The name is absent

to do.”¹³ Munguti is not alone. All of the specialists interviewed were spiritually
“called” into the profession in some form and are spiritually guided when
working.¹⁴ Therefore, the phases and processes are examples of the general
possibilities and states that the unclean move through during the process of
getting clean.

Although the model provides a broad stroke of the varied dimensions of
purification, there are additional elements that are useful to consider in defining
purification. These elements involve the relationship between purification and
the natural world; purification and water; and purification and women.

Purification Relationship to the Natural World and Environment

Purification is a process aimed to restore balance and order to the natural
world. It is conducted to acknowledge a disorder or an unnatural state in the
environment that requires spiritual intervention. The relationship between the
Kenyan environment, purification, and power reveals the integrated belief system
of the people. The purification process has an important relationship to the
natural world. This is represented in the model as the space around the object
rain∕water (2.0.3); there are many elements that make up the natural world and
the environment. These elements also have a direct relationship with Spirits and
Deities (object 2.0.4).

During fieldwork for this study, purification was explained as a part of a
much larger societal order that involved a relationship between the natural and
¹³ Interview, M.N.S. Munguti, February 2009, Machakos District

¹⁴ Examples include interviews from: K. Mulwa, January 2009, Machakos District and M.K.M. Kimongo,
February 2009, Machakos District.

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