KIKUYU ‘ ITHATHI ’ 
263 
1 Ithathi ’ are (or were) used in the Kikuyu ceremony 
known as ‘ ku-ringa githathi,’ literally ‘ to strike the githathi,’ 
i.e. to swear a solemn oath on a magic stone. 
I first obtained particulars of this ceremony in Kyambu 
District in 1909, and they appear in my article on ‘ Kikuyu 
Native Law ’ in the Journal of the African Society. I had not 
then been able to obtain a specimen of a ‘ githathi/ which I 
was informed was kept hidden away in a cave or hole in the 
rocks by the few natives owning such stones, but the ceremony 
as described to me was as follows : 
When a native wishes to invoke vengeance upon an offender 
who may have refused to pay a particular debt, or compensa- 
tion for an offence against tribal law, or who has been guilty of 
cheating or fraud, he invokes the aid of the ‘ ku-ringa githathi ’ 
ceremony, which is in this case a commination service, and not an 
ordeal. Two sticks of the ‘ mugeri ’ tree are stuck into the 
ground, and the ‘ githathi,’ which is brought to the ceremony 
carefully wrapped up in dry leaves, is poised between. The elder 
conducting the ceremony stands in front of the ‘ githathi ’ and 
lays a switch of ‘ mugeri ’ thereon, invoking vengeance upon 
the offender at the same time. The words used are ‘ Arorio 
ni muma uyu wa githathi,’ ‘ May he be eaten by this curse (or 
oath) of the githathi ! ’ The ceremony is a public one, all the 
elders of the neighbourhood being present, and three goats 
(given by complainant) are eaten. The ceremony is conducted 
in an open place or under a tree, and the ‘ githathi ’ is housed 
inside a temporary grass booth. The oath has to be repeated 
every day for seven days, meat and other refreshment being 
consumed by the elders daily. After seven days the elder 
who has conducted the ceremony has his head shaved, and, a 
fourth goat having been killed, he wears a piece of the skin on 
his wrist as a charm. Owing to the fact that after conducting 
this commination service an elder may not have intercourse 
with his wives for three months, complainant generally 
engages an aged man for this purpose, he himself pro- 
viding the goats. These two eat the fourth goat. The 
ceremony is concluded by the sacrifice of one more goat, 
and the elder who has conducted it finally spits on the 
ground to indicate that he spews out the curses which he has 
