What is of interest to note here is that at this level of interaction the Bimbi, cult like the Mbona c u l t ,
"allows commoners periodically to challenge their rulers and, although the king and the aristocracy play a dominant role in its organization, they are nevertheless responsible to the cult medium on the occasion of major rituals.
It must be borne in mind that the relationship between the Bimbi cult and the t a . o chiefs is also dictated
by the religious context prevailing in the Upper
Shire today. Almost all Yao chiefs are either niuslims or Christians. Their interaction with the Bimbi cult depends to a large extent in the interplay of these world religions over and above the Yao chiefs'
political aspirations which in one way or another is seen as being undermined by their dependence on Bimbi land rituals. During my field work I noted that Yao chiefs whose families have been wholly christianised tend to display signs of marginal
co-operation and sometimes of no co-operation at all. Yao chiefs who have been wholly islamised can be divided into two groups namely those who show great signs of co-operation, participation and dependence in the rituals prescribed by Bimbi and those who co-operate
on an irregular basis their irregularity being
determined by their aspirations to greater spiritual independence from Chewa rituals and also their
geographical propinquity to the Bimbi mother shrine. It may be of interest to note that for the sake of their chiefdoms and their peoples, Yao chiefs have special envoys appointed either by the principal heads of chiefdoms themselves or by Bimbi in order to allow maximum participation in Bimbi agricultural rituals which though overshadowed by Christianity
and Islam, still play a vital role in the agricultural life of the people in the area. Having said this it is essential that we now turn to examine how this works in practice in individual chiefdoms.
Liwonde chiefdom
Liwonde chiefdom can be said to be -the best example of a chiefdom which has totally assimilated and identified itself with the Bimbi cult to such an extent that it has become a kind of state religion. Mwedadi Kananji Liwonde thinks that his success as paramount chief and the strength of his traditional authority depends largely in his co-operation with Bimbi at Ulongwe whom he sees as enhancing his political power through the ritual powers given to him by Bimbi. Chief Liwonde at Mbonechela, recounted to me that he has had two rain shrines given to him by the present Bimbi since he became Liwonde in 1954. Kananji had it that when Swaleyi Mkwanda became Bimbi in 1959 the first thing he did was to acknowledge chief Liwonde as his protector. To this effect he
paid a personal visit to the chief in 1960 during which he granted him a huge mkuyu tree (sesamum angol e n s e ) as his rain shrine in order to mark a new beginning in their relationship. Once the mkuyu tree was chosen it became common belief that it was haunted by Chewa ancestral spirits from Lake Malombe who
became, in a sense, chief spiritual guardians ofj the Liwonde chiefdom over and above the chief's own ancestral s pirits.71
In 1983 the mkuyu shrine tree was invaded by a swarm of bees (n j u c h i ) . When Liwonde realised that he could no more make offering there, he sent for Swaleyi Mkwanda Bimbi to come and select for him another site and another tree shrine. Liwonde could have easily selected a new site and a new tree for a shrine if it were a family or a tribal shrine, but in this case it was impossible because he was dealing with a territorial shrine which could only be granted by Bimbi himself and him alone. Besides, it would have meant the breaking of the long term accord agreed by the two houses. In order to avoid this, Liwonde dispatched Msungu and two other village headmen to^ ask Bimbi to come and make a personal selection of a shrine for the chief. Mwadadi Kananji described the circumstances which led to the granting of his new shrine in these words:
"When my former shrine was invaded by bees I called for Bimbi to grant me a new shrine. He came. He began by walking around in the village and then along the road side. He went along the stream looking for an appropriate place. He was together with my son. When they found the place they all came back h e r e . They told me to go with t h e m so that Bimbi could show me the new shrine. We all went there. Bimbi said to me:
'build your shrine here'. Later on I took fourteen village headmen with me to show them the new site. They were all very pleased. They then built a fence around it. I have already made two
no
offerings t h e r e. " ' ^Chief Liwonde, in keeping with the tradition of his p r e d e c e s s o r s , told me that every year when the rainy season draws near he always sends for Idilisa Ajitu Msungu, village headmen Nawanga and Tabu and asks them
to go to Bimbi at Ulongwe to ask him what the chief should expect of the coming rainy season and what he should do in order to ensure a good supply of rain and crop protection from vermin. Village headman Msungu who is always the leader of the delegation is
instructed to go and hear yele takatulamule kweleko a Bimbi (what Bimbi is going to command us to do). . According to chief Liwonde, Bimbi always gives ..the following order: ’tell chief Liwonde to prepare malt for beer offering for r a i n " . Both the date for the commencement for beer making and the day of offering are decided directly by Bimbi himself. If such
command has not been given, Liwonde does nothing to the contrary.
Sometimes Liwonde himself pays.Bimbi an official visit in order to cement their chiefly and priestly relationship. He recounted the following to me :
"Before the rains come I, myself, s o m e t i m e s , go to see Bimbi at Ulongwe to ask him what will happen in the coming rainy season. I spend a day or two with him. While there he tells me that when the rains are near I should send to him some village headmen for m i l a w e ."73
Chief Liwonde and Bimbi see their relationship as of great political value in traditional terms. Swaleyi Mkwanda Bimbi pointed out to me that there has never been any other more close co-operation between the Bimbis and any other Yao paramount chiefs than that between Liwonde chiefs and Bimbis in the region. Bimbi himself had this to say:
"When I go to visit chief Liwonde, I go there as if I were going to my own village. We call each other
achimwene (brother) . W7hen I go to see him in his village, he makes me sit comfortably in his house. Again when chief Liwonde comes here I make
him feel at home. He spends sometime talking to my elders and members of my family here. We are great friends."
Idilisa Ajitu Msungu, Bimbi's representative in Liwonde chiefdom, indicated to me that there has been no -conflict between Bimbi and the ruling Liwonde at any one point of their rule in their respective spheres as priest and chief. According to village headman Msungu if anyone of the village headmen under chief Liwonde shows any sign of dissension, he is
reprimanded severely by the chief who sees such action as a move against his own political power. He thinks that he is duty bound by tradition to uphold and
defend the Bimbi cult's beliefs and practices because his ancestors did so in the past. To this effect Mwedadi. Kananji claims that he is presently training his successor on how to safeguard and defend the Bimbi religious system which his ruling house is required to preserve and stand for. The training of his
successor involves in disclosing to the apparent heir what went on in the past between the Liwonde house and the Bimbi family and how to maintain such
relationship. The present Liwonde hopes that his successor will maintain the balance of power between the chief as political benefactor of the Bimbi cult while the latter will continue to provide its ritual services to authenticate the chiefdom's spiritual
75