Mepoho – The Magic Woman

Do you believe in magic?

Many many years ago, there was a big storm. The winds collided with the clouds and together they brought forth heavy rains that pounded the earth for an entire day.

The showers were so heavy, and the thunder so loud that none of the nine tribes of the Mijikenda dared to leave their houses for fear that they would be snatched away by the god of rain. Darkness blanketed the skies covering the homes of the Chonyi, Duruma, Jibana, Kambe, Kauma, Rabai, Giriama, Digo and Ribe. Clouds blotted out the stars, as torrential rains fell throughout the night.

Morning finally came; the sun rose and the people went from home to home checking on each other. Miraculously no one was reported missing or dead.

As was customary amongst the Giriama

the women would make their way mid-morning to fetch water needed for the day’s activities in their homesteads.

On this particular morning, a group of women heard a curious sound as they approached the river. As they approached the cries they saw a blue cloth nestled within the vegetation, and they found a baby girl wrapped within the cloth.

It was a strange thing, finding a new born baby after a storm. This caused the women to wonder whether the baby girl was possibly a diviner for blue was a powerful colour associated with those who possessed the gift of prophecy.

The women asked those living close by the river whether there was any woman who had been close to her due date but none could be found. The baby girl was a mystery.

One of the women

took the baby in, adopting her as her own and naming her Mepoho. Legend has it that diviners worked in mysterious ways and children like these often selected their adoptive parents.

Mepoho grew to be a strong woman, and as expected – a diviner. She followed her community’s tradition which involved partaking in a spiritual dance known as ngoma za pepo, which would make her vulnerable to spirit possession allowing her to see into the days ahead.

It is said Mepoho prophesied famine and drought and even heavy rains that would result in floods. She protected the community with her foresight and future vision.

On one night of prophecy

she began to dance – and in her dance she witnessed something she had never seen before. Mepoho had a vision of a strange future where people with bright skin and hair like dried sisal would come into their land. These people would ride powerful things in the sky and on the ground and that new alliances would be formed endangering the ways and the land of the Mijikenda.

This prophecy terrified the Giriama people. Mepoho, deeply disturbed by her own prophecy, said she did not want to live to see the prophecy come true. That night while still seated on her stool the ground swallowed her whole. She was never heard from again.

Magic! Doesn’t it seem so?

To this day the place where she danced her last dance and saw the future that indeed came to pass is a sacred shrine in Kaloleni, Kilifi.

Kweli… liwapokuwa, lakuwa.