Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 436
2003:76ff), but it is uncertain whether the Dghweɗe idea of a personal god originated in the
same way. However Bulama Ngatha's account indicates that a human’s personal god
experienced everything the same way in the celestial world above. This is why we think that
the Dghweɗe too believed that humans had personal gods, but unlike among the Mafa of
Gouzda, it seems in their case only males and children had representatives to be called on in
rituals, while females did not. The belief that women did not have personal gods was
explained to me by bulama Mbaldawa (1995) who said that women did not have them
because they were powerless and did not have the sacrificial responsibilities of men.
Concerning the celestial world where God's family was a mirror image of the social world of
the Dghweɗe, this idea was also played out in the image of the next world below, which was
also perceived as a mirror image of this world. Bulama Ngatha explained as follows:
A person without children, if he dies, will depend in the next world on others because he has no
children to make a sacrifice for him. Those who have children on earth get sacrifices from their
children. If a child that was only breastfed dies it will wait for his father to die. A person who has
passed that stage will live in the next world on his own.
The Mafa of Gouzda also had a belief in the next world being a social mirror image of this
world (ibid:82ff), and they also had a belief about 'god the thief', who was a singular being,
having only one arm, one leg and one eye. 'God the thief' was held responsible for causing
death (ibid:74ff). We found similar beliefs among the Dghweɗe, as bulama Ngatha and
bulama Mbaldawa pointed out. Both quotes from my 1995 fieldnotes refer firstly to God as
the Supreme Being, but then elaborate on the other aspects of God in the form of personal
gods and 'god the thief' who causes death, as well as ideas about life in the next world. We
start with bulama Ngatha of Hudimche, followed by bulama Mbaldawa of Tatsa, plus some of
my remarks.
Bulama Ngatha:
Every person has his own god (gwazgafte) but there is another god (dzibuwa). He is a thief. He
hunts people but God is taking care of his people [in the form of personal gods], but dzibuwa is
always hunting for people. Sometimes people see dzibuwa and when they see him, you will die
that year. He has one leg only. There is an overall God who directs other gods to create people. If
your god has three children you will have three children as well. If your god dies without children
you will die without children as well. God sends his children for different purposes like any father
sends his children.
Bulama Mbaldawa:
There is a God which is in heaven (ghaluwa) who has created everything. He created human
beings and he assigned the personal gods to them to take care of them just like we as humans take
care of goats. The god who kills people and is a thief has no children. He is called dnugwe (an old
man who has no children is dnugwe). The reason you die is because of that thief who kills you.
The question of where we go after death was kept open and it was said that we could not know.
We tried to find out more about the belief of the next world by asking why they sacrificed to their
family ancestors and it was answered that they did that because they wanted something to eat.
Bulama Ngatha confirms the Dghweɗe belief that God's children are the personal gods sent to
look after humans. By comparing both accounts we also recognise that the god perceived as a
thief had two different names. While bulama Ngatha referred to this god as dzibuwa, bulama
Mbaldawa called him dnugwe (a childless old man). Unfortunately we do not have a
translation for dzibuwa, but we know what dnugwe means, and we are certain it is a reference
to not having a boy child. We remember in this context how an ancestor without a son would
have to rely on his neighbour to feed him in the next world, because he had no male
descendants in this world to sacrifice to him. This example confirms the gender aspect of
God's descendants, and perhaps a childless god with one leg is an image of death because his
appearance contains a physical deficiency.
We have learned so far that the word gwazgafte was used to refer to God as Supreme Being as
well as to personal gods, while 'god the thief' was a god who never had children. However,
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