That is the story of my life’s journey with my family. My children suffered. Sometimes they ate sadza at noon, then spent the whole day playing and went to sleep. They wouldn’t eat sadza again until the following day at noon. Up until then they would get nothing at all, not even tea. So,we had a difficult life.
I’m grateful that I never stopped praying to my midzimu. I was always praying, because when I play mbira, I am playing for the ancestors. In turn, those midzimu tell Mwari, “Lord, your child is suffering.” Those are our indigenous ways. If you wish to pray, start by praying to your midzimu. Those ancestors will relay your message to Mwari.
If we examine our way of life, we see that everything must be done according to proper channel. Everything has its own channel. There is no government without protocol. Every government has its protocol. So people also have protocol that must be followed. You must follow your midzimu.
Mwari is a spirit that cannot be seen. The mudzimu is a spirit that cannot be seen. So the spirit that we call a mudzimu is granted time to meet with Mwari. When people petition, the mudzimu returns with the request, and delivers it back to us.
So if we go directly to Mwari, starting from where we are here, Mwari will question us, saying, “Your request is there, but we cannot hear it.” Once the request is made, he will say, “What about all the others whom you have left out? Are you saying they cannot approach me?” Referring to the midzimu – “Are you saying they cannot approach me?”
It is just the same as our indigenous practices. My child cannot approach me directly to ask for something. He goes to his mother, and his mother approaches me. Then I return the answer to his mother, and she is the one who delivers it to the child. That is what we do.
So it is just the same with the mudzimu. You clap hands to honor your mudzimu. If your father is still alive, you clap hands to honor your grandfather. If your father has died, you begin with him. He will relay the message to your grandfather, who will relay it to your forefathers. Those forefathers are the ones who will raise it up, and take it to the mhondoro. The mhondoro will raise it up, and take it to the makombwe. And the makombwe will take it to Mwari.
But this doesn’t take long. Whatever you say today will go directly, and the message will arrive today. By tomorrow, it will be returned to you. Perhaps it will return that very night. By the morning, you will realize that everything has been put to rights. Your message has gone smoothly, without any difficulties. As long as you follow the protocol, everything will go well.
So that is the journey my life has taken over the whole of the life I lived here in Harare, with my family.