The Hermeneutics of Consecrated Power;A Critical Semiotic Analysis of Witchcraft Cleansingin WimbumSociety

Language use, mediated through the written text of thespoken form, is without doubt the most important and fascinating methodWimbum people employ to enhance the communication process for the expression and transfer of their social facts, scientific and cultural knowledge and skills to achieve social stability. This study, sets out to collect, examine and describe this special kind of spoken text in which is manifested the consecrated power of language as observed during witchcraft cleansing rite among the Wimbum of Donga Mantung Division. The objective is to analyse and explain typical utterances, nonverbalsigns, and symbols used during witchcraft purification in the Wimbum communityas ademonstration of the extraordinary nature of language of power operating within the context of the Wimbum tradition and culture. The ethnography of speaking, propounded by ethno-methodologists provides relevant techniques in the collection and treatment of typical utterances, nonverbalsigns, and symbols that occur during its enactment.The case-centric approach wasused including reports of cases of observable life accounts, Instances of speech acts in Limbum, as well as audio and video records wereobtained directly from informants, transcribed and translated into English. The data was then analyzed following a combined theory of the sign and the critical semiotic theory to text analysis.After the analysis, one interesting finding, amongst others, reveals that in Wimbum society, the chief celebrant is endowed with consecrated power in order to play a multiplicity of important roles including that of the custodian of the palace, village exorcist, judge, magistrate, and attorney general. As a result of these powers, he is the only competent authority to reverse any witchcraft spells. Besides, this cleansing rite, which involves the participation of several actors, assumes the character of a dramatic performance staged in one act seven different scenes as stipulated by the Wimbumtradition, synonymous to any modern court procedure for establishing and sanctioning an accused; beginning with the court hearing, cross examination, establishing the truth, revocation, applying the law, passing judgment and implementing the sanction,meant to perpetrate social justice and restore social cohesion in mbumland.