The name is absent

and natural world in order to move the society and its members back to
normalcy.²⁸ In Sabine Jell-Bahlsen’s study, The Water Goddess in Igbo
Cosmology, ritual connections to water deities are highly valued because they
are associated with complex structures that ensure balance. Although this
analysis focuses on water spirits in West Africa, it does reveal an important
connection and possible application that could have existed in Kenya. Jell-
Bahlsen states, “...[These rituals] ensure the proper timing of planting and play,
continued procreation, supply of food, and prosperity, while also reaffirming
peoples’ identity and position in time, space, and society.”²⁹ Purification is one of
many potential blessings from God for the individual, community, and
environment; they are all interrelated.³⁰ Purification requires simultaneous
engagement with environmental resources; however, water is the most symbolic
for cleaning in Kenya.

Women and Purification

Although Mau Mau purification often affected mostly men as fighters (as
they were the majority), it is also the case that women are most affected by
purification because they bear the brunt of suffering. They are closely connected
to fertility, raising the children, and taking care of the sick and elderly. As a
result, they are very dependent on the purification process for stability. Women
are often the first to witness and suffer from degradation problems associated

²⁸ Interview, A.N. M. Matingo. Machakos, December 2008. Also from Field analysis, “Purification and
Rainmaking Ceremony.” Kangundo District. December 2008. Video tape recording and notes.

²⁹ Jell-Bahlsen, The Water Goddess, 65.

^j0Field analysis, “Purification and Rainmaking Ceremony.” Kangundo District. December 2008.

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