Moyo · Heart
Moyo Mugonderwa is a Shona clan whose totem is Moyo, the heart. Its men are greeted as Mugonderwa and Mugondi, and the detembo adds Varasa, Chagonda, Nyamayavo and Gonoren'ombe; its women are greeted as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo. Its short praise poem is about a clan of cattle and milk.
Maita Moyo Mugonderwa, Zvaitwa Varasa, Muteve wangu yuyu,
Maita Moyo, Chagonda, Nyamayavo, Mauya ngei Mushayachirashwa?
Mukaka tinomwa, Mafuta tichizora. Maita Mugondi,
N'ombe huru, Kuziva zvenyu Gonoren'ombe, Aiwa zvaonekwa Moyo,
Nyamayavo.
Your mutupo and its detembo as an image for WhatsApp, your status or a post, carrying the Kwaunobva mark.
The Mugonderwa detembo greets the clan as Moyo Mugonderwa and Varasa, holds it close as 'Muteve wangu yuyu', this Muteve of mine, and gives it the names Chagonda and Nyamayavo. Then it asks, 'Mauya ngei Mushayachirashwa?', what brings you, you who have nothing to throw away.
The rest is about cattle. The clan drinks the milk and smears on the fat, and is praised as Mugondi, as N'ombe huru, the great beast, and as Gonoren'ombe, the bull of the herd. It ends where it began, on Moyo and Nyamayavo: 'Aiwa zvaonekwa Moyo, Nyamayavo'.
Those who carry a totem do not eat its animal. Some families keep away from one part of it only, such as the heart, and the old belief holds that a person who breaks the rule loses their teeth.
The praise names are for every day, not only for ceremonies: a person is greeted by them, thanked with them, and a wife praises her husband with his.
Moyo Mugonderwa mutupo weMoyo. Varume vanokudzwa seMugonderwa naMugondi, vakadzi seMaMoyo naVapamoyo. Detembo ravo rinovadaidza kuti Varasa, Chagonda naNyamayavo. Rinovarumbidza seN'ombe huru neGonoren'ombe, vanonwa mukaka nokuzora mafuta.
Men are greeted as Mugonderwa and Mugondi, and the detembo also calls the clan Varasa, Chagonda, Nyamayavo, Muteve, Mushayachirashwa, N'ombe huru and Gonoren'ombe. Women are greeted as MaMoyo or Vapamoyo.
The bull of the herd: a gono is a grown male beast, and n'ombe are cattle. The Mugonderwa detembo gives the clan this name beside N'ombe huru, the great beast.
Traditionally, people of the same mutupo and chidawo do not marry: they are counted as one family. Between different Moyo clans some families allow it, often after a ceremony that cuts the kinship (kucheka ukama).
Pick your totem and clan once. The app greets you by your praise name after that.
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