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65 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett their relations. They are never seen. They mourn with their relations when in trouble, and long to help them. And they say that if every one of the Bavili were destroyed tomorrow, these Bakulu would hover about in the grass around their towns for ever and ever. I was very much touched the other day, when present at the funeral of a woman whom I had learnt to respect very much, to note the careful way in which the brother picked up the sacred earth from the grave of his now buried sister. His wife held out the end of the red cloth serving as her husband's waistband, and he carefully placed the earth in it. She then doubled the cloth over it, and tied the whole into a knot. This earth at some future date will be placed by some nganga in the little horn "Likawla," or then in the little tin box "Nkobi," so that the Nkulu of the dead sister may be placed in the head of some living relation, and her guiding voice be once more heard by those who loved her. There are apparently six kinds of KULU among the Bavili, three belonging to the MUNTu NZAMBI class and three to the MUNTO A NDONGO class-that is to say, three pertaining to the higher or moral nature of man, and three to his lower and physical nature. 1. Nkulu bakakata (or the soul of our ancestors) causes women to bear offspring. (This is connected with the BAKICI BACI or sacred groves, but I have not found any traces of reincarnation.) 2. Nkulu npunu is also an ancestral soul that causes babies to fall sick. 3. Nkulu yianzi is the soul of one who has just died. It is placed in the head of a living relation for the purpose of consultation. 4. The muntu nzambi will not reckon as "nkulu" the nkulu ndoxi (nkulu of the person dealing in witchcraft). This nkulu of the dead witch only a witch seeks to have placed in his head. It is a sore point with the BAVILI, and they prefer to tell us that the nkulu of a witch ceases at his death. 5. Nkulu mbuila, a very destructive locust. 6. Nkulu xilunga. 34 Both 5 and 6 have medicines attached to them to be given to women whose "courses have been greatly delayed for some cause. Those who have read either Seven Years among the Fjort or my Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort may remark that the Nkasa tree has not been mentioned as a sacred tree. It will be remembered that the powdered bark of the Nkasa tree is given to suspected witches and wizards as a test to prove their innocence or guilt. If the accused vomit the noxious medicine, they are innocent. If the poison is retained, it either poisons the witch or else 34 The meaning of this term has escaped me www.globalgrey.co.uk
66 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett acts as a strong purge, when the culprit is set upon and killed, the body burnt, and the ashes scattered to the wind. No burial was granted to this temple of "Ndongo." This witchcraft or fetishism (I use the word in the sense given to this part of BAVILI philosophy by the Portuguese sailors and missionaries of old) is just the evil counterpart of Nkicism (in the ancient acceptation of the word). The BAVILI thus to this day describe themselves as BANTU NZAMBI, men of God, or BANTU A NDONGO, men of the black art; but all who think themselves Bantu nzambi are not necessarily such, for while among the Bantu a ndongo there are people who are aware that the evil power is in them (and these are those that are burnt, after death), there are others, on the other hand, who have lived with ndongo in their stomachs all their lives without knowing it. In fact, the painful truth is only brought to light after death, when the ndongo, who hates the idea of being tightly wrapped up and buried deep in the bowels of Mother Earth (or Bulunji), makes its appearance. For, say the Bavili, when the corpse has been wrapped up in folds of cloth,ndongo fights his way out of the stomach with a fearful explosion, burning a hole through the wrappings. As the ndongo is no longer in the stomach of the corpse, and as when alive the man had lived a decent life, the corpse is buried; but no loving relation will pick up a handful of earth from the grave to keep until required for the purpose of depositing it in the Likaula or nkobi, those little zinkici so necessary to the sick relation who would commune with the "voice" or "nkulu" of the departed. LU MUÉNO OR MIRROR. It is "Xina" (a thing forbidden) to throw the light reflected from a mirror upon a person, and when the light passes across the face of an individual he cries out: "Leave me alone. I have ndudu medicine in my body." It is not a crime, but more of the nature of an insult, to throw this light upon a person. Bits of looking-glass are to be found fixed in trees, and in the eyes and stomach of many fetishes. The light thus thrown is called "ntenia lu muéno." PHOTOGRAPHY. When one wanders about the native village with a camera and points it at people with the intention of taking their photographs, they invariably at first run away. They say that they are afraid that the photographer wishes to take away their life or "Monio." www.globalgrey.co.uk
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