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and right beneath the umbilicus. Why is there fire burning there . . . like peppers . . .? The disease makes one mindless. When you urinate it's a war, and even injections have not helped. |
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Now the diviner, having located the distressing part of the body, proceeds to itemize the causative agents: |
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You [i.e., the client, now identified as the victim] are caught by the [witchcraft] trap [tego] which prevents you defecating [ya zindika], by the traps which prevents you urinating [tego ya mkufu], by the trap which causes irritation [ya lwambe], and by the traps called peppers [pilipili], laziness [munyegero], the needle [sindano], black ants [minyo], and safari ants [tsalafu]. [Most of these traps indicate the sensations of itching, pricking, and stinging]. |
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Have you entered someone's house? [The victim answers no.] I don't really mean a house, I mean a human house [i.e., a woman, and this the victim does not deny]. . . . You have had this sickness a long time, not a long time, yet a long time, but you have been wandering around with this sickness, and you are surprised that it has stayed with you. But you must cure the first causes [i.e., the witchcraft traps which have physical effects]. |
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Also, my friend, you have the following [other kinds of] witchcraft. [Here the diviner uses the term muhaso but later utsai; both have mental rather than physical effects.] These are: the witchcraft of self-hatred [utsai wa dzimene], of senseless babbling [mbayumbayu], of indecisiveness and lack of concentration [shulamoyo], and of restlessness [mtango]. These witchcrafts want to turn you into a perpetual nomad, wandering unthinkingly around the world, never settling at home, with your heart burning . . . and feeling numb in your head. You also have the witchcraft [nzaiko] which makes you cry when combined with those that make you indecisive and gibbering. |
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The disease comes from the west. . . . You had a job there. Maybe you were learning there, but people are bad there and gave you these things. |
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The diviner next shifts from a focus on the causes of the affliction to a precise statement of the items needed for the cure: "Find me seven loaves made out of ashes, seven loaves of bread, seven sides of sand from a termite mound, a chain, seven wild tomatoes [?] and with these we shall make you free." The diviner shifts for a moment back to the focus on cause, then reverts to the medical prescription: |
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Your school absences and lack of concentration were due to bad people. You humans really were bad to each other. . . . Do you hear, my friend? |
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Anyway, now also find a chicken [later called a cock] of mixed colors, and a red hen; these are for the witchcraft traps. For reversing the mental effects of the second kind of witchcraft and getting your memory back from God, you need a chicken with frayed and tufted feathers [kuku wa kidemu], a newly hatched chick, and an egg which never hatched. |
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I could mention the names of those who wanted you to become a vagrant and who caused your apathy, while your friends forged ahead, but I [i.e., the spirit] am asked only to "name" the sickness [i.e., to find its cause and remedy]. |
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