Of water spirits and their hosts

(Demystifying Chivanhu/Isintu/African
Tradition with Mbuya VaChinjanja Muroro)

Let me begin by explaining that shavi/shave means a spirit of a non-ancestor who is invited by the spirit of an ancestor (mudzimu) to assist in his/her work in the family. One such shavi re njuzu has been a subject of a lot of debate as it is very common. We have also read stories in the media of njuzus allegedly grabbing people or interfering with public works such as building of dams or bridges. Some say a njuzu is a mythical creature of a beautiful woman with no legs but fish-like tail which might or might not exist. Others say shavi renjuzu does not refer to this creature but to spirits of people who drowned and whose bodies were never found. Whatever is the source of this spirit, the common denominator is that it is associated with the water. Another confusion is that these spirits tell you their names which are ordinary English names like Caroline, Mary, Angela or Arabic or Indian names.

There is also a perception that if you are a medium of njuzu you are excessively clean bordering to being a germaphobe, do not marry, can be a prostitute or be very rich. In seeking assistance from masowe and n’angas most people are quickly told that they have njuzu, have to buy satin/silk materials and do the ritual of cooking rice, chicken and wine and other things. However, they report that after doing the rituals, their problems became worse. They then conclude that njuzu is a bad spirit meant to torment them. In addition, the churches have what they call “marine spirits” which adds to the confusion.
A true shave renjuzu is never meant to torment its medium but has specific work that it is supposed to do. The problems come and in fact many problems of chivanhu/isintu come because of interference by bad spirits or  procedures are not being followed to the letter.

For people who have visited masowe or n’angas and were told that they had a njuzu and to perform the ritual discussed above but still face problems, my advice is that you could change your search criteria. Ask a simple question “Who owns this njuzu?”. If they do not tell you that you have mudzimu of your such and such ancestor, then continue searching. Being possessed by njuzu automatically means that you have mudzimu while on the other hand having mudzimu does not necessarily mean you have njuzu. Njuzu is not owned by the medium but by the mudzimu and it is only the latter that has powers to remove it.
-Mbuya VaChinjanja Muroro is a Development Practitioner with a passion for Cultural Heritage and can be reached at mbuyavachinjanjamuroro@gmail.com