Chakwi are the mbira that we play, the Nyamaropa mbira. That is chakwi. There are mashave spirits called machakwi. We play hosho for those spirits, and the hosho will be saying, “cha-kwi, cha-kwi, cha-kwi, cha-kwi.” So that is the type of shave spirit known as achakwi. So these mbira were referred to as mbira dzaachakwi from listening to the hosho. They are called the mbira of the achakwi. They can also be referred to as mbira dzemhururu, because they ululate.
There are different types of machakwi spirits. There can be mermaids, and also the shave spirits of snakes, which are called madzukwa. So those are the types of mashave spirits that are called machakwi. But the shave spirit of the baboon is a different type; it isn’t the same.
The snake that possesses people for healing is the python. That is the one with a spirit that comes to people, because the python is a sacred snake here in Zimbabwe. It is not permissible to kill it. It is only killed if it acts rebellious. If you see a python coming and eating your chickens, then you are allowed to kill it. If it is simply observed coming around, without eating anything, then you don’t kill it; you just leave it alone.
There are three of those snakes. There is one we call kangamuti. That one is grey, with a blue head. So then there is tsanganyoka, which has white strips. Tsanganyoka won’t bite a person. It can come inside your house, and live inside. Don’t worry, it doesn’t bite. Most of the time, you won’t get near it; it runs away. Now, kangamuti can come right up to where you are. It is quite long. It is so troublesome, and it will come close. Let’s say you are under a tree. It can come right out of the tree, and fall on you! But it doesn’t bite. As long as you recognize it, then you leave it alone, and it will go on its way.
If you have a python shave, it does healing work. It seeks out medicine and heals. The mermaid spirits heal, but not all of them. There are the mermaids that heal, and then there are the great mermaids that travel together with the makombwe, that travel together with the mhondoro. So, those great mermaids, those are the ones that assist the mhondoro in making rain fall. So most of the time, those spirits don’t heal.
The other, lesser mermaids are the ones that heal, but their healing doesn’t come from a basket of medicines they keep in the house. Let’s say I have that shave. If you arrive, and are sick, I see that you are ill. You’ll just see me get up and leave, and I will head to the Manyame River. I’ll arrive there, and get in the water. Beneath the water, I will take the medicine, and I will come back with it and heal you.
Once I’ve healed you, I remain unaware that it is I who have healed you. That shave spirit has been working through me. It is the one that goes to the water to find the medicine, and returns. It doesn’t take long; in just a little while, it will have returned with the medicine. You are given, and told what to do when you are taking that medicine. You take it, and it is over; the shave departs.
Then I am left, and I ask people, “What are you doing? Why are you all seated here?” They say, “Oh, people have been attended to.” They tell me, “Someone came, feeling ill in such-and-such a way, and was given medicine to use in such-and-such a way.” “Oh, good! I had no idea!” That is how the mermaid spirit operates.
There are so many kinds of mashave spirits. There are mermaid mashave, or mashave enjuzu, there are baboon mashave, or mashave emapfeni, and there are snake mashave, or madzukwa. The baboon spirit can go and dig up medicine in the forest, and keeps it in the house. The snake spirit can keep medicine in the house, and the mermaid spirit doesn’t keep medicine in the house, and those are the machakwi. There are all different types of mashave spirits.