THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE EDUCATlOf^

STUDY MATERIAL
2010

(a
n
COURSE: RS 202
 RS202

INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA II

PREPARED BY:
DR. AUSTIN CHEYEKA
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART II: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL

RELIGIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA.............................................................................. I
Introduction........................................................................................................................... I
MAP...................................................................................................................................... 2
Aims...................................................................................................................................... 2
Objectives.............................................................................................................................. 3
Unit One: Origins of Bantu Beliefs................................................................................ 7
Unit Two: Belief in Witchcraft....................................................................................... 35
Unit Three: Divination...................................................................................................... 44
Unit Four: Methods of Divination................................................................................... 50
Unit Five: Witchcraft Eradication Movements............................................................... 66
Unit Six: Rites of Passage............................................................................................. 75
Unite Seven: Rites of Passage............................................................................................... 88
Unit Eight: Women in Traditional African Religions...................................................... 99
Unit Nine: Bantu Spirituality................................................................................................ 108
Unit Ten: Meeting of Indigenous Religions and Christianity............................................... 113
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 123
 BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS IN
CENTRAL AFRICA.

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to part two of the module. It will lead you into understanding the beliefs of the Bantu people of Southern Africa. Religion, any
religion, is organised around beliefs. To most onlookers belief can be irrational, superstitions or simply foolishness. In this module we look
3t the essential parts of African traditional religion. In this religion, beliefs focus on God. spirits, human life, magic, witchcraft and life
beyond death.
As you are well aware, in general, the study of African traditional religions has fallen far behind other disciplines. The treatment of religion
seems to lack an adequate overall vision and clear concepts, such as those found, for example in agricultural, economic and political Studies.
A major challenge is to discover trustworthy wavs of tracing religious beliefs and practices back from the present to the distant past.

By exposing you to the beliefs of the Bantu speaking people of Southern Africa, the module is telling you that indigenous religions are still
alive and kicking despite the heavy presence of Islam and Christianity in Southern Africa.
MAP
Part two of the module may be challenging for you if you have been uprooted from your traditions by modernity or Christianity and more so
if you claim to he a Pentecostal or Charismatic Christian. We, therefore, urge you to learn from the last part of the module and see how its
content are obtaining in societies.

AIMS
The aims of this second part of the module arc to:
♦ explain belief in indigenous religions in Southern African.
• describe beliefs of the Bantu speaking people in Southern African
• discuss changing ideas of God in Southern Africa.
• analyse the relationship between witchcraft and religion in Southern African Bantu Societies.
• discuss divination.
• describe rite of passage and the sacred role of woman.
• trace the origins of beliefs in
- God
- Territorial shrines
- Possession spirits
- Life after death

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 - Royal/Chiefly spirits
- Witchcraft Hunting spirits
- Lineage spirits

OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of pari two, you should be able to

• describe cults resulting from beliefs.

• describe witchcraft as part of Bantu cosmology.
• discuss divination.
• discuss the Phenomenon of spirit possession and the healing process through Ngoma.
• explain the position of God in Bantu cosmology.
• describe rile of passage and the sacred position of women.

RESOURCES
If you have not yet done so, you should buy the following books: Carmody, B(cd) (2004). Religion and Education in '/.amhia, Ndola:
Mission Press; Mbiti, .1 (2000). (2 nd ed.) Introduction to African Traditional Religion, Nairobi: EAEP; Magesa. L (1997). African Religion,
Nairobi: Paulines and Henze, J. (2007). (ed.). Some Basics of Religious

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Education in /.umbia, Ndola: Mision Press. You should also have personal copy of a dictionary.

LIST OF UNITS
Unit One: Origins of Bantu Beliefs
Unit Two: Belief in Witchcraft

Unit Three: Divination

Unit Four: Methods of Divination
Unit Five: Witchcraft Eradication Movements
Unit Six: Belief in God
Unit Seven: Rites of Passage

Unit Eight: Bantu Spirituality

50%
ASSESSMENT
30%
Assessment Two
20%
assignments One
50%
test
Final Examination

REQUIRED READINGS
Cannody. B. (cd.) (2004). Religion and Education in 'Zambia, Ndola: Mission Press

Cheycka. A. (2007). 'Teaching Zambian Traditional Religious in Education:

Methodological Considerations', in Henze, J. (2007). (ed.). .Some Basics of Religious Education in Zambia, Ndola: Mission
Press.

Colson. E . (2000). Tonga Religious Life in the Twentieth Country, Lusaka: Rook world

Mbiti. J. (2000). Introduction to African Religion (2nJ ed). Nairobi: EAEP

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RECOMMENDED READINGS
Carmody, B (cd.) (2004) Religion and Education in Zambia, Ndola: Mission Press

Colson, C. (9154). '"Hie Tonga’, in International Archives of Ethnography. XI. VII, Part 1: 1954).

Flynn, E. (2002). ‘Clash of Cults - Royal and Traditional Cults in Central Africa’. In AAP. 69 (2002): 63-101.

Idovvu, E. B. (1973). African Traditional Religion. Definition, London : SC-M Library.

Magesa, L. (1997). African Religion, Nairobi: Paulines.

Mbiti, J (1991) Introduction to African religion, Nairobi: F.ALP.

Morris, Brian {1987) Anthropological Studies of Religion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Olupona, J. K. (cd.) (2000) African Spirituality. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company.

P’ Bitek. O (1970) African Religions in Western Scholarship, Kampala: East African Literature Bureau.

Pairinder, G.(1954). African Traditional Religion, London: Hutchinson's University. Rasing, Thera (1996) Passing on the Rites of Passage,

Amsterdam: Avebury.

Ray. B (1916) Africa 's Religions, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Schoffelccrs, .1. M. (ed). (1979). Guardians of the I.und, Cfv.eru: Mambo Press.

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Turner, Vidor (1975) Revelation and Divination in Ndembu Ritual, London & Ithaca: Cornel
University Press.

Van Dijk, R et al (cds) (2000) The Quest for Fruition through Ngoma, Oxford: J. Cuncy.

Vansina. J. (1990). Paths in the- Rainforests, London: James Currey.

Zucssc. E. M (1979) Ritual Cosmsos: the Sanctification of Life in African Religions, Athens, Oh:
Ohio university Press.

.■)
 UNIT ONE

ORIGINS OF BANTU BELIEFS

 UNIT ONE

ORIGINS OF BANTU BELIEFS

1.0. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Unit One entitled origins of Bantu Beliefs. There is a general concern among scholars that African traditional religions are Iasi
disappearing and being replaced by more revivalist Islam and fundamentalist Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity. While it is true that
indigenous rituals, ceremonies, and festivals in several regions of the continent are declining., at the same lime forms of evitalization of
indigenous traditions, especially given the influence of transnational and diaspora communities are taking place on the continent. It is also
the case that African religious worldview, rituals, and belief systems such as witchcraft and ‘magic' still hold sway in many places (Jacob K.
Olupona, University' of California, 2006)

Part two of the module tries to show you that indigenous religions arc still alive. Remember we have said that traditional African religions
are intricately joined with cultures and traditions of the people. However, we would like you to pick out the religious aspects of the Bantu
speaking people. Traditional African religions underpin the lives of all Zambians, so much so that we can regard them as pari of Zambian
culture in a way that does not depend on being registered as an organized, established Church. The indigenous religions carry a rich ethnic
heritage, seen in the beliefs and cultural practices of the different ethnic groupings of Zambia. The Bcmba, Chewa, ngoni, Tonga. Lozi.
Lunda. Luvalc, etc., each holds their own view of birth, death, initiation, procreation and marriage. Many practices have died away, because
of such rapid social changes as urbanization but in the rural areas of Zambia especially, the indigenous religions arc strong. You will find
Par. Two interesting because it makes you realize that despite the heavy presence of Islam and Christianity in this part of Africa. African
traditional religions are alive and kicking.
Many people even experts, talk as if African religions had no past and remained unchanging, forever tire same. In his book. Africa's Three
Religions. Geoffrey Parrinder explained Christianity and Islam by Showing how each one had developed historically, but he treated African
Traditional Religions as if they had no past and completely lacked any history'. I'o say: “Africans believe in ancestors/spirits, etc” is quite
inadequate: it selects one moment of the time out of the whole history of a people and treats it as if all other moments of history were
identical with iL Terence Ranger (1972:2) refers to this style of writing as using “the idiom of a timeless ethnographic present.”
Elizabeth Colson (1962) made use of such ait ‘ethnographic present* when she wrote about Mizimu among the Tonga but in her introduction
she drew attention to what she was doing and gave reasons why she found this practice unsatisfactory. This approach to African Tradition
Religions must now be condemned. Another defect is also shown by phrases, such as. “Africans believe in ancestors/spirits, etc.” Some
authors present material with the hidden assumption that there is in fact one religion which is common to all Africa's people, despite their

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diversity, such as Nilotic, Sudanic, and Bantu etc. Authors use the utmost ingenuity trying to find a key to link the many opposing elements
into a coherent whole. Minor similarities are given undue prominence. Important differences arc ignored or discounted. Elements recently
introduced arc treated as if they were found in the most distant past Ibis approach is now regarded as out-of-date and unacceptable.

U OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• Explain the origins of traditional African religious beliefs
• God
• Territorial shrines
• Hunting spirits
• Witchcraft
• Royal/Chiefly spirits
• Lineage spirits

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 c-^ o4<^-<-
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— ' w s ^ ' / y ; ^ c v S<wv„i o.y ^tC t-vo-A^

1.2 A HISTORICAL PRINCIPLE

The original people who now inhabit South Africa arc known as the Proto-Bantu. We l»vc already dealt with their history and so there is
no need to go into detail about it here. You know that there were two groups of Bantu. Hast cm and Western. From this we can develop a
historical key to the distant past, to the time of the Proto-Bantu. Everything in culture or religion that is widely found in both Eastern and
Western Bantu speaking peoples dates back to the lime before they were separated from each other.
This principle is now applied to religious data drawn from linguistic and cultural sources. The greatest care must be used in extrapolating
so far back into the past. Only items found all over the Bantu area can be postulated as belonging to their original language or culture. The
further back we go the more tentative will be the conclusions.

13 EARLY BANTU CULTURE AND RELIGION

In this section we try to make you build up a picture of early Bantu religion. Evidence which is mainly linguistic is drawn from
Comparative Bantu Linguistics by M. Guthrie (1969-70) and Paths in the Rainforest by J. Vansina (1990).

13.1 Bantu Linguistics

Take note that a major key to Bantu history lies in comparative linguistics. The Bantu originated from one source and today occupy wide
areas of central eastern and southern Africa. Over the past 150 years scholars have been trying to determine the number of Bantu languages
and their relationship with one another. They speculated on the exact place of origin of the Bantu. It has now been determined that that the
Bantu-speaking peoples originated in the Cameroon.
Between 1969 and 1970 Malcom Guthrie produced four volumes of comparative Bantu linguistics. 1 Ie produced lists of words which arc
identical in meaning and have the same linguistic form in a large number of Bantu languages. He postulated that these words were very
ancient and were therefore pan of the original language spoken by the Proto- Bantu.

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A word which comes from ihe original Bantu language is called •inherited.' The easiest way to recognise such a word is tfor you o plot its
distribution on a map. If a word occurs in all parts of the Bantu world in areas which are well separated from each other, that word must have
been inherited from the original Bantu. The rule is:

Words which have a widespread, broken distribution in both Eastern and Western Bantu are classified as
proto-Bantu.

132 Village Life

C.S Proto-Bantu Meaning Bemba

1798 *-ntu person utnunlu

1922 *-yana child umwana
818 village umushi
1265 *-kumuch.\cf imfumu
225 *-buda rain imfuia
1965 *-yedi moon.’months umweshi

16.10 *-ra war

1631 *-ta bow uhuta

From these words you can see that the general picture shows the early Bantu living in villages with a *-kumu in charge. ‘Ihe moon marked
tire months and the annual drop in rainfall marked the years. Villages grew up in clusters with uninhabited areas separating one settlement
area from another. People had to defend themselves if attacked and they used bows and arrows as weapons. Vansina (1990:80) suggests dial
there were two types of war. a restricted kind which was controlled by the elders: and a destructive kind where houses and gardens were
burned by the victors. Two qualities were therefore essential, loyally to one's own people and courage in defence of life and properly.

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 1.3.3 The Daily Diet

cs Proto-Bantu Meaning Bcmba

550 *-di eat ukulya

174 *-bua dog imbwa

1909 •-nyama animal munyama - Tonga

1910 •-nvama meat inama

185 •-budi goat imbushi

849 *-gombe cattle ing'ombc
71 •-beetle breast ibccle

72 *-bccdc udder ibelc

73 •-beede milk

Write a statement to explain the above table.

Yam and oil palm formed the basic diet bat the Bantu ceased to plant them after leaving the forest edge and so words for these crops are not
found in all areas. Many vegetables were grown in kitchen gardens and there was generally plenty to cat. Cattle were found among the Proto-
Bantu but they could not survive in the forests. Goats could live anywhere. Milk formed an important part of the diet. Animals entering the
gardens were caught in traps and added variety to the diet. The dog had been domesticated from very early times. With regard to song and
dance, you can find more information in the following table.

1.3.4 Song and Dance

CS Proto-Bantu Meaning Bcmba

844 ^-goma drum ingoma
147 *-bin dance kueinda
1063 ''-kin dance

2009 *,-yimb sing ukwimba

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 942 *-yimbo song
2010 *-jimbo song uhvimbo

312 *-cek laugh inseko

Ihcsc words suggest tliat song, dance and laughter were central to Bantu life and culture from ihe earliest times. Significant events in the
lives of the family were celebrated with joy. For example the birth of a child, the coming of age of a girl, a marriage in the home were events
which called for a feast, l’alm wine added to the occasion. Addoitionall) there were vices and virtues in Bantu life, took at the table which
follows.

1.3.5 Vices and Virtues

cs Proto-Bantu Meaning Bcmba

97 *-bi bad ububi

380 *-conj shame insoni

1827 *-tuk abuse ukutukana

2020 *-yib steal ukwiba

2025 *-yibi thief imfwiti

205S *-yim refuse to give

822 •-gid abstain

From the tabic above you should note that the original language gives some indication of what was seen as good and bad in human conduct.
Stealing was a problem and wc can conclude that the good person was one who did not steal. It seems that generosity was a central value
because the term t-yim (refuse to give), had already developed to identify its opposite. Abusive language was not acceptable. Evil conduct
brought *-conj (shame) and it was labelled as '-hi (bad) with a metaphor indicating that it bore a resemblance to rotten vegetables. The
concept of *-gid (to abstain) had also been established but it is difficult to determine in what circumstances it applied. Next there were spitits.
\we can clarify this in the following table.

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cs Proto-Bantu Meaning Bemba

561 •-did cry ukulila

617 *-dim become extinguished ) ukusbima
61X *-dimu lineage spirit umupashi

1249 *-ku die ukufwa

The word *-dimu (mizimu) came originally from the verb *-dim (kushima/time: to become extinguished). When a fire goes out. the ashes still
remain behind as a sign and the memory of the fire. Vansina (1990:297) suggests that the word originally meant the long deceased. The word
developed among the Eastern and Western Bantu in different ways. Is there such a word in your own language? Write it and then read the
following two paragraphs.

On meeting the Central Sudanic people the Eastern Bantu learned an extra word for spirits. As soon as they had two words the Eastern Bantu
were able to make a big step forward in their religious though. They used the word mizimu for lineage spirits and the new word*-govo for
territorial spirits. From that time onwards the word mizimu was restricted to family members who had died. Offerings were made to them to
show that they were still remembered. The Eastern Bantu became noteworthy because the word mizimu was used for lineage spirits in their
languages everywhere.

Among the Western Bantu the word mizimu had a different history. When a Big Man died, People remembered him and spoke of his mizimu.
Offerings were made to his spirit so that he could continue to guide his people as he had done when he was alive. 1'he final result was that
the word, 'mizimu' was not used for lineage spirits for which new words were introduced, such as nzambi (Kongo) imipashi (Bemba), ikishi
or vakulu (Luvale/l.unda). What were 'mizimu' in your -.language? Another aspect in Bantu life is sickness.
1.3.7 Sickness

CS Proto-Bantu Meaning Beraba

785 *-gang tie up
786 ♦-gang*a medicine man ing’anga
787 *-gang1 a medicine ubwanga
1729 •-ti tree umuti

1730 *-ti medicine umuti

From the tabic above you can see that sickness was interpreted at separate levels. It could be seen as a simple ailment requiring medicine; it

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could be seen as evil caused by an evil person as we will mention later or it could be seen as a message from the spirit world calling to the
living, asking them to remember the dead and make offerings to them. The widespread distribution of these words *-ti (medicine) shows that
they formed part of the original Proto-Bantu language and this in turn enables us to draw tentative conclusions about the thinking of the
Proto-bantu who used the word, *-ng’anga (medicine-man). It can be assumed that there were medical specialists in the community and
when people wanted medicines they went to them for advice. Guthrie (1969-70:0$ 787) suggests that the word *-gang'a (medicine) referred
to the active principle "that gave efficacy to any substance or object used as ‘medicine. 7 Below is the origin of ‘witchcraft’ in traditional
Bantu Societies.

1.3.8 Witchcraft

CS Proto-Bantu Meaning Bemba

644 *-dog bewitch kulowa

646 *-dogi witchcraft buloshi

786 ♦-gang’a medicine man mung/anga

Words associated with the root *-dogi (witchcraft), are very widespread and so wc can conclude that evil in society was sometimes blamed
on individuals in the community.
'A'hat did people do in cases when witchcraft was suspected? It seems reasonable to postulate that they consulted the *-ng 'anga (medicine-
man), fhc final picture that emerges is of a people whose daily round was determined by preparation of food and the usebold tasks of taking
care of the home. Time passing was noted by observing the changes in the moon and the decrease of rainfall which came annually. Crop
disasters and nes were rare. In the evenings people sat around the lire telling stories, laughing and talking together. Their lives were
dominated by family events. The ng’anga became the chief religious specialist to whom people turned in limes of trouble. Sickness was
often diagnosed as a message from the spiritual world, calling for the dead to be remembered. Serious crisis such as violent or sudden death,
made people suspect witchcraft.

1.4 LATER CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS

1.4.1 Matrilineal or Patrilineal?

Finbd out from your dictionary the meaning ‘matrilineal’ and ‘patruilinmcai’. From your ethnic group arc you ‘malrineal’ or ‘patrincal’?

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Explain why.
Descent among the Bantu today is generally traced along one line of either matrilineal or patrilineal. There is no sign that both of these two
ways of tracing descent go back to the earliest times. Vansina (1990:109) claims that for the Western Bantu the most ancient social unit was
the 'House’ understood as a ‘family’ and that descent in its most ancient form was ‘undifferentiated/ meaning that it could be traced through
cither parent. He further claims that patrilincage and matrilincagc were later innovations and were related to the succession of chiefs.
1.4.2 Territorial Spirits
You need to learn the history of the phenomenon of territorial spirits before we discuss them as we understand them today. The Central
Sudanie peoples honoured spirits associated with hills, rocks or waterfalls. Each spirit was responsible for a fixed territory and everyone who
lived in that area came to make offerings at his shrine. Individuals could come at any time to make an offering but every year people
gathered to pray for rain and to ask for their seeds to be blessed. Each shrine was under the control of hereditary priests.
When the Eastern Bantu moved away front the edge of the forest into the Great lakes region, they discovered that the climate was different. It
did not rain every day and there were long spells of dry weather during the year. Previously they had prayed for the rains to cease: now they
were worried in case the rains would not begin on time or would end too soon. 1 hey learned from the Central Sudanic peoples how to pray
to territorial spirits and to honour them, litis meant that the Eastern Bantu now had a division of responsibility in their spiritual world. They
prayed to lineage spirits for all matters dealing with the family. They prayed to territorial spirits for anything related to the rains or the crops.
The practice of venerating territorial spirits was found among the Eastern only after they met the Central Sudanic people and was not found
at all among the Chokwe, Lo/i. I.unda and Luvalc among the Western Bantu. The practice of venerating territorial spirits was not found
therefore, among the early Bantu.
1.4.2.1 Understanding territorial spirits in Bantu cosmology today:
First of all you should understand the definition of‘territorial cult’. Any territorial spirit attracts a cull around it. So. let us begin by defining a
‘territorial cult’. According to Schoffeleers quoted by Van Binsbergen (1999:47): "a territorial cult is an institution of spirit veneration,
proper to a land area, qhoae primary concern is the material and moral well-being of its population, archetypicaily represented by its rain-
caliing function, and whose immediate control is institutionally limited to an elite.” You also need to understand the meaning of 'shrine'. First
a shrine is an observable object or pari of the natural world, clearly localised and normally immobile. It is moreover a material focus of
religious activities, and perceived as such by the participants. There are only religious activities at the shrine.

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Religious activities at the shrine:

1. What believers do. e.g.. clearing a spot erecting a shrine, offering prayers, libations and
sacrifices, or manipulation of sacred attributes.
2. What they refrain from doing at the shrine out of religious considerations such as
demolishing the shrine, removing objects from the shrine, hunting, killing or copulating
near the shrine, etc.

1 he shrine will only cease to be a shrine, will lose its 'sacred' nature altogether, when it has entirely
ceased to instigate any such negative or positive religious activities in the Participants.
Source:

• 7 entaii rtf typology' and distribution of shrines

1. Shrines (natural or man made) associated with interlocal territorial concern and normally in
the control of priests; they have an irregular yet widespread distribution in Zambia, apart
from the noithOwest of Zambia.
2. Shrines primarily associated with chieftainship (relic shrines, graves) and only secondarily
with ecological functions; they are controlled by chiefs, priests or gravc-kccpcrs, they have
a limited distribution.
3. Shrines primarily associated with chieftainship (kinshipO but having major ecological
connotations at the same time controlled by chiefs, priests or grave keepers, they have a
limited distribution.
4. Village and neighbourhood shrines, pertaining to a territorial cult and controlled by ritual
leaders (in association with mediums!) and elders: though varying in physical features, this
type of shrine seems to have a universal distribution.

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 5. Individual shrines, controlled by the individual concerned and associated with a particular
(primarily ecological) skill; although more data is needed, this type again seems to have
universal distribution.

ACTIVITY 1
1. Find other definitions of 'territorial cult' and or ‘territorial shrine’
2. Describe in what sense a shrine protects the eco-system.
1.43. Hunting Spirits
Have you ever heard of the term ‘hunting spirits?’ Before you go any further write your
ubnderslanding of the term on a piece of paper. As you read on refer to what you wrote down.

1.4.3.1 Historical background

You have to know how belief in hunting spirits came about. This is crucial in your understabnding
of this belief.

There is evidence that specialist hunting particularly of big game was not practised by the earliest
Bantu. At least among the liastem Bantu there seems to have been a general distinction between the
home and the bush. The village and its immediate surrounding were under human control. That was
the place of order, where people expected to live their lives without disturbance. It was assumed
that they could live together in harmony.

The bush was associated with danger, the unpredictable, and the unknown. People needed special
protection before they ventured into the wild. In the past the Bantu generally had been trappers or
possibly seasonal hunters. Many of the San who lived nearby were anxious to barter game meat and
animal skins in exchange for bananas and iron tips for their arrows. There was no need for the
Bantu to compete with people whose
iivcs centred on hunting and who were willing to provide meal on a regular basis. Later the Bantu
population became so large that the San were forced to migrate to areas they could hunt
undisturbed. Now there were no hunters to provide game-meal on a regular basis.
Moreover, in some places chiefs wanted ivory for long-distance trading. Tire result was thai some
Bantu look up the challenge of becoming specialist hunters. Hunting cults sprang up among the
Bantu and they differ remarkably from one another. Among the Western Bantu hunters had
immense prestige. Luyana hunters have a special role in the installation of the royal leaders, l.uban
hunters married royal I.unda princesses. When they died their spirits were regarded as powerful.
Among the Bemba Kampinda and his wife Namukonda were invoked and asked to lead the way
especially when nets were used. Muienga-wa-Mpanga had control of the bush and was believed to
kill game for people.
1.4.4 Royal Spirits
Let us now turn to another form of spirits that constituted the Bantu population. There is evidence
that the cult of Royal Spirits developed in later centuries it must not be interpolated to the earliest
Bantu times. Less than live hundred years ago the winds of change blew over the Luba-Lunda
lands. A combination of factors including stable population trade and ambitions rulers caused
dynasties to be created. The royal line of chiefs became immensely important in the control of the
territory. Chiefs were seen not only as rulers of the people but also as in control of their destiny.
When chiefs died they were honoured in a special way. People believed that their spirits had
increased powers and turned to the spirits of dead chiefs for protection in time of crisis or drought.
Thus the cult of royal spirits began. The Bemba royal dynasty of the Bern Ng 'cmdu was led by
Chitimukulu and his brothers. When he and his brother died, they were buried and their graves
became the shrines of royal spirits. When the nation faced crisis, prayers were offered to these royal
imipashi to ask l'or protection.
1.4.5 Cults of Affliction/Possession Spirits
1 am sure you arc familiar with terms like mashabe, Ingulu, tnasabe, etc. How did the Bantu of
Southern Africa came to know these?
Certain forms of cults of affliction developed in recent centuries and so you should exclude them
from the picture of the earliest Bantu times. For example, vimhuza began in the last century among
the Tumbuka and masabe (spirit possession) originated among the Tonga less than 100 years ago.
The Western Bantu developed a variety of cults of affliction, such as the new muhamba

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(Lunda/Luvalc), ngulu (Bemba). I Ayala (Luyana) nzih (Lozi) but some of these also arc of
relatively recent origin.
SUMMARY
At this point it is ^necessary for you to draw together a number of related strands in order to
indicate the focal points of Bantu origin. Naturally, no attempt is made to do more than make a few
very tentative suggestions. It seems that the genius of the Bantu is seen in their religious
understanding of wholeness and what threatens it in the form of ‘evil’ sickness and death.

1.4.6 Lineage spirits

Look up the term ‘lineage spirit' or ‘lineage’ and ‘spirit'. What is the meaning? Translate it in your
language.
When dealing with lineage (ancestral) spirits, writers have assumed that this cult was found all over
Africa. It was not found among Nilotic peoples, such as the Nuer (Evans- Prilchard. 1940) or the
Dinka (Licnhardt, 1961). What des this mean? Try to go back to Eastern and Western bantu to
understand the implication.
1.4.6.1 Terminology
In tyring to clarify ’lineage spirits', the first problem you may encounter is terminology. The term
‘ancestral spirits' which was once used, excludes brothers and sisters. Uncles and aunts and limits
this group of spirits to parents, grandparents and the direct line of forebears. Bantu people count all
their dead relatives as lineage spirits and so John Mbiti (1969:85) condemned the use ol' the words,
’ancestors' and 'ancestral spirits.' As a replacement he suggested the term one living dead but his
proposal was not widely accepted. Xahan (nans 1979) continued using the word ancestors.
Elizabeth Colson (1962) wisely used the vernacular word mizimu because she could not find any
exact translation for it. Colson (1971) and Thayer Scudder (1962) made use of die term, ‘shades but
later they (1988) switched to 'ancestors.' Binsbergen (1981:19-200) used ancestral spirits. Vansina
(1990) used two separate terms, ‘spirits' of heroes and ancestral spirits but he was referring to the
earliest meaning of the word. The term lineage spirits would be the most accurate one, hut there is a
doubt whether it will gain acceptance. Indeed ’ancestors spirit' seems to be the term used by many
scholars.
1.4.6.2 Avoiding English Terms
This confusion over terminology should alert you to the danger of using English terms which arc

20
clearly ambiguous and cause more confusion. The best solution for you and I is to use die Bantu
words, mizimu. balimu. ikimwvakulu. nzumhi. as a general rule, and make use of one of the other
terms such as lineage spirits only with extreme caution and as rarely as possible.

1.4.6.3 Changing Beliefs

It is important for you to remember also that beliefs have changed. A study by Fr Carey done with
Bemba teachers showed that certain beliefs with regard to imipashi were weakening. Nearly half the
group said sulTering could not be caused by lineage spirits. One third of the teachers said it was
useless to make an offering to a lineage spirit even it a shing 'anga had said it should be done. One
third of die teachers claimed that changing a child's name was not the solution when he/she cried all
the time.
1.4.6.3.1 Mizimu and -Social Structure among the Plateau Tonga To continue with our discussion
on ‘lineage spirits’, we introduce you to the work of Colson (1954) describes beliefs held by the
Plateau Tonga about the activities of a particular type of spirits, the muzimo and attempted to show
how these reflect the ideal
organisation of Tonga social structure. The term mizimo (mizimo in the singular) is usually
translated hy anthropologists as ‘ancestral spirits.' but Colson used the Tonga term since this
translation does not cover the various ways in which Tonga use the term and 1 ean find no adequate
Knglish equivalent.

Until the British administration introduced a Native Authority system they had no large- scale
political organisation of their own. The basis of their own system was two-fold: an organisation into
a large number of small dispersed groups of malrilineai villages with a common rain shrine and
cult. Although die rain shrines no longer held the allegiance of many Tonga, the local
neighbourhoods continued. To most Tonga they were of greater importance than the chiefdoms or
the Plateau Tonga Native Authority which had been imposed upon die old structure. The malrilineai
groups were still important units, although their function had been curtailed with the outlawing of
self-help and the institution of courts. They had also been affected by die diminished importance of
the cult of the mizimo which was an integral element in the organisation of such groups.

Not all the Tonga still held to the old beliefs about the nmzimo. Missions hail worked in the area

21
since 1905. Many Tonga were Christians of eight different sects. Others were sceptics who denied
the old beliefs without accepting those introduced by the missionaries. Many claimed that they had
forgotten the mizimo and that these no longer affected them in any way. There were whole villages
where no one made offerings to the mizimo or considered them in any way. On the other hand, there
were many Tonga to whom the mizimo still played a vital part of life. They would claim, along with
the old man who heard a woman suggest that the mizimo had disappeared since people stopped
believing in them: 'No. the mizimo can never die. They will always be there affecting • The Nature
of the Mizimo
To begin this section, we state that Mizimo and ghosts (ccclo) were both thought to be the spirits of
former living people, but the two were regarded as distinct. A few Tonga told me that mizimo and
ghosts were one and the same tiling. Others argued that the ghost existed only for the period
between a. death and the time when the kinsmen assembled for the linal mourning rite and that this
transformed the ghost into the muzimo. But most maintained that the two were completely different
entities and a study of their actions on different occasions was consistent with this interpretation and
not with any identification of ghost and muzimo.

When a person died, therefore, two spirits remained one the muzimo and one the ghost. The ghost
was always a newly created spirit, some saving that it originated in the dying breath. Not all people
produced a new muzimo when they died and 1 have never been able to get a clear statement as to
how the muzimo originates. There was general agreement, however, that only those who had
achieved a certain status during Lheir lifetime gave rise to a new muzimo after death while others
left behind them only the already existing muzimo associated with them since their naming. Once
created, moreover, the muzimo arc not immortal like the ghosts, who are independent of the
devotion of living people for their continued existence. When the living cease to remember the
muzimo and no longer call upon them by name, they become like ghosts. Over these the living had
no control for in forgetting the names they had lost the means of summoning or propitiating the
spirits.

The living had no direct control over ghosts unless they were sorcerers, and ghosts were presumed
to be only evil. They could act of their own volition against the living or they could be agents of
sorcerers who had pressed them into service. A sudden dangerous or monal illness was therefore,

22
usually attributed to ghosts. The muzimo was not actively evil in the same way. It caused injury to
the living, but this was not its primary purpose nor was it free like the ghost to cause injury to
anyone with whom it came in contact The muzimo was dependent upon the living for its own
continued existence. If the living refused to listen to its demands then it was thought to enlist the aid
of the ghosts to inllict more drastic punishment. Some Tonga said that the mizimo travelled always
with the ghost which originated with it on a person's death tind which acted as its intermediary with
other ghosts.
Additionally, the mizimo were thought to be concerned that they should not be forgotten and so they
sent sickness and other misfortune to the living as a reminder that beer and other offerings mast be
provided. They were anxious that Lite living should maintain the customs that they practices when
they were alive, and therefore they punished departures from custom. In return they offered to the
living some protection against other spirits and against sorcery. They should also assist the living to
obtain the good things of life children, good harvests, herds of cattle and all orderly existence.
These in turn permitted the living to procure grain for beer to marry wives who brewed the beer l'or
offerings, to perpetuate the names of the mizimo through the children whom they begot and who. to
some extent, were regarded as the living representatives of the mizimo. The living propitiated the
spirits to ensure for themselves the good things which they desired, the spirits assisted the living
with good things so that they in turn may continue to exist. Iiaeh was dependent upon the other, and
there was partnership between the living and the mizimo in achieving their common ends.

The mizimo were not concerned with all the living and the living were not concerned with all the
mizimo. The relationships between them were a projection of those which existed between living
persons organised in the kinship system. Mizimo and living members of a kinship system was not
given a local focus, nor did an ordered genealogical framework or nay scheme of historical
incidents create a time scale into which the living and the mizimo could be fitted - the system
existed outside lime and space in a perpetual present.

23
ACTIVITY 2
On one page of A4 paper discusses whether or not the spirits of the dead are
actually alive out there or only alive in the minds of the living.

24
• Individuals and their Mizimo
The Tonga maintain that the mizimo which arc concerned with them, and therefore with which they
tire concerned are the spirits of former members of the matrilincal kinship groups of their mothers
and fathers though they also say that the spirits of the matrilincal groups of the two grandfathers
may occasionally intervene in their affairs. Nevertheless, it is the affliction with the two parental
groups which is primarily stressed in relation to the mizimo as it is throughout social life. Some of
the mizimo however, are of more importance to an individual than are others. When a Tonga speaks
of his/her mizimo or refers to the mizimo of someone else, hc/she may be using the term very
broadly to include all those spirits which arc concerned with him/her, or more narrowly to refer to
particular mizimo who stand in a special relationship to him. For analysis, it is necessary to
distinguish the different uses of the term, and Colson therefore used the following classification in
writing about the role of the mizimo in any one individual's life.
:a) First and foremost Mizimo as a general term includes all the spirits of former members of the
lines of the father and mother and may even be used still more generally for all the spirits
of former members of any group with which a person feels a kinship relationship. If I write
of the mizimo of a matrilineal group, however, it refers only to the spirits of former
members of this group.
(b) Guardian mizimo are those associated with the names which each person receives soon after
birth. They act as his special guardians throughout life, and from them he is thought to
derive his personality.

(c > House mizimo arc the particular spirits which an adult person installs as the guardians of his
household.

(d) Inherited mizimo arc those which are associated with a person because he has
been given the name of someone recently deceased as part of the funeral rites.
(e) Own mizimo have a special significance in each person's life. They can be
regarded as symbolic representations of die overwhelming importance of the paternal and
maternal matri lineal groups in determining the original social status of any individual and
of their responsibility for his/her well-being throughout life. Names arc identified with
mizimo and the giving of a name implies assumption of social responsibility for a child. A
man who begets a child by an unmarried woman may obtain the right to name his child,
which is then affiliated to his matri lineal group and comes under the power of its mizimo in
the same fashion as any child born in wedlock. A man who begets an adulterine child by a
married woman has no such right. The woman's husband is the legal father. He names tire
child, thus bestowing upon it a guardian mizimo and it comes under the protection of the
mizimo of his line quite as much as do children he has begotten.
The names, which thus recognise the existence of the child give it its initial place in society, arc
bestowed some months after birth. 'Hie first name is given by the father or his relatives, and it is a
name belonging to a former member of this line. The second is given by the mother's relatives and
is the name of a former member of her line. I :.ach name is associated with a muzimo.
The Tonga say that the mizimo themselves may decide which of their living kin shall receive their
names and thus become their special charges. When a woman is in labour, the midwives call the
various mizimo saying, ‘Nangoma come forth.* Mavwali, come forth! Nankambula come forth!
Cimuka come forth! The child should be bom when they call the appropriate name, and they then
may have no such indication and may later learn the appropriate name through divination. If the
child becomes ill, the diviner may attribute the illness to the desire of a particular mizimo to give its
name to the child. Even if the child's name has been decided at its birth, the name may still be
changed since the guardian mizimo has Tailed in its duty by permitting the illness, or the relatives
may decided that henceforth the child shall bear both names and both mizimo will be regarded at its
guardians and as concerned with its fate. In addition, it will have a name and a guardian mizimo
from the other parent's side. Occasionally the name is chosen, by the

26
idaiivcs without any form of divination. However name is chosen it is not identified 1'ii the child
until the time of the formal naming rite.

I
e a bit. Think of ways in which a child is given a name in your community. Share this a
colleague. Now turn to the next section.
I

lie guardian mizimo may thus he viewed as symbols of the identification of a person his/her kinship
groups. Hut when as an adult he established his own independent hold, he acquires a new social
position. His household is one of the units in the community, and he takes his place within the
community as its head. Within the sehold are joined not only interests of his own paternal and
maternal matrilineal hip groups but also of the matrilineal groups of his wife. The importance of his
new ition is ritually recognised, for he now for the first time becomes capable of making crings to
the mizimo. At the same lime, the new household is also given a ritual gnition, the installation of
one or more of the husband's mizimo as special guardians the house. Significantly enough, these are
rarely the husband's guardian mizimo which s his identification with his paternal and maternal
kinship groups. These remain as ‘ • individual guardians but henceforth his house mizimo will hold
a dominant position in that concerns him as his interests are centred in the well-being of his
household.

c fact that he has achieved a position of his own is further recognised, for when he dies he
himself will become a mizimo Those who die before they set up a household leave ind them only
the guardian mizimo of their names. I argue that this is because their ial personality is still derived
from attachment to their matrilineal groups, and their h is of concern only to these two groups. The
head of a household is of importance to others besides his own paternal and maternal kinsmen and
his importance to his kinsmen is now at least partially a reflection of the position which he occupies
in the mmunity. This is given recognition by attributing to him a mizimo of his own when he dies.

27
If a person dies after being named, someone must be chosen to inherit the mizimo (kwanga
mu/.imo). I his is the deceased's guardian mizimo from his maternal line in the case of one who dies
before establishing a household it is his own mizimo otherwise. The father's group come to the
mourning and they arc said to take away with them the name which they gave to their child and
with it the associated guardian mizimo. The name from the maternal side is perpetuated in another
member of the group. The person chosen is anointed with oil on the throat, given tobacco, and as
beads arc placed about his neck, he is told: ‘Your name is now such and such. 1 This rite is thought
to continue the attachment of the now inherited mizimo to the group to which it belongs. If it is a
newly created mizimo however, a further rite is performed some months after the death when the
people gather for the final mourning. In die interim, though the mizimo has been inherited, it is
thought to be wandering disconsolately in the bush. At the final rite, an offering is poured in its
name, and it is told to take its place among the other mizimo of die line with the assurance that the
living will not forget it while it remembers them. Henceforth, it may appear in many different roles
- it may be installed as the guardian for a household its name may be given to any number of
children to whom it will be thought to act as guardian or it may only invoked occasionally by a
diviner who attributes illness to is anger at being neglected. Its importance will reflect the
importance which the person attained in life, lliosc of little importance to their kinsmen are usually
soon forgotten.

• The Mizimo and the Matrilineal Group

The matrilineal group is the basic kinship unit of Tonga society. It is a group of kinsmen who claim
a putative descent through females from a common ancestress though they are not concerned to
trace their descent and arc frequently ignorant of their exact relationship to each other. The duties of
members of die group involve the obligation of visiting each other when ill. of mourning the deaths
of members of each others families of helping to provide bride-wealth for the males of the group, of
assisting each other to pay fines and damages, of purifying the spouses of those who die and of
finding people to inherit the positions and mizimo of their dead. In case of need they should assist
each other with food and other gifts in former days they formed a vengeance group to uphold each
other's

28
right against outsiders and were held jointly responsible by outsider for each other’s actions. They
also have certain joint rights. They should share in the bride-wealth given for the women of the
group and they share the estates of their deceased members.

SUMMARY
In the lbregoing discussion yiou have understood that various aspects of the Tonga social system
reflected in the set ol' beliefs they hold about the mizimo. We summarize the section as follows:
I. The affiliation of each individual with the two matrilineal groups of his father and his mother is
reflected in the belief that a person receives at his naming a guarding mizimo from each
line, which is important in determining character and actions. It is further rcllccted in the
belief that all mizimo of either line may affect him.
The system of matrilineal inheritance and the primary affiliation with the matrilineal
group of the mother is reflected in the belief that when a person dies his own mizimo is
inherited by the matrilineal line and has no power over members of the father's group.

3. The dogma that the matrilineal group is undifferentiated is reflected in the belief that any
mizimo belonging to the line may affect any member of it.

4. The lack of instituted formal leadership within the group is reflected in the belief that
every adult may approach the mizimo of his matrilineal line on his own behalf and in the
fact that no one person acts as priest for the rest of the group or for any division within it.
5. The local dispersion of the matrilineal group is reflected in the absence of local shrines for
the propitiation of the mizimo and in the belief that they are present wherever living
members of the line live.
6. The importance of the household is reflected in the belief that only men and women who
have formed their own households become mizimo in their own right when they die.

7. The dominant role of the husband as representative of the household is reflected in the
domination of his mizimo over the mizimo of the wife in household ritual.

8. The necessity for integrating people into a local community composed of members of many
matrilincal groups is reflected in the stress upon the importance of the paternal mizimo for
whose propitiation an intermediary is necessary.

13.6.3.2 Imipashi in Bemba

Let us now turn to another ethinic group in Northern Zambia. The Bemba will be our concern. The
following four attitude proiilcs are related to people's beliefs in mipashi. Read them carefully and
answer the question below. The study was dorse by Fr Carey for his PhD studies in the School of
Oriental Studies at the University of London. Details of the PhD thesis arc given in the reference
section

A. Traditional
I am the father ol* four children and 1 have faced this problem of mipashi causing sickness and it is
normally a punishment lor misconduct in the family, e.g. there arc disagreements, or someone has
disgraced the family by prostitution, etc. Perhaps it is a mupashi punishing you because you didn't
care properly or because you pay no respect to the mipashi themselves. You come to know this
especially in dreams, because sometimes you are visited by a mipashi who accuses you of these
things.

Sickness caused by the mipashi cannot be cured by any medicine unless an offering is first made to
the mipashi in order to beg pardon and make reparation. Sometimes a white bread is offered this is a
sign of being submissive both to the mipashi and to flic whole family. To find out which spirit is
causing that sickness one calls a real elder in the family. Perhaps they go kusowe banda (ritual hunt)
but first they have to list all their mipashi and agree on a lufembo (sign) to determine who is
responsible. If the kupaia is not earned out the sickness will become much worse and people may

30
even die. That's one reason why there are so many deaths today; traditionally there was kupaia.
It is believed that mipashi talk to living people in one way or another, especially in dreams. It a
mother dreams of a mupashi before birth, this is a sign that this ancestor wants to be named in that
child. If a child erics continuously, this is a sign that the mipashi are angry with the name that has
been given. Sometimes the mupashi who has not been named is angry sometimes it is a mipashi
who is angry because he has been wronged and doesn't want to give his name to anyone in that
family. If a mistake has been made in naming the child, he will continue to cry as long as it is called
by that unwanted name. In some cases children can become so weak that they cannot even walk or
crawl, but once they make kupaia and change the name, the child gens better without any medicine
at all.
B. Semi-Traditional
Of a person who has mipashi trusts in them they can trouble him but if he pays no attention they
cannot trouble him. If one believes that the sickness is caused by the mipashi he will not be cured
without making kupaia but if a person doesn't believe this, he can be cured without kupaia. There
<irc some sicknesses which need kupaia but not many may be one in a hundred: it just depends on
the particular mupashi who is causing the illness. If you believe that mipashi arc causing the child
to cry and you change the child's name it works in accordance with one's
beliefs.

C. Semi-modern
There is some doubt as to whether the mipashi have such power: I am not sure, but it is
forever being spoken about. People leave offerings at the ancestral shrine; they arc left there
overnight, but they will still be there the following morning. People are not sure whether such
sicknesses arc caused by the ancestral spirits. There are not concrete proofs to check whether these
things happen or not. There arc no signs and people are always in doubt.

D. Modern
This is all myth and legend. It is a belief that people have that is passed on from one generation to
the next. People have grown to believe in what does not exist: they only believe this because of
their own ignorance and superstition and lack of access to medical facilities. All suffering is
mysterious. When there is suffering people depend on traditional explanations more than they do

31
when there is health, and people arc therefore not ready to doubt traditional explanations. I low can
mi/xtshi trouble their descendants? One’s genes can be passed down ifom ancestors, but not
sufferings. The dead and the living cannot be together. Dead people do not hear, therefore the
mipashi do not hear. All sickness comes from our own way of living and is only healed in hospitals:
kupala docs not work. Disease is earned by disease carriers and germ carriers. Sometimes people
who are suspected to be suffering ifom mipashi can be suffering from malaria, measles or another
disease which cannot be cured by kupala.
The belief thai changing the name will stop the child crying is due to ignorance and lack of health
education and because of ignorance they blame the mipashi. They arc mistaken. The child has not
yet learnt to communicate with parents, and so he cries when asking for assistance. It is probably
some simple childhood ailment, like tummy ache, but because people believe that the spirits arc
strong, they leave room for them. Many children arc born by prostitutes and are given no name at
all but they do not cry 1 about it. Moreover, why docs this only work for African names and not for
European names? Sometimes the same name is used tour times in a family without anyone dying or
crying, so how car. the mupashi suddenly refuse to be named? It is not the name that causes
children to cry. but because when children get sick and die people believe that prevention and cure
arc beyond their control and so they blame the mipashi.

Q, Which of these four attitudes matches your awn position most closely? Why?

32
CTIV1TY 3
Define ‘funeral rite'.
Define two ethnic groups in your community.
Interview people from ihosc ethnic groups about their funeral rites.
Specifically find out about a funeral rite in relation to widow or widower
claesning.
Why do funeral rites involve brewing and drinking beer?
(.'an one argue thai imipashi. akishi, mizimu. azitnu, etc are ‘made’ by the living at the funeral
rite?

33
 UNIT TWO

BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT
 UNIT TWO

BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT

2.0 INTRODUCTION
‘clcomc to Unit Two entitled 'Belief in witchcracft'. From the onset we stated that the st pervasive
concept emerging from the picture of the early Bantu is one centering ~d identity at both personal
and community levels. In an oral society the human voice ys an important part in this process
because it links head and heart giving the Vidua! a deep and lasting sense of‘wholeness' and
'belonging.' Story-tellers played a v role in the society. Kverything had to he retold and retold so
that each generation uld learn the tradition which had to be preserved for the future. Certain
specialists, h as women in charge of the initiation of girls, played a key role in preserving ilions
which had to be guarded as secret and therefore sacred. Preserving secrets e therefore a religious
duty. Song and dance and family celebrated intensified alty and bonds of attachment. Among
many Bantu peoples sickness was often 'buied to a failure to honour religious obligations. Healing
became a central concept the ng 'unga (medicine man) as the religious specialist. If a member of
the family ill, the attention to this fact by causing one of the family to become ill. The remedy
"ribed was an offering to the aggrieved spirit. Thus you can postulate that this was of the earliest
dimensions of Bantu religious thought. A more elaborate treatment of Bantu concept of‘evil’ w ill
come late in the module and so only a suggestion appears \ Order was what is expected in the
world and especially in the home and the village. ~k of generosity and stealing were minor
disorders and could be dealt with. I lowever a ion could arise which is so abnormal that a sinister
form of evil was suspected. It then that people suspected that this evil originated in the community
and that one or re persons were guilty. It seems reasonable to postulate that this kind of religious
nking went back to the earliest era of Bantu history. Death was the biggest challenge to ~tu
religious thought. Certain practical aspects were dealt with at the level with timing and funerals
with the help mizimu rituals and beliefs. Other aspects were dealt

35
with in the context of witchcraft. No answer was really satisfactory. Kven in the later Bantu
religious concepts of the Supreme Being death still remained the ultimate mystery. This unit is
about witchcraft. The unit helps you understand why witchcraft is part of the religious sysiem of
the Bantu in Sourthem Africa.

2.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of the unit, you should be able to:

• Define witchcraft
• Describe African witchcraft
• Exaplin why Africans believe in witchcraft

1.1.1 The difficulty of studying witchcraft

l.ikc in the study of ‘lineage spirits', the first difficulty you may lace when studying withchcraft is
terminology. Hvii is found all over the world but no two societies have identical ways of
explaining what exactly they mean by the term. evil. Some societies assume that evil is caused by
sins committed in a previous existence. Others believe there arc two gods, a good and an evil one,
who are in endless conflict. Still others believe that there is only one God who predestines certain
individuals to eternal suffering and others to everlasting happiness without taking their lives or
conduct into considering. Some focus on ‘witchcraft 1 as the key characteristic of evil.

Using die English term 'Witchcraft' may give you the impression that this word means exactly the
same thing to everybody who uses it. That is not so. Even among the societies that see witchcraft
as the epitome of evil, there are major differences. In the Zambian context therefore it is necessary
to use the appropriate vernacular terms instead: such as Buloshifouloi.'bulo/i.

2.2 WITCHCRAFT AS THE HUMAN EMBODIMENT OF EV1I.

2.2.1 In African traditional religion, you need to understand witchcraft in order to

understanding wrong-doing which is evil. What is witchcraft? I low docs it

.16
 influence: . _ :_c o. ±- African religionist? 1 o stan with, it is again
important te -Uc£« of :=r— • ■: -.here is one area where a foreign
express:i<r: _aed 19 describe African realities is likely to fall short, or even mislead, it
is in this area : witchcraft. The English word "witchcraft" for example, docs not
express all the nuances contained in the various African names of the phenomenon.

2.2.2 So. in African religion, you should understand witchcraft in general as part of the
mystery of the human person. Contrary to what the English word suggests, the reality
of witchcraft in Africa is not primarily an "art" or a “craft". It is "a mysterious power",
indeed perhaps ‘‘the mysterious power" that resides in, and with, human beings. As
Africans see it, it is ubiquitous; it permeates all areas of life and is an ever-present
reality in people’s political, social and economic organizations. Everywhere in Africa it
plays a role in agricultural, fishing, and hunting pursuits; in domestic life of
homesteads as well as in communal life of district and court. Its role and influence are
not limited to activities of a social nature. Witchcraft influences personal life as well.
Ilte bottom line is therefore that efforts to preserve and promote life cannot be
understood without reference to the power of witchcraft, which is closely connected to
and influences the establishment of law and the understanding of morality and ethics.
There is. indeed, no aspect of culture, however small or insignificant, where the power
and influence of witchcraft is absent. May be you know one yourself.

2.2.3 In the African mentality, everything wTong or bad in society and in the world, and
most particularly, various afllictioris. originate in witchcraft. There is no kind of illness
or hardship at all that may not ultimately be attributed to witchcraft. When natural or
religious explanations fail to satisfy, the social explanation - witchcraft - is invariably
invoked.

2.2.4 You may find the following interesting. The power of witchcraft is not a prerogative of
only certain individuals. Every human being has this potential power, so that in fact,
every human being is potentially a witch. The activity of witches is characterized
universally by secrecy and loathsome behaviour. Witches do not want their revolting

37
 activities exposed to the ordinary person. They break all the accepted norms of society.
They reject kinship ties and loyalties and will as readily harm a kinsperson as anyone
else. In fact, a general condition of “graduating” into a witchcraft sorority or fraternity
(coven) is to kill and eat the flesh of a close relation. Nor do witches adhere to sexual
taboos: they commit incest and cause other people to do so, or at least, to have
incestuous dreams. Likewise, they are known to engage in sexual intercourse with
spirits and animals. This is possible because they possess the power to change
themselves into animal shapes such as hyenas, owls or other nocturnal creatures.
Alternatively, they ride on these creatures to their assemblies. Moreover, human beings
who are thought dead may actually be used by witches as “familiars'*, to run the
witches’ harmful errands, causing misfortune in society. When secretly active at night,
they prefer to be naked performing their dances while holding or actually spurting lire.
They handle excrement, urine and vomit for purposes of harming people through the
life-force that these materials represent. 1'hcy also enjoy soiling their neighbours' yards
and other property with these materials.In this paragraph you have come across the
term ■familiar*. What docs it mean?
2.2.5 One of tile more heinous things witches are said to do is cat human flesh. Because of
their craving for it, they are often found assembled in graveyards. This craving is also
believed to be one of the reasons why they have the urge to kill people. .Among the Ga,
Azandc. Igbo, Nupc and l.ovcdu, this “eating” is not physical but "spiritual”, in that it
is the soul or the psyche - the actual vital force of the victim that is “eaten". But with
the Basuto and many other Bantu peoples, it involves actual consumption of the flesh.
In cither ease, witches engage in this abhorrent behavior to enhance their ow n
witchcraft power.
2.2.6 This brief description of witchcraft above indicates the central place it holds in the
moral structure of African Religion. You can summarize in one sentence: “Witchcraft
is the enemy of life” Harmony, order, good ncighbourliness or good company,
cooperation and sharing, propriety and cquitableness, honesty and transparency - all of
which constitute signs of how human and created order should be are denied in the
most fundamental way by witchcraft. It is no wonder, then, that a witch is a person who
does not control the impulses that good members of society must keep in check.

38
 Insatiable desires and hatred account, separately or together, for the deaths that witches
cause. Witches are morose, unsociable people: people who cat alone so that they need
not share their (bod. but who can be dangerous if others do not share food with them:
arrogant people who pass by others without greeting them; people who arc readily
offended. By their actions or mere intentions, they make other people ill. Nothing is too
vile for a witch, nothing too shocking. The solidarity of society' and the unity between
the living and the dead, fundamental elements in the order and survival of tire universe,
mean nothing to people with active inclinations to wiichraft.
2.2.7 Thus, witchcraft is intolerable for any society that values ethical principles and life
itself. For instead of working to strengthen the force of life, as all moral persons arc
required to do by religious tradition, witchraft disturbs this order and causes chaos.
Order requires that people act openly in daylight: that they exhibit more or less equal
physical and mental powers: that they identify with kith and act in solidarity with them;
that they avoid anything associated with death, which is (except in mature old age) the
ultimate negation of life; that they observe all sexual and other taboos of the
community; that they bear normal children; that they try to do whatever has been
determined by society as being the good thal builds up the life and life-force of the
community. Such is the normal and moral way for human beings to conduct their lives.
But witchcraft contradicts all of this and in this sense is "an abomination ... and there is
no reason adequate to justify or to excuse such action of superlative wickedness.
2.2.8 So far what you have been presented with are the terrible things about witchcraft. In the
following listen carefully to the paradox.
Paradoxically, in the moral order, witchcraft also serves as a sanction. In so far as
every' human being experiences emotions of envy, hatred, anger, pride, lust and so on,
everyone is a potential witch. Witchcraft is in essence, a personal failure to keep these
destructive emotions in rein. This is indeed the horror of witchcraft. At any moment it
may overcome an individual, become active or “hot” and act to destroy life and tire
power of life. Human beings must always be on guard against the potential of
witchcraft that is in each one of them. They must always go out of their way to show
love, care and concern, and sharing and good company. As a sanction, witchcrafl
constantly warns individuals, through the community, against meanness,

39
 inhospitableness, quarrelsomeness, rudeness, suddenness, disloyalty, false or reckless
speech and disrespect towards ciders. Witchcraft reminds everyone that such behavior
risks tow dreaded things: that one might be accused of witchcraft or that one will be
harmed by witchcraft. Among the Bagisu of Kenya the eccentric is branded as a
witch ... and fear of being thought a witch is the sanction which enforces conformity.
Children grow up with the realisation that the stigma of nonconformity is dangerous;
too great a departure from the norms of everyday conduct will attract the suspicion of
others and lead to isolation and eventually destruction.
2.2.9 In African Religion, the approved principles or virtues that arc expected to rule the way
of every person’s life are kindness, conviviality and solidarity. Selfishness, envy and
secreUvcncss are vices. To avoid accusations or suspicions of witchcraft, then, people
seek to behave in the way sanctioned by the principles and laws of the community. The
effect of increasing social solidarity and conformity, since it is the non-conformer, the
unpopular person or the recluse who is often accused and may reaffirm social values by
‘dramatically’ denning the bad and by attributing to witches such reversals of accepted
behavior as nakedness and the practice of incest. Fear of being accused of witchcraft
may also prevent moving around at night, and thus act as a sanction against clandestine
affairs.
2.2.10 Afflictions as a Pivotal Theological Issue
Faced with the need to explain the existence of beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery among different
peoples of the world, various scholars have suggested the following hypotheses:

1. For some members of a given communin', these beliefs provide an outlet for
repressed hostility, frustration and anxiety.

2. Accusations of witchcraft and sorcery' are indices of tense social relationships

between the accuser, on the one hand, and the presumed sorcerer or witches reflect their
insights into the incidence of social tension in their society.

3. Beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery serve as a medium through which real or imagined

40
 episodes dramatise and reinforce social norms, in that anti-social and socially inadequate
conduct arc attributed, sometimes retrospectively, either to die accused sorcerer or witch,
or to his believed victim.

Before we move on. what do you think of the three hypotheses above? Read each one of
them carefully and write on a piece of paper what you think of them.

2.2.11 These explanations may, no doubt, be the ease, but there is a danger from the
perspective of African Religion that “psychologizing" the phenomenon too much robs
it of its essential theological character. Where African Religion is concerned, the
fundamental reason for sorcery and witchcraft as explanations of disease and other
afflictions is theological. To return to an earlier illustration, the question at stake in
witchcraft is why bad things happen in the world. A man may be bitten by a smike:
why was not another bitten instead? Why docs it rain on one field and not on another?
Why do the wicked prosper, building fine houses, having bumper crops, while others
equally hardworking fail continually? Don't all of these occurrences upset the order of
the universe as Africans know God and the ancestors intend it, ttd as it has been
handed down to the community throughout the ages by tradition?
2.2.12 Magesa in the end concludes that the primary theological character of African beliefs in
witchcraft and sorcery must be understood within this order; the primary human task is
the promotion of life. In this context a proud man who treats his neighbours with
disdain; a retiring man who always keeps silent in public; a person who is habitually
surly, who builds his house in the bush far away from other people, who neither invites
others to cat with himTicr nor accepts invitations from neighbours to share their food
and drink, is not merely unsociable. Such a person is deeply immoral. With that kind of
behavior, he or she denies all that is essential in maintaining the connection between
humanity and the ancestors and God. Such a person denies life and embraces death, the
utmost affliction.

41
UNIT THREE DIVINATION

4.1
 UNIT THREE
\.v V.** fr«sv*o-r^ 3^ oJ^<€ ^ f»V - A
o «.v Oi.
V- ‘
V-*. •Hi-r'*:—^ c^ct \p>}- \-»<.-Vo -er^-c
rr tw l :* peVr
f-'<'-j^v ^ .C^VMX-C -k( s-c-’.-fj'-' "A.*.» ■< ‘■ "LO-t I.-*— „
w\V<'Al
DIVINATION
C.r;
‘-'■V— <■«. feA,?T-<»_ v*-^v> VN.1
3.0 INTRODUCTION

We begin this unit by stating the importance of divination. People consult a diviner when they
suspect that the situation is not normal. The word 'crisis' is key. A situation may have been
gradually getting worse when something new occurs causing people lo shake their heads and say.
"This is too much”. Someone suggests that a diviner should be consulted. Sudden violent death of
itself is enough to trigger of! the same response. Once it is accepted that it is a real crisis, recourse
to a diviner may be inevitable. When divination deals with a limited problem il normally upholds
cultural tradition but in times of general upheaval diviners multiply and dramatic new techniques
arc introduced bringing about cultural change.

Diviners differ enormously. Mbiti (1969:171-178) deals with mediums and diviners who deal also
with spirits. He gives a number of examples. In some places those who wish to become mediums
have to undergo a training period lasting several years during which they arc not allowed to marry.
For them the key factor is the dance during which they go into a trance.

3.1 OBJ KCll VMS

By the the end of this unit you should be able to:
• Hxplain the meaning of divination
• Describe reasons that make people consult diviners
• Describe different methods of divination
• Explain the essence of divination

3.2 REASONS FOR DIVINATION

Divination systems are “ways of knowing”. An understanding pervades African societies that the
true reasons for all events can be known, but sufiicicnt knowledge is seldom

44
available through mundane means of inquiry; therefore, divination is employed to ensure that all
relevant information is brought forward before action is undertaken. This means that the scope of
competence of diviners is extremely wide. Their "spiritual" gifts render them capable of
diagnosing what kind of spirit or "force substance" is causing what kind of affliction to the
individual, family or the society, and they also advise on what steps must be taken to obtain

ACTIVITY healing.
mu

— / c'-c- ‘
■> •
Discuss why divination should be studied immediately after the

List at least six things/cvcnts/'occurrences that may make people to consult diviner.

^**
• tnnir nf witi'hrraft 1 i)

45
There arc people who have the power to "sniff out" hidden sources of disorder, who can advise on
procedures to correct the situation. They arc the ones known as diviners. More recent studies in this
area refer to diem by their indigenous names such as nganga.
'fhcrc are different kinds of divination which you ought to learn about. In the next section you arc
given these types or kinds.

3.5 TYPES OF DIVINATION

There are basically two types of divination, distinguishable by their functions:
a. Diagnostic
b. Therapeutic.
The diviner, properly so called, is a diagnostician who is concerned with the spiritual causes of the
affliction, and the medicine-doctor or herbalist a therapeutist who is more concerned with treating
the physical effects of the affliction. There arc diviners who are both diagnostician and therapeutist.

Some attempts have been made to classify the various forms of divination. One way is to identify
the power centre. 1s it a possessing spirit or the diviner himself or the sacred objects which hc/she
manipulates. It may also be a mixture of any two of these. l.et me illustrate this for you:

Focus of power Type Examples

Spirit Mcdiumisiic Intuitive
Diviner clairvoyance Oracular Kusowc Banda (Bemba)
Objects Ordeal, axe handle

Let us explain the key term in detail.

3.5.1 Mcdiumisiic
Mcdiumistic divination is where the spirit is said to be totally in control and diviner has no idea of
what message is being conveyed. In Zambia this form of divination is mainly

46
found among the Chokwc. I.uvale, Lunda and Ndcmbu. The
uivincr is possessed by a mukishi which has emerged as a
Lihamba in order to select him/her as a diviner/hcaler. Tire
divining process docs not stop with diagnosis and regularly
incorporates healing rituals, which may reach die point that
the patient becomes a divincr/healer in turn.

The second set is where the diviner is the equivalent of the 'seer. He/shc may require very little
information from his/her clients and can interpret everything. Devisch (19X5:52) accepts
•interpretative divination’ as the most developed type and as rational a method as algebra, formal
logic or statistics. In interpretative deciphering divination, the diviner establishes the divinatory
theme according to the scant information die clients offer of their needs and al another level, he she
encodes an interpretation or message.
By contrast among the Nyakyusa the person who consults the Ondagosi (diviner) has to confess all
his faults.

3.5.2 Oracular
Oracular forms of divination are numerous. The main centTC of power is not a spirit of the diviner
himself but the objects he'she uses to reveal what is hidden. Sacred animals or birds may lie
watched for signs. Objects may be thrown into the air and the pattern they form when falling is
examined. People may be interrogated and after each question an axe handle tested to sec whether
it is fixed to the spot or can move. "Ordeal" is a special form where suspects are given poison such
as mwavi and those who tail to vomit die and arc considered to be guilty.
These classifications are useful to show how complex divination can ne and how one form differs
from another but we need to do more in order to show how divination operates. Wc will examine a
number of different approaches.

47
 ACTIVITY 2
1. I-Ook up definitions of divination and stale which one fits the definition in this module.
2. What is the essence of divination?
3. Interview somebody who had consulted a diviner and find out why they did that.

3.6 SUMMARY
Researchers dealing with drums of affliction have proposed the most elaborate models of
divination. Their models are therefore most directly applicable to kinds of divination found in
diviner.'healer cults of afflictions, such as the rnahamba of the Chokwe. Luvale, Lunda and
Ndembu. They should also apply to divination in other cults of affliction. What wc have discussed
in this unit are the methods of divination. But as you can sec. wc have not given examples. T his
we will do in the next unit.

48
 UNIT FOUR

METHODS OF DIVINATION IN SOME

BANTU SOCIETIES
UNIT FOUR

METHODS OF DIVINATION IN SOME BANTU SOCIETIES

4. INTRODUCTION
This unit is built on the previous unit. It familiarizes you to methods that divivers use. The examples arc quite detailed anti I encourage you
too read them slowly and analyse them as you read along. The purpose of making you interact with the material in this unit is for you to see
the essence of divination and its religious significance.

4.1 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the unit you should be able to:
• Describe divination
• Describe divinations in a number of ethnic groups in Southern Africa.

49
• Distinguish between divners and witchfinders

1 am sure that some of you have been to a diviner or have witnessed divination in action. If you have not experienced divination in action,
make an effort to do so or simply talk to elders who may have the experience of divination. As we have discussed already, there arc two
common methods of divination in this part of Africa. These are:

1. Instrumental or Mechanical or Augural (or simply known as Oracular) and

2. Mediumistic

4.2. DEFINITIONS
Mediumistic: The diviner is the object through whom the oracle is given. The spiritual
power speaks through the diviner who becomes the medium.
Oracular: Involves manipulation of objects, observing such objects and interpreting
them. It may also involve observation of dead or live animal and drawing conclusions from their behaviour.
For a belter and simplified understanding of divination, stop for a moment and reflect on the following terms: Herbalists, Fortune tellers and
Spiritual healers. Do you know these people? Herbalists use herbs to treat health problems, without seeking a cause in social relations. For
example, Dr. Vongo is a herbalist. Fortune tellers are those the C'hewa people would call as Wombkza ula. These claim to have mystical
powers that can trace a sickness or misfortune to its source by manipulating certain specific objects, l astly. Spiritual healers arc the ones that
put white flags around or the Red Cross around their compound. Some of them become possessed by ancestral spirits, who inform them the
solution to their patient's problem. Others use Christian books - the Bible or hymn book and mention names of biblical figures in order to
enter into a trance at the end of trance, they produce diagnosis.
Let us now give vivid examples of divination from a number of ethnic groups in Southern Africa. The first one is I .amba divination. The
extract below was written by a Baptist missionary who worked in F.ambaland many years ago. I am sure certain aspects of I amba divination
have changed, 'out not radically. I think.
43 DIYIN ATION A MONO TH K LAMBA
In discussing the character and work of the umulaye. or as he is aiso called by the I.amba.. the ing'anga, the assurance was given that there is
no umupashi wawulaye, spirit of divination but that people choose lor themselves and leam the profession. It is difficult to llnd a satisfactory
derivation for the term umulaye, though it has been given as from the word laya (promise). The doctor never looks for his/her patients nor
practices his/her healing art until sent for; he/hcr answers the summons, he,'she promises to come when called. In a Lamha village in the past
a man could break his leg next door to the doctor's house, but the doctor would not move a finger to apply any remedy until he'she was called
by the patient or by bis relatives. Another significance of the term laya is make an appointment and the Lamba explain the connection of this
with umulaye b> saying that when anyone goes to fetch the doctor muhibuka (in order to smell out a witch), the doctor remains to make

50
ready his/her tilings and does not come till the next day so as to divert suspicion from the one who called him/her. The other term ing anga is
clearly connected with the terms ubwanga and ichyanga. which indicate charms variously used to ensure good fortune, protection or
guidance and may even be used as poisons for detecting witchcraft or charms to kill thieves. The ing anga then is one who has the
knowledge and power of preparing and administering these charms, bound up as they arc with dynamic belief.

4.3.1 Learning the Profession

I think wc need to say something short about how somebody became umulaye.

4.3.1.1 If a young man desires to enter the profession of a doctor he will come to some well known umulaye and say, A fuisa mwebachiinda.
ndukwenda nenu. munsambishye ubulaye, "I have come, 0 great doctor. I would travel with you so that you may teach me the art of
divining". If the doctor agrees the young man becomes his disciple. Tire first thing he is taught is ukubuka ku mupim, to divine by
means of an axe-handle. Should the umulaye be called in to prescribe for someone suffering from chronic headache, he will send his
new pupil, saying "(io and divine, but remember, do not diagnose the ease as one of iebibandu interference; you must say it is his
umupashi (spirit) which is angry because light beer (ijhimgai lias not been brewed in his honour”. Such are the instructions the pupil
gels continually. The i.amba say *Ichiwanda tachikaiwa kwnulaye umwaichye'. a young doctor does not catch a demon. Let us
further pursue ukubuka kumupini in some detail.

4.3.2 Ukubuka Kumupini (Divining with an Axe-llandle)

4-3.2.1 When the young doctor reaches the village he finds that the interested friends and relatives of the sick man have already congregated
in his hut. ITie patient is lying on his bed and they squat on the floor around, some silting on his bed. The umulaye sits down just
within the doorway and places his axe on the floor in front of him. the axe-head toward himself and the handle (umupini) pointing
toward the patient. Then those who have summoned him. tire chief one of whom may he the sick man’s mother, begin to put forward
the usual questions for the doctor's divination. This is called ukusanshila. The first question may be, ‘is it a ichibanda which has
come to this young man?" On hearing the question, the doctor repeatedly strikes the axe-handle with ihe under side of his closed fist,
as though to hammer it firmly into the ground; he then rubs the axe-handlc backward and forward. It has not stuck tight to the
ground and he says, it is not a ichibanda ubwanga bwakana (the charm has replied in the negative). With the Lamba umulaye
divining seems to be dependent upon the efficiency of the ubwanga of which he has control. Ubwanga though often referred to by
the term ’charm’ really signifies much more: it is inseparable connected with the belief in dynamism.
43.2.2 The freedom of movement of the umupini having demonstrated that the ubwanga “has not caught” the questioner puts forward
another question (ukusanshila). “Is it his umupashi which is angry?” 'Hie doctor says, just listen whether his untupashi is angry or
not. He then proceeds to knock with his knuckles on the axc-hcad. making as though to pull the axe up. again he strikes the axe with

51
 the under side of his clenched fist, this time upon the flat of the blade. Then he pretends to try to tear up the axe-head by catching it
with his fingers, wrenching at it unsuccessfully. In the eyes of the credulous audience the axe is no longer loose, it is held lightly to
the ground by the power of the ubwanga. Ubwanga bwaikata. (“The charm has caught”). Clearly it is the umupashi who is offended
and who has caused the illness of the youngman. The wrath of the umupashi must be appeased. There is no need for medicines or
medical treatment, so the doctor says “brew ifisunga (light beer) and make your peace with the spirit today and the young man will
recover. 1 le warns the people, however, that if they do not brew the ifisunga quickly the man will die. Again he pretends to wrench
with all his might at the axe. hui it will not come away. Then he says. "Give me ichyakuleunbido bwanga (an olTcring for the charm)
that I may go. The people thereupon make an offering for his services. Immediately the ubwanga lets go the axe - it is loose and the
doctor takes it up and goes his way.

Another Lumba method of divining is given to you below.

4.3.3 Ukubuka Kumisewe (Divining With Rattles)

4.3.3.1 It very often happens that the patient gas no better for all these instructions. Tnis light beer has been brewed and the umupashi has
been honoured, but there is no difference in the patient’s condition. The mother of the sick man then goes off to summon the
umulaye umukulu. the fully qualified doctor, who should come and ascertain if perchance it is ichihamia (demon) which is troubling
her son. lie does not come immediately; his dignity and position do not permit him to exercise undue haste, and he docs not want the
villagers to connect the woman's visit to his village with his own visit to her village. He waits until the next day. Even then he docs
not go to the hut of the sick man; the doctor does not need to sec his patient in order to diagnose his complaint. When he reaches the
village he goes off to a spot in the bush a little distance away. He takes with him his pupils may be the father and mother o? the
patient, but no one else. I le is going to buka kumisewe. divine by means of the rattles and to sanshile misewe put the questions to the
rattles, tins he will do by himself. His pupil makes a small clearing (ulubansa), sculling away the grass and small bushes with a hoc
borrowed from the village: he next brings a little water in a small pot. puts some umusamu in the water and sets the pot on an
inkosyarya. a ring of grass set on people’s heads to assist them in carrying water, pots, firewood, and loads of all kinds. I le then sets
on end one horn. Meanwhile, the umulaye himself is sitting on the ground and begins to rattle one musewe. The mother of the sick
man begins and says, "my child is dying and will not recover”. Thereupon, the umulaye says, "just listen; she is telling you!" ! le
shakes his rattle and listens to it with his head on one side.
“She says her child is dying'’. And he bends over the pot of water and gazes into it. Then he says, no. he is not going to die. but it is
witches that I see playing in the water! And add, it is all right: I shall speak with them at night, lest they should kill him.
43.3.2 After this he searches for the appropriate musamu, a portion of which he administers to the patient as a draught, using another
portion as a hot medicine to place on his body, This medical treatment is not intended to cure the patient but to strengthen the

52
 weakened body. The doctor depends on other means for the cure; he simply uses herbs in order to keep the patient alive until the
effect of the witchcraft has been removed. Without doubt, however, in many cases these abalaye use really effective remedies,
which directly contribute to the patient’s recovery.
4.33.3 When night has fallen the umulaye climbs on a chyulu a great anthill and shouts out; “You, () witch, who arc in this village, I see
you! It is my demand that you loosen the grip which you have on this young man. If you kill him, 1 too shall not go away. I am
waiting to kill you! 1 saw you last night walking about; it was you 1 saw. On hearing that everybody is afraid, believing that the
umulaye has seer, the witch.
43.3.4 In the morning the doctor goes back home to his village and his pupil, the young doctor goes from time to time to visit the sick man.
When he recovered a handsome offering (ickilambu) is made. Should the patient die. however, the doctor is summoned to catch the
witch whom he saw in the first instance. For attention to the sick man the doctor is paid anything from two to ten shillings (in those
days) in cash or in kind. As wc have said the umulaye has considerable real knowledge of herbal remedies, but it is important to
realize that these arc dispensed with a view to strengthening the man who has become weakened by sickness; the doctor holds out no
hope of recovery' unless the offended spirit is appeased or the evil working witch is frightened enough to remove the power of his
evil charms or some other power for ill is countered.
4.3.3.S During his period of learning and probation, the pupil is taught by the older umulaye the different types of herbs, their preparation
and their uses and his daily association with his master teaches him all the arts of the diviner. When he has completed his training, he
pays his teacher as much as two pounds or a gun and then leaves him to set up on his own.

4.4 CAUSE OF SICKN ESS

4.4.1 Among the Lamba and other Bantu peoples of Southern Africa, there is no natural death and no illness due to natural causes. All
illness, apart from that which results in the ukmvilwa (spirit possession) of the hamvkamwami. the bamowa and the abayambo is
attributed to one of four causes:
(a) the anger of the imipashi
(b) bewitching by imfwiti
(c) capture by ifibanda and;
(d) the direct dealing of Lesa.
4.4.2 Medical treatment
In a few cases, only the doctor does divine (ukubuka) but uses some type of medical treatment. For instance, some abalayc are said to treat
persons struck by lightning, giving them medicine to drink (ukupupulula bantu) even when they are unconscious.
SUMMARY
What you have just finished reading was recorded by CM. Dokc of the South African Batipst Missions way back in the 1930s. In tins

53
discussion we have covered a number of things under ‘divination’. There seems to be a certain spiritual balance in society that has to be kept.
Divination helps the community to keep that balance and to deal with evil.
In the next section, we discuss 'Shona divination’ to help you understand the concept better.

ACTIVITY I
1. What technical term would you use to describe the Lamba method of divination?
2. How do people learn the an of divining in your ethnic group?
3. Why do you think the I.amba attributed illness and death to malice of fellow humans?

4.5 SHONA DIVINATION

4.5.1 Any person whose troubles and anxieties are not serious may approach a neighbour or relative with an elementary knowledge of
divining: this is especially likely i f he has a strong opinion on what the outcome of the divination will be and merely wants
continuation. But for more serious matters a diviner of some repute is required with a powerful healing spirit to support him/her.
Although for serious matters and especially when death is feared or has occurred, people prefer to consult a diviner living some
distance away, who is less likely to bring personal prejudices to bear on his/her divination and who can show his/her contact with the
spiritual powers by displaying knowledge a!>out his clients which a stranger would not normally know. More commonly tire diviner
is a member of the local community, thoroughly acquainted with the history and current relations of his clients.

4.5.2 In a matter of some moment the consultation becomes a family affair usually arranged and financed by the family head. If someone
in the family is seriously

54
4.5.3 ill. hc/shc will not be able to travel himsclfherself
to a distant diviner. So a delegation including or at
least representing the family head is made responsible
for the consultation.

4.5-3 It is said that a good diviner should know of higher prospective clients before their arrival
and go out meet them before they reach his homestead, though in practice this rarely
happens. In any case, the diviner is supposed to be able to tel! the clients what their
trouble is before they say anything. The diviner makes his/her first statements vague and
keeps talking, becoming more and more precise while clients remain silent or react
positively depending on how close to the mark the diviner’s statement is. In practice, the
diviner is able to tell the delegation the reason for their errand through an astute
assessment, possibly unconscious and aided by a heightened awareness induced by the
possession trance, of their reactions as he feels his way with his statements. In cases
where the diviner provides hospitality to the clients before making hisdier divination, the
diviner and his/her assistants are probably helped by a certain amount of eavesdropping.
The degree of the diviner's fore knowledge, which he/she is supposed to have received in
a dream while his/her clients were on their way to consult him/her. affects his/her
prestige. A good diviner is supposed even to know how much the delegation has brought
to pay him/her and if hc/shc demands too much they may lose confidence in him/her and
go elsewhere. When ho'she lias shown his/her clients that he/she is able to discover the
cause of their errand without having to be told, they can consult his/her oracles with
confidence. So what methods are used in divination? Read through the following.

4.5.4 Methods of Divining

4.5.4.1 Different diviners use various methods to diagnose the causes of the misfortunes or
illnesses over which they arc consulted or to answer questions about tire fortune. One
diviner may use a calabash on a string one end of which is fastened to the roof of his/her
house and the other held by the diviner; hc/shc throws the

55
 calabash up as he/shc asks the question put to him/her and the answer depend on whether
the calabash stays up or comes straight down again. In practice the diviner could control
it since it depends on how tight hc/she held the string.
4.S.4.2 Another method involves two clay •horns’, one male and tire other female; after the
diviner has rubbed them in his/her hands and on the client's head, hc/she puts them in a
calabash which he/shc holds apparently rigidly in his/her hands. In fact, the diviners
wrists arc kept loose and vibrating so that the movement of the horns which is supposed
to give the result of the divination are controlled (perhaps unconsciously) by the operator
and the interpretations given to the movement depends on the information gleaned from
the client and his/her reactions to the diviner's suggestions. Other methods of divination
include staring into a special calabash or nom containing medicines and the use of talking
images; but the most common and important methods involved either spirit possession or
throwing divining dice (hukaia) or both of these together.
4.5.43 The Shona admit that even a professional diviner can make a mistake in divination and a
dissatisfied client always has the right to consult a second opinion. But when someone
expresses such skepticism over divination, it is not that h/shcc doubts the efficacy of die
process of divination, but rather he/she suspects die particular diviner of being
incompetent or a charlatan. F.vcn the most skeptical of Shona usually cite at least one
diviner, often someone living some distance away, whom they believe to be genuinely
able to divine.
• A professional diviner is consulted partly because of his/her skills in manipulating the
dice, in reading the more complicated throws and in interpreting them for any given
situation. I le/she is also believed to be more skilful in making the dice 'see*, since
he/she knows the best medicine and procedures for this. But these skills and the
presdge of the diviner are believed to depend on his/her contact with the spirit world
through the assistance given to him/her by a healing spirit.
• As in ihc case of many skills among the Shona. the skill of a professional diviner is
attributed to some spirit which has singled out its human host to be the medium
through which it can exercise its powers. The spirit may he a deceased ancestor or
close relative who was a diviner when alive, or it may he a wandering shave spirit,
“often inherited from a deceased ancestor who was helped by it during life”. It is
considered essential for a successful ng 'anga to be the host to some healing or

56
 divining spirit; a man who learns all the techniques of a diviner from his father may
feel unable to practice until he inherits or acquires the necessary' healing spirit.
• Some diviners rely entirely on the powers of their spirits in ritual possession and do
not use dice at all. For this type of divination the procedure is different in that the
diviner needs an assistant {often a spouse or an appropriate relative) who receives the
fee and who must perform some ritual to induce the spirit to enter the diviner. This
may be as simple as the assistant clapping his/her hands and asking the spirit to come
out in the medium or passing the medium medicated snuff. Some spirits require the
medium first to do the ritual dress of the spirit and the medium may require music and
dancing to induce possession. Generally, an experienced diviner is possessed more
quickly and easily than the one who has only just started to practice. Once the spirit
lias possessed the host, the client can address it often using the assistant as an
intermediary. The spirit may speak to the client about spiritual and ritual affairs and
answer questions the client or other on lookers may have to ask
SUMMARY
What we have finished discussing is perhaps still obtaining among the Shona. What you should be
able to see between the Shona and the Lamba are similarities and differences. You may wonder
what does this have to dowith religion? You are right to ask. Indeed, where is religion in all this?
The significance of divination lies in what it brings about, namely, holistic healing.

5
7
ACTIVITY 2
1. !. Identify methods of divining in Shona society and clearly explain them.
2. Can you think of a Zambian ethnic group whose methods of divining arc different from the
Shona's?
3. Talk to a Shona if you come across one and let them tel! you about their methods of
divining. Ask them about what and what has not changed.

4.6 PERCEPTIONS OF DIVINERS: THE TONGA CASE

Have you heard people talking about going Kwa Mununga to find out the cause of death ol'one of
their beloved ones? Or have you seen advertisements by diviners or healers claiming that they arc
from Luapula or Lubumbashi in Congo or that they are from Tanzania. Malawi, Mozambique, etc.
These diviners eclipse the local ones like Vongo and others. When Dr Mwanzabamba was alive
her clientele was drawn from beyond Zambia. The point I am trying to put to you is that there are
different perceptions of diviners by people. Our source of information here is Elizabeth Colson
who has worked among die Tonga since 1946.
4.6.1 Anthropologists have paid new attention to the impo-rnrtance of the stranger or alien as
agent used by competing groups within a community. I hVshc presence permits them to
maneuver for position without committing themselves irretrievably to a stand which mighi
force a major confrontation and the breakdown of all on going relationships. In practice, of
course, there are degrees of strangeness and different categories of alienness. A
community is likely to choose as its agents those aliens or strangers who arc most suitable
to ins purpose in particular situations.

4.6.2 In this section, we shall be concerned with the use the Tonga of Zambia make of one
particular type of stranger - the impartial stranger of the same social
universe, who shares with them a common set of values. The alien diviner or witch
under is precisely this, an alien whose behaviour is predictable whose findings arc
therefore intelligible and acceptable. An alien diviner however, is useful only in
internal difficulties. Where other aliens with radically differing values and

58
 interpretations are also involved as protagonists and judges of the action, the stranger
status of the diviner or witch finder becomes irrelevant.
4.63 Ihe Tonga like any other Zambian 'tribe' of Zambia consult diviners on numerous
occasions, in emergencies involving illness, accident, death or other misfortune arid to
find explanations for events or one kind of another. They also seek from them
prognostications on various planned courses of action. The one who consults the
diviner may be concerned only with his/her own private concerns or he/her may
appear as the representative of a kin group. Hc/hcr may consult either local or strange
diviners who may use a variety' of divination techniques. Any diviner visiting a new
area, whether he/her be a Tonga or a complete alien is likely to find local clients who
say that a man or women from a distance knowing nothing of local affairs is more
likely to give a true divination than is the local man who knows all about the one who
seeks enlightenment. The Tonga will also travel considerable distances to consult
diviners of reputation.
4.6.4 For minor matters, people arc usually content with the sen-ices of local diviners who
are part of their community. Ihe only rule they follow is that a man or woman should
seek a neutral tool. The pronouncement of the stranger is likely to be preferred and
remembered as the correct diagnosis because it has come from someone outside the
community and because it has cost a good deal more in effort and money than any
local divination. The famous diviners who attract customers from distant areas have
impressive foreign techniques usually learned in areas whose people are reputed to
have powerful medicines. They charge high fees for their services. Where the local
diviner may have to be satisfied with a fee of Ki 00,000.00 and a small basket of
grain, the famous diviners can expect to receive fees of K500,000.00 and even more
in very difficult eases.
4.6.5 It is a different matter when the Tonga consult a witch finder. Here the client is a
community and not an individual or a kin group. The Tonga habitually use the same
term for both witch finder and diviners and indeed the witch finder may also be a
practicing diviner. The Tonga stress that the witchfindcr’s primary task is the
discover)' of the sorcerers who arc killing the people and making life miserable for all.
But in fact, he/she is a proclaimer of sorcerers rather than a discoverer. The people
have long since decided who are their local sorcerers are. Private divinations have

59
 named them and the gossip has been whispered through village and neighbourhood.
The point being made here is that the witch finder is therefore the mouthpiece of
suspicion through whom the community proclaims its knowledge and the medium
through which it comes to terms with its known sorcerers.
4.6.6 The witch finder’s client is the village, not an individual. 1 lis/her report is to the
village. He is empowered to discover all the sorcerers causing trouble to the people
and he’she is expected to lest everyone living in the village or the neighbourhood. For
this reason, he/she enters village or neighbourhood only at the imitation of the
headman who acts after consultation with other senior men and w omen. Those
disclosed as sorcerers arc publicly accused.
4.6.7 Tonga chiefs as chiefs did not involve themselves with witch finding. But they shared
the beliefs of their people in the prevalence of sorcery and in the efficacy of the witch
finder in controlling sorcery. If a witch finder operated in a chief s territory to free
people from the evil of sorcery this was a good thing so long as the man did not attack
the chief. The fact that the headmen, the lowest office in the official hierarchy might
fall under attack from the witch

60
 tinder did not affect the chiefs tolerance. He took no responsibility for his headmen
who were neither his appointees nor considered his men. An attack upon a headman
was not an attack upon a chief. In the chief s eyes the people were behaving in a
reasonable fashion if they rid themselves of a sorcerer headman and if necessary he
would help them to disguise the facts of the case behind a tale more palatable to the
administration.
SUMMARY
The witch Under is acceptable to Tonga clients because as an uncommitted stranger hc/shc can
catalyze a situation in which local people arc too closely involved for a solution to be reached. But
he/she is a stranger only in the sense that hc.'she is uncommitted to any group of contestants and
has no reason to shield the guilty or accuse the innocent. Hc/she is not a stranger to the system
ol'beliefs or standards that controls the situation in which he is called upon to operate. He/'she is
there to perform a specific task set for him/her by his/her clients and his behaviour is predictable.

ACTIVITY 3
1. What events in life would the Tonga bring to the attention of the diviner? l ake serious note
of the Tonga economic context as well.
2. How do you explain the persistence of divination in Tonga society especially the plateau
society when Christian missionaries entered it as early as 1905?
3. If you were asked to explain the rationale behind 'alien diviner', whai would you say? Pul it
in writing on a piece of paper.

61
 UNIT FIVE

WITCHCRAFT ERADICATION MOVEMENTS

6
2
 UNIT FIVE

WITCHCRAFT ERADICATION MOVEMENTS

5.0 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Unit Five, ‘witchcraft eradication movements'.

5.1 Witchcraft eradication is an extremely complex phenomenon. Two approaches have been
made to the study of witchcraft eradication movements. Some scholars have examined
them as a phenomenon, which arises under colonial rule. Others suggest that they have a
long history stretching centuries into the past. This brief survey will try to view these
movements in the light of evidence drawn from Zambia and neighbouring countries. This
unit looks at witchcraft movements as:
A. a continuation of pre-colonial cults in Zambia.
B. it grew under the colonial system.
C. a series of independent cults.
D. Uamuchapi movements in Zambia or Tanzania.
I P r a c t i s e d by Christian or independent churches.
5.2 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
■ Discuss witchcraft eradication culls in Western Province.
* Describe the Bamuchapi movement in Zambia and Tanzania.
■ Describe witchcraft eradication in African ^independent churches in Zambia.

5.3 WITCHCRAFT ERADICATION CULTS IN THE WESTERN PROV INCE

5.3.1 The Bumuehapi movement never penetrated the Southern or Western provinces of
Zambia (Ranger. 1972:6). Among the lx>zi, the mulauli is both diviner ana witch- finder
and is distinguished from the ng 'aka. It is as if the healing task can be subdivided into
diagnosing and prescribing, and these two functions belong by tide to different people.
5.3.2 It is asking ihc impossible to seek, rcliabic information about witchcraft eradication in the

63
 distant past. The mulauti had a highly respected position among die l.ozi. In their saga of
myths, one of the themes is that Nyambe (God) wanted to separate himself from Kamunu
(Man) and so he went to an island.
5.3.3 Kamunu used two means of following him. The first was to weave together a raft of
Mafalingi (river grass) and the second was to make a canoe by means of which he crossed
to the island. Next Nyambe made a mountain and fled to it but Kamunu found his hide-
out. For the next attempt Nyambe’s diviner was called and he divined and catching some
spiders said: "Your hope of life is with them Chief’.
Nyambe and Nasilele went way with Sasisho and crossed the river
Litooma, Nyambe s village, being taken there by the spiders. Nyambe
went up to Heaven on the spiders web and said: "Ixt the spiders return
But Nalungwana said: “The spiders must have their eyes put out so that
they may be powerless to find llte way again, because they must not take
Kamunu to Nyambe". (Jalla 1965:4)

The fact that Nyambe is said to have had a diviner and to have turned to him when faced
with difficult problems indicates that a diviner was looked on as a good person. It docs not
however go as far as to indicate whether divtners were involved in witchcraft eradication.
5-3.4 During the 1880s I.ubosi Lcwanika found the .Vlbunda witch-finders and diviners a handy
political weapon to rid himself of suspected rivals. The Missionary Adolph Jalla. on his
arrival in Bulozi in September 1889. commented on the extent to which witch-finding was
being employed: Accusations of witchcraft were the order of die day. It was the surest
way of disposing of those of whom one was jealous or whom one hated. Jalla also
reported that Lewanika had boasted to him. saying. "The divining bones-Zi/au/a-point out
whom I want" (Mainga, 1972:103).
5.3.5 Witch-finding was practised under Lewanika and the Mbunda had the reputation of being
skilled in this art. Witch-finders were resident in the capital and were called on when
necessary. It would seem that divining was done by means of the bones". The poison
ordeal, mwari. and the boiling water tests were both used.
5.3.6 Comparing this with what happens today there are a number of differences. The art is not
confined to the Mbunda and witch-finder operate from their own homes rather than the

64
 royal capital. Certain men such as Saasa (Mongu), Likishi (Kalabo), Makumba (Kalabo).
the blind Mwenyeka have established a rcputaiion as witch-lindcrs. "Throwing the bones' 7
is not for witeh-dctcction. The blind Mwenyeka used a basket into which he 'gaxeti' in
order to identify witches. Another diviner looked into an opening in a tree and from lights
that he saw there, identified people he said were guilty. Even though he may have
assistants, the mulauli operates as an individual.

5.4. wrrciICRAFT ERADICATION IN THE COLONIAL ERA

5.4.1 The Witchcraft Act

l he Witchcraft Act of Zambia, passed in 1914, defines that the term witchcraft to include “the
throwing of bones, the use of charms and any other means process or device adopted in the
practice of witchcraft or sorcery". It forbids the “exercise any kind of supernatural power,
witchcraft, sorcery or any non-natural means" is an offence. Administering an “emetic or
purgative “witchfinder" is liable to conviction. Exactly the same penalties are iaid down for a
'witchfindcr' as for a 'witch doctor'. Discovering property by "witchcraft or any non-natural
means” is an offence. Administering an "emetic or

65
purgative" or using boiling water as a witchcraft test is forbidden, even if done with consent.

Inviting any such people and presiding or even being present at their rituals is banned.
t

Chiefs and headmen have a further obligation to report any planned rituals to the authorities. It is
also an offence to name anyone as a witch unless the accusaiion is made to a police officer or
district officials was not found in the witchcraft act in Zimbabwe.
The act was 'nonsensical' and 'divorced from reason’. It would be wiser in individual cases to co-
operate with'better-class witchcraft' (shing'anga). The administrators realised that they were in an
impossible situation because they had no hope of enforcing this law. When they met in 1934, they
looked for a compromise solution.
5.4.2 Accordingly, the new policy of "watchful tolerance” set down that bamuchapi must be
invited by the recognised chief of the locality they cleansed and that the chief must accept
responsibility for any crimes resulting from the procedure. In short, officials rendered
indirect rule its due. Thereafter, they ‘nodded' at the Witchcraft Ordinance, by instructing
African district messengers to "keep a sharp eye on developments” and to miss no
opportunity to ridicule and discredit the medicine men- without, however, much hope of
success.

ACTIVITY I
1. What events docs the ambia say about witchcraft?.
2. Why is it difficult tolcgislate against witchcraft?
5.5 BAMUCHAPI MOVEMENTS IN ZAMBIA AND TANZANIA

5.5.1 When a group of Muchape witch-finders moved into Bembaland in 1934, Audrey
Richards was doing her fieldwork there. She called ba ‘muchapi’. a modem movement of
witch finders. Today the word Bamuchapi has become a term used in Bemha-speaking
areas to mean wileh-finders in general. People had to file past and witches were detected
in a mirror.
5.5.2 The success of the movement was from the first overwhelming. It completely captured the
people's imagination, and created its myths as it spread... The Government, which at first
allowed the movement to proceed unchecked, was universally praised...adverse criticism
of missions which refused to allow their Christians to drink the medicine was frequent
(Richards. 1934:450).

5.5.3 Richards notes that the Bamuchapi “came as well-dressed young men, not as wrinkled old
native doctors (ng'anga) in greasy bark-cloth. They sold their medicine in “bottles rather
titan dirty old homs pulled from a skin bag”. They began with a sermon, stressing the idea
of the washing of sins, and claimed that their power came from Lesa. They demanded and
all “witchcraft objects" be piled at a crossroads outside the village.

5.5.4 Richards examined one heap of 135 horns and claimed that 125 were mere containers or
common charms. Two were of the kind used by the ng anga of the chief. The remaining
eight were suspicious because they were from ill-omened animals such as the iguana or
bushbuck. She felt that there was some serious misunderstanding. The people did not
distinguish between common charms and witchcraft objects. Her final judgement on the
Bamuchapi was negative and she said that for several reasons they were highly suspect.
5.5.5 In 196K Roy Willis wrote about “The Kamcape Movement” in Tanzania wherethere had
also been an earlier series of witchcraft eradication movements, 1933. 19-13. 1954 and
1964. The last one, Kamchapc, was similar to bamuchapi
because tiic leaders had the kind of drink, mchape, and insisted that all suspect witchcraft, objects
be handed up. There were some differences. Anti-witchcrdll medicine was rubbed into
incisions in suspects’ skin and those found guilty were branded with large double crosses
on their foreheads.
5.5.6 The final example from Zambia is "Doctor" Kadansa Sansakuwa Kapilikisha who ran his
own practice where people came from many places to consult him. He tried to break
down barriers of communication by giving interviews with magazines and welcoming
photographers. On one occasion he placed a number witchcraft objects on display in the
UNZA library.
5.6 AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CHURCHES AND WITCHCRAFT KRADITION
African Independent Churches commonly acronymed as AICs arc those churches by
Africans who had left mission churches especially protestantcjurchcs. We will look at
Tomo Nyirenda. from Malawi. I le was a Kitawala a Jehovah's Witness whose movement
was essentially an Independenmi Church. He caused havoc among the Lala of Mkushi.
5.6.1 Tire Ministry ofTomo Nyirenda (mwanalesa) from Malawi has attracted scholarly
controversy. Colonial settlers and Bishop May wrote that it was a religious movement
which claimed "to satisfy the spiritual aspirations of its followers". Rotberg saw it in the
context of African protest against whites; Mebcelo tried to interpret it as incipient anti-
colonialism. Ranger claims this interaction teaches a good deal about "the senses in
which it was true that the Lala needed Christianity in 1925'’ (Ranger, 1975:45)

5.6.2 There was no doubt about the reaction of the ordinary people. They were thrilled and fired
with enthusiasm. They made excuses for Tomo Nyirenda when it came to taking
responsibility for the killing of witches and put the blame rather on the chiefs. One
member said:
"Tom Mwanalesa", he said, 'and the other African missionaries of
IVatchtower arrived with their big Babies, saying. "Something is coming
",

Every villager turned out for them; even the pagans went to listen. The movement sprang
up in very big numbers. Thousands were baptise*! in the river, including destroying

71
 witchcraft. Mwanalesa got the co-operation of the chief by saying that his baptism could
disclose anyone who was a witch For witches did not go down deep into the water, h was
usually frightened old people who were marked out in this way. Such victims were
ordered by the chief to he killed, or their relatives had to redeem them by paying sums to
him. (Taylor & Lehmann, 1961:26)

5.6.3 It is true that Nyircnda began by claiming to be able to detect witches and it was chief
Shaibila who persuaded him to draw those lie detected. He was responsible for the
death of fifteen people in this country and possible 176 in the Congo all of whom he
judged to be witches. People wrere attracted to him more than ever.

"The people came to the man", marvelled judge MacDonncll in his address to the court at
Nyirenda's trial in 1926: they fed him. built shelters for him, lei their young men go with
him, let him baptise them, and let him kill their brothers fathers, mothers as he wished-
and concealed everything from the Boma. So they were to find their happiness and so
their country was to he cleaned!" (Ranger, 1975:48)

5.7 HIE LUMPA CHURCH

5.7.1 Regarding the Lumpa Church, witchcraft eradication was a key doctrine ol’the church.
The mu/oshi who did not repent was doomed and several hymns like this one focus
attention on him. You muloshi, you bewitch your fellows. You are the
leader of the wicked. You show your friends u> do bad things. Many witches threw away
their witchcraft objects in order to follow Lenshina.

72
 UNIT SIX

BELIEF IN GOD
 UNIT SIX

BELIEF IN GOD

6.0 INTRODUCTION
The concept of God is central to Christianity and Islam and there has been a tendency to assume
that it must therefore be just as central for all the religions of die world. This led to an attempt to
move from theology to history, speculation on the origin of this belief in God.
Studies in die past seemed to indicate that all over the world people come up with an idea which
was similar. I'.B Jevons (1896) put forward a theory that all peoples in the world developed their
evolution from ‘animism* to polytheism* to monotheism'. I lis work has been criticised by Evans-
Prilchard (1965:5) as "a collection of absorbed reconstructions, unsupportabie hypotheses and
conjectures, wild speculations, suppositions and assumptions".

6.1 OBJECTIVE
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
• Discuss the origins of words for God in Southern Africa.
• Discuss the meanings of the words for God in Southern Africa
• Describe how missionaries constructed names for God using the Judeo-Christian
concepts.
6.2 Wilhelm Schmidt put forward a different theory which was almost the opposite claiming
that the first humans were given a special revelation focusing on monotheism. He
assumed that gradually this concept was lost by many peoples who fell away into
polytheism. As Sullivan (1987:178) noted this theory has been rejected by both
theologians and historians.
6.2.1 Mircea Eliade (1958) claimed that tlie idea of a Supreme Being in the sky was the origin
of the idea of God. but his theory has failed to win acceptance among scholars. Seeking a
single answer for the whole world has ended up in failure.
6.2.2 Another scholar. Geoffrey Parrinder (1954) introduced the term ‘Supreme Being' into
African Traditional Religion. Ibis term was rejected by the major African philosophers.
John Mbiti. Kagame and Mulago. Calling God ‘Supreme’ counts him as belonging to the

75
 same category as all the other things in this world, and the only difference is that he is the
highest being in that category. This would eliminate any difference between God and
people.

It is therefore improper, in the eves of ‘Bantu’ culture to call (iod the Supreme Being,
since he docs not belong to the category of beings... We mast call him the Pre$-existing
One. an attribute that fits the Existing Eternal (Kagame, 1971:603)

6.23 Other scholars use the term ‘High God’. For example. Van Binsbcrgen, (1981:332) puts
forward a definition. The High God can be defined as an invisible entity, postulated by
the members of a society, and to whom they attribute the following characteristics: he is
thought of as a person: he is the only member of a unique class of invisible entities; he
may be considered the ultimate creator; he tends to be associated with the sky and with
meteorological phenomena.
6.2.4 A simpler solution is to use the term ‘God* throughout. This does not avoid
difficulties but it enables you to tackle problems in a systematic way. Some translations
of the bible use a capital letter for God only when they are referring to the Jewish or
Christian God. but that is a modem interpretation which claims that only the Jewish or
Christian God deserves to be given the title "God’. All others arc called ‘gods’. This
distinction is not part of the original Bible because there were no full stops, no capital or
small letters in ancient Hebrew.
What about Africa? What are the words used for God in this part of the world? How can
you identify the words for God in such a large continent with many peoples? The next
section uses different scholars to make you understand the words for God belter.

6.3 WORDS FOR GOD IN AFRICA

6.3.1 Following the tradition at the time. John Mbiti collected words from 300 African peoples.
He took a proverb or a practice from two or three peoples and them made generalised
statements for the whole of Africa, such as the following:

"The Tonga name tor God (Tilo) means also heaven, and they say in a proverb that

76
 ‘Heaven never dies, only men do*. This means that just as heaven is incapable of dying
or destruction, so is God: he is eternal and immutable. 1 !e endures forever, from eternity
to ctcmitv". (1970:28).

On the basis of the above information he claimed to identify aUributes of God, such as
'omniscience', 'omnipotence*, 'omnipresence*, ’transcendence', immanence',
‘incomprehensibility’, immutability', infinity*

63.2 Okot p'Bitck criticised the new terms Mbiti was attributing to the African God as an
attempt to introduce Greek terminologies with the claim that they equally belonged to
Africa. African peoples may describe their deities as ‘strong' but not ‘omnipotent* ‘wise’
but not ‘omniscient*; ‘old* not ‘eternal*, ‘great*, not ‘omnipresent*. ’Hie Greek
metaphysical terms are meaningless in African thinking (1970:3).

6.3.3 Mbiti tried to have tilings both ways. He proved the (ioodness of God by- showing that no
offerings were made to him (‘‘God does only good, therefore we do not make offerings to
him” (1970:34). Then he tried to prove (rod's immanence and transcendence by showing
that offerings were made to him.
The commonest acknowledgement of God’s immanence comes out in the various acts of
worship, such as sacrifices, offerings, prayers and invocations. In this way, people affirm
their belief that the transcendent God is above all, it also the immanent (iod who is close
to ail and to whom they can turn, through these acts of worship.. .Thus for them. God is a
theory transcendent, but in practice immanent" (1970:17-18).

63.4 Mbiti had to depend on information gathered from various sources and some of it was
unreliable. For example he mixed up the Thonga of South Africa with the Tonga of
Zambia because he staled that 'Tilo' was the Tonga word for God. He listed the I.o/.i and
Barotsc other ‘LesaT He classified the Lunda and l.uerta (l.uvalc) as one when in fact they
have different names for God. I iis list of names of God in Zambia is as follows:

77
 God Ethnic groups
Tilo Tonga
Leza Ila
Lesa Hemba Kaonde Lala I amba
l.esa Barotse Ambo Luapula
Nyarnbe Lozi
Makumba Ushi

Mulungu Nyanja
Chiuta Tumbuka

Nzamhi Luattda 1 -uena (Luvale)

63.5 Several people reacted with concern at the approach adopted by Mbiti. Robin Horton saw
it as using Judeo-Christian spectacles to focus on Africa. Okot p’bitck (1970:67)
condemned it as an attempt io 'discover* a specifically Huropcan concept of God in every
African people.
African scholars trying to interpret die religious ideas of their countrymen and women in
terms of 1 European thought, and also anxious to defend Africa from the intellectual
arrogance of the West, present African deities complete with the attributes of the
Christian God.
63.5 I lowcvcr take note that Mbiti’s work has been useful. From the variety of words for God
two things can be clearly proved. First, tire idea of God was not introduced to Africa by
any single outside source- if the idea of god had been introduced from outside, there
would not have been such a variety of words for God. Secondly, since there is a great
variety of words for (rod, it is clear that Africans travelled along different paths.

6.4 CHANCING IDEAS OF COD

Wc must begin by studying an individual people and then we will discover that their idea
of God does not remain static. It changes. Often people have taken just one idea of God
chosen from die time that religion had reached its peak. That is no longer acceptable. Wc
must carefully examine the idea of (rod at different stages in the history' of the People.
Wc must identify his characteristics as each stage and then compare them with one

78
 another noting especially any differences. Later the various ideas of God found in one
people car. be compared with those found in other peoples.
6.4.1 The best-known example is the Hebrews. At the time of Moses they knew that their
ancestors worshipped other Gods" (Joshua 14:2). They also believed that there were
many Gods in the world and that each nation had its own God. They believed that their
God was closer to them than other Gods were to their peoples.
No other nation, no matter how great has a God who is so near when they need him as the
lord our God is to us. (Dcut 4:7)
I hey believed that their God was superior to any of the other Gods. The Lord your God
is supreme over all Gods and over all powers (Deut 10:17)

The Jews were commanded "Worship no other God but me.” (Deut 5:7) The name Elyon
is found in a passage (Deut 32:8-9) which describes how the Most High decided to
divided to up the nations of the world according to the number of Gods under him. He
gave preference to the Hebrews and allocated them to Yah web.

When the Most High (Elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance when he separated the
sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of
God (Divine beings). For the Lord's (Yahweh) portion is his people. Jacob his allotted
heritage.
6.4.2 Up to the time of Moses the Hebrews used a number of different words for god because
they had not yet settled on any one single word which they should use for (iod. The words
used were EL was very widely used in names such as Michael. Raphael. Gabriel, Israel,
and it is surprising that it was not finally chosen. The linal choice was YHWH, which is
pronounced as Yahweh or made into the word Jehovah. Unfortunately many people never
realised this because their Bible translations do not indicate which name is used.

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 HI Gen 1:26 Ps 68:46

Elyon Deut 32:8-9 Num 24:16 Is 14:14

El Shaddai Gen 17:1 Gen 28:3 Gen 43:14
Hlohim Gen 3:5 Gen 32:8 Gen 35:5

Yahweh Gen 2:4 Gen 3:1 Gen 4:4

We arc not departing from African traditional religion, but giving you an example of the
complexity of the notion of God in socisties. We arc now turning to the history of the idea of God
in Bantu societies.

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6.5 THE HISTORY OF BANTU IDEAS OF GOD
This section will follow the historical development of Bantu religious thought following the
various families in their religious quest along and later different paths. Each section begins with a
linguistic analysis of terms and later ethnographic evidence is used to complete the picture. When
a specific word is needed in language, there arc various possibilities. An old word with many
meanings may be used with only one meaning o.g. Nzambi or Leza; an earlier word may be
divided into two, e.g. Mulimu; or a new word may be imported into a language, e.g. Mulungu or
Mwari. Examples of each of these linguistic processes arc given in detail.

6.5.1 Nzambi
Among the Western Bantu the most widespread temi is Nzambi, Njambi or Nyambe, Guthrie
identified this is 925’jambc (jaambe) W(D:2); or 1917 +yambe or nyambe W (D:2).
Guthrie, (1976:CS 925) found that some of the entries did not follow exact Bantu linguistic
patterns and doubted whether all of them were valid. Vansina (1990:298) added a more elaborate
comment:
The distribution of this term has been greatly extended
by missionary teaching....All in all one may postulate a
single innovation well before 1500 A.D with the meaning
"first sprit".

i he meaning of the term. 'Nyambe! varies from one people to the next. In some places it is a broad
term which includes the individual person after death, all kind of spirit and the spirit which is
superior to others. Among other peoples it is a term which has one and only one meaning such as
"first spirit”. This points to a conclusion that the word ’Nzambi’ did not have the same meaning in
the various Bantu peoples but later one meaning came to be generally accepted.
6.6.2 I.oba/DiohA'obo
E. Anderson, (JRA Vol. 2:2 1969) studied the concept of God in the Conge and Cameroon. He
did research among the iJakuta who use either Nzambi (Nzami/Nziami/Zambi) or Nzambi Pungu.
i le was puzzled by the term ‘Pungu’. Some of his informants said Pungu was the father of
Nzambi but others said the term really meant ‘Nzambi the powerful one’. Two other terms were
used: Nzambi watanda (above) and Nzambi wamulselc (below-lives in rivers, waterfalls), lie
found a second word. I.uba. which he claimed was "without doubt identical with the supreme
God".
I le was able to prove that these peoples had developed a word for God from their term for ‘sky’.
Since some of these peoples used tire word. ‘Nzambi’. it can be proved that they had made a
change in their name for God. Further research is needed but it looks as if die term ‘l.oba’ was
replacing ‘Nzambi’ among those peoples.

6.6.3 Lcsa/Leza
The term ‘Lesad.eza’ is found among at least twelve peoples all in Southern Africa. Among the
Tonga the term in the singular is used for God and the plural form refers to spirits which have to
he driven out. Was the term imported?
Among the Bcmba there is evidence that the term ‘l.esa’ was used for a number of spirits and the
word mukuiu had to be added to distinguish die one that is unique from others. The term as used
today is restricted to the ‘Spirit that is superior to others’ and so the word Mukuiu is no longer
necessary. Further research is needed to pinpoint the dates when these changes were made.
6.6.4 Mulungu
The most widespread name among the Eastern Bantu is ‘Mulungu'. Guthrie identified this term as
dungu, God. He noted that this term had been selected by Christians and Muslims who began
using it everywhere they went. It was spread therefore, not by the Bantu themselves, but by
missionaries and preachers. Tnc oldest reference to the term comes from an 18 n Century
manuscript as Mulwivu. The same word is found among the

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Mijikenda. In 1847 Rev J.L. Krapf did research into the precise meanings of the word. Mulungu.
1'he answers showed at least live different meanings:

Thunder the heavens- the visible sky

1 he person after death the one who causes diseases The
Supreme Being

At the same time there was a note: "Yet it is a singular fact they have no other name for Clod than
tlic word which they apply to the visible heavens. This word is Mulungu ”
In this word {Mulungu) may be found the Bantu root I.ungu 'an ancestral clan’. Perhaps that led to
its becoming a noun of place, ‘an anccstrai abode' which later became spiritualised and then, as
‘ancestral spirits' it was transferred to another Noun Class.
The pattern seems to be that the term for thunder and the sky came to be regarded llrst as the place
where spirits lived and later tire place where god lived before it finally became restricted to mean
only God. This is a clear indication of historical change in the term for God.
There is something very interesting about what you have just been reading, namely, how Christian
missionaries appropriated the name Mulungu for their Judeo-Christian God for the purposes of
evangelizing the local people. We will turn to the word Mari which is even more interesting.
6.6.5 The Ndebele And Mwari
ihe most fully documented ease of choosing a new name for God is that of the Ndebele. These
people broke away from Shaka as a small group - no more that a fcw r hundred altogether. They
grew rapidly in numbers absorbing other peoples as they began to travel north-west. When they
settled dowTi in what is now Western Zimbabwe, they found the area notorious for poor and
scattered rains. In the past they had prayed to tire royal ancestral spirits, amadlodzi for rain.
However, now that they had moved away from their

83
original home and were far from the royal graves, they felt
that their prayers were unanswered. The Shona prayed to
Mwari for rain and they claimed that their prayers were
heard. This evidence is valuable because it shows how the
title of a rain spirit in time came to be the name of the
one seen as identical with the Christian God (Bhcbc,
1979:287-95).
6.6.6 Balirnu and Mulimu
The Solho, as liastem Bantu, originally inherited the word, mizimu. At some point in thdr history
this word died out in that form and was replaced by two words:
- badimo (pi) became the new form of their word for lineage spirits.
- mudimo (sing) then became their word for 'God'
6.6.7 Chiuta And Chauta
The term. Chiura/Chauta/Chuuia, is found in the Tumbuka, Chcwa and Mang'anja languages.
This word comes from the oognate-ir/tr One dictionary explained this as -uta meaning a bow. and
relates it to God as the 'One of the big how (rainbow)', but this etymology is suspect Linguistically
it is clear that the prefixes chi-cha- and chu- arc possessive and the word therefore means "the One
of the Bow”. Linden (1979:203) slated:
There are a number of different names for the Chcwa High God and for the Spirit-world. It is
difficult to know whether they imply historical developments, local peculiarities, or reference to
different aspects of the same deity as in chiefs' praise names. The name Kfphambe (lightning) is
associated with the Phiri capital and with the mang’anja of tire lower Shire Valley, so it may
tentatively be lined with the Phiri clans.. The name Cbisumphi occurs west of Lilongwe, especially
in the Mchinji-Chipata region arid is. perhaps, associated with the Mbewc clan whose heartland
this is. Chiuta or Chauta is universal. The reference to uta. a bow, might suggest that the name
applied to God as lord of the bush and of bunting. I he distinction is made in the follow ing prayer:
Chisumphi mutipatse mvula, Chisumphi give us rain,
Ndife ana inu. we are your children
Chauta, mutipastsc nyama Chauta, give as game.
Linden also suggested that the word was lirst associated with the Banda clans. It would be difficult
to make a case for a very early origin for the word Chiuta/Chauta/Chuuta, because there is no trace
of this word in the other Eastern Bantu languages. Two possible explanations suggest themselves.

84
Perhaps a new word originated before the Tumbuka, Chewa and Mang’anja separated and to speak
developed in one area and spread to the others.
SUMMARY
This brief survey has indicated historical changes in the terms used for God. It is reliable because
it draws on linguistic evidence but it is far from complete. A great deal of research still needs to be
done. First the history of each separate term for God needs to be worked out on regional basis.
Only then will the full development of this aspect of Bantu religion be brought to light.
Even at this stage it can be said that the religious history of the Bantu is an extraordinary one.
Earlier writers were not been able to appreciate its grandeur because they could not sec it in
historical perspective. For us today it is only just beginning to take shape. Yiu can sec that the
Sotho began by reflecting on the spirits of their dear! and their reflections led them to God. The
Chewa. Tumbuka and Mang’anja began with a meditation on the hunter in the lonely hungry
people at home. For the Zulu it was reflection on the original founder of their people, reaching
back over the centuries but this led them to God as the one in whom all find their origin. For the
Ndebelc. finding Mwari they were led on to God as the one w rho cares for his people. For others it
was the sky itself or the sun which led them to the one who is as unlimited as the heavens or like
the sun which is a live. There arc yet other ways to God which have not yet been clearly identified.

85
 UNIT SEVEN

RITES OF PASSAGE

7.0 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Unit Seven. 'Rites of Passage'. Almost even.- society has rituals to mark the passing
of a stage in the life of an individual (Van Gennep 1909). The rite de passage or initiation rite
marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. The child passes through the stage of being a
non-person to that of being a person who can take her responsibility in the community.

In this unit I will describe initiation rites or riles of passage. First I will discuss the structure of
these rites, which is more or less the same in many societies in different pans of the world after
which I will describe these rites as they arc performed in Southern Africa. This is done so that you
will understand this unit better.

7.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit you should be able to :
• Define‘rite of passage’
• Describe the three stages of
• Discuss the religious significance of rites of passage

7.2 THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF INITIATION RITES

7.2.1 All rituals, including initiation rituals, arc events with a social meaning and symbolic
actions (La Fontaine 1986:11). The function of rituals is to confirm the structure of the
society. Through rituals conflicts within society arc made clear and may be solved. A
ritual is a comment on the society (Turner 1981:578). There is a notion of power in rites
(Mauss 1972:99). Power is ascribed to sacrificed objects and to the people performing the
rites.
7.2.2 Initiation rites or rites of passage arc transition rituals. This class comprises a variety of
rites accompanying the crossing of boundaries, changes in time and in social status. All

88
 initiation rites, such as the installation of a king, or the passage from unmarried to
married, have similar characteristics. I he rites can be performed either individually or in a
group. Rites of passage usually go together with biological changes, for girls often the
onset of menstruation (La Fontaine 1986:109) or the growing of breasts (Turner 1967:20;
Vuyk 1990:51). These biological changes are thought to need ritual treatment.
7.2.3 As Van Gennep (1909:94-96) has noticed, physiological puberty and ''social puberty" are
different matters, which rarely come together at the same time. Physical puberty is
marked particularly bv the onset of menstruation. It seems to be easy to date this as the
passage from childhood to adulthood but in social life it is different. Therefore, it is heller
to speak of initiation rites instead of puberty riles.
7.2.4 According to Van Gennep (1909) boundaries are considered to be dangerous. Therefore
the boundaries of territories and villages are often marked by shrines and people will
make offerings at the shrines to protect themselves before crossing the boundaries.
Similarly, society is made up of a series of social boundaries between categories so that
the social life of individuals can be seen as a series of transitions as individuals change
their status. Events such as births, marriages and deaths involve the potential for danger to
those in transition. The rituals of transition both mark the changes and protect the
individuals concerned. The danger of such changes derives from the sanctity of all social
acts. What is sacred is also dangerous and must be dealt with ritually (Van Gennep 1909).
7.2.5 As in every initiation rite there are three phases in the rife de passage: the phase of
separation, the marginal phase and the phase of aggregation (Van Gennep 1909:131, 133.
136). Turner (1967; 1969) elaborates these phases. The first phase, the separation,
comprises the symbolic behaviour signifying the detachment of the individual from an
earlier phase in the social communin' or structure. During the intervening phase, the
marginal period, which Turner (1967:93) calls the liminai phase, the characteristics of the
ritual subject or initiate are ambiguous: the initiate passes through a cultural realm that
has none of the attributes of the past or the coming state. In the third phase, the
aggregation, the passage is consummated. The individual or ritual subject is in a relatively
stable state once more and. by virtue of this, has rights and obligations vis-A-vis others of
a clearly, defined and structured type. The initiate is accepted and expected to behave
according to customary norms and ethical standards.
The three forms of rituals of transition dramatise the transition by creating a margin, a

89
 boundary between the two states concerned and transforming the individual across from
one to the other. All stages have their own rituals and symbols. Often mutilation of the
body is used (Van (jetuicp 1909:106). The crossing of streams or other obstacles indicate
separation, while anointing with medicine, eating and dressing in new clothes are
integrative actions. Liminality is marked by the invisibility of the initiate, which means
that she is hidden or geographically separated, but also in many parts of the initiation rite
there arc phases of liminality. Because the liminai phase is the longest and most important
one, I will discuss this.

ACTIVITY 1
1. identify anv rite of passage you are familiar with and explain the three (3) phases that Van
Genncp is talking about.

7.2.5.I The Religious Significance of Liminality

The liminai phase is ambiguous, because in this phase the person slips through the
network of classifications that locate his or her slate and position. Liminai entities are
betwixt and between die positions given by law. custom, convention and

90
 ceremony. Their ambiguous and indeterminaie attributes are expressed through various
symbols in many societies that ritualize social transitions. Thus, liminality is linked to
death, to being in the womb, to invisibility, to darkness, to bisexuality' and to the
wilderness (Turner 1969:95). Liminal entities, such as the girl in the initiation rites, may
be represented as possessing nothing. She is naked or wears only a slip of clothing to
demonstrate that she has no status or property.
1 ier nakedness also serves to humiliate her. for she is a non-person; she should be teased
and treated badly, in order to make her strong to hear all the disappointments and pains
that she will experience in lire. The near nakedness is also a sign of respect to the
ancestors, because it refers to a specific local part where clothing in textile was equivalent
to wealth, and cloth normally came from long distance trade. The behaviour of the girl is
passive and humble: she must obey her instructors and accept arbitrary punishment
without complaint. Initiations with a long period of seclusion often nave a rich
proliferation of liminal symbols. The liminal phase blends lowliness and sacrcdness.
ACTIVITY 2

1. Do you subscribe to what bunafimbusa, apungu or alangizi do to girls? Why or why not?

7.2.5.2 Turner (1969:96) notes that the rites represent “a moment in and out of time and in and
out of secular social structure" which reveals a recognition of a generalized social bond
that has ceased to be and has yet to be divided into various structural lies. These structural
ties are relationships between people and their hierarchy in society. Liminality implies

that the high could not be high unless the low existed, and he who is high must experience
what is it like to be low. Social life involves experiences of high and low and of equality
and inequality'. The passage from lower to higher status is through a limbo of
slatuslessness (Turner 1969:97).
7.2.5.3 The phase of liminality is also a test which the initiate has to undergo in order to become
a full member of the society. The initiate has to do things she will never again do in her
life. These are symbolic actions. She has to learn particular things and when she has
learned or done these things, she is taken out of the liminal phase. After the period of
liminality. the initiate will get a higher status. It is like giving recognition to an essentia;
bond, without which there could be no society (Turner 1967:99; 1969:97).
7.2.5.4 'Hie girl in liminality must be a tabula rasa, a blank slate, on which is inscribed the
knowledge and wisdom of the group or society in those respects that pertain to the new
status (Turner 1969:103). The ordeals and humiliations, often of a physiological and
psychological character to which the initiate is submitted, partly represent a destruction of
the previous status and partly a tempering of the essence in order to prepare the girl to
cope with her new responsibilities and restrain her in advance from abusing her new
privileges.
7.2.5.5 Other characteristics of liminality are submissivcncss and silence. In the initiation rites the
subject has to submit to an authority (hat represents the whole community, (he repository
of the culture's values, norms, attitudes, sentiments and relationships. Its representatives in
the initiation rites represent the generic authority of the tradition. In tribal societies speech
is not only communication, but also power and wisdom. The wisdom imparted in
liminality is not just an aggregation of words but has an ontological value: it refashions
the being of the initiate. Therefore the initiate is not allowed to speak. Silence is also
imposed because a subject in liminality is regarded as an unborn baby, which is
speechless.
7.2.5.6 Another aspect of liminality is sexuality. The resumption of sexual relations is usually a
ceremonial mark of the return to society. This is a feature of many societies, but in a
society (hat strongly stresses kinship as the basis of many types of group affiliation,
sexual continence has additional force (Turner 1969:104). For kinship, or relations shaped
by the idiom of kinship, is one of the main factors in structural differentiation. The
undifferentiated character of liminality is reflected hy the absence of marked sexual
polarity.
72.5.1 The chastening function of liminality is a component in all initiation rites. The pedagogies
of liminality represent a condemnation of two kinds of separation from the generic bond
of communitas. Turner (1969:96) uses the word communitas not as a synonym for

92
 society, but to indicate a sort of modality of social relationship. The first kind is to act
only in terms of the rights conferred on someone by the incumbency of office in social
structure. The second is to follow psychobiological urges at the expense of one's fellows.
A mystical character is assigned to the sentiment of human kindness in liminality, and
often this stage of transition is connected with beliefs in protective and punitive powers
(Turner 1969:105).
".2.5.8 Liminal situations and roles are attributed with magico-rcligious properties and often
regarded as dangerous and polluting, because in this phase people are not a part of the
structure but part of "communitas", and all manifestations of communitas arc dangerous
and are surrounded by prohibitions and prescriptions (Turner 1967:96). According to
Douglas (1966:122) everything that cannot be classified in terms of traditional criteria or
classifications, or that fall between boundaries, is regarded as polluting and dangerous.
People in liminality cannot be classified, as they arc in between two classifications. Thus
the initiate is polluted, which is symbolished by the covering of the initiate under a
blanket and the silting in a comer of a room or a special hut.
Thus, liminality is an inlcrstructural phase, in which the girl is in transition, so that she gets a
chance to pass the boundary' which leads to a new state of life in the community. It is the first step
in her life, a life in which she is grown-up. and in which she will be fully part of the community',
with her responsibilities, in which she can become a mother herself and teach children.
In the next section, we posit initiation riles for girls in Zambia by giving you appropriate
examples.

7.3 INITIATION RITES FOR GIRLS IN ZAMBIA

73.1 Chinamwali of the Kunda

Chinamwali or Chisungu, the female initiation ceremony, is the most prominent institution among
the Kunda concerned with the fruition of life. As there is no such ritual for boys, Chinamwali is
the only place where historical and cultural continuity is produced in a systematic or
institutionalized way. In Chinamwali, the miyambo are handed down and reformulated in a most
explicit way. Miyambo, however, arc not taught discursively but performed and celebrated.
Certain procedures, informed by received wisdom, arc also called miyambo, like the little sketches

93
with negative moral outcomes enacted by the participants of the Chinamwali to instruct the young
woman about proper behaviour.
The participants in the Chinamwali enact the situation that constitutes the mwambo. Mwmbo in
this sense is perceived as and act in which people engage either to strengthen the good course of
life or to counteract its hazards by drawing creatively upon the received wisdom. Chinamwali
serves to teach the initiate about the behaviour she is supposed to display as a grown-up woman
and full member of her community. Chinamwali functions to re-emphasise and recreate the social
norms and moral knowledge for all participants. Teaching the neophyte springs from, and is
directed at. the wisdom of the ancestors. A mwambo is intimately linked to the explanation of the
moral and to the rhythm and rhyme of the song which assists memory and intesities the drama of
the performance. As the core of moral knowledge in the Kunda society', the miyambo do not form
a timeless, rigid system of encoded prescriptions for proper behaviour and evaluation but rather
serve as the store of reference points from which a people, as individuals or as collectivity', judge
their own predicament, their own conditions, themselves as persons. As a store of reference points,
miyambo function as a "working fund" to which people continuously contribute as history moves
on and upon whose heterogeneous resources they can draw to understand themselves. Through the
performance of miyambo in the initiation ceremony, Kunda women can draw on the traditional
value of gender equality in order to redefine their womanhood and strengthen their position vis-a-
vis men.
Somewhere after her first menstruation, even. 1 girl has to undergo the initiation ritual which
consists of three main parts. The frist part is die seclusion. In the past the girl was locked up for
two to three months in a house where, she was instructed in matters concerning family relations,
sex, marriage, health, fertility and household activities. These days, the seclusion lasts for the
period of a holiday, on average three weeks. The ndola, the neophyte, sits barely dressed with a
ragged doth around her hips on the floor with her eyes cast downwards, while the participants
perform their teachings. The anamkungwi, the mistress of ceremony, orchestrate the different
genres of teaching. I here is dance, drumming, songs and little spots of drama. Often these genres
mix.
Although the Phungu, the personal adviser of the neophyte, has the task of explaining the message
of a certain song or play to ndola, ail women can give their interpretation of the mwombo, die
tradition, the teaching to the girl. Often this leads to a very lively discussion about norms and
morals. After the period of seclusion, there is "the big day”. The coming from the confinement.

94
The next example is from the Bemba.
7.3. 2 Cisungu of the Bemba
Girls' initiation, chistmgu. was public, involving many people, much singing and dandng, as well
as secret symbols. There is no initiation rite for boys. They arc usually thought by their
grandfather and during their wedding ceremony by a banacimbusa. The office of banachimbusa.
which means "mother of secrets" (Richards 1956:59) or “mother of sacred emblems” (Cornell
1982:9) is not inherited by achieved by apprenticeship and learning. The two rituals are linked by
their dependence on notions of purity, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of women,
passed on in the Chisungu. The symbol of this is the marriage pot, given to a girl at her marriage.
The explicit purpose of the chisungu is to change a girl into a woman, by transforming her in the
course of the experience. All the overt emphasis is placed on marriage, the woman’s
responsibilities, subservience to her husband and to senior women and all others in authority. The
rituals used to be opened by the headman of the village but men played little pan in them, except
that the girl's betrothed or someone who stands in for him must perform certain rites (Richards
1956:63; Corbeil 1982:17: La Fontaine 1986:103). No men of the descent group took part. In pre-
colonial limes the chisungu was followed by the marriage. The future husband had to pay a pan of
the expenses of the initiation of his betrothed.
The symbolic representation of male and female links the initiation with sex, fire and blood, and
also with the structure of authority'. Bemba women and the chisungu ritual represent rank and
social continuity, while chiefs and men are symbols of the power to shape events and also to
destroy, a power which is beneficial only when contained by the constraints of descent and
tradition. The chisungu is at one level a manifestation of the interdependence of kingship and the
descent groups of commoners (Richars 1956:167).

SUMMARY
I would like us to make a summary of what we have been learning about initiation rites. 'The life
of an individual in any society", wrote Anorld Van Gennep "is a series of passages from one age
to another" (1908:3). According Morris (1987:246), in the majority of human communities the
primary transitions, or what have been termed as life crises - birth, puberty, marriage, and death -
arc the focus of elaborate rites. Many earlier writers such as Frazer had noted similarities between
different life-crisis rituals - between puberty rites and funerals, for example - but it was Arnold
Van Gennep who, in his classic study The Rites of Passage, first indicated the underlying pattern

95
common to all transition rituals (Morris 1887:247).

Morris (1987:247:11) gives a lucid background to Van Gennep and points to the scholars who
were deeply influenced by his analyses who we still quote heavily in Sociology.
religion and Anthropology. 1 am therefore going to give you Morris's background of Van Gennep
as he has illuminated it in his book. Anthropological Studies of Religion.

Van Gennep. a contemporary of Durkheim, argued that the universe itself was governed by a
periodicity that had repercussions for human life. “Man’s life.” He wrote, “resembles nature, from
which neither the individual nor the society stands independent.” litis premise led him to suggest
that there was a considerable similarity among all ritual that involved a transition and that such
rites constituted a specific class of rituals. Van Gennep did not conceive of religion and magic as
separate categories but looked upon religion as the theoretical, and magic as the practical, aspect
of the magico -religious.

Van Gennep suggested that all transition rituals exemplified a typical form, consisting of three
essential ritual phases. First, there were rites of separation, a prciiminal phase indicated by such
ceremonies as purification rites, the removal of hair, and scarification or cutting. Next there was a
liminai period, the rile of transition, in which the person undergoing the rite is symbolically placed
“outside society " and frequently has to observe certain taboos or restrictions. During this period.
Van Gennep noted. The normal rules of tlte community may he suspended, or trie rite may be seen
as a symbolic death, leading to a new rebirth. And finally, there is a postliminai phase, rites of
incorporation that complete the transition to a new status. The lifting of restrictions, the wearing of
new insignia, and the sharing of a meal signify this phase of the rite of passage. Van Gennep *s
formulations, expressed in a short monograph, have had emomous theoretical influence on social
anthropologists.

ACTIVITY 3
1. What is the meaning of‘rite of passage’?
2. Describe the phases of a ‘rite of passage’.

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3. Discuss liminality in terms of its religious significant.
4. Discuss a rite of passage for boys such as mukanda ir. 2 pages.

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 UNIT EIGHT

WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN

RELIGIONS
 UNIT EIGHT

WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGIONS

8.0 INTRODUCTION
It is very important for you to observe that women in traditional African societies played key roles
in religious matters. You have just finished reading about Icisungu and other initiation rites; I am
sure you have seen the role of women. In the first part of the module you learnt about territorial
shrines or shrine cults. Perhaps you can now recall that women were, in most cases the shrine
keepers. Makcwana. for example looked after the shrine of the Chcwa and at Msinja. 'litis unit
aims at making you start appreciating the roles of women in traditional African societies. In some
societies, they were the transmitters of religious sentiments in the communities. Wc will
specifically look at the Bemba society of Zambia. Our men source of information is Fr. Hugo
llinfeelar.

8.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of the unit you should be able to:
• Describe the religious role of women.
• Discuss reasons why they traditional religious role of the woman has been lost.
• Describe the role of woman in initiation rites for girls.

8.2 According to Hinfcclar (1994; 12) a woman in Bemba community occupied a sacred
position. Women were given three titles that emphasized their religious role, namely:
(i) Chibindawa Ng'anda - Enabler of the Domestic Cult
00 Kahumba wa Mapepo - Initiator of Worship
(Hi) NaChimbusawa Chixungu - Tutor of the Transccndct
Let us now discuss the above in detail based on I linfelaar's findings.

(i) Chibinda wa Ng'anda

The obvious meaning of this title is that she was die mistress of the house. However, the
deeper significance implies that the women were the maker and the priestess of the
homc-shrine. According to legend, Man lived originally in crass shelters. It was Woman

99
who taught him how to use the clay of the termitc-hiil to construct a mud and wattle
house. Hers is still the arduous task of finishing the building by smearing clay on the
inner walls and floor, after which she constructs the family hearth.
There is a maxim which says: A house becomes a Home shrine only after She married
woman has made the hearth, that is, brought in the three small Mafwasa (antihills), on
which to balance her cooking pots. Hinfelaar (ibid: 13) states that the word Chibinda has
religious overtones. For example:
Lesa ee chibinda, apangile fyonse, means God is the Creator; 1 le has made everything.
Chibinda we sumbu is the owner of the fishing and hunting nets and in charge of the
blessings and invocations of the forebears and of the divinities deep in the divinities deep
in the forest. In the homc-shrine the woman had to light the fire. It had to he sacred and
undefiled, that is, started by rubbing sticks and not taken from a public fire in the village.
The circular home was indeed the symbol of her womb. The band of twigs that held the
circular roof together was called l.ushinga, the same word used lor the string of beads
around the waist. When the placenta did not come after child-birth, medicine was poured
through the small opening on to of the roof.
In many idiomatic expressions, Hinfelaar (ibid) argues, the word Nganda (home- shrine),
designates the married woman as the owner of the house, for example, canyamha ashile
ngandaj the coward has lost his housc(wife) and ubukosa -

100
kanwa tahuteku nganda, a foul - mouthed husband cannot govern his house (his wife).

The woman was regarded as the main celebrant of the marital act and was held
responsible for the proper performance of its ritual. During the day she fetched clean
water from a running stream while she kept the sacred fire burning. After sunset her
husband had to approach her home with reverence, leaving his gifts from the Divinity,
the axe and spear, outside the door.
In order to be granted the gift of new life, of parenthood, perfect mutual understanding
had to exist between husband and wife. This was achieved by a long conversation with
the forebears believed to be listening. It had to be ascertained that neither of them had
been in contact with shades inimical to their legal marriage. This could have happened
through actual or intended adultery, or even to have seen or touched the life-blood of
another (sexually active) person. This Mupamba (breach of ethical conduct), was called
Chilolela (dangerous sight of blood), and was believed to cause the death of the mother
and child. This very important taboo was expressed by the commandment: Wila sakanya
umulopa. Never mix parental blood
Umulopa according to Hiniclaar’s findings included all the fluids of husband and wife,
such as menstrual blood, semen, vaginal fluids etc. If they were mixed in a manner
displeasing to the forebears, life could not be transmitted and the health of mother and
child would be endangered. The ardent prayer of the married woman was:
Uyon.se. JyacUike r.o muchinshi May everything be done graciously ukutingana ne
ntambi sha bufyashi according to the customs of our parents
1 o avoid death because of the misbehaviour of the wife (ukufwa nceniu). or the husband
(ukufwa ncila), the couple serulinised their actions, thoughts and words.
If there was any doubt about the veracity of one of the partners, different kinds of oaths
could be demanded for example the husband put a piece of cam-wood between his teeth
and said: Lesa amfye nganabepa (May God destroy me if i lies). This ritual was called
Mulapo, from the verb ukulapa, to swear.
!t was the wife who usually took charge of this mutual confession because for her it was a
matter of life and death. If she was not convinced of her husband's innocence, she had the
right to refuse intercourse and to demand that her husband pay a public visit to the local
healer, who could well be the svilfc’s parental aunt (nasenge), or her father as the village

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 headman (mwine mushf).
The sign of mutual trust and of access to the forebears was given by the woman who then
poured the clear water into her marriage-vessel and put this on the sacred lire to heat. Both
heat land warmth (ukukaba) were symbols of the husbands part in the reproductive
process.
The marriage-vessel (Kamweno. Kalongo, Kapwalilo), had been given to the wife by her
Nachimbusa ( Tutor), after the initiation into married life. When the water was warm both
husband and wife would hold the vessel (ukuteka inongo) and cleanse each other while
invoking the Divine Power who had given them the gift oflife.
After marital union, ceremonies would take place like the renewal of the marriage vows
(cupa ca Chipingo) and the thanksgiving meal called Bwaii bwa Chitemwiko, the millet
mush of love. This was prepared by the wife, using the same clear water drawn from the
running stream. The love aspect brought out the husband feeding wife and wife feeding
husband. In the morning the wife would gather the ashes of the sacred fire, throw them to
the West and say the morning blessings as mentioned above.
After giving birth the wife had to call her Nachimbusa (Tutor) for another relilgious
ritual. In her presence she rubbed her marriage-vessel over the marriage mat while
calling on the forebears by name. 1'he name being pronounced at the moment the vessel
got stuck against the reeds of the mat, was the name given to die newly bom child. After
this ceremony the Nachimbusa blessed die child by lying a string of tiny white beads
around die baby’s arm. To the mother she gave a small gourd (Lukomho), symbolising
the womb and the home of the child’s protective Shade, called Mbosxva, the guardian
spirit.
When the child became dangerously ill, offering of white beads and flour would be
placed in it while the mother prayed to the guardian spirit of her child.

Hinfelaar has the following about the sacred position of a woman:

(ii) Kabumha wa Mapepo

This is the second religious title given to Women. Kubumba means the moulder, the
potter, die creator. God was called Kabumha and was made present on earth by die
women who created pots, homes, and clay figurines for the initiation rites. Mapepo is

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derived from the verb Ukupepa. to worship, to venerate, to honour transcendent Beings.
Women's religious duties were situated in die field, Mwnpanga, outside the home and in
the foresfcsThis neutral zone on the verge of human habitation was believed to be
occupied by the shades of the immediate forebears, while the more nebulous divinities
inhabited exotic places deep in the forest such as waterfalls, grove, high trees and
grottos. The presence of the family shades was symbolised by the tiny spirit hut
(Lufuba), built on die edge of the village, behind die home-shrine. It was the woman’s
task to take small offerings to the family-shrine to obtain health, wellbeing and life from
forebears.
The layout of the home with the husband in the centre of the village, in the men’s rest hut
(munsaka) and the woman in-between the house-shrine and family spirits designated
cosmologically her role as mediatrix between the living and the dead, between the warm
and the cold areas of the village community. This was a matrilineal and uxorilocal
community where the young man came to live with the family of his (future) wife and so
was regarded as a foreigner who had little knowledge of the local divinities (MHungu)
and their territorial cults. It was also a society where successive waves of immigrants
conquered and married the local women who remembered the places arid names of the
territorial cults, according to the age-old dictum: Mpanga yaoca,/amabweyashula (the
country bums but the stones remain), i.e. after a fierce war the women survive.

(iii) NaChimbusa wa Chuungu

This third major role of women means literally 'protector of the miraculous event.’
Women had the responsibility of coaxing the miraculous gift of generating new life out
of the peripheral zone of the cold forest into the security and the warmth of the village.
Ukuwila Jcisungu. to have one’s first menstruation, was celebrated as a wondrous event
when the young woman received the gift of her sexuality from the Transcendent. The
word Chisungu is derived from the verb ukusunguka, to be overwhelmed, to be startled
and is associated with the noun Chisungosho. a wondrous event.
The initiation ceremonies symbolised the arduous journey from the liminality of the
Forest into the security of the village with the Nachimbusa as Tutor. Hie word Mbusa
was somehow associated with the word Mbowa. the guardian spirit. After the weaning -
ceremony, the young baby changed from being mubishi (green, fresh, weak) to mukabe

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(warm, strong, safe) and was thereby ushered into the warm village-community with the
words of the Nachimbusa: Uyu ni mbusa wandi or Uyo ni mboswa wandi, i.e. The child
is now' my special guardian spirit and will

104
 be my special prelector (as I delivered it into the land of the living ), it will always remain
my baby.

Mbusa means '“things to be handed down". Lillie girls often play a game during which
they squat in a circle and while singing, hand each olher small pebbles, called mfm.su.
The explanation given was that life has to be handed down from one generation to the
next. It is like stringing beads.
The status of the Nachimhusa (literally, the mother of the things to be handed down), was
very high. She was recruited from the original inhabitants and was well versed in the
ritual of the territory. She wore distinctive insignia, especially a feather head-dress
(ngala). The Nachimbusa became the young woman's counsellor at Initiation and
remained so until after the birth of her third or fourth child. She was like a mother
confessor to the young married couple. She kept an eve on their moral behaviour and
made sure that their marital union was in accordance with customary teaching. She
determined when marital union could be resumed.
She would not allow the young man to endanger in any way the wondrous but precarious
gift of her protegee's procreative power. In general she became a soul friend to the young
woman and they had a very close relationship.
The Nachimbusa could pass on her role to another woman. Usually she selected a young
woman who always had shown great aptitude in grasping the deeper meanings of the
initiation emblems. She would call on this young person to assist her on all possible
occasions and eventually she would pass on to her the sacred emblems and the titles of
her predecessors.

SUMMARY
We took the Bemba woman because Uinfclaar has studied her. What you should do is to try and
see the religious role of women in your own ethnic group. It appears that there is some continuity
Irom the traditional roles to the current roles in the ‘new’ religions of Islam and Christianity.
Though in some denominations women arc not permitted to preach, it is incontestable to say that
they do a lot of work from sweeping the houses of prayer to leading choirs to looking after the
ministers of the word. Isn’t this true?

\ 105
ACTIVITY 1
I. What can you learn from the traditional ‘confession* in Bemba society in these limes of HIV
and AIDS? Write your reflections on one page

106
 UNIT NINE

BANTU SPIRITUALITY

107
 UMT NINE

BANTU SPIRITUALITY

9.0 INTRODUCTION
From tiie many studies and research undertaken in receni decades on the subject of African religion, one fact consistently arises: the
traditional spirituality of tire peoples of the once called Dark Continent includes distinctive characteristics compared with those generally
ascribed to the spirituality of so-called revealed religions. Traditional religion is devoid of the notion of original sin. The absence of original
sin and of redemption necessarily implies the absence of final judgement. In traditional religions salvation is conceived of as the supposedly
indeterminate return of the human being to this world. This unit is meant to inform you of three most important things in traditional African
societies, namely, people’s closeness to the dead, the quest for abundance life and communitarian life. These three things plus the belief in
God form the Bantu people's spirituality. Read the following quote from Magesa (1997: 215):

9.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of the unit you should be ablet to:
• Describe African traditional spiritual.
• Discuss what constitution Ubuntu.
• Discuss the meaning of ‘sin’ in the context of African traditional society.

9.2 The imperative of community and harmony that determines the ethical agenda of life in African religion deeply concerns the
ancestors. By their character and attributes, they link the individuals in a clan and the visible and invisible worlds. To be a human
being, to be a moral ethical person Urmmtu. it is not possible to live in isolation. One can only become truly human in community,
in the context of other human beings in the world, and in some sort of relationship to the dead. Kinship is what in large measure
constitutes life itself and its mystique. And kinship is most intensely and most meaningfully realized and expressed in and by the
ancestor relationship.

9.3 Furthermore, the state of ancestorship can be characterized in African religion in terms of action. The ancestors and their descendants
are in a constant state of exchanging gifts and favours. This is what communion requires; it is what remembrance means. While the
livings arc obliged to seek ancestral communion for the sake of their own being, the ancestors are not passive in this exchange. They
also desire to be in communion with the living kin. to be remembered and honoured. They manifest this desire in several ways, such
as by using certain other beings of creation as mediums to “visit*' the living. The ancestors may also appear through dreams and
divination.

108
9.4 When the ancestors arc unhappy about the attitude of their descendants, they make this known and often employ painful means
against those who misbehave. From the perspective of traditional African religion, illness, poverty and other calamities point to a
moral disorder in relationships, from the most elementary in the family to the most complex in the society. II" the family. lineage
and clan enjoy good health ad relative prosperity, particularly when the birth rale is good and the children survive to adulthood, it is
believed that there is a good rapport in the network of relationships. The ancestors arc happy, the vital force is strong, and there is
harmony in the land and in creation. Such abundance of life is a clear indication that norms essential for its preservation have not
been disregarded or broken. These norms are the taboos (miyambo).

9.5 The expectations of the ancestors and the demands of tradition arc salisiicd most markedly in the rhythm of human life. Certain
events in human life carry special significance in the movement to preserve life, and these moments of crisis are used to augment the
vital power of the person. They relate primarily to what Van Gcnncp calls “rites of passage”. You have already dealt with Van
Gcnncp. You should be able to understand this.
9.6 ENEMIES OF LIFE
What is elsewhere conceptualised and explained as "sin" or “evil” is better expressed in African traditional religion by the concept of “wrong
doing”, "badness" or "destruction of life”. So, the moral perspective of African traditional religion is quite concrete and pragmatic. The
concept of sin seems to give less emphasis to wrong or bad action, which emanate from bad people, people who have an "evil eye" or “bad
heart.” which the African religious consciousness prefers.
In African traditional religion, sin is always attached to a wrong-doer and ultimately, the wrong-doer is a human person. The sense here is
that sin and evil do not and cannot exist in human experience except as perceived in people. It is people who are evil or sinful, whether or not
they arc aided by invisible forces.

9.7 WRONG - DOING AS CONTRAVENTION OF MORAL CODES

In traditional African religions, wrong- doing relates to the contravention of specific codes of community expectations, including taboos.
Individuals and the whole community must observe these forms of behaviour to preserve order and assure the continuation of life in its
fullness. To threaten in any way to break any of the community codes of behaviour, which are in fact codes, endangers life: it is bad. wrong
or “sinful”.
Although die conception of morality in traditional religions demands that both individuals and communities refrain from wrong - doing, it
demands much more than merely avoiding the transgression of rules and taboos: it requires people to consciously pursue right behaviour. In
fact it is die pursuance of right behaviour, rather titan the avoidance of wrong, that is the distinguishing mark between and authentically good
(or moral/cthical) person (umuntu) and one who is not truly so. In other words, ethical behaviour requires a “maximalist” approach to doing
good, radier riian a “minimalist” attitude of simply avoiding wrong attitudes and actions. For example, hospitality to strangers is an
important ethical requirement. I lowever, precisely how to be hospitable is left to each individual’s discretion. A person might refuse a drink
of water to a traveler, saying there is no drinking water in the house at the moment (even if there is) without

109
incurring any major sanction. Similarly, one might ignore the code of welcoming passers- by to a
meal. Nevertheless, the possibility of being cast as a "stingy" or "greed” person for such behaviour
is never far away. Instead, the behaviour that merits the praise of the community and showers upon
one, the blessings of the ancestors calls on a person to go out of the way to a neighbour's house
next door to get water or to call out to passers - by to come and share a meal. These are the signs
of a good, morally upright person.

Many of the moral codes are very well known to the adult members of a given community and
have been inculcated from childhood through the normal daily processes of socialization. During
the initiation process they arc imprinted on the body and mind of an individual in a very special
and unforgalable way

SUMMARY
Magesa (1997:250) concludes: “The African tradition is 'too precious a heritage to be squandered
carelessly or treated lightly* as has been in the past. It must not be buried underground but must be
helped to emerge from centuries of ridicule so that it can interact with other religious orientation
for its own benefit and theirs as well." What do you make of this statement?

ACTIVITY 1
1. Magesa argues that there is no such thing as "sin’’ or “evil" in traditional African religions.
Explain why?
2. Define “Spirituality”.
3. What is African spirituality? What does it consist of?
Ill
 UNIT TEN

MEETING OF INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS

AND CHRISTIANITY
UNIT TEN

MEETING OF INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY

10.0 INTRODUCTION
!-«i us now see what has become of indigenous religions in Southern Africa after the coming of
Christianity. I have deliberately left out Islam. You will deal w ith that in your third year. The
extract I have chosen is not a most appropriate one, but it is a fascinating one because of the
context and the debate it can generate.

This unit will remind you of key issues that you have been engaged with throughout this course,
namely: a) the status of traditional African religions among the so called world religions, b) the
inter-face between traditional African religions and Christianity, c) The persistence of traditional
African religions.

10.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• Disucss the impact of Christianity and Islam on African traditional societies
• Account for the 'resilient' nature of African traditional religions
• Discuss die appearance of African Independent Churches in Africa.

10.2 WESTERN THEOLOGY AND AFRICAN ALIENATION'

10.2.1 The meaningfulness of any theology rests on its relevance to the life of the members of the
communities where it is applied. Many of the theologies that spun out from and were
nourished in the Western intellcctualisi context have no roots in the life of the

112
 communities in Africa and thus "became useless verbiage." This is because Western
theology has in many respects been indifferent to the church getting rooted in Africa, to its
longing for Africanisation. While Western theology 1ms beer, the intellectual foundation
of the Western oriented churches, Uicsc dispositions blindfolded theology to the issues at
the gut level of Africa's authentic existence. It smothered what is positive in the traditional
Africa’s context.

10.2.2 Not only is the theology of the Western-oriented churches in Africa becoming
progressively more suspect but also the structures of the Western oriented churches. The
imposition of Western values and institution on indigenous African systems is seen as a
major cause of the retrogression of the so-called mainline churches. ITicre is also growth
in suspicion that the Western political systems do not have the answer for the indigenous
African society and its systems. The “migrant social structures", that is, the foreign
artificial structures were superimposed on the indigenous African systems without the
corresponding values.

10.23 The organisation of the church as institution became more imprtant to missioners than the
traditional inborn sense of fellowship and mutual caring and sharing that arc basic in
traditional African religion. This was. however, to be addressed with the emergence of the
African Independent Churches (AICs). One begin to wonder why people feel satisfied
gathering in houses, shacks, shelters made from motorcar boxes, in open spaces, and small
percentage in. school classrooms. This should not be interpreted merely as a reflection of
poverty' but as the inner need for fellowship: the need for small scale church communities
which reflect the extended family system in the eecclcsiastiacal context. Western secular
structures as well as Western ecclesiastical structures resulted in a sense of alienation with
many in Africa. The vast sums spent on these Western-oriented constructions remain an
obstacle to the African concept of religion as a sharing and caring phenomenon.

10.2.4 There is a feeling in .African communities especially of being disjointed, of being out of
gear, of not being able to progress. Instability prevails. The Western type of church
institution is not .seen as the ideal from a functional point of view. Ihc six thousand AIC
denominations in South Africa, about 90 percent or which act like

113
 A

tiic extended family system, tel! a story. Africa wants face- to- face fellowship to advance the
support rendered by the extended family system. This is the challenge that faces the so-
called mainline churches. This is the problem that the AlCs address. Political instability is
due to systems that do not work. The coexistence of ruling and opposition parlies is
foreign to Africa. Large indigenous churches often break up because of leadership tussles.
The new South Africa has perhaps founded a solution whereby ali the parlies of any
consequence can take part in the government. The greatest problem is the undervaluation
of the African cultural heritage by a Western ideological system and tradition
ofscholarship.

10.2.5 Everything African was seen as hardly of any significance; thinking was here seen as
based on “pre-logical mentality", that is. not really evolulionised; then- achievements were
treated as if next to nothing, their social systems not worth maintaining. African life was
described as irrational; tire Western culture as based on the so called superiority of the
scicnce-orientcd Western world; the one "primitive” and “traditional", the other so- called
civilised or modem. This is the unfortunate attitude of the Western oriented churches
whose sympathy lies with so-called Western modem thought, but many Africans in these
churches do not wish to lose contact with traditional approaches because to their
meaningful Christian appeal.
10.2.6 Modem Africa is in search of viable political institutions, as Christianity in Africa is in
search ol* relevant ecclesiastical institutions in keeping their religious yearnings and
challenges. The two worlds, the world of the modem industrial centre and the known
world of the traditional disposition and orientation, are responsible for the intensification
of "the new dualism,” which “causes a kind of mental and ethical schizophrenia in some
spheres of conduct”. The rising consciousness of the ncw"dualism“ in Africa will become
more and more an issue with which the so-called mainline churches will be confronted by
their African constituencies. Furthermore, if they do not seriously tap the resources of
African thinking in general and African spirituality in particular, the future of these
churches will become bleak. The serious mainline churches in South Africa have lost from
5 percent up to over 28 percent of their membership from 1980 to 1991. there has been a
tremendous shift from these churches to the AlCs. who increased by at least 20 percent
during the same period. In 1950 the so -called mainline churches in South Africa had
under their wings about 75 to 80 percent of all African Christians and the AlCs 12 to 14

114
 percent: in 1980 the respective percentage were 52 percent and 27 percent; in 1991 the
respective percentage were 41 percent and 34-35 percent. During the first few years of the
twenty - first century the AlCs will be in the majority, and the so called mainline churches
will house the minority of South Africa's Christianity, making their buildings empty.

ACTIVITY I
1. What you have read is expressed by Oosthue/in. a scholar of African Independent Churches. On
an A4 paper summarise what could be the reasons for the emergent of African
Independent Churches in Africa.

10.3 MISSION CHRISTIANITY AND IDENTITY CRISIS

10.3.1 I"hc major <irca that has been distorted by the missionary-oriented evaluation of African
thinking is the area of religion. The missionary and anthropological literature has
presented African religion in a most negative manner, as if it is overruled by or infested
with helicfs in magic, fetishes, spirits, ancestors, and so on. Such beliefs are not the
totality of African traditional religion. It is not necessary to emphasise the fact that the
concept of God was always vivid in African traditional religion, although God was not
directly approachable. He was always behind everything. Taking on Christianity has often
led to a crisis of

115
identity - in fact, many in the so called mainline churches
arc not absolved from this crisis.

10.3.2 In the mainline churches the crisis of identity lies in the fact that many of their members
wish to receive the benefits of traditional religion, such as their spontaneity in liturgy and
their healing procedures. In this the AICs have become a significant factor, as many of
their members are the children of the identity crisis; in and through them the crisis has
been ameliorated and even solved. They have become masters in solving the dualism
between empirical Christianity and African traditional religion. AICs are managing this
dualism on their own in a masterly manner without being schizophrenic. Those in the
mainline churches have much to do with the schizophrenic syndrome because they have
been mentally colonised, and what they need is a mental and spiritual decolonisation
process in the new South Africa.

10.4 AFRICAN CHALLENGE AND INDIGENOUS CHRISTIANITY

m

10.4.1 African resources and approaches should he subjected to rigorous scrutiny in order to
assess how they could be utilised meaningfully in contemporary society. Folklores are still
alive in the African culture and day-to- day life. They were never out of fashion but only
went “underground” as a result of the misinterpretation of African culture and thought in
secular oriented society. How traditional Africans view the world, the metaphysical world
with its spirit beings and forces, how they view causes of things, what is truth to them,
what is quality of life all these and more predominate in contemporary African life even in
the most secularised situations. Members of the AICs utilise this aspect of African culture
in their congregations to create an atmosphere and a place to feel really at home. It is
important to face all these issues squarely in the religious context of philosophy of religion
and theology. 1 raditional African spirituality and healing should be seen in the correct
perspective - not as merely associated with suppression without overvaluing it.

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10.4.2 The contemporary task of African philosophy and African theology should be to
reconstruct African value systems. However, this should he done contextually, because
secular dispositions cannot merely be ignored. Africa is in search not Only of viable
political institutions but also of indigenous-oriented church institutions. Africa, in the
postcolonial era made strong advances in the direction of socialism, which was seen as an
offshoot of traditional African communaiism. The failure of its development was due to
the misunderstanding of the African concept of humanity, which was based on a deep
sense of interhuman relationships. Africa is in need of organising its social and political
institutions, including the church, on tire basis of genuine human fellowship. South Africa
is involved in die process of this social and political adjustment I he A1C phenomenon is
the result of a process of ecclesiastical experimentation that started in the face of
opposition - they are changing the theological and institutional stance of (he church in
Africa. Here critical thinking has already taken place on the ecclesiastical level, and the
AlCs had the courage to go their own way after the deep self-analysis of those who left the
mission churches and who have through the years left the so-called mainline churches.
10.4.3 In constructing a sound basis for the church in Africa, you should take cognisance of the
historical churches, the traditional African religions, and the AlCs. In the traditional
African context, political legitimacy was derived primarily from religious assumptions.
The role of traditional African religion, thus, will not be wiped out as the colonial
Christianising efforts tried to do. It is necessary to investigate which cultural patterns
positions of the western - oriented churches were embedded in the colonial culture, so that
secular culture will survive. The Westminster and other Western political and
ecclesiastical structures have been more successful, but the reaction from the renaissance
of traditional African religious approaches should not be underestimated. Indigenous
values and sociomoral inductions based on the African. Cultural and religious inheritance
have been underestimated and misrepresented by those who concentrate on monologue
instead of dialogue when it comes to these issues.

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10.4.4 The destruction of the traditional system of collective values by the westernisation process
and its extreme individualism had a negative influence on traditional African values (such
as fellowship and mutual concern and respect), which arc highlighted in the AlCs. The
collapse of values in the urban areas cannot be restored merely by economic means and
methods. It is here that the church has a task, but the mainline churches especially have
lost contact with the grass-roots situation. It is here that Africa’s traditional moral system
needs re revived, which is in fact being done by the AICs. Traditional moral systems
human interests at heart. An action was judged right or wrong depending ora:;- tr- wbich it
promoted well-being, mutual understanding and social harmony Fbe emphasis on the
dictum that a human being is only a human being through ; in:: human beings (which is the
basis of humanitarian morality) needs f -*= strengthened in modem African society. This
is basic to the AICs. which accoums for their growth. African moral thinking need to be
elucidated ar.r clearly contrasted with the misconceptions that exist in modem westernised
society concerning the inherent value of morality for a healthy African society.
10.4.5 The AICs have been able to resolve the crisis of identity engendered by the Western
missionary theological position through bringing the African value system of traditional
religion into their interpretation of Christianity. Through this combination of two forces as
in traditional medicine, two medicines arc more effective than one - a dynamic religious
stance has been established that is evident in the impact of the AICs. The dualism -hat
Western-oriented Christianity introduced into South Africa and elsewhere has been
effectively handled in the AICs. Here the reconstructive mission of the church at the grass-
roots level has begun: the fundamental principles of traditional African religion have been
analysed and integrated into Christian context.
10.4.6 African religion has existentially ne\er been "inferior" to the Christian religion - they both
uphold the humanity of the human being, worship their creator, have moral concept, and
give direction in life situations. In the human social context.
however, in spite of its schools and other activities in society, human needs at the very
grass-roots level have been neglected by the mainline churches. Those to whom the
churches gave attention have often been alienated from the rank and file, while the AICs
with their upholding of traditional human values, have reacted with caring and sharing
fellowship. This roic in the rapidly changing social situation in South Africa has attracted
literally millions to the AICs who have accepted the reconstructive mission. Many in the
mainline churches envy them for what they do. The African theologian should examine the

118
 fundamental principles that stimulate traditional religion: look at the foreign influences and
the conflicts to which these give rise: examine issues such as interhuman relationship,
fellowship, healing in its holistic context, church liturgy, and spontaneous religious
expression such as composition of hymns and so on. The AICs are involved in the realities
of South Africa even die political realities, but in their own wav. There should thus be
what Sogolo calls **a reconstructive mission" aimed at resolving major issues of
intellectual conflict, as is found and expressed in the realities of contemporary life in
Africa.
10.4.7 African cultural life has also changed and can never be the same again, although certain
aspects show only minimal changes. Certain demands of modem society cannot be met in
the traditional context, especially on die scientific and industrial level. The efficiency and
imagination of modem civilisation should, up to a certain level, he accepted, but Africa
should not be over-empowered by them. African approaches to its indigenous culture are.
as is the case in any culture, protective of the basic aspects of various traditions. The
challenges of the modem world do affect the indigenous culture to such an extent that even
die balanced wisdom of centuries is negatively influenced. It is here that the AICs assist
society to retain a balanced outlook within the context of the vicissitudes of urban social
problems. New realities have to be faced but in a balanced manner.

119
SUMMARY
Wc have shown in this unit which wraps up the module that Africa has been seen as a continent
lacking in awareness of alternatives. This misconception is challenged with the Alt's as an
example. Much hail from the mainline churches; others from the indigenous traditional religions.
This is obvious, even among the most illiterate, and in contrast to this some scientists have a
dosed dogmatic approach, which is reluctant to accept alternatives. The static nature of the so
called mainline churches toward change contrasts badly over against the dynamic adaptability of
die AICs. This adaptability is seen in their liturgy, choruses, and ritual innovations; their emphasis
on special methods of sharing and caring in situations of rapid social change; and their methods of
healing, money saving, and money iending in situations of deprivation.

ACTIVITY 2
1. What makes African Indpcndcnl Churches attractive?
2. Summarise this unit in terms of what western theology has failed to do the indigenous
people of Africa.
3. Which arguments in this unit would you take issues with and critique them?
4. Some scholars project the view that African traditional religions have come back in AICs.
What is your view?
5. Some churches try as much as possible to inculturatc Christianity. Kxplain the meaning of
inculturation. Is it possible?

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Penguin. 73-80.

Baroka. J.C (1970). Witchcraft among the German and Slavonic Peoples Witchcraft and
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Calmettes, J.I. “The Tampa Church and Witchcraft Eradication". Paper presented
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Cavendish. R. (1967) The Back Arts. London, Routledge & Regan Paul.

Chakanza, J.C, 1985. 'Provisional Annotated Chronological list of witch finding'.

Douglas, M„ 1963, "The Lelc of the Kasai London: Internal African Institute

Douglas. M.. 1987, “The problem of evil among the Lele: Sorcery. Witch-hunt and Christian
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Europe Current Anthropology Vol.36 No 2 April 1995

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Hughes. P (1952). Witchcraft. Middlesex penguin Books

Hughes, P (1957) A Popular History of the Reformation. London, Hollis & Carter.

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