. Many like Kumpama of Cherasulo say, “You ask me whether a man’s spirit ever dies. I cannot tell. I have never been in the spirit world, but this I am certain of, that spirits live for a very long time.” This is a good specimen of cautious answers that the natives often give, and it expresses the belief that they act on with reference to departed spirits.

3.—WHO THE GODS ARE.

In all our translations of Scripture where we found the word GOD we used _Mulungu_, but this word is chiefly used by the natives as a general name for spirit. The spirit of a deceased man is called his Mulungu, and all the prayers and offerings of the living are presented to such spirits of the dead. It is here that we find the great centre of the native religion. The spirits of the dead are the gods of the living.

Besides lisoka (1) and mulungu there is another word for spirit, viz., _msimu_, which is much used in reference to offerings.

4.—WHERE THEY ARE FOUND.

Where are these gods found? At the grave? No. The villagers shrink from yonder gloomy place that lies far beyond their fields on the bleak mountain side. It is only when they have to lay another sleeper beside his forefathers that they will go there. Their god is not the body in the grave, but the spirit, and they seek this spirit at the place where their departed kinsman last lived among them. It is the great tree at the verandah (_kwipenu_) of the dead man’s house that is their temple, and if no tree grow here they erect a little shade, and there perform their simple rites. If this spot become too public the offerings may be denied (40), and the sanctuary will be removed to a carefully-selected spot under some beautiful tree. Very frequently a man presents an offering at the top of his own bed beside his head. He wishes his god to come to him and whisper in his ear as he sleeps.

These gods are not confined to one place. In answer to prayer they can protect a man during a long journey, and return with him in peace. When all the villagers are driven from their homes by war these spirits have power to go with them to a new village. The spirit of an old chief may have a whole mountain for his residence, but he dwells chiefly on the cloudy summit. There he sits to receive the worship of his votaries, and to send down the refreshing showers in answer to their prayers.

5.—HOW THE GODS GIVE EVIDENCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.

How do the natives know that these gods attend to them? How do they judge that their deceased ancestors can see them through the darkness of the grave?

(1) They judge from the way in which prayers have been answered. If they pray for a successful hunting expedition and return laden with venison or ivory, they know that it is their old relative that has done it, and they give him a thank offering. If the hunting party get nothing, they may say “the spirit has been sulky with us” (_akwete lupuso_), and refuse the thank-offering.

(2) Besides this, their god appears to them in dreams. They may see him as they knew him in days gone by. When they dream of the living there is nothing wonderful in that; but when they dream of the dead it is the departed spirit come to visit them. Such a dream impresses them very much. That being is altogether different since he entered the spirit world. Now he is a god with power to watch over them, and help them, and control their destiny.

(3) The appearance of the gods in dreams is still too hazy. Their craving for clearer manifestations of the deity is satisfied through the prophetess (_juakuweweta_). She may be the principal wife of the chief; in some cases a woman without a husband will be set apart for the god.

The god comes to her with his commands at night. She delivers the message in a kind of ecstacy. She speaks (as her name implies) with the utterance of a person raving with excitement. During the night of the communication her ravings are heard sounding all over the village in a high key.

The whole hamlet is wrapt in slumber, when all at once the midnight stillness is broken by those mad shrieks. The startled inhabitants think it is war—slavers have come—their first impulse is to run away. Their fear soon subsides. It is the prophetess. They are anxious to hear what she has to say, and return to bed again. Or there may be a great meeting in the morning, when the prophetess appears—her head encircled with bhang or Indian hemp, and her arms cut as if for new tatoos.

Various gods reveal themselves thus in various places, either local deities (11), like Mbona of Cholo, or more ordinary gods (25-28).

(4) The gods may appear in animal forms. Some spirits may appear for mischief. If a dead man wants to frighten his wife he may persist in coming as a serpent. The only remedy for this is to kill the serpent, when some go so far as to say that this troublesome spirit is dead, but others say that though the trouble is ended the god is only reduced to a pure spirit (lisokape).

6.—DISTINCTIONS AFFECTING THE GODS.

It is usual to distinguish between the spirit and the form it takes. A spirit often appears as a serpent. When a man kills a serpent thus belonging to a spirit, he goes and makes an apology to the offended god, saying, “Please, please, I did not know that it was your serpent”. The departed may assume the form of other animals. A great hunter generally takes the form of a lion or a leopard; and all witches (_asawi_) seem to like the form of a hyena.

There is also a distinction between the spirit and the spirit’s messenger. The spirit, it is said, will not take the form of a bird, but will send a bird with its message. We have this well illustrated in the legend about Che Mlóngolo, which became so popular amongst us at Blantyre. A little boy was allowed by his father to accompany a caravan to the coast; he picked up some curiosities, for which an Arab gave him exceedingly beautiful cloth. His uncle coveted the cloth, abused the boy very much, and ultimately killed him. A little bird flew to his home at the village, and sang on the trees to the women as they pounded their corn, “Ti, ti, ti, diridya; Ti, ti, ti, diridya, they have slain Che Mlóngolo because of his cloth”.

7.—THE PRIESTS.

A certain amount of etiquette is observed in approaching the gods. In no case can a little boy or girl approach these deities, neither can any one that has not been at the mysteries (52). The common qualification is that a person has attained a certain age, about 12 or 14 years, and has a house of his own. Slaves seldom pray, except when they have had a dream. Children that have had a dream tell their mother, who approaches the deity on their behalf. (A present for the god is necessary, and the slave or child may not have it.)

Apart from the case of dreams and a few such private matters, it is not usual for anyone to approach the gods except the chief of the village. He is the recognised high priest who presents prayers and offerings on behalf of all that live in his village. If the chief is from home his wife will act, and if both are absent, his younger brother (mpwao). The natives worship not so much individually as in villages or communities. Their religion is more a public than a private matter.

When we went to Blantyre we were accompanied by two small boys that had lived in Quilimane. One night after we were in bed we were startled by a terrible screaming. This was heard by a friend who lived in another house at a short distance from ours, and he came to us judging that we had among us at least a leopard. But the screams were found to have a different cause. The younger boy wished to carry into practice our exhortations about prayer, and for this purpose knelt down on his little mat or bed. The older was more cumbered with much serving, like Martha. He wanted to make his bed tidy, and without ceremony threw the little worshipper off the mat, telling him that it was not proper for him to pray, as he was not a white man (msungu). The rudeness gave rise to fighting and screaming. We mention the incident to show that the bigger boy would hold that he belonged to the village of the white man, and that the white man ought to approach the gods on his behalf.

The chief of a village has another title to the priesthood. It is his relatives that are the village gods. Everyone that lives in the village recognises these gods; but if anyone remove to another village he changes his gods. He recognises now the gods of his new chief. One wishing to pray to the god (or gods) of any village naturally desires to have his prayers presented through the village chief, because the latter is nearly related to the village god, and may be expected to be better listened to than a stranger.

8.—VILLAGE GODS.

On the subject of the village gods opinions differ. Some say that every one in the village, whether a relative of the chief or not, must worship the forefathers of the chief. Others say that a person not related to the chief must worship his own forefathers, otherwise their spirits will bring trouble upon him. To reconcile these authorities we may mention that nearly every one in the village is related to its chief, or if not related is, in courtesy, considered so. Any person not related to the village chief would be polite enough on all public occasions to recognise the village god: on occasions of private prayer (which are not so numerous as in Christendom) he would approach the spirits of his own forefathers.

Besides, there might be a god of the land. The chief Kapeni prays to his own relatives, and also to the old gods of the place. His own relatives he approaches himself, the other deities he may also approach himself, but he often finds people more closely related, and consequently more acceptable (7) to the old gods of the land.

9.—MONOTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, OR PANTHEISM?

After we have settled that there is an object of worship, there are still a great many different positions to hold. We might be Pantheists, Polytheists, or Monotheists.

The position of Pantheism is seldom indicated by natives when describing their religion. We once thought that the class of nouns (in the native language) that _Mulungu_ belongs to was an argument in favour of their Pantheism. One class of native nouns is nearly co-extensive with human beings, and Mulungu is not in this class. But the argument at best is weak.

While Mulungu means a spirit, it may also be used as a proper name. There are two classes of expressions where it is used as a proper name. The first class points to a kind of Pantheism. Mulungu is said to be “the great spirit (msimu) of all men, a spirit formed by adding all the departed spirits together”. These and various other expressions of the same kind indicate a grasping after a being who is the totality of all individual existence, and are not unworthy of notice. If they fell from the lips of civilised men instead of savages they would be regarded as philosophy. Expressions of this kind among the natives are partly traditional, and partly dictated by the big thoughts of the moment. The second class of expressions where we have Mulungu used as a proper name certainly points to a personal being. By the Wayao he is sometimes said to be the same as Mtanga (12). At other times he is a Being that possesses many powerful servants; but is himself kept a good deal beyond the scene of earthly affairs, like the gods of Epicurus. In the native hypotheses about creation “the people of Mulungu” (wa ku Mulungu) play a very important part. This Mulungu in the spiritual world—the world beyond the grave—is represented as assigning to spirits their various places. He arranges them in rows or tiers.

After making an induction of all that we have heard about Mulungu (carefully excluding, of course, every statement that seemed to be in the least modified by Christian teaching), we should say that their religion in its worship was practically Polytheism. At the same time the spirits are often asked to act as mediators with some higher being. Beyond their Polytheism their language contains a few expressions that remind us of Pantheism, and a great many that speak to us of Monotheism.

The derivation of the word Mulungu throws some light on the subject. Henry Salt (1814) says that among the Makuas it means “the sky”. We have heard Yao expressions that would prepare us to accept this interpretation; and the Yao word may be sometimes used for rainbow (which is either Mulungu or ukunje wa Mulungu): it is singular too that Chilungu means earthquake. We think a more correct view lies in the derivation stated by Bleek, which makes it originally mean “great ancestor”.

10.—NUMBER OF THE NATIVES’ GODS.

We saw that every human being has a Mulungu or spirit (2). This position every native will uphold, except perhaps in the case of a young child who has not reached six days of age, and has not been formally introduced into the world or “taken out of the house” (kopoka m’ nyumba) (44). If a child of six days has been introduced into the world though only a day before its death, its spirit is entitled to offerings, and receives these offerings at least from its parents. When the little child meets the parents beyond the grave it will say, “You remembered me; I saw what you were doing”.

The spirit of every deceased man and woman, with the solitary exception of wizards and witches becomes an object of religious homage.

The gods of the natives then are nearly as numerous as their dead. It is impossible to worship all; a selection must be made, and, as we have indicated, each worshipper turns most naturally to the spirits of his own departed relatives; but his gods are too many still, and in farther selecting he turns to those that have lived nearest his own time. Thus the chief of a village will not trouble himself about his great-great-grandfather; he will present his offering to his own immediate predecessor, and say, “Oh, father, I do not know all your relatives, you know them all, invite them to feast with you”. The offering is not simply for himself, but for himself and all his relatives. We ask him, “What if they quarrel with the other relatives about their share of the feast?” “Let them quarrel,” he replies, “I have given them enough.”

_Key to their view of the Spirit World._

We may think that the native chief in selecting his predecessor alone, has left all the rest of the people that once lived in his village without any homage. Here we encounter an important native view that a chief represents and is responsible for all his people. If any one wish to treat with a native village it is with the village chief that he must deal. If we give a present to a village it is to the village chief that we must give it. This does not prevent us from giving presents to any other individual. So it is in the world beyond, which the natives conceive to be peopled in the same way as this world. There the old chief has his wives and slaves and companions about him as of yore. To the natives death is the time when they, in like manner, shall be literally “gathered to their fathers”.

_Nature of Offerings._

The man that makes an offering regards himself as giving a present (mtuka) to a little village of the departed which is headed by its chief. Those that are best known to the offerer may get a present themselves, but they will be expected to call the attention of the chief when a public present arrives.

11.—LOCAL DEITIES.

We have seen that people residing in a village worship their deceased chief, but when their present chief dies he will become the principal god; more distant relatives give place to successors. But a great chief that has been successful in his wars does not pass out of memory so soon. He may become the god of a mountain or a lake, and may receive homage as a local deity long after his own descendants have been driven from the spot. When there is a supplication for rain the inhabitants of the country pray not so much to their own forefathers as to the god of yonder mountain on whose shoulders the great rain clouds repose. (Smaller hills are seldom honoured with a deity.)

The god of Mount Sochi is Kangomba. One tradition regarding him is this—When the Wayao were driving the Wanyasa out of the country, Kangomba, a Wanyasa chief, saw that defence was hopeless, and entered a great cave on the mountain side. Out of this cave he never returned; “he died unconquered in his own land”. The Wayao made the old tribe retire before them, but the chief Kangomba kept his place, and the new comers are glad to invoke his aid to this day. Their supplication for rain takes the form (Ku Sochi, kwa Kangomba ula jijise) “Oh, Kangomba of Sochi, send us rain”. The Wayao chief Kapeni often asks some of the Wanyasa tribe that can trace connection with Kangomba to help him in these offerings and supplications (7).

12.—SUPERIOR DEITIES.

Beyond and above the spirits of their fathers, and chiefs localised on hills, the Wayao speak of others that they consider superior. Only their home is more associated with the country which the Yao left; so that they too at one time may have been looked upon really as local deities. Among these other beings are Mtanga and Chitowe.

_Mtanga_ some distinctly localise as the god of Mangochi, the great hill that the Yao people left. I regret much that I did not see this hill before leaving Africa, as I have heard so much of it. To these people it is all that the many-ridged Olympus was to the Greeks. The voice of Mtanga, some hold, is still audible on Mangochi. Others say that Mtanga was never a man, and that Mtanga is another word for Mulungu. He was concerned in the first introduction of men into the world (13). He gets credit also for supplying people with seeds, and making mountains and rivers. He is intimately associated with a year of plenty. He is called _Mchimwene juene_ (very chief).

_Chitowe_ (Siluwi) has not such a good character. He is associated with famine. He is often represented as having one leg, one arm, one side of his nose, and so on—the other half of his body being supplied by beeswax. He is invoked by the women on the day of initiating (kuumbala) their fields. The women of a village form a great procession when the new crop has begun to grow. They chant a hymn to Chitowe, imploring him on behalf of their crops. Chitowe may become a child or a young woman. In this disguise he visits villages, and tells whether the coming year will bring food or famine. He receives their hospitality, but throws the food over his shoulder without eating it. Chitowe is a child or subject of Mtanga, and some speak of several Chitowe who are messengers of Mtanga.

_Mpambe_ is often invoked by the Anyasa at great supplications for rain. This Mpambe in the Yao language is “Njasi,” in English “Lightning”. The Yao say that Mpambe is sent by Mtanga with rain. This is a mythological expression of the fact that the lightning in this quarter is always associated with rain.

This last example shows how natural it is for man to deify the powers he sees around him. At first he is greatly touched with all the emotions of “wonder, love, and awe,” as he considers how much he is indebted to the shower that makes his food grow. He is ready to fall down and worship. What shall he worship? The mountain whose lofty summit is clothed with the rain cloud, or the lightning that springs from the cloud? He goes over everything he can fairly associate with the rain, and still he is not satisfied—he craves for something that can understand him.

He looks back to the days of his youth. He remembers a grandfather who told how he had fled from the face of an oppressor, how he had built his home far up near the mountain top, and there brought up his family in safety. By and by as dangers passed away, this ancestor moved farther down the mountain; gradually he increased in power, and in his old age found himself the chief of a clan. Yet he never forgot the days of his adventure, and ever pointed proudly to the spot where he had first found a shelter; and his children’s children, as they listened to the old man’s tale, counted the ground holy. The days come when they can see the old man no more. “But does he not still exist? Yea—did we not hear his words as we listened to sounds that played about the mountain side? Did we not see him, though it was but for a moment, sitting beside his own home as he used to sit long ago? He wore the very same dress. Did he not appear to us in our dreams? There, too, we saw him moving beside his old home. Yes, he is living on our mountain still.[6] He is taking care of us. He knows when we need rain, and he sends it. We must give him something; when he had corn he always gave us. Now, the poor man has no crop; but perhaps his needs are many. We will give him food, we will give him slaves, and he will not forget us.”

There is something full of pathos in the sight of a man invoking his deceased relatives. He has got into great difficulty. None of his friends can assist him, they hardly sympathise with him. His thoughts turn to days when he had no difficulty, to the bright period of which, heathen that he is, he can say, “Heaven is about us in our infancy”. He is so sure that if he only had the grey-headed man that smiled on him then, all his difficulties would vanish. That man could understand him, and believe good of him as he did long ago. Could he but reach him across the portals of the grave all would be well. Thus, with great earnestness, the native turns to the spirits of his fathers.

13.—THE CREATION—COSMOLOGY.

The existence of the world itself is accepted as a fact not to be explained. But there are legends that explain the introduction of the sun, moon, and stars, clouds and rain; as also how mountains and rivers appeared on the scene. Man, or at least the father of these central tribes, sprang from a hole in a rock, from which the lower animals came also. Around this hole there were abundant footprints of all kinds of animals. It was closed by the people of Mulungu, and is now in a desert place ‘towards the north’ (kumpoto). Subsequent to the appearance of man, many changes occurred specially calculated for his benefit. Thus the mist was sent to keep the sun from burning up the crops—an arrangement that would readily commend itself to these philosophical children of the tropics.

Their legends go on to state that the Wayao, Anyasa, Angulu, Awisa and others sprang from a common stock, and to explain how the tribes separated through one going to one side of the country and another to another. The chief cause of such separations is said to be war. The Zulus and the English belong, they say, to a different stock; where they came from the natives cannot tell. They have a legend about Zulus (Mangoni) coming out in great swarms near a large river; and another legend about a black man crossing a bridge, as he looked round he was greatly astonished to find that a white man (msungu) was following him. The white men are represented as having staid longer with the people of God (Mulungu), and learned more than the black men. With all due deference to the toothless old man who told me that the Zulus are different from the Yao, I am strongly of opinion that although their languages are not mutually intelligible now, there was a time when their forefathers played together by the same streams and hills; but this time is more remote than his legend, which only explained when the Wanyasa separated from his tribe.

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