FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

it is the mother who is normally accused of kusasamala (not being careful) or kupha
okha mwana! (killing her own child!). Similarly, if a girl remains childless after mar­
riage, the mother is blamed for failure to observe the necessary taboos. Normally, this
means that the parents did not abstain from sexual activity at the appropriate times, and
it is the wife who must refuse to have sex with her husband (see Appendix A, women's
demonstration after song 51). In 4.6 above it was noted that 'most African religious
traditions have placed procreation at the centre of the woman's universe' (Oduyoye
1992:17). This is why the woman is responsible for making sure the taboos are
observed, and if anything goes wrong, she is blamed. There is some mysterious power
that works through the sexual act and inflicts mdulo on the victim. Some informants,
both Christian and non-Christian, have testified to the death ofa number ofchildren due
to mdulo
The question is: Is it in reality that 'ancestor spirits' [ancestors] come and punish the
living?' If we look at some passages in Scripture, with the exception of the spirit of
Samuel (and he only related words that God had already spoken) (1 Sam 28), it appears
that the spirits ofthe dead cannot come back and interfere with the living. And yet that
is what the living human beings think happens. So who actually comes to punish if it is
not the mizimu [ancestors]? Here we need to be discerning. For if Scripture says that
'Satana yemwe adzionetsa ngati mngelo wakuunika.' ('Satan himself masquerades as an
angel of light') (2 Corinthians 11: 14, NIV), why can he not imitate an ancestor? Nor­
mally people think that it is their ancestors that come and punish a person. Could not, in
reality, there be a demonic masquerade occurring as Paul warns: 'Koma nditi kuti
zimene amitundu apereka nsembe azipereka kwa ziwanda; osati kwa Mulungu, ndipo
sindifuna kuti inu muyanjane ndi ziwanda' ('No, but the sacrifices ofpagans are offered
to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons') (1 Cor­
inthians 10:20)? Could it not be that deceiving spirits do interfere with the living ­
claiming to bless them (when God himself blesses them), or inflicting them with mis­
fortunes and filling them with fear? This is evidenced by the fact that the Chewa spiri­
tual world is populated mostly with 'evil' spirits represented by the nyau. The Chewa
believe that the mysterious powers surrounding chinamwali and all the mdulo taboos
derive from the mizimu. Could not evil spirits impersonate ancestors and reinforce obe-
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