Ilmorog’s “diviner” and mysterious spiritual leader, Mwathi wa Mugo advises the town elders on matters of spirituality and serious difficulty. When Wanja comes to Ilmorog seeking advice for her infertility, her grandmother Nyakinyua takes her to Mwathi wa Mugo, who suggests Wanja should have sex on the new moon to get pregnant but also accuses her of having sinned. Wanja takes his advice but does not confess to him that she killed her first baby. During Ilmorog’s drought, Mwathi wa Mugo tells the village elders to sacrifice a goat and Abdulla’s donkey; saving the donkey, which Abdulla loves, is part of Karega and Wanja’s motivation to organize Ilmorog’s delegation seeking aid from MP Nderi wa Riera to mitigate the drought’s effects. The elders do sacrifice the goat, though not the donkey; when the drought ends, they credit Mwathi wa Mugo. When developers build part of the Trans-Africa Road through Mwathi wa Mugo’s sacred land, they discover materials of archeological importance; the road is diverted, and academics descend on the site. The displacement of Mwathi wa Mugo by development (the road) and academics (formal, colonial education) represents European-controlled, capitalist modernity’s destruction of Ilmorog’s traditional way of life.
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Mwathi wa Mugo Character Timeline in Petals of Blood
The timeline below shows where the character Mwathi wa Mugo appears in Petals of Blood. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...he teaches shepherds’ children outside on the grave of the legendary Ndemi. Offended, the diviner Mwathi wa Mugo orders Munira reprimanded, and an elderly woman Nyakinyua defecates hugely in the schoolyard....
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...their way of life: they barter as much as they use money, consult the diviner Mwathi wa Mugo about when to plant crops, and argue in Abdulla’s bar about whether farming...
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Chapter 3
...baby, tried to conceive, and couldn’t. In Ilmorog, at Nyakinyua’s suggestion, she sought advice from Mwathi wa Mugo, who told her to have sex on the new moon. Now she has...
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Chapter 5
...farmers, including Njuguna, are sitting outside Abdulla’s. They’re discussing the drought, the possible failure of Mwathi wa Mugo’s powers, and the U.S. and USSR’s plans to send astronauts to the moon,...
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Chapter 6
...the middle of May, Wanja meets Munira and Karega at the school and tells them Mwathi wa Mugo has ordered the townspeople to sacrifice both Abdulla’s donkey and a goat. Wanja...
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Chapter 7
...this outcome as an expression of humankind’s impotence compared to God; the older townspeople believe Mwathi’s sacrifice brought the rain. All the townspeople celebrate.
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Chapter 10
...she realized she wanted children. She visited Nyakinyua seeking advice, and Nyakinyua took her to Mwathi wa Mugo, who told her to have sex outside under a new moon.
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Chapter 11
...sporadic market is institutionalized to sell to these men’s needs. Eventually, the road workers raze Mwathi wa Mugo’s house, which is in the way of their planned development—only to discover that...
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...are eaten.” Then she says that she’s longed for a child; when she went to Mwathi wa Mugo, he told her to confess—but she felt unable to tell him that she’d...
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