"they were reminded of their past of which they were participants through the loins of their parents. In this way their past was brought to life; the clan's or lineage's name was
popularised among the members and .. the people themselves felt united as one group with a common purpose. "^0
The heartland of the Bimbi cult
The geographical influence of the Bimbi chit can be divided into two broad sections namely the
heartland and the^periphery. This division is based on the density of shrines found in one area, the frequency of consultations carried out at the mother shrine and the regularity of offerings made at the rain shrines. In the case of the Bimbi cult the heartland consists of the area within a twelve mile radius w i t h i n the
present Bimbi village at Ulongwe. The only exception to this classification is the Bimbi rain shrine
belonging to chief Liwonde which, though is located more than twenty miles away from the Bimbi village, its
ritual activities are performed on a regular basis as if it were within the heartland of the Bimbi cult itself and treated as such. Within the heartland the most important shrines of the Bimbi cult are located whose officials consult Bimbi at the beginning of every agricultural season. At these rain shrines offerings are made on a .regular basis annually regardless of the weather c o n d i t i o n s .
The periphery is the area which lies beyond the heartland, that is, parts of Machinga district, and the outlying districts of Zomba, Mangochi and Blantyre. The periphery is characterised by irregular consultations with Bimbi at the mother shrine, and irregular offerings at the territorial rain shrines. Thus the more one
moves away from the centre to the periphery the less
influence and power the Bimbi has. In such circumstances he is approached as a matter of last resort after hope of improved situation has vanished.
An extensive research in the heartland of the Bimbi cult has revealed the depth of the cultural complexity of Chewa religion. There is an amazing systematic and intricate religious organisation.
The following accounts of individual shrines is deemed n e c e s s a r y .
But before going further to examine individual rain shrines which I visited during my field work, it is important to point out that- these are of different
t y p e s . Shrines in the Bimbi cult can be grouped in two parts namely man-made, shrines and shrines that are not. The first type, as we shall see shortly, consists of hut-like constructions which can accomodate two to three people. Non-man made natural shrines.consist . mainly of trees;lochted in thickets which are considered holy. Sometimes, however, graves are used as rain
shrines but always in association with a proper rain shrine either in the form of a tree or a hut.
The Bimbi mother shrine: The Mponda shrine
The Mponda shrine is, in all respects, the mother shrine from which all other rain shrines derive their spiritual authority and strength. Unlike the Mbona rain shrine whose shrine grounds are considered to be outside the jurisdiction of any secular authority, and they are, therefore, not subject to government rules and regulations concerning land use and its inhabitants
41
do not pay taxes, the Bimbi mother shrine ground is within the government jurisdiction and subject to all government regulations including taxation. The Bimbi himself as village headman is under the jurisdiction of Group village headman Nadumbo Kasira within the paramountcy of chief Kalembo in Machinga district. The Bimbi feels that his participation in traditional
and central government politics is essential and authenticates .his claim that he ought to have had a high position in the area such as that of a Traditional Authority, that is a paramount chief, since he is a descendant of Chewa paramount chiefs before the arrival of the Yao.
The Mponda shrine is, in present times, divided in two sections namely kachisi-wa-milawe (shrine for spirit possession by Bimbi himself) and kachisi-wa-mvula
(shrine for making offerings for r a i n ) . The two shrines are four miles apart. In the distant past the two
shrines were in fact one and the same shrine. They were split after the colonial officers had objected to the system of spirit wife for such were confined in Mponda forest for long periods and are said to have died there in seclusion. During my field work however, I was not able to find any evidence of this objection by the colonial officers in the National Archives in Zomba but oral evidence strongly insists that this was the case.
Of the two shrines owned by Bimbi himself it is the Kachisi-wa-milawe which is unique in every aspect. It is located in the Bimbi village itself. It is a permanent building of burnt bricks. It was built in this permanent form by Bimbi assisted by members of his sorority group. This shrine is believed to be haunted by Chewa ancestral spirits especially when milawe is in session. In day-to-day situations there is nothing special or ceremonial about the shrine. It is used as
a family house. But during the milawe season it assumes great religious significance. It is to this shrine that village headmen from more than six paramount chiefs come to consult the divine will for pressing economic problems if drought conditions are detected. Consultants who come there represent their people in their group- village-based rain shrines and sometimes they represent the chief himself. It must be borne in mind that
capacity as chief spirit medium and no one else. During milawe rituals this shrine is entered by Bimbi alone while consultants sit outside.
The second section of the Bimbi mother shrine is called kachisi-wa-mvula. This is a small circular hut three yards high and three yards in d i a m e t e r . There is a door on it facing northwest through which the
officiating elder finds access into the shrine.
According to Afiki Kumalekano and Kambani White, the shrine is built by the elders of the cult led by
Idilisa Ajitu Msungu on the day when beer offering is 42
fermented (tsiku losinjila c h i m e l a ) . Kudawe Chiwere has indicated that the elders who are involved in the building of the shrine are required to refrain from sexual intercourse the day before the.shrine is built. Each elder taking part in the construction contributes a pole and a small bundle of grass. My informants
told me that this is done in order to show that they are 43
o n e .
One interesting aspect of the beliefs surrounding this shrine is that it is built for the snake-spirit
called Bongwe who is believed to inhabit it. Bongwe is said to be one of the most ancient Chewa a n c e s t o r s . He was never Bimbi himself but a very important lineage head his position being only second to that of Nyangu. Traditions have it that when he died long long ago he turned into a snake-spirit and has ever since dwelt in the Mponda forest and a hut was built in his h o n o u r . Bongwe is said to be a python (n s a t o ) huge, long and black. As a spirit (m z i m u ) Bongwe is not molested when he is found by people in the forest for to kill him
could cause a severe scorching heat and an unprecedented drought, for Bongwe and his council of spirits control
4 4 the rainfall.
The Bimbi's kachisi-wa-mvula is located in the Mponda forest which is considered holy. The uniqueness of both the shrine and the forest goes far back in history. For instance, one of the foresters in the
colonial administration writing sometime at the beginning of the 2 0th century about the sancitity of some of the Chewa ritual forests in the Upper Shire reported:
"A feature of the forest in this district are the small patches of
primeval forest containing large trees and dense undergrowth ... They are usually burial places and are even now treated with considerable reverence. They are said to be protected by some kind of snake god and in most cases some sort of shrine will still be found. An instance of this is the rain shrine at Bimbi on the Shire 1 5 miles north of L i w o n d e . " 4 5
Since the forest and the shrine are the chief sanctuary of the Bimbi cult, they are surrounded with taboos
to protect them from being desecrated. For instance, when approaching the shrine for ritual purposes men are not allowed to wear shirts, hats and shoes. Women are forbidden to wear headgear and they are required to wear chilundu (traditional dress) up to the loins leaving the breasts bare. It appears that when breasts are left so bare at the shrine they are symbols of
fertility and they represent symbolically the fertility of the land since at a higher level of abstraction the women themselves can be said to be symbols of the mother earth. The injunction against wearing hats and headgear is based on the belief that if these were worn they
could keep the rain away and render the sky c l o u d l e s s . Red cloth is also not allowed anywhere near the shrine. The red colour in-Bimbi rituals symbolises lightning, therefore dangerous. Expectant mothers and mothers with infants are also not allowed to visit the shrine for reasons which were not explained to me. It may also be of interest to point out that
because of the sacred nature of the forest, cutting wood, collecting firewood and removing of plants and other
objects from the forest is forbidden by Bimbi and his cult officials. The officiating priest at the Bimbi rain
shrine is Afiki Kumalekano assisted by aBina biti 46 Namwera. They are both Chewa of the Phiri clan.
The Ulongwe rain shrine
Another important shrine in the heartland of the Bimbi cult is the Ulongwe shrine. It is located in the Ulongwe forest half mile away on the western side of Kalembo township. The Ulongwe shrine is a small circular hut built under a mvumo tree (Borassus a e t h i o p u m ) . The shrine is three yards high and three yards in diameter. The roof is covered w i t h a piece of black cloth torn into small pieces to prevent people from stealing it.
Inside the shrine high on the walls two pieces of black cloth cross the interior in the mid-air thus dividing the shrine into four compartments. It was explained to me that the four compartments represent the four corners of the earth and the four winds - mpoto (northern w i n d ) , mwela (southern w i n d ) , vuma (eastern wind) and zambwe (western w i n d ) . When a specific wind is to be invoked during offerings for rain either to stop it or to encourage it, a small hole is made on the floor of the shrine in accordance with the compartments made by the dividing pieces of black cloth above the floor, and the sacrificial beer is poured there with appropriate prayers.
The Ulongwe shrine is popularly known as
kachis i-wa-Nyangu (Nyangu's shrine). This is because