Kurova Guva

The other day I was watching a Talk Show on ZTV where students in high school were asserting their rights. Some of them agreed that they should not be forced to engage in religious activities that they do not like and for example being touched by Men of God and then falling down. Another example  was participation in Kurova Guva ceremonies.  The main bone of contention was that they then have to take some traditional beer or be sprayed with it. It got me thinking that indeed there is part of the ritual where we visit the grave of our dearly departed and we have a mukombe (gourd) full of beer going around for everyone (including children) to take a sip. Well, well, well, we once got an opportunity to discover that this high school kid had started on alcohol. This process is done early in the morning which is hangover time! If you had been indulging, when mukombe gets to you, you do not take a sip but a very good gulp. So, watch out for children lingering with mukombe.

Kurova guva/Umbuyiso is at the heart of Chivanhu/Isintu  as it symbolizes the concept of life after death and the integration of the living with the deceased. If you hear someone say “Kwedu hatiite zveChivanhu, hatirove makuva/Ngakithi asiyenzi imikhuba eyeSintu  efana lombuyiso”, they probably do not appreciate how accurate they are.

In African Traditional Religion, it is believed that  after death, the spirit wanders around in the wilderness and has to be united with the living and the other  ancestral spirits through a ceremony or ritual called Kurova Guva/Umbuyiso.  The ceremony is carried out at least a year after death.  If it has to be sooner, the ceremony is carried out after rains have fallen at the location of the grave. The ceremony is conducted for both male and female adults who had children (or even a miscarriage) although this might differ from place to place.

The actual procedure also differs, but suffice to say a certain ritual is performed to re-integrate the deceased with  the living and the ancestors. A dead person is not a mudzimu/indlozi. This ritual is the one that transforms the dead person into a mudzimu. Of interest therefore is what would happen if the family or relatives do not carry out the ritual:

The Offence

Not only family spirits are offended but clan, regional or national spirits called mhondoro are offended. It is an offence in the same class as incest, marrying in November etc.

Lost Opportunity

Ancestral spirits are allocated tasks to do and therefore if a dead person is not turned into a mudzimu, they will not be able to perform that task. It is most important for a grandfather who has the general task of being a guardian spirit to his grandchildren.

The Widow

This ceremony doubles as the date when the widow is “cleansed” from her mourning and is free to remarry. If she remarries or has a sexual relationship before the ritual, she is branded as some “akapisa guva” literally “burnt the grave”. This is however within reasonable limits of one or two years.

Other Ceremonies

During the transition between death and Kurova Guva/Umbuyiso, other ceremonies such as marriages or biras are put on hold because “musha mutema” which has its own consequences.

Avenging Spirit

With all the support of the other ancestral spirits, the neglected spirit can come back and haunt its own family or it can be encouraged to do so, manually by other people, as a form of witchcraft. Neglecting to conduct the ritual is like labeling the deceased as an unwanted “black sheep” of the family, left alone to wander.

Goblins

The spirit can be used to create goblins.

April is a good month to plan Kurova Guva, so get on with it.

Part 2 Your ancestors want beer from you /Kubika Doro

Brewing 7 days Beer

as taught by Sue Guzha Mubariki

Brewing beer is not difficult and in fact the main problem is securing containers and firewood.

You will need:

Drum, very large clay pots, plenty of water, big long-burning logs, rapoko, sorghum or millet and mealie meal.

The beer is brewed over seven days. Allow yourself one and half weeks preparatory time to soak the rapoko until it grows some shootings, dry and grind it into meal called chimera. If the function is on a Saturday evening, the brewing diary and then names each stage are as follows:

Sunday - Kuvamba

Cook some thin porridge with mealie meal with a bit of chimera  in the drum, do not let it boil but remove from the fire as soon as it starts to foam. After cooling, pour the mixture into the clay pots, sprinkle a bit chimera, close well and store in a warm place.

Mbuya VaChinjanja brewing traditional beer (7days)

Monday – Kuvira

Leave  the mixture to ferment.

Tuesday - Kuvira

Still fermenting

Wednesday - Kupisa

The mixture has started to ferment. Pour it into the drum and boil thoroughly, while steering here and there, until you lose a quarter of the mixture. The colour should turn to brownish. Put a bit on your palm and use a finger test the mixture. It should feel silky or slimy and has a sweet taste. After cooling, pour into the clay pots, sprinkle a bit of chimera, close well and store in a warm place. The mixture at this stage is called musungwa.

Thursday -

Leave it to ferment

Friday

Leave it to ferment

Saturday Morning – Kudira and Kusvina

Cook some thin mealie meal porridge and let it cool well then mix with musungwa and leave it to ferment. This is called kudira.

If the musungwa was cooked properly it should take about 2 hours for the mixture to ferment. Sieve the mixture or kusvina and the beer is ready to drink.

Warning: find experts to brew the beer as guests, at your function will be expected to sing and dance while the mbira players and drummers do the stuff they know best.

There will be variations to this recipe but you get the idea.

 mbuyavachinjanjamuroro@gmail.com

Your Ancestors Want You to Brew Beer

Let us Brew Beer (Kubika Doro/Hwahwa)

I am starting this blog with fun, and what is more fun than good old beer, the waters of cheer.

In African Traditional Religion beer plays a very important role in the rituals and rites. You have been having a problem, you have visited everyone you have been referred to and the advice has been the same: “You must brew some beer for your ancestors”.  You visit a sowe and the nice Madzibaba says: “Come back after you have brewed some beer for your ancestors” . You have toyed with the option of joining the new Pentecostal churches but what if your head is touched and you fall down in front of the TV viewers? You have not been to a single church since Boarding School. You meet a friend who was “born again” three months ago and she is the “God Bless You” type. You know the type, the one that you meet after 5 years and in the first 5 minutes you already know that he/she is now a “born again”.  She asks you “Which church do you go to?” You mumble something about your boarding school church because you are, at least, familiar with some of the songs. You are safe because she says she now goes to the church located in the city centre. You spot the plastic bangle. You hesitate to ask about being touched on the head and falling down. “Come back after you have brewed some beer for your ancestors”, that was a Madzibaba, a church person who said that.

You are so scared because you do not know where to start. Everything sounds so complicated. How can I be expected to brew beer? They are talking about the traditional beer that is brewed over 7 days. So, let us brew some beers. We will brew a total of 3 beers.

Temporary Beer/Doro

When you get around to be told to brew beer for the first time, usually you are also broke. You are broke, because you did not brew some beer. Chicken and Egg? What to do? With a less that 20 dollars, you can brew some beer. You will need some clay pots (pfuko) but that is an investment for the big beer. The little pfukos for musumo, cost about $2 each and a bigger one would set you back $5. For ingredients you need 2litres of opaque beer from the bar (mugweje) and chimera chezviyo from the supermarket.

You then prepare1 litre of masvusvu. Masvusvu is a sweet drink that you cook, using chimera only. Let it cool down and then mix it with the scud in  the big clay pot. If you leave it overnight, it ferments. You now have your temporary beer, which you can use to advise you ancestors that you are willing and ready to brew beer but you are facing this and that problem.

Additional Beer

Now you are ready to brew the 7 days but you are worried about the expense. Will you have to buy additional beer, lager, spirits, wines etc? For minimal cost you can brew chioneday also called chikokiana or skindon. You do not use this beer for musumo. It is just to make sure that you have enough drinks for the day. It is called chiOne Day but in reality you need two days. If your function is on a Saturday, brew your ChiOneDay on a Friday.

You heat some water in a drum and add mealie meal as if you are cooking sadza, Let it  cook for a good 4 hours. Cool the porridge down, add chimera and yeast  and leave over night. The next day you sieve, to remove the pulp/draff/dregs or maseses. Do not throw masese away because they attract a lot of flies but rather give is to the local fishmonger. Sprinkle a bit of brown sugar and people can start drinking on Saturday morning. Keep your mbira players away from this one.

Do not try  this at home. Find someone who can.

Next blog is  the real thing.