Ngai & Origins of the Agĩkũyũ of Kenya
In the beginning of time, Ngai – Mwene Nyaga, the possessor of brightness; the creator and giver of all things; union of the masculine and feminine principle; Mogai, the Divider of the Universe, without mother, without father, without companion of any kind – existed. Ngai is the sun, the moon, the stars, the comets, and the rain; Ngai is the fragile rainbow, the tremendous lightning bolt, and the ominous thunder. Ngai is in the great fig trees of the world. Working in solitude, Ngai created his home in the sky and on earth upon Kĩrĩ-Nyaga (Mount Kenya), the mountain of brightness.
At the time The Creator made his home upon Kĩrĩ-Nyaga, people began to populate the earth. And so, Kĩrĩ-Nyaga went down from the mountain and found Gikuyu. Ngai took Gikuyu to his resplendent home upon the Mountain of Mystery; there, the Giver of All Things showed Gikuyu the beauty of the world below. To Gikuyu, Ngai, the Giver of All Things, said “I give to you, Gikuyu, a share of this land with ravines, rivers, forests, plants, and animals and all the gifts that the Lord of Nature wishes to bestow on humanity.” Mwene Nyaga, too brilliant to gaze upon, pointed down from the mountain onto the sprawling highlands and said, “Go. There is a place there, in the center of this land, full of Mũkũyũ: the fig tree with which I will bless your people.”
And so, after being given these many gifts and seeing the land which was now his people’s, Gikuyu asked Ngai, “Great master of the heavens, unity of the masculine and feminine, and divider of the universe, what do you command of me to do when I reach these Mũkũyũ?”
The master of the rain and rivers said to Gikuyu, “Descend from my home and establish for yourself your own home among these Mũkũyũ, the homestead which you shall name Mokorwe wa Gathanga, and, whenever you are in need of me, make a sacrifice upon this tree and raise your hands to Kĩrĩ-Nyaga; then, I, the Possessor of Brightness, will come to your aid.”
And so, Gikuyu left the Dwelling of Solitude and descended into the highlands below the watchful eye of Ngai. Upon reaching the Mũkũyũ at the center of this land, Gikuyu was surprised to find yet another gift from the Giver of All Things: a man that was not a man, exactly the same as Gikuyu himself in many ways but also in many ways different and complimentary to his own. This was the most beautiful woman, Moombi, the Creator, The Molder, The First Potter and Master of Clay. Gikuyu happily accepted this gift from Ngai as a blessing and lived with this woman, with whom he established a homestead and named it Mokorwe wa Gathanga.
In time, Gikuyu and Moombi had nine plus one daughters: Wanjirũ, Wambũi, Wanjikũ, Wangũi , Wangeci, Wanjeeri, Nyambura, Wairimũ, Wangarĩ, and the tenth daughter, Wamũyũ.
After many seasons, Gikuyu became concerned at his lack of sons, for he would have no heir to the great gifts which Ngai had bestowed on him. Gikuyu and Moombi then felt that it was right that their nine daughters should join with nine men just as Gikuyu had joined with Moombi. The youngest tenth daughter, Wamũyũ, was not yet old enough to marry. Unsure of what to do for his unwed daughters, Gikuyu went to the Mũkũyũ tree and made a sacrifice to Ngai while facing Kĩrĩ-Nyaga. With hands uplifted, Gikuyu called upon the Ngai, the Great Unity and Division: “Master of the Cosmos, Unity of the Masculine and Feminine Principle, Mwene Nyaga come to my aid, for I have no sons and no heir to your great gifts.”
In a very short time, Ngai came to Gikuyu below the Mũkũyũ tree and told him, “do not be perturbed, but have patience and everything will be done according to your wish. Go and take one lamb and one kid from your flock; kill them under the Mũkũyũ of Mokorwe wa Gathanga. Pour the blood and the fat from the two animals on the trunk of the tree. Then, you and your family make a large fire under the fig tree and burn the meat in offering to me, your benefactor. When you have done all this, take home your wife and daughters and go yourself back to the sacred tree of your people; there, you will find nine handsome young men who will marry your daughters under any condition that will please you and your family.”
Gikuyu gave great thanks and praise to the Giver of All Things both Masculine and Feminine. The next day, Gikuyu made the preparations of the sacrifice which had been asked of him. That evening, the sacrifices were made to Ngai, and so it happened that, when Gikuyu returned to the sacred Mũkũyũ tree, there he found that which had been promised to him by The Giver of All Things: nine young men who greeted him with hospitality and respect as if they were already his sons. Gikuyu was so amazed and overwhelmed with joy at the boundless generosity of Ngai that he could not utter a word.
In a short time, Gikuyu recovered from his amazement; he escorted the nine young men to his homestead at Mokorwe wa Gathanga and introduced them to Moombi and his nine daughters. As was the custom, the men were treated with the greatest hospitality: a ram was killed and millet ground and made into ūcūrū while the men were entertained with stories. While all this was being made ready by Moombi and the daughters, the young men were taken to a nearby stream, wherein they washed their tired limbs, having come a very long way to Mokorwe wa Gathanga. After they washed, the men ate, shared stories with the family, and then went to bed.
Early the following morning, Gikuyu, eager to have his daughters married and also still concerned with the ultimate fate of his gifts from Ngai, rose and woke the young men. He invited them to have their morning meal, knowing when they finished he could talk about marriage arrangements.
An Allegorical Variant of the Kikuyu Origin:
It is important to note that the name Gikuyu means “a huge fig tree,” probably the Mukuyu tree itself, and Mumbi means “creator” or “creative force” (sometimes “Mother Nature” or something akin to Gaia in Ancient Greecian mythology). The abridged and far more metaphorical story goes like this:
The roots of the Mukuyu entered into the Great Mother Earth each nourishing the other and connecting with Ngai. The fig tree and the Goddess of Creation came together, and, as the “milk essence” from the Mukuyu entered the earth, the great fig tree and the Mother Earth brought forth the ten daughters who became the mothers of the ten Kikuyu clans.
Of course, if we think of the fig tree as Gikuyu, the man, himself and “Mother Earth” as the woman Moombi, since these are the actual meanings of their names, then this abridged form of the myth is essentially an allegory for the sexual union of Gikuyu and Moombi. The “root” and “milk essence” of the fig tree that “entered” into the Great Mother Earth is strongly suggestive of the sexual act of insemination.
Thus, while some have thought this parallel Kikuyu creation myth to be a “different” story, it is, in fact, the same story merely given in a much shorter and more allegorical manner.
Myth Variant:
The Origin of the Nine Husbands
And so, when the nine daughters came of age and began to have yearnings for their own husbands, wishing to share in the same joy as their father and mother, they went to Moombi and asked her “where, mother, did you get your husband?” Moombi went to Gikuyu and shared the problem with him saying, “our daughters have no husbands, and they are of the same age when we joined ourselves. It is appropriate that they share in the same joy as we have together.”
Gikuyu went to the great Mũkũyũ tree and called upon Ngai for help. Ngai appeared to him in time and told Gikuyu “make a sacrifice of a spotless ram under the fig tree Mũkũyũ and you will know what to do.” And so, Gikuyu made the appropriate sacrifices and knew what must be done.
Gikuyu called his daughters together and told them “If you desire a husband, go to the Mũkũyũ and from it each of you cut a straight rod that is as long as you yourself are tall.” And so, the nine daughters went to the Mũkũyũ and returned with the rods. Gikuyu, knowing what to do, placed the rods above a fire as a ndara, a platform made of the interwoven branches. Upon the ndara Gikuyu then placed the sacrifice to Ngai. From the burning sacrifice and ndara of nine Mũkũyũ branches came forth nine young men. And so. each of the nine daughters took a mate her own height. The last born, Wamuyu, was too young to be married and so did not participate in the business of the rods.
Once the morning meal was finished, Gikuyu addressed the young men, saying “if you wish to marry my daughters, I can only give my consent if you agree to live in my homestead under the final authority of Moombi.” As promised by Ngai, the men were willing to concede to any of Gikuyu’s conditions. They all agreed, praising the exceeding beauty of Moombi and her daughters as well as the kindness and generosity of Gikuyu and Moombi’s family.
And so, Gikuyu was pleased because he knew his lack of sons was now recompensed and his gifts from Ngai would be safeguarded. Moombi was pleased because her daughters would be taken care of, and she would remain head of the household. The daughters were pleased to have their own companions and share in their parents same happiness. After a short time, all of them were married each to the man that was closest to her in height. Each daughter then established her own family, all nine of which were the tribe of Mbari ya Moombi (the family of Moombi), in honor of their mother.
These nine small families continued to dwell together with Moombi as the matriarch. At this same time, Wamũyũ, the tenth daughter, gave birth to a child out of wedlock. As time went on, each family grew, and Gikuyu and Moombi had many grand- and great-grand-children. But, the time eventually came when Gikuyu and Moombi died, and, as their son-in-laws had promised, the nine daughters inherited their movable and immovable property which they all shared equally.
During the time of mourning for Gikuyu and Moombi, the nine families continued to live as one; however, as time continued to pass and as each individual family continued to multiply, they began to find it impossible to remain living together in Mokorwe wa Gathanga. So then it was decided by the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Moombi to each call together their own descendants and form new clans and homesteads under their own names and divide Mbari ya Moombi, the family of Moombi. Thus, the nine Gikuyu meherega were founded and would themselves would proliferate and divide. The names of the clans were and are today: Aclieera, Agachiko, Airimo, Amboi, Angare, Anjiro, Angoi, Ethaga, and Aitherando.
And so this was the way of the children of Moombi for many generations. Women, holding the superior position to men in the family and community of each tribe, became bigger and stronger than the feminine man. The women were domineering and powerful huntresses, they were fearsome and fearless warriors; their powers of masculinity were unparalleled. The woman practiced polyandry and commanded many men. Through their sexual jealousy, the women put many men to death for adultery and various minor offences as well as frequently humiliated them and treated them with many injustices.
The women and men forgot the harmony of Gikuyu and Moombi and plotted amongst themselves. The men, growing indignant from their oppression and mistreatment, plotted against their masculine oppressors. However, it quickly became evident that the men had no ability to thwart the women, since the women were exceedingly strong and exceptionally cunning. Thus, the men plotted amongst themselves, saying “When is it that woman is weakest? When is it that woman can be out witted?” It was the most cunning of the men that found the spear with the keenest point: “We shall revolt when they are with child.” And so, the men plotted to plant their seeds of revolt.
The men held a secret meeting and set the date to conceive their revolt. On the day appointed to plant their seeds of revolution, the men aroused themselves to action. They took upon themselves their femine nature and induced the women leaders and their daughters. The women, being compelled by the men’s femininity, were deceived, and so they took to their inducements without knowing the wicked plan.
And so time passed. The seeds of Spring were sown for a harvest in the Fall. The men bided in their continued subjugation awaiting their seeds to come to fruition. After six moons, the men knew that their plan had succeeded and the time was upon them to overthrow the rule of woman in her moment of weakness. At once, the men came together and commenced with their ultimate plan without resistance, for the mighty women were incapacitated by their condition. The men triumphed, seized power, and so became the heads of their families, homesteads, communities, tribes, and nations.
The first order of law following the men’s rise to power was to abolish the system of polyandry and to establish the system of polygamy. After, the men changed the name of the tribe as well as the names of all the clans which had been given under the old system of matriarchy. And so, the names of the tribes were changed from Rorere rwa Mbari ya Moombi to Rorere rwa Gikuyu, The Children of Gikuyu.
When the women recovered from their condition, they grew furious and fought against the changes that had been made. The women, still physically weak from childbirth and childrearing, but all the more cunning for having been so wickedly deceived, came together and said amongst themselves, “What is the man’s weakness? What is it man cannot be without?” It was the most cunning of the women that found the shield with the strongest hide: “We shall bear them no sons.” And so, the woman plotted and planned to spoil the crop which the farmer had harvested.
Thus, the women come before the men and decaled “If you dare dismantle the names which honor the mothers of our tribes, peoples, and nations that stand in gratitude for all that woman and their mother Moombi have given unto you, we shall bear you no more children and kill all boys born of your revolt.
The men, still of their feminine nature, were made very much afraid of the women’s strong declaration and exceeding cunning, and, in order to avoid the wrath of all women, the men allowed the original names of the clans to remain honoring the Great Mother and her nine daughters. However, the men refused to relinquish their power over family, clan, and tribe. And so, the women, in love of their children and not truly wanting to kill that which they had born, conceded to the men’s compromise and allowed them to keep their power.
And so, as the countless generations passed from then until today, the men reigned supreme in homestead, clan, tribe, and nation. And so, the men grew to be bigger and stronger and the women smaller and weaker. The men became masculine and the women feminine. The men became domineering and powerful hunters; they became fearsome and fearless warriors; their powers of masculinity became unparalleled. The men practiced polygamy and commanded many women. Through their sexual jealousy, the men put many women to death for adultery and various minor offences as well as frequently humiliated them and treated them with many injustices.
What Happened to the “Plus One” daughter Wamũyũ ?
The daughter Wamũyũ is an interesting case for interpretation. There is little known about Wamũyũ in myth except that she never married and had a child without being married. What is the purpose of this character that seems to serve no point in this myth? There are two interpretations: the first is more common and based on the stigma of premarital sexual intercourse and childbearing; the second is based on a nuanced understanding of the myth and Kikuyu family norms.
Wamũyũ The Outcast:
Since Wamũyũ broke a taboo of Kikuyu culture – having sex and becoming pregnant before marriage – she was an outcast. Never is she married in the story because no one (at least in traditional Kikuyu culture) would marry a woman who is not a virgin and with child. Wamũyũ is consequently only mentioned in passing since she is an outcast character and should be rightly disregarded and excluded from her nine virtuous sisters. Thus, she is the “plus one” daughter and made to be apart from the “nine”.
Wamũyũ the Revered:
Some modern Kikuyu scholars and myth interpreters have suggested that Wamũyũ is actually the most important of the nine-plus-one daughters. There are a few reason that suggest, at the least, Wamũyũ was not a denigrated character.
- She is never mentioned in a negative fashion in any version of the creation myth, which one would think should be done if Wamũyũ’s actions should be a lesson against pre-marital sex.
- She is given a “special” (rather than “outcasting”) designation by being listed apart from the other nine daughters.
While pre-marital sex is a taboo in traditional Kikuyu culture regardless of Wamũyũ, Wamũyũ’s bearing of a child outside marriage might have had an acceptable case in this myth. Why then would this have been an acceptable case to have a child without a husband? Why would have Wamũyũ been listed as a “special” daughter different from her nine sisters? If her role was not as a moralizing force against pre-marital sex, what is her purpose in the story and in the family of Gikuyu and Moombi?
Since all the children of Gikuyu and Moombi are women, this means that, by Kikuyu custom, each daughter will leave their parents home and build their own homestead with their husband. As the parents age, there will be no one to take care of them, since aging mother’s, upon the death of the patriarch, would go and live with her oldest son on his homestead.
Gikuyu and Moombi, having no biological sons, would have no homestead to go to in their twilight years; they would have no child obliged to take care of them. There only option is to have a daughter in perpetuity, one who would live with them and take care of them. This can only be done if one daughter chooses to or is obliged to remain unmarried. This is perhaps what fell to Wamũyũ, the youngest daughter.
Being the youngest and receiving no husband from Ngai since Wamũyũ was not of age, it became convenient to not marry her. Gikuyu and Moombi then raised Wamũyũ to be their caretaker. This would have not been a negative role to have; in fact, being the caretaker of the most venerated people in Kikuyu culture – the father and mother of all Kikuyus – would have been a great honor and would place Wamũyũ as the most important of the nine-plus-one daughters. Furthermore, it would portray Wamũyũ as a selfless character, who gave up all aspirations of a woman in traditional Kikuyu society to rather stay home and take care of mom and dad as they aged.
Wamũyũ then might have had her own child out of a similar necessity. Seeing that she would also need someone to take care of her as she herself aged, she chose to have a child regardless of being married. Since she had already chosen to forego traditional Kikuyu expectations of being a woman – having children and maintaining a homestead with a husband – she would have likely seen that any negative repercussion of having a child outside marriage were moot. By having a child without being married, no man would want to marry her and she would have to live forever with her parents or on her own; these things she had already selected for herself in order to take care of Gikuyu and Moombi, so she had nothing to loose by having a child and something very important to gain: her own caretaker.
Thus, Wamũyũ is perhaps the most important Kikuyu next to Gikuyu and Moombi, since she selflessly gave up her life as a Kikuyu woman to care of her parents; her choice to have a child without being married was well-considered and thoughtful rather than reckless, and would ultimately help her better take care of Gikuyu and Moombi. Thus, this pre-marital sex and child out of wedlock are not a sinful choice in this instance. Furthermore, Wamũyũ’s children are similarly special rather than the embodiment of taboo, since they also selflessly took upon themselves a similar stigmatic burden (i.e. being “bastards”) in the service of caring for Wamũyũ and, by association, Gikuyu and Moombi. The interpretation is summed up nicely by Kikuyu mystic Mũkũyũ with the Gīkūyū Centre for Cultural Studies. He writes:
This aging couple [Gikuyu and Moombi] had no son who could bring a young woman to take care of them. This was a serious matter as there were no old people’s homes then. One of the girls - certainly the one who either loved them more than she loved herself or [the one that] was favored of the father and mother [most] - must have decided "to hell with the 'goat of a husband' " and decided to stay and take care of [her parents]. This girl, Wamuyu, as she has been called, rather than being an outcast as some people have suggested, was probably the most beloved, the most caring and possibly the richest of the ten daughters of Mumbi as she would have inherited Gikuyu’s property. That is why even being single she is recognized as the mother of a full clan in its own right, the Aicakamuyu.
Reflection Questions:
You do not need to prepare a document of your answers. These are questions that might be discussed in class. Please be prepared to provide some answers and thoughts for these questions should you be called upon by your teacher.
- What you have just read is a casting of the traditional Kikuyu origin story. This narrative employs various stylistic aspects that attempt to make it not merely an academic summarization of a story but a genuine experience of storytelling (i.e. simple dialogue, description, parallelisms, etc.). What are some of the aspects in this written narrative make it “story-like” (please give specific examples)? What do these carefully employed elements add to the story?
- What are some of the lessons we take from this myth? What specifically within the story draws your conscious to these lessons?