Tumbuka (mythology)

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The Tumbuka mythology includes the myths and religious ideas of the Tumbuka , an ethnic group in the north of Malawi and to the east of Zambia , resulting in Besessenheits ceremonies around the Vimbuza - ghosts, one ancestor worship express and stories about the origin of the Community. The world of gods and cults stem from African beliefs , but also play a role in the Christianized parts of society.

Her high god is Chiuta (occasionally also Chandu ), the all-powerful, all-knowing and self-created creator of life, at the same time god of rain and fertility (cf. African cosmogony ). He is enraptured and usually does not interfere in everyday life. Chiuta is paraphrased as Uta wa Leza , "the great bow of God" (heaven, rain or hunting bow). With the neighboring Chewa , the same traditional high god is called Chauta .

Tumbuka, like almost all Bantu, have a multitude of myths depicting their cultural heritage. These myths are told around fires at night, often accompanied by drums and chants in call-and-answer form to keep the children entertained and familiarize them with the group's values. Even if the person cannot approach Chiuta directly, Chiuta can establish contact. So in the thundering of a thunderstorm the question of its creatures whether they are all still there can be heard. That is the call, and the answer must be loudly "yes", it is best to hit the flour troughs with pestles at the same time.

Many myths have faded through contact with Western cultures. Nevertheless, many have survived to this day, because myths as vidokoni (legends) pass on a moral context.

In the myths of the Tumbuka, three animals are mentioned much more often than any other: fulu (turtle), kalulu (hare) and chimbwe (hyena). Fulu is portrayed as the wisest beast, chimbwe as a crook and kalulu as a clever demagogue who can only be beaten by fulu .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steven Friedson: Dancing prophets: Musical experience in Tumbuka healing. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1996, pp. 27,42
  2. ↑ Isabel Phiri Apawo: women religious experience of Chewa: Women, Presbyterianism and patriarchy. Kachere Series, Zomba (Malawi) 2007, p. 30, ISBN 978-9990887280