Research source

The owner of the afflicted crops brings a ram, ndorume, and some beer; the ram is strangled and the lower…

Date of account: Published 1922
Source: Bantu Beliefs and Magic With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war
Reference: Bantu Beliefs and Magic With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war · selected passage 103
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

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

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

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. The magician drinks a draught of the beer and then bites the caterpillars in half, one after another, and lays the pieces on the leaves of the mutundu (Croton macrostachys) and mukuyu (Dombeya sp.). He then places fragments of the caterpillars in the intestine of the ram, goes away into the bush and buries the parcel in the hole of white ants’ nest (Muthongonina). [11] He next takes some wood of the morika and muirangani trees and lights a fire near the place where the caterpillars are buried, and in this fire he burns the above-mentioned leaves and the remaining caterpillars.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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