the finite but far more involved ancestral or nature spirits with whom we have the most to deal. The Luguru of East Africa, for example, say that the earth was made by the high god Mulungu, but he is not normally concerned with human affairs. He is given no prayers or sacrifices; they are made rather to the mitsimu, or ancestral spirits. In these and many other instances the existence of a supreme god is acknowledged, but he becomes less and less relevant to the lives of ordinary people. Whether