Dr. Danail Komakech the Director Resreach Institute Gulu University on the mark on Ryemo Gemo

Global Politics

UGANDA: GULU UNIVERSITY DON ACHOLI SPIRITUALITY, ONTOLOGY AND COMSMOLOGY .RGEMO GEMO

Okumu Langol April 10, 2020

0 831 59 minutes read

Page 1

Responses to Illnesses and Disorders of Epidemic and Pandemic Proportions.

’

by Daniel Komakech, Ph.D. (Gulu University) his own narrative verbatim the scholars inside into Acholi wishdom

Rev. Willy Olango (Institute of Research and Management, Gulu)

Amos Deogratius Mwaka, Ph.D. (Makerere University)

Introduction

In this discourse, we present an introduction to multidimensional existentialism of humans and

the human experiences, the concept of explanatory model of illnesses and “Ryemo Gemo” as an

aspect of treatment. We then discuss in details the concept of “Ryemo Gemo” as a higher level

response of the Central Luo of northern Uganda to illnesses meeting certain criteria. We will

further discuss the spiritual, ontological and cosmological place of “Ryemo Gemo” before

concluding with whether or not in our view “Ryemo Gemo” could be an appropriate response to

the COVID 19 pandemic. We do not wish to present ourselves as the ultimate authority in this

cultural matter; but because the ideas are a result of not just our own experiences and knowledge,

but engagement with literature, and consultations with several elders in Acoliland including

Traditional Chiefs and religious leaders, we strongly implore you to read with certitude.

Background

We seek to return to the mainstream narrative, the local views and responses to disease and

pathogenic outbreak. Focusing on the 31

March, 2020 decision by some members of the Acoli

community to invoke the ritual practice of “Ryemo Gemo” (chasing away the demons/evil spirits)

as an indigenous approach to manage the novel covid-19 (corona virus) epidemic, we argue that

the ritual of “Ryemo Gemo” is an established approach to deal with epidemic and pandemic

illnesses and is enshrined in the Acoli explanatory model for some illnesses that fulfil certain

specific criteria to which we shall return shortly. We agree therefore that “Ryemo Gemo” has

often been deployed as an epidemic control measure. The invocation of “Ryemo Gemo”, and the

need to understand it re-roots the importance of the trajectory of social sciences and humanities

Page 2

in the understanding and responses to disease outbreak. This reminds us all that illnesses are

multidimensional and multi-etiologic. “Ryemo Gemo” as a ritual to deal with ill health falls

squarely in the realm of social medicine, the bridge between pure biomedicine and humanities

and social sciences.

Constructing therefore the social reality of the practice that constitute “Ryemo Gemo”, we shift

from the mainstream biological sciences into the social sciences and humanities. We shall soon

demonstrate that our frame of argument fits within the time honored principles of disease

causation conceptualized in explanatory model of illnesses by Kleinman (Kleinman, 1978).

Irrespective of the specific disease or illness, the explanatory model of illness posits that the

understanding and response to the illness can be achieved when one attempts to answer

questions: What has caused (attributions about why the illness has occurred), what is the timing

and mode of onset of the illness (with respect to other life circumstances), what is the nature of

the pathology (how does it present itself, what part of the body or society does it affect), what is

the severity and course of the illness (its impact on the person and society in terms of seriousness

and continuity), and what are the preferred treatments for the illness (does it require medicine,

surgery, prayers, exorcism etc.). These questions are well answered within the context of the life

and culture of the people affected. Therefore, explanatory models of illnesses are greatly

influenced by culture and understand within the context of a culture (Kleinman et al., 1978,

Kleinman, 1980).

One quickly realizes that the conceptualization and responses to illnesses and epidemics involves

not only biological sciences and healthcare professionals, but the totality of human experiences

and disciplines including social sciences, humanities and spirituality. In that regard, it is

important to understand that explanatory models of illnesses there is need to invoke the

spirituality and spiritual realm. This narrative and discourse structured in the ethnographic case

study of “Ryemo Gemo” premised in the spiritual ontological and cosmology of the Central Luo,

the Acoli of northern Uganda, does not contest but complements in a complex way the responses

of the proponents of biological sciences that with its inadequacy often forecloses the spiritual

realms of epidemics and disaster responses. It is critical to realize that the spiritual, as opposed to

the discrete world with discrete spaces and time(s), framing its doubles, namely, non-fixation in

Page 3

particulars, is neither nameable nor placeable in the natural sciences space. On a bigger scale, it

also shows the human ontology as not only biological substance but existing in several other

dimensions. Therefore, the body or the border of bodily life is not to be reduced to natural

sciences but spiritual as well.

The attempt to reduce the human experiences and existentialism into a bodily biological

substance not only assaults the ownership of the self but more significantly, constitutes an assault

to the ontological and cosmological representation of humans in the natural sciences dominant

tradition and literature. The understanding of humans and their practices such as response to

illnesses of epidemic proportions requires the synthesis of the whole self and not just the

biological self and its tenets. Although in this paper we argue majorly from the ontological and

cosmological perspective of the humankind and his/her experiences, we are clear in our minds

that the whole, is indeed greater than the sum of its part.

Accordingly, it is therefore constructed among the Acoli that good health and general wellbeing

is situated in the complex non-dualistic indivisible interlace between the materiality of mundane

everyday practices (social, politics, economy, morality), and the spiritual realm (the divine, the

ontology and cosmology), in a dynamic procedure of moving beyond the materiality to the

spiritual. This resonates with the Christian theology that has been well represented by St. Paul in

Ephesians 6:12; “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the powers of this

dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. Consequently, the

Acoli have a clear vision of the landscape of an epidemic or the ‘epidemicscape’ as ‘…forces of

evil in the spiritual realms’, making epidemics be reinterpreted as “cen (evil spirits or evil

forces)”. It is within this logic that the ritual of “Ryemo Gemo” is performed with a view of

chasing the ‘dark forces’ causing the epidemic. Recently, “Ryemo Gemo” was performed to

cleanse the Acoliland of the covid-19 epidemic. This was the case with the 2000-2001 Ebola

Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF) outbreak in Acoli where “Ryemo Gemo” was performed to chase the

“dark forces” causing Ebola. A similar ritual was performed in July 1989 to rid Acoliland of the

“dark forces” underlying the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) incursion in Acoliland; the

intention was to bring the protracted armed conflict to an end through dealing with the

underlying “dark forces” that had led to its emergence and persistence.

Page 4

Ryemo Gemo Ritual among the Acoli

Building on the foregoing argument, we now look closely into the conceptual, theoretic and

understanding of the ritual of “Ryemo Gemo” and then allude to its recent applications in

Acoliland. The Acoli, the Luo of northern Uganda share a lot in common with the other

subgroups under the Nilotic group of people that are known historically to have descended from

the Nile valley in current Sudan and South Sudan. While recent scholars attribute the

civilizations of the Egyptians and the Oromo group of people in Ethiopia to the Luo, principally

the Acoli, we shall not delve into those details in this discourse. Suffice to mention that the Luo

have similar culture and cosmology. What we describe here may be similar to some other or

similar practices among the other Luos. However, our intention and goal is to describe the

“Ryemo Gemo” ritual as understood and practiced by the Acoli of northern Uganda.

“Ryemo Gemo” dates back to the historic Luo migration in the 16th

Century. The ritual evolved

as a way to deal with uncertainties of large magnitude affecting the people especially as they

migrated southwards along the Nile Valley. Cosmologically, the Acoli believe in the permanent

existence of human life. One is born, grows and enjoys the fruits of life, as well as suffers the

torments of calamities and other challenges of life. One eventually dies and joins the spirit word

where the spirits of one’s elders abode. This concept of immortality of humans in different forms

has been well digested by Okot P’Bitek in his writing “African Religions in European

Scholarship” African Heritage Classical Studies Series, as well as his other writings. The Acoli

understand that misfortunes arise when people misbehave grossly and in large magnitude or

when the clan gods or Ancestral Ghosts have been neglected or annoyed in some important way

(Okot, 1990). Misfortune of great magnitudes are akin to epidemics or pandemics. The Acoli

follow the same process of explanatory model of illness to understand and manage illnesses –

illnesses affecting individuals as well as those affecting the societies or group of individuals.

There were and still are several medicine men and women who provide treatment and cure for

different ailments.

The specialists in surgery are called “Luboto”. There are medicine men and women including the

witchdoctors whose roles are diagnosis, while others combine both diagnostic and treatment

roles. Members of the given communities within the Acoliland know these healers and

Page 5

diagnosticians. However, in every sub-clans and chiefdoms, there were specific people who are

consulted when strange illnesses or calamities unknown to the people strike. These people gain

their diagnostic powers from the Chiefdom gods or deities. The diagnostic powers of the deities

enter into a person belonging to a sub-clan in the Chiefdom. The entry is often violent and

dramatic, often so in form of an ailment attacking the person. When members of the family and

clan gather to understand the ailment of this person, and often when representatives of the Chiefs

are present, then the deity reveals itself to the people through this person. It never enters in secret

and or silently.

The Chiefdom henceforth will know that when illnesses, ailments and calamities of unknown

origin and of large magnitudes strike, they go to this person, the diviner. This person does not

involve in everyday ailments and illnesses. These are left for the ordinary medicine men/women

and witchdoctors. When this diviner dies, the power is not simply inherited or passed on by word

of mouth or writing with a pen. A member of that family will again be possessed by the

Chiefdom Deity or clan Jok. Often, the Jok does not move from one sub-clan to another; he often

enters into a son or daughter or grandson/daughter of the previous diviner. And this new diviner

carries on the role of diagnosis and prescription for serious illnesses that affect people and the

society at large. This diviner is the person through whom the clan or chiefdom consults the

Chiefdom Deity or Jok in various circumstances. Usually consultations is done during the bad

times while celebrations and feeding of the deities are done during the good times; all these are

mediated by the diviner on behalf of the chiefdom.

During the bad times such as epidemic, the elders of the clan gather around the Chief who then

authorizes the chiefdom diviner to mediate with the clan deity and answer the questions of the

people. The diviner then prepares through prayers and meditations, then visits the clan’s worship

site, often at a mountain/hill, under big trees or at river banks. He/she communicates with the Jok

in confidence. This may require several visits before the clan Jok provides an answer for the clan

problems. Once he/she has received the instructions from the deity/jok, he/she returns to the

elders and chief, reports back and the clan prepares for the ceremony, often a cleansing ritual.

Professor Okot wrote about the clan deity and their roles in health and illnesses, “The Jogi

(plural for Jok) are objects of ritual activities which they believe promote the well-being of a

Page 6

group or of an individual, or combat actual or threatened ill-health or misfortune. Once a year

the entire chiefdom was mobilized around the chiefdom Jok, and sacrifices and prayers were

offered for the health and prosperity of the whole people. Clansmen would gather at the

ancestral shrine and invoke the ghosts of their ancestors to protect the living members of the

clan. The hostile spirits which caused ill-health would be given some form of gift, and asked to

leave the patient alone. If they accepted the gift, they would be escorted in a friendly way

towards the place of their abode. But if they refused it they would be captured and killed. The

role of the diviner was to identify the particular jok responsible for ill health or ill luck” (Okot,

1990).

This verbatim quote from Professor Okot sets the basis of the subsequent argument which shall

be limited to the aspects that concern “Ryemo Gemo”. But before we advanced, Professor Okot

describes gemo thus, “The word jok is also the name for plagues, pestilences, murrains and

many other serious sicknesses. Among the Central Luo, they are believed to be caused by Gemo,

a host of dwarfs which travel by night. On passing through the villages they punish the people if

there is much hatred or jealousy in that village, by causing them to suffer in a particular way”

(Okot, 1990). What P’Bitek wrote is what we have found among the Chiefs and elders of Acoli

to this day. The stage is therefore well set for the debate on “Ryemo Gemo”. We now know

Gemo, a host of dwarfs, or bad spirits. They can devastate the entire villages or chiefdoms. In

Acoli, a range of villages with distinct group of people or clans are often referred to as cere

(hills) of so and so; i.e. cere pa jo moni, e.g. Cere pa Jo Labongo, cere pa Lupatiko etc. In our

interview with elders, it emerged clearly that for an illness or calamity to fulfil the criteria of

gemo,

(i) it has to have no clear origin or cause,

(ii) the occurrence is strange or unusual,

(iii) it is poorly or completely not understood by the elders and was thus revealed only as

gemo through the mediation of the diviner with the Chiefdom Jok or Deity,

(iv) it is affecting people in large numbers,

(v) it causes severe illness or its effects on the affected people are so severe to the extent

of maiming or killing the affected people, and

Page 7

(vi) it is spreading rapidly throughout the range of villages (cere mapatpat).

Once an occurrence of an illness or calamity fulfils these criteria, the diviner and the elders in

charge of cleansing rituals agree on the date when the cleansing should be conducted. The items

required for the day are enumerated and assigned to specific persons to have them available on

the day. The messengers for the different clans coordinate with messengers in other chiefdoms.

The ritual elders in each of the chiefdoms affected set the pace and prescribe all the activities to

be performed. In the days that lead up to the day of “Ryemo Gemo”, the people in the affected

chiefdoms observe several dos and don’ts; for example, do not have sexual intercourse, do not

eat such and such a food (as would be spelt out by the deities through the diviners), do not

quarrel, do keep the houses clean, keep the rubbish from the houses and pour them out on the day

of “Ryemo Gemo” etc. The materials that are often used during the “Ryemo Gemo”, the climax of

the process of cleansing include hides and skin used for sitting and sleeping, calabashes and

metallic containers especially debbe – a metallic container that for long was used by the Acoli to

keep safe items of importance that for some reasons do not fit well in the traditional storage

container, the pot, agulu.

The essence of “Ryemo Gemo” is to scare the host of dwarfs or bad spirits away by (i) prayers

and utterances by the elders including “wang ceng oter ci oter”, and (ii) loud noises coordinated

throughout the range of villages, leaving no spots of calm where the dwarfs can hide and hence

remain in the villages. The messengers need to have properly mobilize the whole cere and clearly

stated where the process of “Ryemo Gemo” starts and which way it ends. Usually, the cere in the

east start and is coordinated through to the western villages over which the sun sets. The Gemos

are chased from the east towards the west, traditionally perceived as a far place where the world

ends and where there are no human homes, but the home for the sun, where the sun goes to sleep

at the end of every day. Nobody in the villages should keep quiet when the climax of “Ryemo

Gemo”, the beating of skin (lar) and debbe start. The noise making starts from inside the house,

walking at every corner of the hosue as one makes the noise and beats the lar. Everybody

making noise would utter, go, go go, go forever (wot wot wot, woti, woti matwal). Lar have to be

beaten very hard so that whatever dirt (that maybe be associated with the Gemos) should fall out

and go.

Page 8

Rubbish swept from the houses are poured out that day, at the far western end of the homestead

or village. The noise making and scaring of the dwarfs go on for about 5 to 10 minutes, the

duration often determined by the perceived extent and severity of the illness or epidemic. This

duration is often communicated in advanced by the messengers during the preparatory phase.

The noise begins to cease from the east where it started as the dwarfs are escorted with the noises

out of the villages through the western fringes of the villages. Often that marks the end of the

epidemic or calamities in the affected cere or range of villages. The elders in charge of rituals

however take some times, often months to report back to the Chiefdom Deity. Again, the

reporting is done by the diviners in the presence of the other elders who often do not talk, but

only respond to utterances of the diviner as and when necessary. Foods are served to the deities

during that reporting visit and the elders enjoy together at the foot of the hill/mountain or bank of

the river depending on where the Deity of the given clan dwells.

If there were any behaviors that were thought to have resulted into the calamity or illness, the

community is first warned never to revert to that behavior before the deities enjoy their meals

with the living elders of the clan. That marks the end of the response to that epidemic or

calamity. The community members then go on with their lives, but aware never to do again

anything that led to the emergence of the epidemic/calamity. Anybody thought or found doing

the same misdemeanor will be dealt with severely by the clan elders so that the practice does not

become widespread and then lead to another episode of an illness or calamity. “Ryemo Gemo”

therefore is a process of mass cleansing that has the following components:

(i) Recognition of a calamity that fulfils the criteria above. In particular, the diviner should

have communicated with the deities and reported back that he/she was told gemo is the

reason for the widespread calamity or illness – epidemic.

(ii) The chiefdoms prepare and set the dates and outline the activities to be performed during

the period up to and on the day of “Ryemo Gemo”.

(iii)People in the affected chiefdoms that will participate in the “Ryemo Gemo” noise-making

observe certain rites involving a number of dos and don’ts as decided by the deities.

Often the dos and don’ts relate in a way to the supposed source or reason for the

Page 9

occurrence of the gemo; but certain conducts are a constant e.g. do not have sexual

intercourse, and do not eat fresh meat.

(iv) On the day of “Ryemo Gemo”, the noise-making (the climax of the process of mass

cleansing) starts in the far east of the village ranges and ends in the far west, with certain

utterances and key objects used for making noises during the process of “Ryemo Gemo”.

“Ryemo Gemo” is only effective when the full process is adhered to and implemented in whole.

The aspect of the diviner consulting with the clan deities is so very important and inseparable

from the process, and without it, the process is null and void. The diviners for the different clans

are specific known persons who are possessed by the Chiefdom Deities, the Jok kaka. No one

else does that consultation, except the designated diviner. The process is null and void from the

very beginning, ab initio, if anyone else other than the designated diviner for the given clans

pretends to have consulted with the clan deities. The above procedures of “Ryemo Gemo”

therefore sets aside “Ryemo Gemo” from “Ryemo Jwee, or goyo Jwee”, another cleansing mass

cleansing process practiced by the Acoli people. As stated by Professor Okot, “Goyo Jwee” or

exorcism is done at the end of every year, often in the night of 31

December, to cleanse the

society and its members of possible bad spirits that people could have inadvertently got into

contact with during their business during the year.

The main distinction between “Goyo Jwee” and “Ryemo Gemo” are three: (i) In the case of

“Goyo Jwee”, there are no ill-health or epidemic that have befallen the people, (ii) The diviner do

not consult the Clan Deities before the process, and (iii) No observances are mandatory before

the day of noise-making. Jwee are bad spirits that can grow, so to say into Gemo, at which point

they can wreak havoc on the people. These bad spirits rest under big trees, at river banks and

other isolated places, but also roam around. So people can get into contact with them. They need

to be chased out before they attack people. “Goyo Jwee” therefore is a pre-emptive strike to

avoid getting into troubles in the future.

The questions of whether or not the recent “Ryemo Gemo” in Acoli were valid or called for can

then be approached with clarity of the process of “Ryemo Gemo” as a cleansing process

sanctioned by the clans deities of the affected clans. It can be reasoned that if the people suspect

Page 10

that reasonably an illness or epidemic will strike, whatever the case, they can consult with the

deities in advance and receive guidance of how to proceed to avert the calamity. While this

reasoning is rationale, it does not visibly fit within the context of “Ryemo Gemo” as understood

by the Acoli of northern Uganda. Anticipatory “Ryemo Gemo” is not a thing of the Acoli. There

are preventive measures that the deities can prescribe that will avert oncoming calamities or

epidemics. These preventive measures could fit well in the context of COVID 19 that has not yet

physically ravaged any cere in Acoliland. What then would you be chasing if the Gemos are not

yet in the villages or cere of the people in question. Anticipatory “Ryemo Gemo” can be

understood as tim jok (wizardly conducts) that can call on the Gemos to come. Indeed, the elders

of the clans and the deities would be consulted on what to do if “Ryemo Gemo” occurred in

anticipation. But this has not happened and will not happen because the rightful process of

“Ryemo Gemo” involves consultations and clearance by the deities. If they were not genuinely

consulted and or they did not say there was Gemo, then whatever was alleged to have been

“Ryemo Gemo” would be a nullity.

While this argument holds for the case of COVID 19, it does not to the same extent hold for the

Ebola “Ryemo Gemo” of 2000/2001. While we were unable to find from the elders the particular

clan that consulted with the deities during the Ebola outbreak of 2000/2001, the elders

unanimously agree that there was an epidemic that affected more than one cere in Acoliland. The

seriousness and devastating impact of the illness (Ebola) would make the “Ryemo Gemo” of

2000/2001 be real especially if the consultations were done by the genuine and known diviners,

and the pre-noise making days were marked with the right observances. In a nutshell, if the

process of any “Ryemo Gemo” does not fit in the described framework of “Ryemo Gemo” as

understood and practiced by the Acoli, then such an undertaking would be something else but not

“Ryemo Gemo”. The process and philosophy of “Ryemo Gemo” can be best understand in its

context of spirituality and ontology of the Acoli people, the subject to which we now address

ourselves briefly before we conclude this discourse of “Ryemo Gemo” in the context of COVID

19.

Page 11

The Spirituality, Cosmology and Ontology of “Ryemo Gemo”

In this section, we seek to re-root this notion by transgressing its mainstream lexicological frame

imbued as pre-scientific and therefore, outlandish, arguing that this modernist mentality is a

result of uncritical reproduction in current narrative. Using Mahmood Mamdani’s methodic

questioning (Mamdani, 2009), we pose the question; how do we know that “Ryemo Gemo” in the

context of the COVID19 epidemics, is pre-modern and unscientific? The answer normally is in

the form of; “…because we are told so…” or “. . . how can you even ask that question in this age

and era?”, or “. . . so and so said it does not work!” Again, to use Mahmood Mamdani’s phrase,

this is where the battle for naming and meaning becomes important (Mamdani, 2009). From this,

we actually conclude that “Ryemo Gemo” is understood a lot from uninformed view point as

much as from the vantage point of the logic of modernity and natural science.

However, after rethinking key assumptions in the current conventional usage of “Ryemo Gemo”,

namely, in the middle of COVID19 epidemic and the general vilification by the public of

Uganda, we deliberately chose to re-read and reconfigure the phenomenon. We contend that

“Ryemo Gemo” is not an outlandish concept that emerged from nowhere and vanished without

trace since the white man set his feet on Acoliland, and introduced his religion and God which

together with modernism replaced both from the heart and practice the ritual of “Ryemo Gemo”.

As we seek to foster a clearer understanding and perception of “Ryemo Gemo”, we need to link

this to its spiritual root and its embodiment in the ontology and cosmology of the Acoli.

It is in this sense that many times, you find the Acoli people, particularly the elders, transgressing

the scripted orthodoxy of “epidemics as general public health issues”, remarking that when an

epidemic befalls the community, there is something fundamentally wrong with the conduct of the

people. And such a state of disordered balance can “tantamount to gemo and which may demand

for “Ryemo Gemo”. That would be in an attempt to reconcile and return to an order of good

social relation, not only amongst themselves but with the Creator, Jok-Jok ka Malo, or God

(Rubanga), with the ancestors (living dead), the King and Chiefs (Rwodi), as well as all other

animate and inanimate beings. This reconciliation process and re-establishment of equilibrium is

spiritual, ontological and cosmic.

Page 12

The Acoli, the concept of “Ryemo Gemo” in order to return to a state of balance is therefore not

just an act of a ceremony of dealing with fear or an event of some sort; it is a theology and

philosophy, a cosmo-vision and wisdom of maintaining the cosmic and ontological balance, only

symbolised in the event and process of “Ryemo Gemo”. It is a connective, spiritual,

cosmohealing protocol, ensuring that consequences being observed and experienced have a real

connection to our actions, and without our actions, the consequences (calamities, epidemics)

would not be experienced. In other words, every human actions have proportionate

consequences. Sir Samuel Baker conceived of a Christian God that rewards and punishes, a God

he thought was not existent among the people of the Nile Valley. Okot P’Bitek, writes that Baker

miserably missed the point, for the Acoli had and worshiped such a Deity that rewarded good

conduct and punished, bad behaviours. Epidemics of illnesses or famine were punishments for

such bad behaviours (Okot, 1971).

Similarly, as Dani Wadada Nabudere cites Jans Assmann arguing about the ancient Egyptian

maat as giving meaning and directions to characters and behaviours with an object of sustaining

and rewarding good and punishing evil (Nabudere, 2007), the Acoli act of “Ryemo Gemo” does

equally the same; the practice is a manifestation of a relationship that governs all aspects of

existence, extending from the Creator (God) and the heavenly bodies, and nature (cosmology) to

the ontological (reality and existence). The relationship defines the complex moral, social,

economic and political existence of a human being. Further, Acholi spirituality, cosmology and

ontology relates quite well with Augustinian theme on “harmony”. St. Augustine in his master

pieces; De Confessiones (The Confession), De Trinitate (The Trinity) and De Civitate Dei (The

City of God) founds his theme on certain basic Christian principles, namely; the transcendence

and immateriality of human persons, as a “form of living” which interlaces human relational

rhythm and the apostolic mission towards the spiritual (God). It is here that St. Augustine argues

that life is only meaningful when it connects with the spiritual, making our mundane every day

experiences “an art of (spiritual) living” (Dueweke, 2004:24, 30).

Borrowing a phrase from Siegfried Morenz as cited by Maulana Karenga, this relationship so

described and embodied in the ritual of “Ryemo Gemo” is the morality of balance in the spiritual

realm, “nature” and “society” (Karenga, 2004). From time immemorial, “Ryemo Gemo” in Acoli

Page 13

therefore, kept the balance of the universe and perpetuated peaceful coexistence. Consequently,

the beating of any noise-making part of nature or cooking utensils, is to demonstrate the

symbolic significance and explicit verbalisation of the termination of the cosmic conflict (rac

piny) by chasing away or casting out the cause of the consequence of the imbalance, Gemo,

resulting from gross misconduct, in order to attain healing, peaceful coexistence, and

reconnection with the spiritual world, and therefore balance, harmony and order. This harmony

and order is social and cosmological, a well-being connecting God, the living dead, humans,

nature and spirits in a relational way.

From the foregoing frame, the spiritual, the cosmological and ontological are in constant

communication, cyclic relationship, constant renewal, renegotiation and reconciliation so that

nothing abides in its self-ness but each influenced by the other. In a sense, the individuality of an

individual is a subset of the human society which itself is a subset of the whole universe. Human

conditions in general and, specifically in the case of the epidemic, are therefore to be interpreted

not in isolation but within this spiritio-cosmic and ontological frame, from which the solutions of

our problems are also sought. Similarly, studying and understanding a human person is therefore,

non-mechanistic as natural science purports but fundamentally spiritual and cosmic. This means,

the nature of reality is such that, what “is” is complex and interwoven with nature, the spiritual

and entire cosmos. That means, in understanding reality, we actually go beyond the material to

the non-material. But more importantly, the non-material is not a substance or complete in itself

but part of the complex spiritual and cosmic ordering that is knit together by the cosmic

consciousness.

Consequently, reality was to be sought at this level. It is in this sense that the human person is

therefore humanum and ius divinum, not in the sense of “both” but, “one and the same”. This

human reality therefore, makes the emphasis on spiritual and moral relation, and rectitude is

particularly important, in view of maintaining this cosmic balance and healthy social relation.

This therefore requires not just science but conduct and behavior that maintains or restores this

spiritual and cosmic relation and balance. Conduct and behavior are attributes of all beings and

are identifiable with the conscience in each being; human, animate and inanimate beings and yet

greater in the human persons. Within this cosmic relation, the conduct and behavior is also not

Page 14

just actions par excellence but more importantly, a spiritual connectedness with the spiritual and

each with the other.

In this sense therefore, the Acoli ontology is not conceived in the transcendental aspect by

separating it from its attributes or ‘force’. The spiritual (what Placide Tempels calls “Force”), is a

necessary element in being and is inseparable from the definition of being (ontology) (Placide,

1959). Secondly, beings are bound together, and preserve a bond with one another, forming an

intimate ontological relationship. Thus, the Western concept of a being as ‘being as such’, namely

beings entirely independent of one another, is foreign to Acoli thought. The beings are also

differentiated into species according to their spiritual attributes (vital force) (Placide, 1959). As a

result, the Acoli ontological hierarchy places the followings, one after the other; Jok-Jok ka

malo, Lacwec, Rubanga (God) who is, above all beings and below him, we have Kwaro (the first

fathers of the Acoli), Jo muto (the living dead), Rwot (King and Chiefs), Ludito (elders), Coo

(men), Mon (women), Lutino (children) and the least forces like Lee (animals), Yadi (plants) and

Jammi ma pe kwo (inanimate beings).

It is important therefore, at this stage, to have a closer look at this ontological hierarchy and what

each group signifies; above all other beings is Jok-Jok ka malo, or Rubanga (God), who has

force in himself and increases force of other beings. The importance accorded to Him in Acoli

becomes clear in names given to Him: Jok-Jok ka malo (the highest Jok that controls all other

jogi), Lacwec (Creator), Rubanga Latwee (Almighty God), Langee jammi duc (All-knowing),

Rwot pinaka naka (Lord for all time and space). What we see here is Jok-Jok ka malo or

Rubanga as the highest being or force. At this point, we wish to point out that the words

Rubanga and Lacwec were adopted by the Acoli as a forced concept of the High God as

conceived by the Christian Missionaries (Okot, 1971, Okot, 1990, Clazzolara, 1938). Jok-Jok ka

malo (Rubanga), is the Absolute Reality, the origin of all that was, is and will be; the Absolute

Ground, the Sole and the Explanation of the universe.

Next in the hierarchy are Kwaro (ancestors); the founders of the different clans, to whom God

first communicated his vital force. They constitute the most important chain binding human

beings (who are still living) to God and so they occupy an exalted position in Acoli thought. In

Page 15

solving any social misunderstanding for example, an Acoli would say, “kwaro wa pe mito ni

wabed ki adega dega ikinwa (Our ancestors do not want us to nurse hatred amongst ourselves)”.

In a traditional marriage ceremony, familiarization and friendship making, you hear words like;

“kwaro ni nga (who is your ancestor)”? Or, “I aa ki ite kwaro or kaka mene (from which

ancestor or clan do you descend)”?

The Rwot (King or Chief) comes immediately after the ancestors because he is the overall

administrator of the people, and carries out the policies that God, ancestors and the people

command and want respectively. His significance is evident in, for example, the following

saying: “Cam wa ki ipoto oto ducu pien rwot cwinye pe yom (Our crops have all withered

because the chief is not happy)’. This is further manifest in the fact that every year, part of every

new or first harvests from the gardens of every family within the chiefdom are offered to the clan

chief. The Ludito (elders) come immediately after the chiefs. The Ludito are the custodians of the

knowledge and heritage of the clan. Its significance can be derived from sayings, such as: “Peko

eni, wan lotino per watwero, ulwong ludito gang (This problem is beyond our capacity as youths,

invite the elders)” and, “Ladit ka pe, ci gang otur (Without an elder, a home is dead/crumbled)”.

After the elders are, Coo (men) who are responsible for security and administration of the

homesteads, “Gang”; “Gang man oto ba”, as women would lament, “coo pe (This home is dead,

men are not there!)”, ‘Mony opoto! Coo tye kwene? (War has broken out! Where are the men?)”,

“Wilobo olanya”, as a widow cries for her dead husband, “anga ma cor na kodi, tonga yen, pura

poto! (What a cruel world, who will sow for me the seeds in the garden, cut down trees/logs, dig

the garden)”.

Mon (Women) come slightly after the men, as the following sayings show: “Mego en acel (a

proverb meaning, a mother is available and always beside the child, no matter the situation)”,

Labongo mon, gang pe cung matir (Without women, a home cannot stand). Lutino (children)

come last in the chain of human relationships, but are very important: “Nywal ber (Giving birth

is very important)”, “Lutino aye deyo (Children are blessing)”, “Anga ber loyo cente ni? (Who is

this, who is more important than money?)”. The last level is the animate and inanimate beings

that form part and parcel of beings, with the following signification: “Lee gwoko paco (Animals

are very useful in a home)”, “Labongo yadi, cam pe (Without plants, there is no food)”, “Jammi

Page 16

ma pe kwo ducu pi gi tek. Wamato pii, wayubu agulu dek ki lobo bene (All inanimate beings are

very important. We drink water, and we make our cooking pots using clay)”.

Conclusion

The spiritual, ontological and cosmological structuring in Acoli is thus clear and consequently,

each and every being (especially humans) knows one’s specialized tasks and, ought to perform

them. Failure to live up to this expectation, or behaving in manners contrary to the norms and

expectations results in a rebuke, punishment or the wrath (epidemic) from Jok-Jok ka malo (God)

on oneself, family, clan and or the whole society. Thus, actions and conducts that contribute to

the stability and dynamic of this order are judged as good, while those that create instability are

seen as bad. Let us note here that, while the Acoli cosmology and ontology celebrate stability

through the preservation of a network of spiritual and social ties, it is not rigid and reactionary.

The beings in this hierarchy interact and influence each other, either negatively or otherwise.

Either way, this influence makes the ontology dynamic and refurbishing. It is also important to

remind ourselves that human beings, as part, come with their different experiences. Such a

situation impacts dynamically on the cosmology and ontology, suggesting that it is the living

organism that constantly needs spiritual intervention.

This is likened to a Christian who is as well human and limited, and therefore through the act of

repentance, seeks spiritual intervention in re-ordering his every day. It ought to be clear that

every misconduct of the human race, especially in serious matters causes an imbalance to the

spiritio-cosmic and ontological order and relation. Such a disorder, when has reached its extreme

attracts proportionate punishment from the merciful Supreme Being, Jok-Jok ka malo (God).

When the retributions of God descends upon man and his belongings e.g. cows (with epidemic of

mouth and foot disease), chicken and poultry (with coccidiosis), and pigs (with epidemic of

swine fever), then man has to do all it takes to re-establish the equilibrium and relational order

between the spiritual, and cosmological. The retributions can come in form of a disorder in the

inanimate e.g. repeated serious earth quakes, strong ocean wings e.g. tsunamis, and unexplained

wild fires. On the other hand, the imbalance may lead to mass ill-health and epidemics to humans

e.g. the plagues of the 1500s.

Page 17

The solutions to these cosmo-spiritual imbalances and disorders lie within the cosmospiritio-

ontological relation, and that requires the invocation of the chain of relations from the Supreme

Being through the Chiefs, elders, the people and the inanimate beings. In the context of the Acoli

people, this process of re-establishing the balance between the spiritual and cosmological realms,

supposedly occasioned by gross misconduct on the part of mankind is referred to as “Ryemo

Gemo”. The ritual of “Ryemo Gemo” is therefore an effort to return to the state of peaceful co-

existence and balance between humankind and God, humankind and humankind, and humankind

and nature.

“Ryemo Gemo”, therefore is an old practice of mass cleansing of the community of calamities

and epidemic of illnesses affecting several members of the community and with severe

devastating effects on the people and their environment. The Acoli do not need to gather in large

numbers to perform this cleansing process. Only the council of elders in charge of rituals, usually

no more than 5 to 10 members, get together to deliberate on the process of cleansing. The rest of

the processes are observed and performed by the people at their individual homesteads. If

COVID 19 strikes Acoliland, God forbids, and the elders so consult and the Clan Deities

unanimously agree that COVID 19 is a Gemo, then the process of “Ryemo Gemo” would be

rightfully invoked, and could thus produce the expected result of ridding Acoliland of COVID

19.

In this case, COVID 19, an epidemic affecting humankind directly would be considered a

consequence of some mass persistent misconduct by humankind which greatly angered the

Supreme Being (Jok-Jok ka malo), the Spiritual, to the extent that He considered punishing

humankind with a sickness because the misconduct could have been disorganizing the world

order, the Cosmological. We need to point out that this mass cleansing process does not

counteract any biomedical measures to deal with COVID 19. The process of “Ryemo Gemo”

when conducted as described above would be complementary rather than opposing established

biomedical measures to fight COVID 19.

However, there is no record that the Acoli Clan Chiefs through their diviners and elders in charge

of rituals have consulted with their Clan Deities and come to the consensus that COVID 19 is a

Page 18

Gemo, an imbalance of mass effect that requires mass cleansing of the societies through the

renowned process of “Ryemo Gemo” ritual. In our considered view, and based on deep

consultation with the Clan Chiefs and Elders as well as religious leaders in Acoli, the purported

“Ryemo Gemo” of March 2020 in Acholi was not a thing of Acoli but some individuals who

never followed the full process and declaration of “Gemo”. It was therefore a sham “Ryemo

Gemo”, perhaps in rehearsal for the real “Ryemo Gemo” if and when it will become so necessary.

References

AUGUSTINE, St. 1997. The Confessions. Trans. by Boulding, I.M. Hyde Park, NY: New City

Press.

AUGUSTINE, St. 1958. The City of God. Trans. by Walsh, G., Zema, D., Monahan,G., &

Honan, D. New York: Doubleday.

AUGUSTINE, St. 1991. The Trinity. Trans. by Rotelle, J. Brooklyn, NY: New City Press.

CLAZZOLARA, J. P. 1938. A study of the Acoli language. London.

DUEWEKE, R.F. 2004. The Augustinian Theme of Harmony: A Contribution of a Spiritual

Tradition to a Better Understanding of the Self and Others. Ph.D. Thesis: Ottawa, St. Paul

University.

KARENGA, M. 2004. Maat: The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt. New York: Routledge.

KLEINMAN, A. 1978. Concepts and a model for the comparison of medical systems as cultural systems.

Soc Sci Med, 12, 85-95.

KLEINMAN, A. 1980. Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture. Berkeley: University of California

Press, pp. 104 – 18.

KLEINMAN, A., EISENBERG, L. & GOOD, B. 1978. Culture, illness, and care: clinical lessons from

anthropologic and cross-cultural research. Ann Intern Med, 88, 251-8.

MAMDANI, M. 2009. Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror, USA: Pantheon

Books.

NABUDERE, D. W. 2007. Religion and Spirituality: African Metaphysics and Conflict Resolution. In,

State of East Africa: Searching for the Soul of East Africa, Nairobi: Society for International

Development.

OKOT, P. B. 1971. Religion of the Central Luo. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam,

Kampala.

Page 19

OKOT, P. B. 1990. African Religions in European Scholarship. New York: ECA Associates.

PLACIDE, T. 1959. Bantu Philosophy. Paris: Présence Africaine.

Page 1

Responses to Illnesses and Disorders of Epidemic and Pandemic Proportions.

Acoli Spirituality, Ontology and Cosmology of ‘Ryemo Gemo’

Daniel Komakech, Ph.D. (Gulu University)