ABSTRACT

Belief in the continued power of recently deceased relatives—abazimu—was a basic element in Chiga religion. Ghosts may smite their living relatives with disease to the second generation, afflicting grandchildren in either line, or even daughters-in-law, but not the wives of grandchildren, or subsequent descending generations, or even sons-in-law. It is not possible to get much information on the nature and attributes of these spirits. Apart from the present non-functioning of all such aspects of religion, the Chiga have little interest in philosophical speculation. While the ancestral ghosts and the emandwa and Nyabingi spirits represented the functioning aspects of Chiga religion, there was also a high god who was often referred to but had no cult. The diviners were obviously a basic support to the whole structure of Chiga religion, since most offerings were made only on their advice.