The Pillars of Harmony
Tribal initiation and healing rites: the founding, and re-founding of an African society in transition

Area 11 – Scienze storiche, filosofiche, pedagogiche e psicologiche

The book analyzes the role and the importance of tribal initiation in the building up of the society of the Tharaka of Kenya, and the functions and relevance of the healing rites in the restoring of the socio-cosmic order, and moral re-foundation of the society when the unsociability attacks it, and threatens the survival of the single persons, and of the whole Taraka people. The analysis carried out shows how the rites change to adapt themselves to the socio-cultural change, which has been accelerated in the last one hundred years, before by the colonization, and then by the process of the modernization followed to the establishing of the modern Kenya nation. The book places more emphasis on the description and analysis of the tribal initiation because it is the main traditional institution in the building up of the Taraka society, and because it has undergone a consistent change in its symbols, rites, and ritual actions to face the process of socio-cultural transition in act. For what is concerning the healing rites, the analysis stresses the ideology, which underlies them, and the whole Tharaka health system, and its relationship with the restoring of the socio-cosmic order mined by unsociability. Thus, it is presented the concept of health between the Tharaka, and its socio-mystical and religious foundations. It is analyzed and presented the Tharaka rich aetiology, and a scanty nosological list of diseases. In fact, to understand the illness as symptom and effect of the socio-cosmic disorder, for Tharaka people, is of basic importance to go deep into its causes. To move from the perception of the illness to an understanding of the Evil, which upset either the individual state of well-being, or the survivals of the entire society. It is fundamental to spot the causes of the loss of the health, and remove them.

SINTESI