- Dead Husbands, Cheating Wives, Eating Rats and Secret Concoctions: When A Woman Cheats – The Anatomy Of Luhya Myths on Infidelity
- Is it True That a Woman Who Has Been Unfaithful is not Allowed to Nurse, or Mourn in Close Proximity to Her Husband In The Event He Dies?
- Kamanyasi Chronicles
- How Religion Compounds Luhya Myths About Infidelity
- Luhya Myths On Infidelity When Divorced or Separated
- Wait! Do Men Get Let Off? How Luhya Myths On Infidelity Castrate Patriarchy
- Do Luhya Myths On Infidelity Apply To non Luhyas?
- Of Other Meat and Luhya Myths On Infidelity
- The Ultimate Cheaters Cheat Sheet – How To Get Away With Eating Rats
- Luhya Myths On Infidelity Where Children Are Involved
- Khuuna Kumusakhu: Caught In The Act, What’s The Worst That Could Happen?
- The Culture Of Fines And Luhya Myths On Infidelity
- 5 unique first date ideas in Bungoma under 1500 bob
- The Kwa Dina Overpass Plugs in much needed juice to a once vibrant neighborhood in Webuye town
Do luhya myths on infidelity apply to non luhyas? Well, there’s always that tingly when in a cross-cultural/tribal relationship. This is because everything with beau and your relationship feels exotic. Further, there’s that inflated sense of ‘winning’, especially when one thinks forward and imagines how cute the kids will be. The truth, however, is that a cross- cultural relationship is all rosy until the differences, from within and without the relationship, rear their head.
I mean, you might have overcome cultural differences when naming your children. You might even found a compromise on the ‘big’ relationship goals such as finding a balance during customary rites on your wedding or even construction of matrimonial home. Now just imagine the hustle when he, the only one who understood the compromises you’ve made to make the marriage work, is no more. Worse, it is somehow known that you have been cheating. Do you own up to Luhya customs on infidelity in such matters? Or do you let is slide.
Short Answer: Be Very Wary If A Luhya or Non Luhyas From Mulembe Are Game
Imagine a situation where your hubby is of Asian, European or other non luhya descent. There’s no doubt that you have been eating rats and he passes on, do you take kamanyasi? Or do you ‘kanyagia chini” and let it slide? This story of the burial of a Museve man somewhere in Buseve implores caution.
I attended a former colleague’s funeral. He was Museve and the wife was from Masaba. They two had separated, but our sister from Masaba in the spirit of mulembe, had come to pay her last respects. During the burial, our sister from a certain oluhyia kept behaving in a weird way. Needless to say, the people of Buseve had never seen anything of the kind. Our sister kept ‘fainting’ – drifting in and out of consciousness- through out the ceremony. The people of Buseve mistook her ‘condition’ as love. We the people from Mulembe in attendance, had our suspicions.
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The Non Committal Philosophical Answer
Be reminded of what the English say: Wary of the green grass on the other side of the fence. The late Mulogooli literary god, Francis D. Imbuga, taught us that it could be as well be a green grass in the green snake. What we are saying that if you are luhya and find these myths on infidelity taxing, it might be worse in other cultures.
Not to chastise other cultures, but the communiterian goals of luhya myths on infidelity shouldn’t be taken lightly. Through out this series on Luhya myths on infidelity, we have come to appreciate that the subliminal theme underlying these myths is a deliberate push towards strengthening family relations. As we’ll see in part eight of this series, on the myths surrounding infidelity and meat, this is achieved through emphasis on the importance of keeping relations filial. Moreover, society’s role in healing after loss or reunification of distraught families is emphasized through out the series.
We believe that our take on luhya myths on infidelity will prove encompassing of other non luhya cultures in mulembe and beyond. This is because our review has focused on points of confluence between the different luhya sub-tribes. Because of our preference to use a broad brush in painting this chapter of luhya culture, it is likely that non luhyas might find descriptions of culture that mirror their own.
We have for instance deliberately left out certain details. Such as the insistence by BaTachoni that a philandering wife enters her home by the side during the period that her late husband lies in state.
