The name is absent

various stages during the cleansing worked together as presentation that
reminded spectators of the power of traditional ways. Purification was a
ceremony that strengthened the community, and the healing of the afflicted was
celebrated by those that witnessed the performance.

Economically, purification is a process that has enabled the continuity of
healers, specialists, and cleansers as professionals in Kenya.¹⁰⁵ Purification
requires the hiring of specialists who have been acknowledged by the community
for their ability to successfully conduct the ceremony. These professionals
receive payment of varied amounts based on their services. Some purification
ceremonies involve many community members and last for days. Therefore,
payment is dependent on the nature and scope of the affliction.

Purification also results in the restoration of rain to the villagers so that
crops can once again grow. This has an obvious economic impact on the
community. And as previously discussed, purification involves the restoration of
the individual and or community to back to neutral. The associated cost of
disorder is difficult to measure but certainly understood by those involved in the
practices.

Finally, there is a legal dimension of purification. These ceremonies are
embedded into the judicial practice of Kenyan society as a means of allowing
those that conducted offenses and ill behaviors to have an opportunity for
redemption and reintegration into the society. This is a powerful phenomenon

¹⁰⁵ The specialists interviewed during Field analysis view their work as a job or services that they can offer
the community. Accounts based on interviews. Examples include, Interview from: M.N.S. Munguti,
February 2009, Machakos District. K. Mulwa, January 2009, Machakos District and M.K.M. Kimongo,
February 2009, Machakos District.

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