Imagery to illustrate the existence of spirits
John Mbiti narrates a story of how two of his friends encountered spirits on a journey in the chapter, 'Spiritual Beings, Spirits and the Living Dead.' The story goes on to say that the friends were singing and the spirits started throwing rocks at them. Then there appeared a fire in which they say shadowy figures striking each other with whips. This eventful tale of the journey in which Mbiti's friends encountered spirits is so vivid that the reader pictures it as they read it.
Imagery to explain the creation of man by coming out of a vessel
In the chapter 'The Creation and Original State of Man', Mbiti narrates the Azande creation story that says that man was trapped in a canoe that the sons of God, who in this case are moon, sun, stars, cold and night tried to open but failed. The sun was later successful for it melted the seal and man came out. This story is so vivid that someone can picture the sun melting the canoe and man coming out of it.
The Maasai creation story
The author tells a very dramatic tale of how man came from a knee or leg of some other being. This creation story is believed to have been how man came about by several communities among which are the Maasai. The story goes on to say that man was in a knee that got so swollen that it eventually burst such that a male person came from one side and a female person from the other. The story is so vivid that a reader can see the images of the story in his mind. Such is the potency of imagery.
The cause of the separation between man and and God
The chapter,'The Creation and Original State of Man', tries to show how man got separated from God. The Ashanti have a story that tells thatGod lived close to men until he decided to move away from them. The mother of these men was constantly knocking God with her pestle while pounding the traditional food, fufu. God decided to move up higher to get away from the knocking. Hence the separation between man and God. The story has used imagery that makes it alive and can be pictured by the reader can see the knocking with the pestle in his or her mind.
