Protect

Quote

The concept of Ukusakanya umulopa wa Bufyashi (Breach of traditional conduct and the mixing of parental blood) was still very much alive in the minds of the informants but now this was mostly seen to be caused by defying a sex taboo that had to do with defilement (ifya makowesha) of adultery, fornication, prostitution rather than with the liminal and potentially productive state of menstruation, hunting, iron smelting etc. Women were more afraid of a ‘sexually loose girl’ touching a small child or handling the domestic hearth. Parents would insist that a daughter who had misbehaved moved to her own shelter in the compound and that the priest would bar her from the reception of the sacraments. A whole arsenal of new charms had emerged as protection against possible defilement and as a means to retain the health of mother and child.

• Source: Hinfelaar, Hugo F. Bemba-speaking women of Zambia in a century of religious change (1892-1992). Leiden ; New York ; Koln: E. J. Brill, 1994.
• Culture: Bemba
• Location: Africa