Mwazindika, dance for the gods and enchanted spirits in Taita traditional society

Mwazindika is a Taita traditional dance for the gods as well as celebrating life. Traditionally, the mwazindika was also used to exorcise evil spirits especially in women.

The dance has in fact remained a cultural showcase of all times, and no public function in Taita is complete without the Mwazindika dance being performed , usually to the excitement and ululation of all.

Mwazindika dance mainly involves drums, which are accompanied by a Taita traditional horn(lwembe). At times even a sharp whistle is used to drive up the rhythm. Other accompaniments include jingles which are fastened on the dancers’ ankles and ululations from women dancers.

In some places such as Bura in Taita, there is a variation of Mwazindika locally known as "gonda", where a wooded board laid on the ground is truck rhythmically with dry wooden poles.

"Traditionally, male elders played the drums while the women danced and ululated. In some parts of Taita it was taboo for women to play the drums, but nowadays it's not uncommon to see women also playing the drums. A lot of things have changed, but the vibrancy and heartrending nature of Mwazindika remains," says Mzee Dishon Mwalui, a Taita elder.

In the days of yore, Mwazindika was played on various occasions both to celebrate life, for entertainment and also to appease the gods of the Wadawida so that they could bless the Taita community.

The dance was performed during the birth of a baby boy, especially from a prominent family such as a chief’s family where the baby boy was expected to be an heir apparent.

According to Mzee Mwalui, the dance would be performed to the visitors who turned up to pay homage to the new born baby to appease the gods so that the boy could be inspired to be a wise leader in future.

Mwazindika was also performed during circumcision rites for both boys and girls during the years of yore, a rite of passage that bespoke a foray into adulthood.

Traditionally, when Taita youth reached puberty and were about to be ushered into adult life, he or she was secluded( kuaikwa) where they were taught the secrets of adult life by elders.

When they came out of seclusion a ceremony would be conducted to welcome them back into the large community during which the Mwazindika was performed as well as beer drinking by the elders.

The dance was also performed during harvest time as a thanksgiving to the gods for blessing the community with food as well as when Taita warriors returned from war with their aggressive neighbours.

"When Taita fighters returned from battle a big ceremony would be held to welcome them back. There would be beer drinking, pouring libations to the ancestors which would be followed by the sharing of the livestock and other properties that the fighters had taken away from their enemies including women. This was called "kusara". This time of celebrating victory would be marked by mwazindika dance and beer drinking by elders and the seers" says Mzee Mwalui.

However, one of the prime functions of the mwazindika dance was excorcising evil spirits, pepo, especially in women.

The affected women would be given a slightly sickening herbal concoction called "mwalola" and invited to performs the dance as the seers and elders chanted and admonished the spirits to leave the victims. The dance would go on and on till the victim went into a state of delirium and would collapse. She would then have cold water poured on her body till she was still and calm. After a while the victim would come back to her senses and walk away free from

Voi gospel artiste Ruth Okachia big breakthrough as she releases collabo with Rose Muhando

Ruth Okachia has hit another milestone in her spiritual and musical career after releasing her new album Mwachie Mungu(Leave it to God) which she did in collaboration with renowned Tanzanian gospel artiste is among the 8 video tracks in her first album titled “Acha Dhambi”. the demonic spell that had gone into her.

Rose Muhando.

The album which also features dancers from the Voi Birikani Voice of Kings Church serves as yet another pointer to the singer’s desire to reach new heights in her music career.

“I have always admired Rose Muhando because of her spiritually uplifting music. In fact she is among my favorite artistes and doing this collabo with her is a dream come true” said Okachia.

She says while she earns a living from doing various businesses in Voi town, music to her is more of a calling than a means of making money.

“In writing this song,I was calling upon all Kenyans to embrace love and peaceful coexistence so that we can hold together as one nation despite our tribal and political differences. I was more concerned about the political situation in the country in the wake of the general elections and sought to call on Kenyans to live in harmony to avoid a repeat of the post poll violence that almost brought down our nation in 2007/2008”, said the artiste during an interview.

“I sing gospel music to nurture my God –given talent and not necessarily to make money” says the artiste adding that so far she has been footing the cost of production of the music, while she writes, composes and distributes.

In fact the Mwazindika dance has its close equivalent among the Luo community of Nyanza in the “miend juogi”.

This is according to a report titled, “Healing Dances: A case study of the Luo Juogi and the Dawida Mwazindika Dances” by Charles Orawo Nyakiti published in The International Journal of Business and Social Sciences.

“During “miend juogi” and “mwazindika” dance ceremonies, the dancers dramatize the activities of the healing process. To perform the act of cleansing the possessed, the cleanser moves to the possessed, and pours water on the head. During such activities, the dance becomes more provoking and involving. The dance climax is known as “yiengo juogi”, for “juogi” and “benzi” for mwazindika. This is one of awe, wonder and admiration at the techniques of the drummers, especially the ones who play master drums ( “min bul” for juogi and the “shimba mbaa” for mwazindika). The “shimba mbaa” player steals the show, especially when “kuzira ngoma” or “kushevera ngoma”. The idea behind pouring water on the heads of the possessed is to assist them get rid of the evil spirits”, the report says .It goes on: “The significance of the spirits is medical as it is believed that these spirits caused diseases whose cure lay in the dealing with them. It could be said that it was the diseases which were spiritualized, in the same way the illnesses were diagnosed in terms of the anger of the ancestral spirits, or the curse of the living parents. If it was stomach ache, headache, miscarriage and other diseases that are spiritualized, the techniques of treatment deal not only with the physical aspects; the patient was given herbs to drink or rub on the affected part, but at the same time receives psychological treatment as well. It is important to note that the complaints that deal with spirit possessions in the two communities are cases of anxiety.

The diseases attributed to ancestral spirits result from guilt as a dominant factor. This is because the ancestors are angry because they have been neglected, because somebody among the living has not done his or her duty”.

“Sometimes I use some of the money I make from my businesses to pay for the recording because I feel a strong desire to communicatemy inner desires are through music” she says.

Okachia says the Voice of Kings Church family has been very supportive of her musical endeavors.

“The Voice of Kings Church is my spiritual bedrock from which I derive the inspiration to continue singing. We are one closely knit family and I am happy about it” she said.

Okachia’s songs are about the things that happen in our day to day lives, and more so our relationship with each other.

A good example is the song “Mpende Jirani ”which

Okachia says that while she would like to sell her music to reach as many people as possible the high costs of production remains a challenge, adding that it’s hard to break even and recoup the production expenses.

Her advice to gospel artistes is that they should stick to that genre and strive to make their compositions better instead of changing into secular music.

“I believe that consistence pays and at one point an artiste will realise their full potential” she says.

Other notable songs to her credit include “Acha Dhambi”, “Pokea maombi yangu”, “Washa moto”, “Usikate Tamaa” among others.