So far in this class, we have covered many myths that revolve around certain deities and mythological creatures, but what about the myths that regard matters as simple as life and death?
This week, my group’s discussion revolved around the narratives of myths surrounding death and disease and the common symbolism used within these narratives. We also discussed and examined the statement “Body practices as an extension of mythic narratives” in regard to the belief system in Africa.
Engai/Ngai: The Black and the Red God of the Maasai
A lot of the discussion this week revolved around Engai/Ngai as an important and supreme god in African mythology and to the Maasai community. The Maasai people migrated to Southern Kenya and northern Tanzania from the Nile valley a thousand years ago and still follow their 100-year rituals to this day. Engai/Ngai is the omnipotent sky god that is embodied in Mount Kenya. They are ambiguous in its sexuality; both masculine and feminine. The god was responsible for the creation of the first man and woman, who bore nine daughters that were the names of nine clans along East Africa. The god was responsible for rainfall and thunder and is known to have two faces. The god can be present as a black god, who is benevolent, or he can be seen as a red god that is filled with vengeance and death. The people of Maasai worshipped the god in times of drought, epidemic, and during the harvesting season as the black god’s rain and thunder brings prosperity to the crops and livestock. On the other hand, when the god is angered, the red god will bring violent storms that bring death and hunger to the lands.
The Maasai Tribe
When analyzing the colours of black and red in terms of their separate meanings, the colour black is associated with power, strength, authority, while the colour red is associated with violence, danger, and anger. The descriptions of both colours coincide with the two aspects of Engai/Ngai as the black benevolent god and the red vengeful god.
In terms of current events, the Maasai people may suggest that COVID-19 is being caused by the red god’s wrath. With the need to social distance, the pandemic has disrupted many ceremonies, prayers, and large gatherings, which in turn makes it difficult to offer sacrifices and prayers to their gods.
A brief description about Engai/Ngai
The Kapsiki
The Kapsiki would sacrifice one or more smiths whenever the locust plague would arise in the community in hopes that the locusts would feed on the smiths and the plague would dissipate. Villages surrounding the Mandara Mountains had to send sacrificial victims to partake in the ritual. Smiths in the Kapsiki culture were not only blacksmiths but were also healers and leaders in the community.
Kwantedewushi is a body practice used by the Kapsiki in which they extract foreign objects from the body without leaving and blood or scars.
An example of the use of this technique is when a female smith treated a boy who was thin and had a swollen abdomen. She diagnosed that there were little frogs that had entered his body through his feet and gathered in his stomach. She removed these frogs by rubbing his stomach with special leaves until the frog had appeared in her hands and continued to treat him for another hour.
In this example, Levi Strauss’ structuralist theory comes into play. The smith’s devoted faith that her treatment would work for the young boy would also strengthen the boy’s faith. Despite the skepticism of the legitimacy of the treatment, the boy did recover, which would only provide more confidence to future treatments.
I believe that the process of kwantedewushi strongly supports the statement of “Body practices as an extension of mythic narrative”. In this example, the idea of treating a boy by rubbing his stomach with special leaves and a frog appearing is very outlandish to minds of people outside of their tribe but the devoted belief that these people had in this mythic narrative in the modern era can allow the recovery of the boy a possibility.
Mummification!
A popular body practice used in the past was mummification. Egyptians believed that life after death was similar to life itself and thought that their existences were simply transferred to another. Since they believed that in death, the deceased would require the same needs as they would when they were alive, they needed shelters such as tombs. These tombs would be warded with curses for any who defiled them. Food was also left as offerings at these tombs.
Mummification is where the moisture of a body is completely removed so that the body would not easily decay. The most important part of mummification is to preserve the body in a life-like manner as much as possible because as mentioned before, the deceased’s body needed to be preserved to ensure that they continued to live after their deaths. A body is the home of a person’s soul and they can freely fly in and out of their bodies.
COVID-19
In these trying times, many myths have risen surrounding COVID-19.
A big myth that has presented itself in the past few months is the effectiveness and importance of wearing masks. The CDC originally believed that everyone in the public wearing masks would not be considered worth it in the long run but was actually a reflection of not knowing how many people that have contracted COVID-19 due to a lack of testing in the earlier stages of the pandemic. This in turn has caused a confusion amongst the public after many states that are reopening have made wearing masks a mandatory practice in public.
A fun video showing the effectiveness of masks.
Another myth/misconception of COVID-19 is that people should wipe down their groceries with chemical disinfectants. Although it makes sense to wipe down groceries in case of contact with other people, there actually has not been any reported cases of people contracting COVID-19 from their food or packaging from the grocery stores. In fact, using disinfectants on foods that do not have packaging, such as fruits and vegetables, can be harmful to your own body. It is still important to sanitize your kitchen and clean produce with water.
These myths relate to the rest of the blog post as it deals with the myths surrounding a disease in the modern age and the ways that many misconceptions may spread within the community and even some body practices used to support the myths such as wearing a mask and social distancing.
Conclusion:
We have discussed the narratives regarding death, disease, and body practices from the past and the modern times. Some of these myths and body practices are still being practiced to this day such as the kwantedewushi method being used by the Kapsiki people and even the worship of the God Engai. Myths can even form today, shown in the case of COVID-19. I hope that we have ingrained in our minds that although some myths were formed many years ago, they can still have a major impact on our lives in the modern age.
References:
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