Dini Ya Msambwa
The Dini ya Misambwa (Faith thorough Spirits of our Ancestors) is a formalized practice of Luhya faith to the Almighty through the spirits of their ancestors founded in Western Kenya in the 1940s, by Elijah Masinde. Dini Ya Misambwa is an Luhya people traditional religion whose followers prayer through their forefathers. Like all religions passed from generation to the other, the faithfuls believe that those who have gone before them can intercede in their prayers to the Almighty. Dini ya Misambwa founder Elijah Masinde did not ignore the circumstance in which the faithful lived, like other religious leaders before him, he spoke to power and more often than not, power did not like what it heard. Practice of Faith through ancestors is understandable when they are called saints, prophets but not when they are called the dead. Luhya people practiced Faith through their Ancestors long before Christian missionaries showed up and decided anything African must be demonized and the Africans 'civilized".
As elsewhere in Kenya, the missionaries had a monopoly on education in former years and still control more than 90 percent of it. The Bukusu did not manifest the eager desire of the Kikuyu to emulate the Europeans, but they still were interested in European education. As in as elsewhere, this gave the missionaries a wedge for prying them loose from their old customs. Those who attended or taught in the mission schools were expected to embrace Christianity and to behave as the missionaries thought they should.[1]
People cloth themselves in their culture, taboos, and practice of their religion: Strip them of those and they become naked and rudderless. Elijah Masinde figured out that the Almighty cannot be so cold as to deny prayers said through Luhya people Ancestors but listen to prayers said through Christian Ancestor made Saints and Jesus Christ an Ancestor of those who ruthlessly were brutalizing colonial subjects.
Faith basics
Faith Tenet :- look inward and appreciate that you a winner, you arrived here today! Life in you navigated all challenges through the ages and arrived here today in you! Chant to your Ancestors and bear witness to the miracle that you are! We ask that you honor your Ancestors, your patents, your community and yourself for you are a product of giants of old.Love your Father and Mother, honor them. Give Reverence to your Ancestral Spirits, Chant! Chant! Chant to your Ancestors and be grateful to them.
Faith tenet:- Faith through the Spirits of our Ancestors is not something different from our daily life, it is our daily life. Our faith is closely associated with the peoples’ concepts of identity, language and culture. This faith explains meaning of life, and the correct relations among humans, between humans and spiritual powers, and with the natural world. Our faith through the spirits of our Ancestors explain the persistence of evil and suffering, and portray the world as operating with a degree of order and predictability. Our Faith uphold ethical behavior. These ideas are expressed in our sacred oral and written traditions, handed down from generation to generation through the performance of prayer and supplication through chant,dance and music with intensive periods of education, general gatherings, celebrations of birth, weddings, death and other functions including rites of passage.
Faith Tenet:-Marriage is societal arrangement to provide a safe environment with essential resources to raise and nurture the next generation. A marriage is an arrangement between communities, families and then individuals. The household may have as many members as the resources, safety and environment may allow. All children born and raised in a household belong to the head of the household. No man may dishonor himself, his family and community by seeking paternity test for any child born in his household.
Faith tenet:- If a lady is not able to produce a child in a marriage, her family will determine whether it is an individual issue, in which case they will make arrangement to provide her with a sister or cousin as a suffrage to perform wifely duties with her husband and produce children for her. If it is determined that the issue runs in the family, the wife’s family may go outside the family to find the suffrage. If the man is the one unable to give a child to the wife then his family will arrange with his wife for a donor, this may be done without the mans knowledge to maintain his honor. When a woman is the head of the household and she marries a woman, she will arrange for donors of her choice. A family is like an anthill or a beehive, there are soldiers, workers, mating males and a queen they all have a part to play in nurturing the next generation.
Faith Tenet:- Naming a Child is a Key to their life on earth and in the Spirit world thereafter. Children names are given from their Ancestors who have departed this world in good standing and not of their own hands. To be named after you depart, an elder must have lived a life worthy living and worthy replicating. The parents of the Child must be in good standing with the departed Ancestor. A child may be given another name as a forename to blend in the natural environment they are born in. A leopard wears spots to blend in the savanna, it is still a leopard.
Faith tenet: The community comes first then the family and lastly the individual, we are our brothers keeper always be a tree in the forests not a climber or vine which reaches high above the trees but can be nipped at the bottom and wither away.
Faith Tenet:- we accepted death when we were born. Be at peace with yourself, your family,your community and your maker. Life is a circle of birth, reproduction, death and rebirth. Your ancestors went before you, do your part and move on, your Ancestral spirits will just have one more with them. We are vessels through which life flows
Faith Tenet: Good spirits help to protect against illness and misfortune and assist people by providing rain needed for crops, as well as, fish and game animals used for food plus all other resources and opportunities. However, not all spirits are good, some spirits are evil and are responsible for illness, premature death, and other forms of suffering and misfortune.
Faith Tenet: – We are here because we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, we are a conduit of life to the generations to come. Our responsibility to the community, the family and ourselves is to be ancestors to generations to come. We must ensure that we pass life and environment in a state of a good steward.
Faith tenant: Honor your father, and by extension your Mother. Give Reverence to your ancestors and through then to the Almighty. Hold the environment in which the Almighty placed your Ancestors in awe and reverence recognizing that you are just part of the community that has caretaker authority over it. Be a good steward of the Earth, recognizing that you are a vessel through which the river of life flows. You brought nothing to it and will take nothing with you.
Things you shall not do
Faith Taboo: You shall not marry, touch or have a child with your siblings, your mother, your father, your son, your daughter or your clan. It’s taboo and you shall bring a curse to yourself and your community if you do. Faith Taboo: You should know and understand that your fathers wife or girlfriend is your mother AND your mothers husband is your father, you shall not touch or sleep with them, you shall bring unbearable curse upon yourself and your community. Faith Taboo:- Children are to be nurtured, raised and protected. You shall not molest or hold them in bondage for you shall bring great curse and lamentation upon yourself, your family and community. Faith Taboo:- Never take anything free from your fellow mankind, Everyone who gives something free requires something even bigger and expensive. Know your costs, consider every interaction a transaction., otherwise you will remain enslaved to the give. Faith Taboo:- Never use a spring, a well or upstream river like a bathroom. Newer put sewerage into a string, a well or upstream river. Never poison a water Faith Taboo:- You shall not deny who you are, nor hate you mother or father, you shall hold your Ancestors in Honor and Reverence. You walk this earth boldly because they outmaneuvered all life’s challenges and pass the baton to you. You shall not drop the baton in pursuit of pleasure. Faith Taboo:- You shall not dishonor your community, family and yourself by stealing from them or their neighbors but you shall apply your mind, body and soul to provide for your community, your family and yourself. Faith Taboo:- You shall not take a life except for an animal which you need immediately for food, cloth or medicine.
Basis of faith
The Dini ya Msambwa (Faith thorough Spirits of our Ancestors) is a formalized practice of Luhya faith to the Almighty through the spirits of their ancestors guided in Western Kenya from the 1940s, by Elijah Masinde. Dini Ya Msambwa is an Luhya people traditional religion whose followers prayer through their forefathers to the Almight God. Like all religions passed from generation to the other through elders, the faithfuls believe that those who have gone before them can intercede in their prayers to the Almighty. Dini ya Msambwa founder Elijah Masinde did not ignore the circumstance in which the faithful lived, like other religious leaders before him, he spoke to power and more often than not, power did not like what it heard.
Practice of Faith through ancestors is apparently understandable when they are called saints, prophets but not when they are called the DEAD. Luhya people practiced Faith through their Ancestors long before Christian missionaries showed up and decided anything African must be demonized and the Africans ‘civilized”.
People cloth themselves in their culture, taboos, and practice of their religion: Strip them of those and they become naked and rudderless. The Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits that showed up on African shores understood this psychological fact either through learning or observation, and it has continually been applied to all things African except the Animals – the big five! Elijah Masinde figured out that the Almighty cannot be so cold as to deny prayers said through Luhya people Ancestors but listen to prayers said through Christian Ancestor Saints and Jesus Christ, an Ancestor of those who ruthlessly were brutalizing colonial subjects.Elijah Masinde hence organised the formalisation of an age old Faith to the anger and disappointment of the colonial government and subsequent post colonial African administrations which for all intents and purposes were just an extension of her Majesties Government.
Governments throughout the ages have never learnt that no Faith can be banned by fiat, you can just send it underground – for Faith resided in the hearts of Men, so it is the The Faith Through The Spirits of Our Ancestors has survived and thrived in spite of all the actions against it.
In our Faith through the Spirits of Ancestors, although the supernatural-God and spirit world – are important, in Practice of the Faith, cultural belief and practice are central to all aspects of life. That is, religious beliefs impact the way we live our everyday lives, from what we eat (or cannot eat), the way we farm, do everyday chores, hunt, make tools and clothes, arrange ourselves in families, marry, divide work among family members, educate our children, treat illness, and bury the dead. In our Faith and practice cultural belief and practice are not restricted to one holy day each week, be it Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but are present in the most common daily activities as well as in special gatherings and ceremonies.
Respect for elders and reverence for ancestors
Given the importance of spirits of Our Ancestors,we teach and uphold great respect for them. In addition to living appropriately,We built special shrines to commemorate the Ancestors. This one is fo Elijah Masinde. Additionally, Faithfuls are required to show respectto our Ancestors by giving Libations to the ancestors. That is, at least once a day, symbolic drink and food is presented to the ancestors.[2]
Faith and culture is passed on from parents to children through stories. Faith is based on oral traditions, which means that the basic values and way of life are passed from elders to younger generation. These traditions are not religious principles per sec, but a cultural identity that is passed on through stories, parables, myths and tales.These traditions have been passed from one generation to the next. The elders are the final authority and are trusted completely.
In our faith, the community is the most important part of someone’s life. This community is made up of people who remember and share the same traditions. The individual only exists within the community and separation from it is sometimes worse than death. A believer’s family has influence over him or her even if they live far away. Faith in African societies supports moral order. It creates a sense of security and order in the community. Faithfuls believe in the guidance of their ancestors spirits in the day-to-day life, there is no separation of daily life and faith.
We know and believe that Good spirits can be divided into the following categories: Human Spirits: We firmly believe that people continue to live, through their spirits, after death.These are our ancestral spirits. We believe and know it to be true that spirits of our ancestors remain very interested in what happens in their families and communities. Ancestral Spirits are twofold:
- The Recent Dead Ancestors: After an elder dies, her or his spirit remains actively interested and engaged in the life of their family and community for many years.The ancestral spirits are most concerned about the prosperity and security of their families and communities.They intercede with God on the behalf of their communities. However, if individual members of their families or communities as a group engage in inappropriate behavior, the ancestors show their displeasure by withdrawing their protection-their willingness to seek God’s blessing on their descendants. Although this results in illness and misfortune, it is not the desire of the ancestors that their families and communities be destroyed. Rather, the ancestors hope that illness and misfortune will be seen as warning and result in people and communities stopping the inappropriate and offensive behaviors.We believe that following social and cultural norms and values is the only way to guarantee security and prosperity hence our ancestral spirits want us, their descendants to behave appropriately.
- The Spirits of the Long Dead: As time passes, the spirits of the recently dead gradually withdraw from the lives of their descendants and communities.We believe that these spirits live with God. However, some ancestral spirits remain actively engaged for many generations. This is particularly true of the spirits of important individuals. For example, we believe and hold it to be true that the spirits of great rulers or founders of nations maintain their interest and power for a long time, perhaps centuries after their deaths. These ancestors are most interested in promoting the longevity of their kingdoms, nations, and communities. As with the regular ancestral spirits, these spirits intervene to protect their communities.
In the Faith through the Spirits of Our Ancestors we have spiritual leaders, who guide the communities,families and individuals in ceremonies and life’s events. This Leaders are essential in the spiritual and religious survival of the community. These traditional Leaders have to be called by ancestors. They undergo strict training and learn many skills, including how to use herbs for healing and other, more mystical skills, Hearing from the Ancestors and without fear of harm to their body and mind, passing the messages to the faithfuls.
Our faith through the Spirits of our Ancestors is a way of life in which ancestors are part of every major event such as wedding, births and deaths as well as less important ones such as getting a job and finishing university.During these events usually an offering is made to honor, please and thank the ancestors. A cow, sheep or chicken is slaughtered and the ancestors are called to receive the offering and bless the gathering.
Although our Faith recognizes a Supreme God, followers do not worship him or her directly as they do not feel worthy enough. They therefore ask the ancestors to communicate on their behalf. The Supreme Being is called upon in times of great hardship and need, like drought or epidemic that may threaten the entire community. The Supreme Being is our connection between people and their environment, our Ancestral Spirits always stand ready to intercede for us provided we respect and honor our parents, elders and the Ancestors.
Ancestor Reverence and Elder Honor Ancestor Reverence and belief is an extension of a belief in and respect for elders. Followers of Our Faith through the Spirits of Our ancestors believe that ancestors maintain a spiritual connection with their living relatives.
Most ancestral spirits are generally good and kind. The only negative actions taken by ancestral spirits is to cause minor illnesses to warn people that they have gotten onto the wrong path. To please these unhappy ancestors, usually offerings are made, traditional of beer and meat.
Community spiritual leaders
The roles of community spiritual leaders in the Faith are clear. One of the most important functions of leaders or priest is to officiate at Life ceremonies and supplication gatherings at Shrines and homes of faithfuls. Life ceremonies and gatherings are very important to maintaining the faith and cultural traditions. Gathering ceremonies celebrating birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, death, planting and harvest, celebrating successes in business and professions, or commemorating the life of a deceased ancestor are vital to maintaining a close-knit community. Such gatherings also help to reinforce values and appropriate behavior within the community. Leaders who officiate at these gatherings and ceremonies, play a central rule in promoting a strong and united community of faith in the Culture.
In Our Faith through the Spirits of our Ancestors, Spiritual leaders are affiliated with a particular Shrines, Spirit or group of Spirits. They are assigned by the head Spiritual leader as they grow in their services to the community to be in charge of a special shrine dedicated to the spirit, and they officiate at special ceremonies commemorating that spirit. In addition to officiating at special ceremonies celebrating the ancestor, the shrine Leader serves as the voice of the Ancestral spirit, communicating advice and admonition to the community.
The Ancestral Spirits communicate to the Spiritual leaders through various revelation including visions, dreams and As part of her or his religious practice, a priest will enter a trance-like condition during which time it we believe that the spirit of the ancestor enters or “possesses” the body of the priest. During the possession, the ancestor directly communicates with the priest, passing on information to the people.
Our Faith through the Spirits of Our Ancestors is very much alive and well in Kenya, recently (2012) in Kimilili, Bungoma County, Over 500 faithful, drawn from Kenya and the neighboring Uganda met at the late founder Leader Elijah Masinde's home and Shrine to offer sacrifice and pay tribute to their hero. Speaking at the homestead,Spiritual leaders drawn from the Luhyia, Pokot and Masaba communities expressed their unity and solid support for the faith. Mr.Cosmas Chaka one of the Faith leaders from the Luhyia community thanked the government through the ministry of national heritage for having fulfilled its promise by starting up construction of a multi-million Shrine at the graveside of the late Elijah Masinde. “Dini Ya Msambwa leader Elijah Masinde was part of the team that liberated this country from the colonial rule hence the government should financially help his family to be in a position to provide basic needs for itself as well as education for the descendants,” said Cosmas From Uganda the sect leader Stephen Masaba reiterated that they had travelled all the way to Kenya to offer a sacrifice to the late Elijah as a way of thanking him for having brought the Faith as well as to appease God to have a peaceful election in the forthcoming general election exercise. He further disclosed that the sacrifice will help foster peace among the several tribes under the Faith as well as among the three countries forming the East Africa Community that was commissioned by the three presidents of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.[3]