the Rain Martyr
Chewa · demigod · c. A.D. 1600 · Recorded classification
A martyred rain-maker venerated as a territorial-cult divinity; classed as demigod (a deified human / rain-hero), explained here because the registry has no 'martyr' or 'culture-hero' type. His uncle Mlauli was a rival conjurer in several tellings. From the 1920s Catholic influence recast M'bona as a Christ-parallel prophet.
Domains
- rain
- rainmaking
Powers
- command and make the rains
- turn aside ordinary weapons
- speak through a spirit-wife and possession
Relations
- spouse: the Spirit-Wife of the ShrineSalima, an elderly woman installed at the Khulubvi shrine as M'bona's spirit-wife and medium.J. Matthew Schoffeleers, River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600 (1992) (secondary)
- rival: the Uncle DivinerHis mother's brother and elder rival diviner, whose jealousy drove the persecution and martyrdom of M'bona.J. Matthew Schoffeleers, River of Blood (1992) (secondary)
Sources
- M'bona is the martyred rain-maker venerated at the Khulubvi shrine in southern Malawi, the patronal spirit of a Mang'anja territorial rain cult under the Lundu paramountcy.: Schoffeleers, J. M. (1992). River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. (secondary)
- Schoffeleers dates the cult's origin to c. 1600 and links it to the rise of the Lundu chieftaincy; M'bona personifies the suffering of the conquered Mang'anja.: Schoffeleers, J. M. (1979). 'The Chisumphi and M'bona Cults in Malawi.' In Guardians of the Land. Gwelo: Mambo Press. (secondary)