Malombo Musical Art in VhaVenda Indigenous Healing Practices

Abstract

The traditional healing practices of the Vhavenda people include one very important component, the malombo ritual healing practice. This healing practice has been conducted for centuries. It involves the use of music (including singing and the use of drums and shakers for rhythm), dance and elements of theatre performed by the person to be healed, the healer, invited malombe (community members who have been through the same ritual), as well as family members and supporters. The importance of this ritual as a healing process has long been acknowledged. Of interest in this study, however, is the role-played by the music itself in facilitating the healing process. The ritual cannot take place without the music; neither is the music used outside this specific ritual. Seven representative malombo songs have been partially notated by John Blacking and N. J. van Warmelo also as recorded texts. However, since this ritual is closed and seldom open to strangers, their research was, of necessity, limited. Through long-term fieldwork, and from an insider perspective, this thesis is based on participation in more than fifteen malombo rituals during the field research period (2005-2014). Songs and performances were recorded as possible and some are included on the accompanying CD. In addition, transcription was utilized as a tool to demonstrate the core melody of selected songs, with the acknowledgement that transcription in Western notation limits the demonstration of the creative mato1 process that is fundamental to the malombo ritual. This thesis argues that that music plays a vital role in this healing ceremony, and it is through the mato process that the ancestors are called to heal. The texts of the songs at times include words of the Tshikalanga language that is spoken by the Vhakalanga of Zimbabwe. Most significantly, music is seen as the bridge between the ancestral spirits and the patient and participants in the ceremony, thus underscoring its fundamental importance in Vhavenda culture.