Fipa People in Tanzania and their Traditional Worship

__________________ Fipa diviners blamed illness on sorcery, territorial or ancestral spirits, or a neighbor or relative. Commoners tended to blame sorcery alone. Illness made it necessary to discover its cause: an ancestral spirit, a divinity, a demon, a sorcerer, or even a witch (Fipa witches were supposed to be carried upside down at night by their wives, work evil, and be all that was opposite of being good), for only with the discovery of the cause could appropriate measures be taken, such as sacrifices, ritual burning, or certain medicines, etc. The Wafipa, as with most Africans, had a supreme god: Umweele, the creator of ultimate power in the world. There was, however, no cult to this god, although it was common for those needing help to utter "Umweele, forgive me". Worship was also directed to lesser and closer divinities, the most important and terrible being Katai, said to be the enemy of domestic animals and the bringer of smallpox and other diseases. Katai could come as a dog with shining eyes, in dreams; a mouse in a hut corner; a beautiful youth; or even smoke (the African concept of deities included the souls of animals, spirits, and humans being interchangeable) When an epidemic occurred, dances were forbidden, children ceased playing noisy games, and water-pots were covered. Katai could, when s/he was in a kindly mood, also cure illness and heal suffering. When Katai was in an evil-minded mood, s/he could be appealed to for revenge or spite. There was no agreement on the sex of Katai: in the north it was male, in the south, female. There were other, more localized spirits. Hills, lakes (such as Lake Tanganyika), large trees, oddly shaped rocks, groves of trees, could all be the home of a spirit. Truly large tame pythons, representing the spirits of these places, would coil themselves on specially made stools and receive offerings of millet porridge and meat from worshipers. Worship was often conducted by a hereditary priest, often seemingly possessed of a particular spirit. Lastly, there was the worship of ancestral spirits. These were thought to inhabit the threshold of their descendants' huts. Periodically, the owner of a hut would honor them by sprinkling the walls and floors with water and flour. Twins were considered divinities, having special powers over rain and crops. They could also cause epidemics. They were publicly acclaimed, being carried around the village on a tray, and sacrifices were communally held in their honor at the new moon. They were not killed or allowed to die through starvation as with so many other groups. They were in fact so important as to be especially honored by having sacrifices offered at an altar erected by their parents outside their hut during harvest time or epidemics.