Luyia of Kenya: A Cultural Profile
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Format: paperback; hardcover and eBook
Number of pages: 660
Description: Luyia of Kenya: A Cultural Profile is a cradle to grave account of how the more than eight million Luyia people of East Africa live and die, love and hate and the rituals that govern their ethnocultural purview. The book tackles the taboo subject of witchcraft and the rituals associated with rites of passage - birth, circumcision, marriage and death.
Table of contents: label: Chapter 1
title: Mysticism and the Occult: Mystical agents; Witchcraft; Diviners; Rain magician; Dreams and superstitions; Cult of the ancestor; Luyia perception of God; label: Chapter 2
title: Antiwitchcraft Measures: Magic; Taboos and totems; Cleansing rites; Oathing ordeals; Role of ancestral spirits; Sacrifices; Shrines;; label: Chapter 3
title: Birth: Pregnancy; ritual status of mother and baby; Legitimacy test; First ancestral sacrifice; Naming rituals; Cutting teeth and weaning; Treatment of twins; Attitudes toward albinism; label: Chapter 4
title: Circumcision: Legends; Pre-initiation rites; Seclusion at circumcision hut; Graduation from confinement; Post initiation visits; Age grades; Modern trends in circumcision; label: Chapter 5
title: Marriage: Courtships; Types of marriage; Dowry; Wedding; Wife inheritance; label: Chapter 6
title: Death: Pre-death rituals; Funeral rites; Burial of unusual cases; Burial of Kings; Hair shaving; Cattle drive; Funeral Oration; End of official mourning; Economics of Luyia funerals; label: Chapter 7
title: Arts and Crafts: Hut building; Ironsmithing; Basketry; woodwork; pottery; Leatherwork; Calabashes; salt-making; House, rock, and body art; label: Chapter 8
title: Traditional Leisure Activities: Bull and cock fighting, hunting and trapping; music instruments