Chewa Traditional Religion

Researched under difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances during the Banda era, this book is a unique contribution to anthropological research in Malawi. Orginally published in 1976 this new edition has been throughly reworked and edited at a time when many of the domains described by Van Breugel were in a process of decline, transformation or even disappearance. The book offers precious descriptions of rain rituals at Bunda and Tsang’oma, explications of witchcraft phenomena and of the mdulu-complex, a convincing theory of the religious significance of Nyau and extensive deliberations of concepts of God and ancestors. In addition the book serves as a comprehensive overview on all the domains of Chewa Traditional Religion.