ABSTRACT
Nkula is said by Ndembu to be of considerable antiquity—'from Mwantiyanvwa', the king from whose realm in the Congo they originally came. Its aim is to remove a ban imposed by the shade of a deceased relative on the patient's fertility. According to Muchona, Nkula is performed 'to make children in a woman. It is performed when a woman has too much menstrual blood, or if she misses her periods but does not become pregnant. It is also performed if a woman has had no children for a long time. 'The patient', said Muchona, 'must stay in her village, while male and female doctors go into the bush to collect medicines. Muchona then went on to tell that 'the principal doctor that morning had made a little hut of grass just behind the patient's hut, before medicines were collected. A meal mortar is placed in this hut, called katala kaNkula, "little hut of the Nkula".
