article
Group aspects of the Nyoro spirit mediumship cult
Rhodes-Livingstone journal • 30 • Published In 1961 • Pages: 11-38
By: Beattie, John.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Beattie examines a spirit possession cult, which he regards as the traditional religion of Bunyoro. The cult is based on a pantheon of beneficial spirits, who are the ancestors of a spiritually powerful race of people (CWEZI) that ruled the country in an early dynasty. The Cwezi mysteriously disappeared after a few generations, however, they left behind a cult through which to tap their genius. Each of the nineteen Cwezi spirits has a unique personality and competence, in regard to such concerns as twins, household affairs, lightening, journeys, rain, and herds. Clans are associated with one or another of the spirits, although the original Nyoro group cult was based on the household, promoting its health, prosperity, and fertility. Beattie discusses recruitment, initiation, and training of diviners, and sTances. He also discusses a class of foreign 'black' spirits, which have emerged in the colonial period.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Spirits and gods
- Revelation and divination
- Magicians and diviners
- Congregations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Banyoro
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1951-1955
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1951-1955
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Western Province, Uganda
- NotesAdditional notes
- by John Beattie
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 38)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 53033358
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Nyoro (African people)