Chibale, Zambia: becoming a spirit-possessed, a short story

16 March 2022 | Last update: 3 June 2026

Chibale, Zambia: becoming a spirit-possessed. To provide an impression of what happens on a personal and group level and to introduce the reader to the spirit possession milieu in Chibale, particularly from the late 1970s until well into the 1990s, we present the following short story. This story is not told because it represents all instances of becoming a spirit-possessed, nor because it describes the variety of ways shing’anga treated their patients. For an outsider, the diversity in anything related to possession was both stimulating and disturbing.

Chisenga falls ill

Chisenga falls ill. She visits the Rural Health Centre, receives some medicine, and returns home. Her illness worsens, and dreams begin

Chisenga falls ill

Chisenga falls ill. She visits the Rural Health Centre, receives some medicine, and returns home. Her illness worsens, and she begins to have dreams at night. She is frightened by the dreams of people in white clothes who dance and sing. They seem to want to tell her something, but she cannot understand. While visiting the church, she suddenly faints and has to be carried home. As work becomes increasingly difficult, she returns to the Health Centre. She is advised to consult a shing’anga (traditional healer) who is better equipped to diagnose the cause of her illness. Her relatives discourage this. They pool some money, and her brother takes her to the hospital in Kabwe. After some time, they both return. The doctors are unable to find anything wrong. She is now thin, only able to sit and stare. The dreams also occur during the day.

Stay with the shing’anga

Her parents visit a shing’anga in the evening to request a secret treatment. Following Kubuka¹, a diagnosis by the spirits possessing the shing’anga, he declares her case too serious. She must come and live in his village for treatment. Ultimately, the faction within Chisenga’s family favouring treatment by the shing’anga prevails, primarily because her illness has progressed to a critical stage where she might die if not sent to the shing’anga. The shing’anga diagnoses her condition as possession illness and immediately commences treatment. Chisenga is given specific herbs, washes, and healing rules (mishila ya kupola) concerning diet and behaviour. At times, she consults the spirits possessing the shing’anga in the evening during Kubuka. Gradually, they succeed in making contact with the spirits possessing her.
Through the shing’anga’s treatment and teachings, and through negotiations between the shing’anga’s spirits and the spirits possessing Chisenga, as well as with her husband and parents, her spirits are persuaded to live with her peacefully and to reveal their identities. During the treatment, Chisenga resides in the shing’anga’s village. As soon as possible, she begins working for him in the village, and later also in the fields.

The Cibombe ca cisungu

After a three-month stay, the shing’anga’s spirits decide she is ready for the drums. A date is chosen for her Cibombe ca cisungu. The Cibombe marks the end of the treatment period, especially the withdrawal (kushilulula) of the rules that were specific to it. It will initiate her into the ranks of the spirit-possessed mediums (ngwilwa). From a mwana we lyanga, child of medicine, she becomes the wife of her spirits. That is why she is called cisungu, girl-in-initiation (preceding marriage)², during the Cibombe.
In the week preceding the Cibombe, two preparatory rituals (kushinkile ngoma) are held, on the nights of the first and fifth day of brewing of the Cibombe beer, which she brews herself. In these rituals, as well as during the Cibombe, already initiated spirit-possessed come ‘to help in the dancing’. Most of them have also been treated by her shing’anga.

On the evening of the Cibombe, many people gather to see the ‘child’ (mwana) dance for the first time. Some of Chisenga’s relatives have come, though not all. Spirit-possessed who are already initiated start songs. Each song is taken over by the assembled people, after which the three drums join in. If this goes well, the starter of the song dances to the music. In fact, it is not the human being (muntu) who starts the song and dances, but the spirit possessing the human being. After an hour or so, the shing’anga joins in, and the gathering becomes very animated as he is a popular dancer and starter of songs.

The possessing spirits sing and dance through her

At a given moment, Chisenga, who is lying in a house near the dance circle, starts shivering and tries to rise. The women with her, the wives of the shing’anga, call him.
While the music and dance continue, he leads her into the circle, covered with a large white piece of cloth. She is placed on the ground, and he pulls away the cloth.

Photo 94 ∵ The initiation of Chisenga

She lays on the ground near the drums.

He places her in a sitting position and gives her some medicine. The drummers gather around her, beating loudly. Slowly, she begins to sway, lifting her arms gracefully. Her eyes are closed, her head bent slightly backwards. Then, her movements become awkward and frantic, gradually catching up with the tempo of the singing and drumming.
She gets up. Guiding her with his stick, the shing’anga helps her to stand. There is a sudden hush as she begins to mumble a song line: her spirit reveals itself and its work, through her, will be.

Song 4

Mwami song introducing the possessing spirit. No recording.

Text of Song 4 ∵ Here is Muyumba

Lelo ni ba Muyumba bakashanina mu cimpetu
Mbano ba Muyumba mu bulenge

Today it is Muyumba who will dance in the circle
Here is Muyumba in the Lenje region

The possessing spirit reveals itself

So she is possessed by the Mwami spirit Muyumba, a deceased chief from the Lenje region. This spirit specialises in healing and is known for its singing and dancing. The song is taken over fanatically, and the drummers beat loudly and precisely. Muyumba begins to dance. Not much later, the dancing suddenly becomes frantic and wild. Muyumba has overpowered his wife, Chisenga. She falls down unconsciously, landing on her back with her arms spread. The way she lies and the movements she makes with her hips seem to express the consummation of the marriage.³ When the singing dies down, she becomes conscious and sits, numbly staring. The shing’anga starts a song, and the dancing begins again. Later that night, she performs the same song and dances without falling down.

After the initiation

The next morning, she eats a meal with the shing’anga and his adepts, which includes the food she was previously prohibited from eating. Her relatives pay the shing’anga for his services. She will return to the shing’anga often for additional treatment and to help him treat and initiate new patients. This help, along with the work she will do in his fields, will pay the shing’anga for further treatment.
She still has many mushila⁴ to follow, some temporarily, some permanently. For instance, she must keep her fire unstained, refrain from cooking for others, or from making love when she menstruates. She should not eat slimy relish, barbel fish, or zebra. Before she can eat from the new crops, she has to attend the ritual the shing’anga organises for that purpose. She should not see dead people nor come too close to graves. Additionally, she should not wear anything red. If her relatives prevent her from following these mushila, from visiting the shing’anga, or from dancing at the rituals of the spirit-possessed, the spirits will respond with disease.

Being a medium

When she proves successful (when there is kumfwana between her spirit and her) because her spirits can provide valuable information through her or are loved for their singing and dancing, she will experience fewer problems. She might then begin treating patients herself under the guidance of her shing’anga, in which case she will be called a mwanang’anga, a child-shing’anga. The more famous she becomes, the more often she will be referred to as bamukaMuyumba (the spouse of Muyumba) or colloquially, simply as Muyumba⁵.
Though she is ‘a spirit-possessed’ (muciwila), she is mostly not in a state of being possessed. Only after a special preparation (kulalikisha) to receive the spirits: kuseluka⁶ at the beginning of the night, during nightly rituals, or during sleep, will the spirits communicate with or through her.

Footnotes

1
See the article about diagnosis and treatment.
2
A male possession initiate is also called cisungu.
3
During the Cibombe I witnessed in town, the public loudly applauded movements like these by spirit-possessed patients in trance.
4
See the article Rules of life in an expanding world.
5
The woman in this story is referred to as ba Chisenga in her capacity as a human being (muntu), bamukaMuyumba in her capacity as a successful medium, and ba Muyumba in ‘her’ capacity as a spirit.
6
Seluka: come down, descend (also in Madan 1908:129), related to the verb -semuka, which is used in Lenje/Lamba regions for the same action. Mapoma (1980a:83): -semuka from the Swahili -sema: speak.