The name is absent

Wright state, “Impurity not only pollutes, it also endangers...”⁶⁰ Although there
was variability, the consistent Mau Mau oath purification theme was to cleanse,
restore, and reunite.

When Mau Mau oathers returned back to their homes, many were not
initially welcomed. Mary Douglas states that “a polluting person is always in the
wrong. He has developed some wrong condition or simply crossed some line
which should not have been crossed and this displacement unleashes
danger...“⁶¹ The murders committed, witnessed, and other horrible acts poisoned
these fighters. But, it was the acts associated with Mau Mau oathing ceremonies
that were particularly harmful because they violated boundaries of the body by
engaging in sexual taboos and blood pollution.⁶² Douglas claims that one of the
most dangerous pollutants is the re-entry of anything that was once expelled
from the body, so contact with feces and blood in oathing ceremonies was
problematic.⁶³ Mau Mau fighters had the potential to infect the homestead and
were viewed as a serious threat.

Similarly, Kenyans understood the power of the invisible and the
importance of reestablishing order. Purification was not restricted to people
returning home after going to battle; even those at home could have experienced
contamination by the acts of other people. Mau Mau purification was different
because of the nature of the oaths, the places and community into which the

⁶⁰ David Wright, et al., Perspectives on Purity and Purification in the Bible, 28.

⁶¹ Douglas, Purity and Danger, 113.

⁶² Interview, P. Musuo, Machakos District, January 2009. For example, public sexual contact and menstrual
blood contact were viewed as violations to the society. For more on “boundaries of the body” see Douglas,
Purity and Danger, 122.

⁶³ Douglas, Purity and Danger, 123.

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