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77 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett the body of his victim after him. He partook of the goat so kindly provided for him, and then flung the body of his victim upon the shelf. The thief, without waking, pushed the body down again. 'What, not dead yet?' muttered the wizard; 'then I'll soon settle you,' and then he smashed in the skull of the dead man with a club, and heaved him on the shelf again. The thief rolled over, and down came the body again. The wizard once more punished the body, and carefully placed it on the shelf again. The thief threw the body down again, and this so frightened the wizard that he ran off to town and shut himself up in his hut. The thief awoke, rubbed his eyes, saw the dead body, and concluded at once he was in a wizard's shimbec. He followed the wizard to town, and knocked at his door. 'O corpse,' cried the wizard, 'is it you?' 'Yes,' said the thief, and he knocked again. 'O corpse, is it you?' cried the wizard. 'Yes,' said the thief, who now summoned all the townfolk, who dragged the wizard out of his hut and gave him NKASA, cast him into the fire, and burnt him. Moral-Better be a thief than a wizard." As I afterwards found out, the grove I had discovered was not the home of a wizard or a thief, but one of the Kakongo sacred groves, but this my companions had evidently concealed from me. www.globalgrey.co.uk
78 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett CHAPTER X. BAVILI PHILOSOPHY Sacred Symbols. -Compound Names. -The Sun and Moon. -General Scheme of Bavili Ideas. - Cosmological Ideas. -Ternporal Ideas.-The Year.-The Seasons. -Genetic Relations.-The Categories. THE King of the Bavili, as I have said, has seven titles, one of which, that of Ntawtela, he does not receive until after his death. The other six, as I have explained elsewhere, are assigned to him as head of the six great departments of state. These six titles are, as I shall point out later, closely connected with the system of philosophy which I wish to expound to you. I believe that above and beyond fetishism or NDONGOISM, which I have already dealt with, there is a higher form of religion among the Bavili which is connected with certain symbols in the form of (1) sacred groves, (2) sacred lands and rivers, (3) sacred trees, (4) sacred animals, (5) omens, and (6) the seasons. The six titles of the King connect him directly with these six divisions of sacred symbols as well as with the six departments in the state. As Nkici ci he is, according to the native view, one of the products, or perhaps we should rather say the end and final result, of the working of the powers, or Bakici baci, represented by the sacred groves. As Fumu he is the king (or chief from whom all proceed) of the symbolic lands and rivers. As Ntinu Lukene he is head of the custom of the leopard, and thus associated with the sacred animals. As Nganga Nvumba (the doctor of the source of seasons or time) he is intimately connected with the seasons. As Xivangi (procreator) he is at the head of the omens. And as Mueno (the overseer of the morals of his people) he presides over the sacred trees. That is, he is the chief teacher in all these branches of native belief. It is possible that at one time each of the sacred symbols mentioned above had its sacred grove; in this grove, it may be, the king, as the great high priest, taught his people the lesson connected with the symbol. In support of this conjecture I may mention that I have so far in no case discovered more than twenty-four sacred symbols in any of the six divisions enumerated above. There are, it is true, certain apparent exceptions, but the supernumerary symbols can be shown to stand apart from the others for clearly defined reasons. After years of study I have discovered twenty-four trees and herbs which are, as the natives say, BAKICI BACI or sacred, twenty-four sacred animals, and so on. Now if each division of sacred symbols is composed of twenty-four parts, the sum total of Bakici Baci should be 144. I have as a matter of fact discovered upwards of 90 sacred groves. It is therefore quite legitimate to suppose that there may formerly have been 144 or more. Not only so, but the meanings of the names of the sacred groves go to prove this supposition, as I shall show more in detail later. The most remarkable fact, however, about these groves is that the Bavili have preserved the orderly grouping of twenty-four of these, and I believe that it is in this order that we find the key to their philosophy. In the sequel I treat of all the six sets of twenty-four symbols in detail. I should now like to draw your attention to the eight words, the only eight of this kind, so far as I know, www.globalgrey.co.uk
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER I
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