By David Maillu
Published August 28, 2023
In Africa a diviner is someone with ability to see into the future and into many hidden things. That person is generally referred to as a prophet. Divinity is an inborn gift and diviners are often consulted by individuals and clans to unfold hidden dangers and fortunes. These include misfortunes, stolen things, illnesses or matters relating to being bewitched, reason for being unable to get children and many other matters.
A diviner is a noble person who would never think of using anything to harm someone else. For if he/she tries to misuse that gift, it will be taken away from him by God. Any true diviner will do everything possible to help people but not to use the gift for commercial purpose. That is why common healers would be satisfied with only a token from the patient.
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Some African diviners double up as healers. However, healers fall into two categories. There are people who become healers because they are born with the gift of diagnosing ailments and treating them. Generally speaking, ailments appear in two forms: spiritual and clinical. Their inborn healing power, therefore, cannot be learnt anywhere. They are distinguished from general healers because they don’t keep stock of herbs. When consulted, they use their psyche in diagnosing the illness then arrive at what materials should be used for the treatment. Some of them have super psyche which would foretell the coming their client.
Using traditional childbirth knowledge, midwives could tell instantly when a diviner is born because the infant is born bearing particular physical signs. From childbirth onward, therefore, the family and the community know how to bring up that diviner. That traditional knowledge is fast disappearing. It is being replaced by modern maternity which takes the childbirth process as hatchery.
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The most famous diviner among the Akamba of eastern Kenya was Syokimau who lived before European explorers, missionaries and imperialists arrived in the region they later named Kenya.
She predicted the coming of the Europeans, the construction of the Kenya -Uganda railway line and cars in her region.
“I’m seeing the coming of strange people with ember like skin, carrying fire in their pockets. I’m seeing hairless cows running in open places mooing… I’m seeing a monster snake running from one sea to another. I am seeing a new generation talking in foreign tongues like birds…,” she said.
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With regard to the monster snake, Syokimau was seeing the train, running from Indian Ocean to Lake Victoria. With regard to hairless cows she was seeing cars. One should take note that cars were not yet invented that time. Syokimau’s prediction argues sharply about the validity of predestination.
Throughout the ages, diviners have always been part of the community with defined important roles. They are there today among us just as they had always been there, only that due to our being brainwashed by colonial masters leading to our cultural fall, we don’t recognize them. Hence, we are socially backward.
