ABSTRACT
I have described elsewhere ‘Emandwa Initiation in Ankole’ and the ‘African Israel Church Nineveh’ (Welbourn, 1965, Welbourn, 1966). Both are group spirit cults. Although the former notably stops short of possession, the phenomenon is clearly hinted at; and the cult is sufficiently close to those described by Beattie (1957), Beattie (1961) and Cory (1957) to fall into the general class of spirit mediumship. The latter, as a group cult– – and quite apart from its strongly Christian reference – appears to be of a type previously unknown to Luyia and Luo among whom it is chiefly found. The purpose of this essay is to place the two side by side and to ask whether either can help towards an understanding of the other. Individual mediumship cults will be mentioned only in passing.
