By KIPTUM DANIEL
Dreams have always taken a central part in our lives- some of them have turned out to be a great significance in real life while others are just a reflection of unaccomplished activities, whether bad or good in our awake times. Some of them, like falling in a bottomless pit, are just a sign of growing up.
There are also dreams of great hopes in life that are always experienced in a man?s life, whether during the day or at night. For a widow in rural Kitale,Kaisagat location, a dream wasn?t just a dream, but a significant forewarning of things that are likely to happen in the near future in her world.
Seventeen years after the death of her husband Alexander Loikwa, Elizabeth Cherotich started experiencing haunting dreams regarding her late husband.
She constantly dreamed of Alexander complaining of having being abandoned, left exposed to the cold nights and the rain. And at times he would tell his wife of being constantly feed on by by rats. Elizabeth did not just dismiss such dreams because among the Pokots dreams are never just dreams- they mean much more than just mere fantasy. After narrating to her extended family on her constant encounter with her deceased husbad in the dream, they sat down and decided to do what their ancestors allowed them to do for many years since the community came into existence: To appease the restless soulf of the departed.
And one day, under hot and dusty afternoon, the whole clan, led by Elizabeth?s in-laws, gathered around the grave that had been left in a desolate state for a long time, save for a wild flower that stood majestically over it to show that something precious lies beneath it. And now back to the real work. It was time to exhume the body that had been lying there for seventeen years to take it through rituals that would appease the restless soul and for it to stop bothering the family. The onerous process had nothing to do with a court order, but a customary ritual that had to be undertaken.
One man hit the grave with a blunt jembe. But this jembe bounced on the hard ground which had been trumped over by animals, humans and tractors during ploughing. But with a little more determination, the lump of soil that once held flowers was now levelled.
The man kept hitting the hard ground mercilessly and soon, old memories of almost two decades later were about to come alive for the family.. Unfortunately, many people amongst the crowd, most of who were his relatives, never lived to see the true legacy of a man who was snatched from his beloved ones so easily by meningitis in February 1990.
The six feet grave was now three feet deep and suddenly a frog jumped out.
To the Pokot traditions, that was a bad omen. The old men around got hold of the frog and gently put it aside, as they talked to in a language only those in the know would cmprehend. I later learnt that anything that came out of the grave was spiritual and had therefore to be handled with great care. An old man sprinkled it with busaa (a local brew) from his mouth and the amphibian reluctantly relaxed as it licked the drops.
The digging continued and shortly afterwards another frog jumped out and even the third one followed. They were given the same treatment as the first one. ?This is because they have been living with the old man and hence this kind of treatment. They know a lot about him,? an old man said. After the amphibians had been let loose, people started shying away as the sound of an empty wooden box being hit by soil lumps was heard from the grave.
The coffin which had been in the soil for close to two decades was now unearthed. Three other men joined in to open up the already decomposing top of the coffin. Only the strong-hearted fellows remained standing as the rest moved away in fear of the unknown. For most people, this was a strange occurrence that they had never heard of and witnessed in their entire life. It was like they were staring death in the face. Relatives moved closer to the grave to view the remains of their long departed kin and see if he had been laid in the coffin resting on his left hand, perhaps, the reason that could have triggered the incessant complaints from him in the grave. But they vanished when they saw that he was rightfully lying on the right hand as part of the Pokot traditions. They had to keep their distance because they were not sure anymore what the departed man wanted and did not want to be caught wrong footed over the unexplained restlessness of their kin.
The coffin lid was opened and burial rituals had a chance of taking their course afresh. His kinsmen, starting with the first-born son, Nicholas, sprinkled traditional brew, goats? blood, and cud on his remains while talking to him in low tones. ?Don?t worry, dad. Now that mum has settled near you, you will feel no more cold because she will feed, dress and protect you from the rats. Nothing is going to happen to you again, I promise,? Nicholas said.
After his death, his family moved to his maternal home to settle, leaving his fresh grave behind. The land where he was buried was occasionally leased to farmers and therefore leaving him a lonely man in a forsaken land. The haunting game forced the family to move back and settle near him.
The fact that Elizabeth led a Christian life did not matter on this situation and the bible had to be put aside for a traditional activity. They let traditional beliefs and rituals take their rightful course. That was a big day for the widow and her children as the haunting dreams were to disappear once and for all. Around the grave, people murmured as they were taken from one step to the other. Elizabeth remained calm while masculine men lifted the decomposing casket up as others took a step back. For me and others, this was a scary experience, but we had to keep still as the ceremony was being conduscted lest we unruffled the dead man?s restless soul and the wrath of the ancestors.
The lump of red soil around the grave brought back the memories that tried to vanish within a span of seventeen years. Inside the grave are even more fresh memories. As everyone is trying to say a word to the dead, am trying to look at the only living parts from the remains of Alexander. The hair remains untouched while the skeleton lays rigid. It gives the impression of an innocent man who is not supposed to be lying there and of course a man who is not capable of invading the nights of his kin.
If man had power over God, Elizabeth says, she would have stopped the death of her beloved husband but as most people say, God loved him more, and so he called him to be with the ancestors. After the rituals were allowed to take place, everything was started afresh again.
Alexander Loikwa was once again put back to rest in his home of seventeen years: In the coffin. He was given a new lease of life by being fully dressed in new clothes, as the skeleton was neatly arranged for the final departure.
http://www.timesnews.co.ke/05aug07/nwss ... nion2.html
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