Initiation into the Cwezi spirit possession cult in Bunyoro

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Abstract
The Nyoro of western Uganda have a cult of spirit possession known as thembandwa cult, traditionally centred on the ancient Cwezi hero‐gods famed throughout the interlacustrine region, but nowadays associated also with many other spirits, some of quite recent origin. A diviner may attribute illness or other misfortune to the activity of one or more of thesembandwa spirits, and if he does so the sufferer will have to undergo an arduous initiation, the object of which is to enable the responsible spirit to communicate its wants through him and at the same time to admit the initiate tombandwa cult membership. This article gives a brief account of the initiation ceremonies, which stress in particular the novice's separation from the world of ordinary uninitiated persons, his involvement in a new set of rights and obligations as a member of thembandwa cult, the cult's exclusiveness and secrecy, and the fact that initiation puts the novice in a condition of grave ritual danger(mahano), emergence from which requires the performance of specific ritual acts.

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