If a man has several huts it is considered extremely unlucky if the fire goes out in all of them in a single…
If a man has several huts it is considered extremely unlucky if the fire goes out in all of them in a single night
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53,266 published records with substantive text · Page 977 of 1,110
Roduced the dried right black forefoot of a sheep, dipped it in the water, stirred up the contents, and placed…
roduced the dried right black forefoot of a sheep, dipped it in the water, stirred up the contents, and placed the wetted foot in the mouth of the patient, who licked it vigorously and then expectorated the liquid on the ground
Read record →There was still a final stage of the proceeding, viz., the anointing with white clay, ira
There was still a final stage of the proceeding, viz., the anointing with white clay, ira
Read record →It is believed that among African natives the idea of the evil influence is not very concrete, but among other…
It is believed that among African natives the idea of the evil influence is not very concrete, but among other peoples the evil influence assumes the shape of a demon, the nature of which may be identified by a magician and expelled by him by the use of approp
Read record →Kithangaona cha muchi—The Purification Sacrifice for a Village (Kamba of Kitui).—If sickness becomes prevalent…
Kithangaona cha muchi—The Purification Sacrifice for a Village (Kamba of Kitui).—If sickness becomes prevalent in a village, the headman will consult a medicine man, who may declare that the spirit (imu) of a person who died long ago is bothering the people an
Read record →Kithangaona cha mburi—The Purification Sacrifice of the Goat.—On some occasions the medicine man will advise…
Kithangaona cha mburi—The Purification Sacrifice of the Goat.—On some occasions the medicine man will advise that the ceremony of kithangaona cha mburi be performed
Read record →The Dedication of the Bull—Kithangaona cha nzau—Kitui A-Kamba.—It sometimes happens that when a man consults a…
The Dedication of the Bull—Kithangaona cha nzau—Kitui A-Kamba.—It sometimes happens that when a man consults a magician about a contemplated marriage, or some other matter, the magician informs him that in his village a cow is in calf and that this cow will be
Read record →Day before the ceremony the elders catch a mole-like rodent called huku (Tachyoryctes sp.), put it alive in a…
day before the ceremony the elders catch a mole-like rodent called huku (Tachyoryctes sp.), put it alive in a cooking pot with some sweet potatoes, and cork up the mouth of the pot
Read record →Kikuyu the birth of twins is considered unlucky excepting in the case of a woman who has borne other children;…
Kikuyu the birth of twins is considered unlucky excepting in the case of a woman who has borne other children; the younger the woman the more unlucky the occurrence, and if the first birth is of twins, no medicine man can remove the evil, and the only course i
Read record →Some will put the francolin eggs with water in a cooking pot on a fire and then break the pot and the eggs with…
Some will put the francolin eggs with water in a cooking pot on a fire and then break the pot and the eggs with one of the hearth stones
Read record →The Eithaga are believed to have the power of protecting forest, and their powers are sometimes invoked for…
The Eithaga are believed to have the power of protecting forest, and their powers are sometimes invoked for this purpose
Read record →The owner of the afflicted crops brings a ram, ndorume, and some beer; the ram is strangled and the lower…
The owner of the afflicted crops brings a ram, ndorume, and some beer; the ram is strangled and the lower intestine, mutura, is extracted; a number of the caterpillars are also collected
Read record →A second ram is then provided, and the magician, together with the village elders, goes and sacrifices this at…
A second ram is then provided, and the magician, together with the village elders, goes and sacrifices this at the nearest sacred fig tree; the breast of the ram is cut out and hung in the tree, and the remainder of the sacrifice is eaten by the magician and t
Read record →Close to Kyambu there lives a medicine man of the name of Kamiri wa Itherero who is said to be one of the most…
Close to Kyambu there lives a medicine man of the name of Kamiri wa Itherero who is said to be one of the most renowned of all Kikuyu
Read record →Nothing which we or our influence could do has broken his position as a medicine man; even the paramount chief…
Nothing which we or our influence could do has broken his position as a medicine man; even the paramount chief has a great respect for him, and he has been seen to get up and give his place to Kamiri
Read record →It is considered impossible that a medicine man should maintain a real standing and the absolute faith of the…
It is considered impossible that a medicine man should maintain a real standing and the absolute faith of the people by mere trickery
Read record →Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos…
Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos district was given—p
Read record →(1) The heads of various kinds of snakes
(1) The heads of various kinds of snakes
Read record →The only elder who was actually given any part was the medicine man who had been previously consulted as to the…
The only elder who was actually given any part was the medicine man who had been previously consulted as to the success of the raid
Read record →Now kilumi is an old Kamba dance which is periodically performed at ithembo all over the country with the…
Now kilumi is an old Kamba dance which is periodically performed at ithembo all over the country with the object of warding off epidemics, but the Engai dances are carried on at villages to cure an individual possessed by the form of mania known as Engai
Read record →As far as is known, this Engai possession appears to be almost entirely confined to women
As far as is known, this Engai possession appears to be almost entirely confined to women
Read record →Legend of Kilui Lake (Kamba of Kibwezi).—A few miles below Kibwezi Station there is a small lake called Kilui…
Legend of Kilui Lake (Kamba of Kibwezi).—A few miles below Kibwezi Station there is a small lake called Kilui which is believed to be haunted by numerous spirits
Read record →In the author’s book on the A-Kamba, p
In the author’s book on the A-Kamba, p
Read record →Lest any reader should open this volume expecting to read an exhaustive treatise on witches and witchcraft,…
Lest any reader should open this volume expecting to read an exhaustive treatise on witches and witchcraft, treated scientifically, historically, and so forth, let me disarm him beforehand by telling him that he will be disappointed
Read record →To the superficial glance it might seem that he who would urge a revival of witchcraft is confronted by a task…
To the superficial glance it might seem that he who would urge a revival of witchcraft is confronted by a task more Herculean than that of making dry bones live--in that the bones he seeks to revivify have never existed
Read record →Were the reality of sorcery dependent upon a referendum of our universities--or, for that matter, of our…
Were the reality of sorcery dependent upon a referendum of our universities--or, for that matter, of our elementary school mistresses--it were at once proclaimed a clamant imposture
Read record →One select Societies, each with its band of earnest adherents--many with official organs, published at more or…
one select Societies, each with its band of earnest adherents--many with official organs, published at more or less regular intervals and commanding circulations of a sort--openly furthering "arts" such as would, two centuries ago, have entailed upon their mem
Read record →In Lady Charlotte Bury's "Memoirs of a Lady in Waiting," we find an example of the belief in Witchcraft…
In Lady Charlotte Bury's "Memoirs of a Lady in Waiting," we find an example of the belief in Witchcraft cherished in the most exalted circle in the nineteenth century
Read record →Under these circumstances it is easy to credit the possibility of a revival of the belief in witchcraft even in…
Under these circumstances it is easy to credit the possibility of a revival of the belief in witchcraft even in the most civilised countries of the modern world
Read record →While it might be too much to say that the number of suicides has increased in proportion to the decline of…
While it might be too much to say that the number of suicides has increased in proportion to the decline of witchcraft, it is at least certain that superstition of whatever kind has, in the past, played a notable part in making humanity contented with its lot
Read record →Why should we accept the scientist more than his grandmother, the witch?
Why should we accept the scientist more than his grandmother, the witch?
Read record →Be it remembered, too, that even the witch has her grievance against the learned numbskulls who have undone her
Be it remembered, too, that even the witch has her grievance against the learned numbskulls who have undone her
Read record →Resent year a police-court case was heard at Witham, an Essex town not fifty miles from London, in which the…
resent year a police-court case was heard at Witham, an Essex town not fifty miles from London, in which the defendant stood accused of assaulting another man because his wife had bewitched him
Read record →Those same flying-machines provide yet another argument in the witch's favour
Those same flying-machines provide yet another argument in the witch's favour
Read record →In all the long list of witch-attainments there is not one that would gain more than a passing newspaper…
In all the long list of witch-attainments there is not one that would gain more than a passing newspaper paragraph in the silly season were it performed in the London of to-day
Read record →D out as an argument for implicit belief in the Biblical legend of the Deluge that its universality among all…
d out as an argument for implicit belief in the Biblical legend of the Deluge that its universality among all races of mankind from China to Peru can only be accounted for by accepting Noah and his Ark
Read record →The witch lives by herself in a dingle, a hundred yards beyond the last cottage of the hamlet
The witch lives by herself in a dingle, a hundred yards beyond the last cottage of the hamlet
Read record →It is the size of a fox, black and hairy, shapeless and with many feet
It is the size of a fox, black and hairy, shapeless and with many feet
Read record →The black cat, with its sleeping charge, hastens back towards the dingle
The black cat, with its sleeping charge, hastens back towards the dingle
Read record →At last, when she is quite tormented with anxiety lest she have unwittingly angered her master, comes a…
At last, when she is quite tormented with anxiety lest she have unwittingly angered her master, comes a stealthy clattering of wings upon the thatch, and down through the hole that serves for chimney rustles a black raven with fiery eyes
Read record →The witch takes a broken eggshell and smears it also with the ointment
The witch takes a broken eggshell and smears it also with the ointment
Read record →The witch must steer across it, for the Sabbath-General, as the corvine messenger has told her, is to be held…
The witch must steer across it, for the Sabbath-General, as the corvine messenger has told her, is to be held on a lonely peak of the Cevennes, in mid-France
Read record →So for a time--a little time, for Devil's messengers fly fast--the witch drives onward in mid-air
So for a time--a little time, for Devil's messengers fly fast--the witch drives onward in mid-air
Read record →It stands a little removed from the centre of a great mountain amphitheatre, and just below the summit is a…
It stands a little removed from the centre of a great mountain amphitheatre, and just below the summit is a mountain tarn, crystal-pure and casting back the starlight as peacefully as though there were no such things as witch or warlock beneath God's Heaven
Read record →It is true that woman, by reason of the frailty of her nature, seeks more often to pry into forbidden things,…
It is true that woman, by reason of the frailty of her nature, seeks more often to pry into forbidden things, to her own destruction, and thus there are many more witches than warlocks or magicians
Read record →Tick, takes her place beside one Luckie, a gossip of former Sabbaths, ill-favoured as herself, who comes from…
tick, takes her place beside one Luckie, a gossip of former Sabbaths, ill-favoured as herself, who comes from the kingdom of Fife, where she is much feared for the sudden tempests she raises when the fishing-fleets are sailing homeward with full catches
Read record →At first, seen in the dim light of the waning moon, it is shapeless, inchoate
At first, seen in the dim light of the waning moon, it is shapeless, inchoate
Read record →Those who have done well Satan fondles and caresses, promising them great reward, but the others he hands over…
Those who have done well Satan fondles and caresses, promising them great reward, but the others he hands over to his imps for present punishment
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