JACOB KEHINDE OLUPONA

African American and African Studies Program

University of California at Davis
467 Ken Hall
Davis, CA 95616

SOME NOTES ON ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN

AFRICAN RELIGION AND CULTURE

SUMMARY The relationship between the sacred and nature has lately received considerable attention in the study of
indigenous traditions. Drawing upon my fieldwork, my own life situation as a twin in the Yoruba community of Nigeria,
and several ethnographic sources, the article examines the religious and symbolic significance of animals in African society
and culture. Animals feature prominently in cosmogonic myths by conveying the sacred power and messages with which the
primordial chaos was transformed into the habitable cosmos. As shown in totemic ideas and practices, animals play key roles
in identity construction of individuals, clans, and ethnic groups. The role of cattle in the religious thought and practices of
pastoralists is examined. Cattle are seen as an extension of the human family and they represent several ideals that the human
community espouses. The ideology and rituals of sacred kingship portray animal symbols. From the ancient Ashanti kingdom
in Ghana to the Dande villages in Zimbabwe, animal metaphors convey the power of the king and royal ancestors. Animal
images in artistic traditions, especially those that show aesthetic qualities of leadership and that relate to rituals, are also
discussed.

In the last two decades, there has been an influence from
the disciplines outside the history of religions (Religions-
swissenschaft) on the study of indigenous religions
worldwide. Nowhere is this influence more noticeable
than in the study of the relationship between nature and
religion. Through research done in subdisciplines such
as the geography of religion and ecology of religion—
the former a branch of cultural geography and the latter
of anthropology—we are gradually coming to a better
understanding of the actual and symbolic relationship
between the sacred and nature.
In contrast to the early evolutionist scholars who
argued that human religious consciousness was rooted
in natural phenomena, later scholars have argued that
it was social and cultural factors that affected the devel-
opment of religion. It is now widely accepted that what
we call religion maintains a mutual relationship with
nature, especially in the indigenous religious traditions
of the world.
As the problem of the preservation of the environ-
ment and problems of ecology have become topical
issues in this decade, the relationship between the sa-
cred and nature has again surfaced as one of the most
Anthropology and Humanism 18(1)3-12 Copyright © 1993, American
Anthropological Association.
prevalent discussions of our time. For long, the assump-
tion or cliche that the indigenous traditions are close to
nature was not critically examined.
Perhaps one of the very few scholars of religion to
examine this relationship, using one of the subdisci-
glines referred to above, is the Scandinavian scholar
Ake Hultkrantz. His works on Native American tradi-
tion are perhaps some of the best known in the study of
indigenous religions today. He observed that the differ-
ence between the attitude of Native Americans to na-
ture and that of the white man's civilization is that white
men have an aesthetic appreciation of nature, whereas
for Native Americans there exists a practical need for
nature, for subsistence and livelihood. Moreover, there
is "an experience of nature as a realm of mystery"
(Hultkrantz 1981:126). The relationship between nature
and humanity is based on the belief that the sacred
"dwells in all living beings" (1981:126). Hultkrantz ob-
served that the ideological motivation behind the feel-
ing and care for nature is premised on the spirituality
of nature (1981:126). Hultkrantz's concluding theory is
that "religious beliefs and nothing else elevated nature
to a beautiful and harmonious structure in the Indian
mind" (1981:128).
Vyhile several other historians of religion have ap-
plied this new theoretical initiative with some success
 Anthropology anlf Humanism
to Native American traditions, and to a lesser extent to
the so-called higher religions, its heuristic significance
for the ethnography of African religion has not been
tested in any substantial way. My paper, therefore, ex-
amines the symbolic and religious significance of na-
ture, focusing on the animal world. My main concern,
based on fieldwork in Nigeria and ethnographic
sources from anthropologists who have been working
on similar themes, is to illustrate African attitudes to-
ward animals, in particular the symbolic meanings that
the African ways of perceiving animals generate and the
metaphysical meanings animals convey in African so-
cieties and culture. The larger theoretical issue that will
emerge from my analysis, however, is how the African
worldview espouses what we have called a spirituality
of matter (animal, plant, and land).
First it is necessary to explain the theoretical and
practical issues that have influenced my choice of topic.
In the ancient African states, animals played a signifi-
cant role in the ritual and economic life of the people.
As archaeological evidence has shown, the connection
between animals and humans occupies an important
place in the social life of the people and both have
maintained a strong relationship with the sacred world.
In a recent excavation of the ruins of the ancient civili-
zation of the Kerma kingdom in the Sudan, a civiliza-
tion that existed from 3000 B.C. to 1500 A.D. (when it
was conquered by Egypt), remains of animals such as
sheep, dog, and goat were found in most of the tombs
(Grant 1991:111). One conclusion reached by the archae-
ologists was that, in the ancient kingdom, animals were
as important in the people's ritual behavior as they were
in their daily economic life, especially regarding a per-
son's journey to the world beyond (Grant 1991:112). The
discovery of animals in the burial places of indigenous
people has convinced archaeologists that the usual as-
sumptions about the separation of ritual and religious
activities from domestic or economic activities in ar-
chaeological interpretation are no longer valid (Grant
1991:110).
In the more traditional ethnographic study of African
religions, the interpretation of the place of animals in
African belief systems has been more problematic than
the archaeological work referred to above. John Mbiti,
who has had the most lasting influence on the study of
African religion, attempted to grapple with this prob-
lem in his well-known book African Religions and Phi-
losophy. He observed that the ontology of Africa is
religious and anthropomorphic. He divided it into cer-
tain categories: God, spirits (gods and ancestors),
"man" (human beings), animals, plants, and objects
without biological life. 'The animals, plants, and natu-
ral phenomena and objects," he writes, "constitute the
environment in which man lives, provide a means of
existence, and if need be, man establishes a mystical
Volume 18, Number 1
relationship with them" (Mbiti 1969:16). Although
Mbiti did not examine the nature of this "mystical rela-
tionship," he showed us that the relationship of Afri-
cans with animals is more than the ordinary one of
regarding them as pets or domestic animals. Seeing the
relationship between humans and nature from a wider
perspective, Mbiti observed that there is a dialectical
relationship between the physical and spiritual in the
ontology of Africans. He remarked, "the physical and
spiritual are but two dimensions of one and the same
universe. These dimensions dovetail into each other to
the extent that at times and in places one is apparently
more real than, but not exclusive of, the other^' (Mbiti
1969:57).
A contemporary historian of religion, and indeed one
of the few scholars of comparative religion in this coun-
try, Bruce Lincoln not too long ago embarked on the
comparison of two widely separate but ecologically
similar religious systems, the East African Nilotes and
the Indo-Iranian people. He was able to demonstrate
the ecological similarities in the cattle traditions in these
two regions, rejecting the theory of diffusion and com-
mon origin as an explanation for the striking similarities
between the two regions. But the significance of Bruce
Lincoln's study goes beyond the comparative work of
showing the importance of cattlekeeping in the life of
the two groups; he demonstrated the close relationship
between the sacred and the material as reflected in the
cattle traditions of both places. Lincoln concluded, after
much explanation:
It might be said that man's everyday concerns are not
separate from his religious concerns, and the way in which
he lives his life has an enormous influence on the ways in
which he perceives and deals with the sacred. It is not
enough for him to herd cattle or plant yams or hunt buffalo,
but he continually seeks to imbue the necessary activities of
his daily life with a significance and a meaning that tran-
scend his earthly existence. It is not simply that cattle herd-
ers project cattle herding onto the sacred, although that is
in part true; more importantly, however, they strive to draw
the sacred into their world of cattle herding. [Lincoln
1981:177]
While these various studies have indeed influenced
me, perhaps it is my own life situation that has had the
greatest impact on the way I tend to see the place of
animals in the African worldview. I was born a twin into
an Anglican lineage from a long line of priests. I lost my
twin brother in childhood and, in accordance with
Yoruba custom in Nigeria, my grandparents and par-
ents encouraged the development of my twin cult. By
tradition, a statuette, ere ibeji, must be constructed as a
substitute for the lost child. The Yoruba have the highest
rate of twinning on the planet, and this has developed
into .an elaborate religious and artistic tradition con-
cerning twinning that is unrivaled in the world (Houl-
Olupona Animal Symbolism in Africa* Religion and Culture
berg 1973:20). Twins are regarded as sacred children
related by birth to the colobus monkey (edun). We are
forbidden to kill this animal or even smell its meat when
it is killed by hunters. The close relationship between
the colobus monkey and twins has given rise to the
development of a considerable genre of oral texts called
orin ibeji (ibeji songs) that runs into hundreds of verses
(Institute of African Studies 1969). These songs, along
with other aspects of the twin tradition, are learned by
parents and grandparents of twins, by diviners, and by
medicine men and women, to be used in the weekly
rituals for twins and also in the day-to-day life of the
Yoruba people. However, the songs are also learned by
hunters as part of another elaborate oral genre (hunters'
dirges) sung whenever they are face-to-face with mon-
keys in the bush. To cite a few verses of the Ibeji songs:
Edun jobi edun
Agbe ori igi
Ejire ara Isokun
Edun omo akulegun
Awodi Ibara ni ija oju orun ni ti on
Edun bu mi, ki ngbao dele!
Ejire, ki mi, ki ng pada lehin re
mba tete mo o
mba b' Edun de' sokun, He edun
Colobus monkey, born of colobus monkey
Touraco bird on the tree
Twin, you belong to the People of Isokun
Colobus, son of man who died in Egungun.
The hawk of Ibara said that the vault of heaven is his.
Abuse me that I may follow you home
Twin, call me by my oriki [personal praise poetry]
so that I may turn asidefromyou
Had I known you earlier, I should have accompanied you,
Colobus, to Isokun, the home of monkeys. [Thompson
1971:13/1]
The place of animals in the religions of the world has
been of interest to several scholars (Hultkrantz 1981;
Brown 1992; Eilberg-Schwartz 1990). In a seminal essay,
Stanley Walens (1987:291) observed that the "symboli-
zation of animals is an essential feature in reflections
about the nature of humanity, of the characteristics of
individuals and their societies, of the surrounding
world and itsforces,and of the cosmos as a whole." The
significance of ideas about animals and their use in the
construction of the religious worldview and thought
systems of various cultures has undoubtedly been ne-
glected. Walens noted two essential problems in the
scholarship on the subject (1987:291). Western scholars
tend to "ascribe to a particular animal symbol the mean-
ing it has in Western culture" (1987:292). Scholars inter-
preting animal symbolism unduly focus on the physical
features of the animal in question rather than its eco-
logical status and the "nature of its movement"
(1987:292). A relevant question here is whether there is
a difference in the symbolization of animals between
cultures, for example between indigenous traditions
that regard animals as sacred and those cultures that see
animals as nonsacred and as pets.
Unlike some religious cultures, in which animals are
viewed in opposition to the values and ethos espoused
by the culture's belief system, African religions inte-
grate the human, animal, and sacred spheres of exis-
tence into a unified whole. My paper addresses the
place of animals in the religious imagination and so-
ciocultural life of the African people. I intend to respond
to a set of questions: What place do animals occupy in
the cosmology and origin myths of Africa? How are
animal images reflected in the ideology and practice of
royalty and in the sacred power of kingship? How do
Africans understand animal metaphors commonly
used in their day-to-day life? How do we interpret the
preponderance of animal symbols in the arts of African
people? My main contribution will be an appreciation
of the spirituality of animals.
ANIMALS IN MYTHS OF ORIGIN
Animals feature prominently in the founding myths of
African societies and in their conception of the universe
in general. Among the Nupe people of northern Nige-
ria, the world created by Soko (the supreme god) is
made up of the human beings (zawangizi), animals (ena
gontazi), spirit beings (aljenuzi), and rituals (kuti) (Nadel
1954:13). Underlying this structure of belief is the notion
that spirit forces permeate all beings. Spirit life is asso-
ciated with animals and humans alike. Animals possess
"spirit doubles," as do humans, and such animals as the
leopard and "father tortoise" (jidakpa) have "quasi hu-
man and superhuman faculties" (1954:28). Nadel, one
of the earliest anthropologists to study Nupe culture,
was surprised and frustrated that the Nupe people he
interviewed were not interested in explaining this ap-
parently bizarre belief that equated animal and human
spirits; neither were they interested in relating the belief
to some other structure of their belief system. Here we
see a serious problem in Nadel's fieldwork. Why were
Nadel's informants not anxious to explain this practice?
A possible explanation is that the Nupe people took
such beliefs for granted, since in their own religious
universe, the spirit/human/animal distinction notice-
able in Nadel's own Eurocentric worldview was absent.
This created methodological and epistemological prob-
lems for Nadel, and no matter how much he tried to
understand his informants' thought pattern, his lack of
success and his frustration were vividly shown in his
work.
Some of the African myths of origin postulate that
humans and animals have common origins. For the
Zulu, humans and cattle emanate from the same spot
 Anthropology anj Humanism
(Mbiti 1969:50). An Akamba myth says that both ani-
mals and humans were created on earth at the same
time, but God asked the animals (cattle, sheep, and
goats) to accompany humans on earth (1969:50) and
"God lowered them onto the earth from the sky"
(1969:50). Of all the animal references in African myths
of origin, cattle have received the most honored place.
The cattle motif is found among such ethnic groups as
the Nuer, Dinka, Herero, Maasai, and Akamba, all in the
eastern and southern African regions. I examine cattle
symbolism in a later section.
In the myth of origin of the matrilineal Kom of the
Bamenda grassfields in the Northwest Province of
Cameroon, the python plays a key role in the formation
of society (Shanklin 1986:1-13). The Kom people are
referred to as "the people of the Snake," a reference to
the primordial event by which the people were led by
the python to their present site. According to this myth
of origin (1986:2-3), in the distant past the Kom ances-
tors lived with the Bamessi people. The king (foyri) of
the Bamessi became increasingly uncomfortable about
the prospect of the continued presence of the Kom
people on the land, particularly the Kom trouble-
makers. Accordingly, the Bamessi king tricked the king
of the Kom into agreeing to act jointly with him to
destroy the troublemakers among their own groups. He
did this in such a way as to avoid a war between the
groups. Both groups were to build a house of their own
and place all their potential troublemakers inside, and
then set the house on fire. While the king (foyn) of the
Kom built his own house with only one entrance, as
agreed upon in their discussion, the Bamessi foyn built
his with an escape door at the back. As agreed, both
gathered their men into the houses and set them ablaze.
Unknown to the Kom foyn, the Bamessi foyn allowed his
own people to escape through the back door. In anger
that his own foolishness had caused the death of his
able-bodied men, the Kom foyn prepared to commit
suicide, but not until he had instructed his sister about
his plans. He promised that from the fluid of his decom-
posed body would spring a lake and that the maggots
from his body would turn into fish in the lake. He
warned the Kom people not to go near the lake, for it
was meant to drown their enemies. When the time came
when they heard that the lake had sunk, they must
follow the track of a python that would emerge from it.
The Kom foyn's prophecy happened just as he had
predicted. His sister Nandong led the Kom people on
the trail of the python, which took them to their present
location.
Eugenia Shanklin presents an excellent interpretation
of this story showing how it not only accounts for the
dominance of the python in Kom life, but indeed ex-
plains the Kom's resistance to change. As we examine
the points, it becomes clear that the myth of origin
Volume 18, Number l
provides a unifying ideology for the Kom survival strat-
egy. The key motif in this myth, upon which Kom ethnic
identity is constructed, is that the present site of the
Kom is where the "snake stopped." This is on the "high-
est mountain peak" in the kingdom, and this provides
the point of orientation for all Kom. Subsequent gov-
ernment agencies have not succeeded in enticing the
people to move to a lower valley where the government
concentrates several projects and where the people
would have access to development. But what is devel-
opment to the Kom people if it means abandoning their
place of orientation, the place where the great python
stopped?
Domestic animals, such as dogs, chickens (roosters),
and ducks, often appear in African cosmogonic myths
as actors having a part in the creation of the universe by
the supreme god or the lesser deities. In one such story,
the Yoruba myth of origin, when Olodumare, the su-
preme being, decided to create the world, he gave one
of the gods, Obatala, a five-toed chicken, along with a
quantity of sand in a small shell, and also a chain, with
instructions to descend into the universe and perform
the ritual of creation. On his way to carry out Olodu-
mare's assignment, Obatala met some other divinities,
who were drinking. He joined them, got drunk, and fell
asleep. Another divinity, a female named Oduduwa,
who overheard Olodumare's message, saw Obatala fast
asleep and picked up the materials for performing the
task of creating the world. Oduduwa descended from
the sky into the world with the aid of the chain. Reach-
ing the earth, she poured out the sand onto the water
and placed the chicken upon it. The chicken scattered
the sand around, creating dry land on the earth. The
place where Oduduwa accomplished this task was
named Ile-Ife (the place where the earth spreads). The
"earth-spreader" symbol motif represented by the
chicken has become a significant motif in African reli-
gion and art.
Afolabi Ojo, a cultural geographer, enthusiastically
described this extraordinary primordial phenomenon
that the earth-spreader performed:
The mighty bird, a special giant bird, descended on the sand
and used its huge claws to dig, spread out the sand. Where
the claws dug deep, valleys were formed. Hills, uplands,
and mountains were left within the interstices of the claws.
[Ojo 1966:194]
The iconographic representation of a woman holding
a chicken, commonly to be found among Ifa divination
apparatus, has been the subject of debate among Afri-
can art historians. While this icon is used in conjunction
with the preservation of kola nuts and other divination
paraphernalia, the symbolism it generates is of major
significance. Daniel McCall, an Africanist art historian,
Olupona Animal Symbolism in AfricSi Religion and Culture
noted that the adoption of the chicken icon into the Ifa
divination system has led people to believe that it rep-
resents a kneeling woman offering a cock as a sacrifice.
McCall (personal communication, 1981), however, be-
lieves, following an earlier suggestion made by Bascom
(and it merits serious consideration), that the figure
represents the great goddess Oduduwa with her epiph-
any, the cosmic chicken, the earth-spreader, caught in
the act of creation as she set the chicken on the Ile-Ife
earth (Bascom 1984:10).
While the primary purpose of origin myths is to
explain the process whereby primordial chaos is trans-
formed into cosmos even after creation, the proper
establishment of the territory whereby the social, politi-
cal, and economic institutions are fully set in place and
made possible takes place in the course of another ritual
process, that of taking possession of the land. In the case
of the Bambara people of Mali, whenever they move
into a new territory they must establish what Zahan
called "the cult of the dasiri." This means undergoing a
ritual of "attachment to the established territory" (Za-
han 1974:12). By means of this ritual process the settlers
maintain a link with the protective deity or spirit of the
new village, the ritual being periodically renewed to
ensure continuity and growth. For this purpose the new
settlers choose a leader, and pour a libation and perform
sacrifices before any civil or domestic function is carried
out. To be properly part of the dasiri cult it is essential
for the community to establish a material counterpart
for this "axis mundi," as Zahan termed it (1974:12). An
animal considered to be favorable toward humans is
chosen for the purpose, by means of divination from
among the animals inhabiting the area. The animal is
normally a goat, monkey, or any quadruped. What is
important for the Bambara, who refer to such animals
as "the mounts of spirit dasiri" (1974:12), is that the
animal must be "capable of establishing neighborly
relations and communications with" the human com-
munity (1974:12). The animal moves freely and un-
harmed around the community. However, it may be
sacrificed to the deity during the annual revival cere-
mony of the village. Zahan echoes a familiar theory
about how ritual accomplishes territorial possession
when he writes:
The meaning of the various elements combined in the cult
is easily understood when we bear in mind the connection
between the dasiri, the founding of the settlement, and the
deity. The axis mundi in its twofold character, a geographi-
cal character and a mobile dasiri animal, gives religious
significance to the space around which the life and activity
of the human community gather. [Zahan 1974:13]
The dasiri cult provides the avenue for the "renewal
and regeneration" of the territory (Zahan 1974:13).
Since the human community cannot afford to live with
a hostile animal neighbor, the dasiri animal symbolizes
the desirable human habitat while the dasiri ritual sac-
ralizes the coming of the people to this ideal habitation.
ANIMAL TOTEM AND PERSONHOOD
A common feature of African religion and cultural life
is that the people maintain a close relationship with
totemic animals that are considered to be linked to their
group's origin, ancestors, and place. Totemism remains
one of the most misunderstood aspects of the African
belief system, especially since totemic objects, in this
case animals, are considered to be persons and sacred
beings. Indeed, more than 70% of African communities
have a connection to totemic objects. Among the
Mokwa people of northern Nigeria, Nadel identified a
crocodile spirit with which the Mokwa had made a pact
from time immemorial. The people must never kill or
annoy a crocodile, and the crocodile may not harm any
member of the community. During one of Nadel's visits
he observed that a crocodile had killed a child of the
village, and a court was held during which the crocodile
was tried and sentenced to death for breaking the agree-
ment (Nadel 1954:27-28). When Nadel informed the
village that he had seen the crocodile afterward in the
stream, the villagers quickly told him that the particular
crocodile had died and it was a different one that he
saw. The underlying principle here is that crocodiles are
regarded as people as well as sacred beings.
When Meyer Fortes, another anthropologist, revis-
ited the Tallensi people of Ghana in 1975 he observed
something similar to Nadel's observations among the
Mokwa people. According to him, one of the sacred
totemic crocodiles belonging to the Zubiung clan had
been killed overnight, perhaps by poachers in search of
the crocodile's claws and skin. The Tallensi people be-
lieved that the sacrilege was carried out by "thieves and
rascals" (Fortes and Goody 1987:249) from the neigh-
boring city, since no native of their community would
commit such a crime because they know that the croco-
diles are the "incarnation of important clan ancestors"
(Fortes and Goody 1987:249). "Killing the crocodile is
like killing a person," they informed Fortes. It is a
heinous crime and would bring disaster on the whole
clan (Fortes and Goody 1987:249). In response to this
sacrilege, the Tallensi held a divination session to deter-
mine what offenses they themselves had committed
that had brought about this problem. What intrigued
Fortes was that in some contexts certain crocodiles are
set apart and regarded as ancestors, and in others,
crocodiles are regarded as ordinary animals. But Fortes
was able to mark the role of society in determining the
identity of totemic and sacred animals and in conferring
personhood on objects that have sacred significance to
their society (Fortes and Goody 1987:249). In the Tal-
 Anthropobgy ami Humanism
lensi and Nupe cases, once the communities have set
aside sacred crocodiles as totems, all the rights and
privileges of ancestors are conferred upon them and, as
with the human ancestors, a reciprocal relationship de-
velops between the animal ancestors and the human
society. If the bond is broken, as in the Nupe case, the
sacred status bestowed upon the animal is withdrawn
immediately. This process of bestowing personhood on
sacred animals accords well with Ake Hultkrantz's ob-
servation that the "idea of the animal is structured
culturally, that is, the animal is seen not exactly as a
biological being, but as a being colored by cultural
values and judged from cultural premises. It plays the
role ascribed to it by cultural tradition" (Hultkrantz
1981:148).
SACRED CATTLE IN PASTORALIST SOCIETIES
Various ethnographic studies of African pastoralists
have confirmed that cattle are the most important ob-
jects in their communities. The value that pastoralists
place on their cattle goes beyond the animals' "utilitar-
ian and pecuniary worth" (Hopen 1958:23). In this sec-
tion I examine the imagery of cattle in the religious
thought and practice of four African pastoral peoples:
the Fulbe, Maasai, Herero, and Ambo. The Fulbe see
cattle as an extension of the human family and maintain
a symbiotic relationship with them. While a Fulbe man
seeks to expand his wealth in herds of cattle, he also
builds up his family, because seeking riches without
bearing children is considered futile for his lineage
(Hopen 1958:26). This is because cattle and human ex-
pansion go together. Cattle metaphors permeate the
entire religious and social life of the Fulbe. They com-
pare people to "a herd of cattle which is moving down
a straight road" (Hopen 1958:27). They believe that the
"road" (that is, Fulbe values) was given to them by their
ancestors and hence is regarded as sacred. As such, the
cattle, like humans, should not deviate from this road.
The strong unity between the Fulbe and cattle is such
that they say, "If the cattle die the Fulbe will die" (kul
na'i baati Fulbe no max). Cattle are regarded as "greater
than one's father and mother" (na'ii buri koomi, i buri
inna i babafuh) (Hopen 1958:26).
Kaj Arhem enumerates several ways in which cattle
and humans are metaphorically linked in Maasai soci-
ety. The Maasai attitude toward cattle is similar to that
of the Fulbe. The Maasai who live in Kenya and Tanza-
nia use the same term, inkishu, for their cattle and for
people, and quite often they address each other by cattle
names. Both animals and humans are divided into
clans, subclans, and family, so that there is a "society of
cattle parallel to that of men" (Arhem 1990:214), and in
the Maasai worldview, cattle represent the ideals that
the human community espouses.
Volume 18, Number 1
Also, the Herero of southwestern Angola display a
similar attitude toward their cattle. The Herero are gen-
erally considered efficient herdsmen "who live and die
for their herds" (Esterman 1981:90). The Herero have a
long list of sacred cattle named like humans. These are
Otyipanga (animal friend), Onawanga (the one with
noxious power), and Ombindisi (the oracle ox). The last
of these sacred cattle, the oracle ox, is consecrated by a
medicine man, who gives a castrated ox special drugs
and turns it into a "clairvoyant" (Esterman 1981:103). It
is believed that the animal has the power to "sense the
approach of attacking raiders" (1981:103) and to warn
the people of an impending danger.
In the Ambo region of southwestern Angola (Ester-
man 1976:136-137), a festival is dedicated "to honor"
the cattle. In this festival, called Okuludika Engobe
(literally, to admire the cattle), a cattle dance is staged to
enable the herdsmen to display their cattle before the
cattle owners. It provides the latter with the opportu-
nity to inspect the herds and reward the good herdsmen
accordingly. As the cattle pass by, the senior wife of the
cattle owner rubs the flank of each animal with ashes
while the audience shouts with joy and gives praise to
the individual cattle. A lazy herdsman is rubbed on the
head and face with fresh cow droppings (Esterman
1976:138).
The ritual consecration of sacred cattle takes two
forms. In one instance, the owner of the herd selects a
cow inherited from a deceased owner and invites in the
medicine men, who prepare a special medicine for the
animal and its owner. The calf of the animal is slaugh-
tered to propitiate the deceased owner. With this ritual,
the cow "acquires a prophetic power," and is described
as "becoming intelligent." The spirit of the ancestral
owner resides in the animal and is responsible for be-
stowing this "special supernatural gift" to the cow. The
cow is now specially set apart and referred to as a
"seeing cow" (ongobe ikhunganeki) (Esterman 1976:141).
She becomes a medium and, through her, messages
from the ancestral world can be heard. When the cow
dies of old age, it is said that "the ancestral spirits have
come to get her" (1976:141).
A second form of consecration is called odlika (forbid-
den animal), and here a bull is set aside and given a
medicine, but without consulting the owner before-
hand. Afterward, the owner is informed about the ritual
consecration and henceforth it is taboo for him to meet
the animal. Instant death results from the breaking of
this taboo.
The significance of these two categories of animals in
Ambo thought is far-reaching. In the first, medicine is
prepared for both human being and animal, and one
destiny is tied to the other. The rituals associated with
the ancestor cow, nangula, and those associated with the
forbidden bull, odlika, are two opposite phenomena, one
Olupona Animal Symbolism in AfricSi Religion and Culture
representing the "sacred power" associated with the
ancestors' benevolence, to be harnessed and used for
the owner's success. The second concerns a forbidden
evil power, to be avoided at all costs. Nonetheless, the
two are essential for the society's survival.
ANIMAL SYMBOLS OF ROYAL POWER AND AUTHORITY
The institution of sacred kingship in Africa features a
number of objects and relics that symbolically convey
the power and authority of the institution and its occu-
pier. The ancient African kingdom of the Ashanti, an
Akan people who live in southern Ghana, is famous for
its symbols of authority, including, first, the golden
stool, believed to have been conjured from the sky by
an Ashanti chief priest. After its descent, the golden
stool was declared to be the symbol of unity of the
Ashanti confederacy. The supernatural stool, made of
gold, became the "soul of the Ashanti nations" (Fraser
1972:140). The stool contains within it objects of power
and authority, such as the skin of a viper and other
magical objects, and it is fed, honored, and adored
because it represents the symbol of the new dispensa-
tion as commanded by the ancestors. From the arche-
typal golden stool the Ashanti subsequently have
copied other stools, and these are the most significant
of their ceremonial and ritual objects. Stools are made
on the occasion of rites of passage, the installation of
chiefs, puberty rites, marriage, and death, and an indi-
vidual maintains a close relationship with his stool
(Fraser 1972:142).
In addition to the stools, sacred swords are important
symbols of power and authority among the Ashanti
kings. One such sword, called Bosomru, represents the
soul of the first user of swords, the founder of the
Ashanti confederacy, Osei Tutu. A golden image of a
chimpanzee's jawbone is cast on it, symbolizing the
"magical power" (Fraser 1972:145) inherited from the
sky by the king, the Ashantehene. Every new Ashante-
hene must take an oath of allegiance to the nation with
this sword. The king's numerous big umbrellas are
further symbols of Ashanti sacred kingship, and each
umbrella is used as the occasion warrants. One such
umbrella, called Akokobatan Ne Ne Mma, displays at
its tip a hen and its chicks. This umbrella is used when
the king is settling disputes among his chiefs or between
a chief and his people (Fraser 1972:148). The umbrella's
hen emblem indicates a commonplace idea among the
Ashanti; namely, that "the mother hen steps on its
chicks not to kill them but to put them on the right path"
(Fraser 1972:148). It suggests that the king's ultimate
desire is for the peaceful resolution of internal squab-
bles rather than dispensing punishment to erring chiefs
by the sword.
A royal symbol of power found throughout Africa is
the lion. In the Dande village in Zimbabwe, southern
Africa, the royal ancestors are often referred to as mhon-
doro (lion). It is believed that at the demise of a chief, his
spirit would travel to the bush and "enter the body of a
lion" (Lan 1985:32). The Mhondoro spirit rules over the
stretch of territory that he has either conquered during
his reign or that had once been passed on to him from
a former ruler (Lan 1985:34). These "spirit provinces,"
as the territories are called, constitute segregated re-
gions that are demarcated by rivers. The provinces also
form the ritual space where the annual rituals for rain
take place.
The mhondoro protectors of these lands manifest
themselves as lions during celebrations. In opposition
to the above, nonhuman spirits can manifest them-
selves as hyenas and are referred to as shave (jnashave)
(Lan 1985:36). The mashave spirit may pass witchcraft to
unsuspecting men and women. The lion and the hyena,
then, represent two opposing forces that control the
universe, a good and benevolent force versus an evil
and destructive force. While the former symbolizes the
royal ancestors, the latter consists of the destructive
witches. Based on this concept in Dande thought and
practice, it is taboo to kill lions (Lan 1985:161).
The symbolic opposition between royalty and witch-
craft, as represented in the images of strong and agile
animals such as lions and birds, runs through royal and
nonroyal cult objects in Africa. Perhaps nowhere is this
better demonstrated than among the Yoruba and Benin
kingdoms in Nigeria. Among the Yoruba people, a com-
mon praise epithet for a king (oba) is lion or leopard. It
signifies the king's strength, power, and ability to
quickly repel any dangers that threaten the life of his
subjects. He is often described as ajileja ekun (the agile
leopard who wakes up ready to fight). The king's bead-
decorated crown is topped with a bird, described as an
egret (okiri) by several informants, which portrays or-
derliness and purity (see the illustration on the front
cover). An assemblage of other birds is also attached to
the crown. The presence of these small birds has gener-
ated several interpretations from scholars. The consen-
sus seems to be that they represent "elders," symboliz-
ing the power of the royal ancestors to counter the
forces of witches (Thompson 1972:254). Elders are also
represented by women with birds (cnvon eleiye).
The Meru people of Kenya display a sHghtly different
manifestation of divine authority from that of the
Yoruba people. The central all-religious institution is
the office of the Mugwe, a religious dignitary who
wields extraordinary ritual power in the region. Ac-
cording to Bernardo Bernardi, whose field account of
the Meru is our chief source of information (Bernardi
1986:1), the Meru, afraid of the possible harm the white
missionaries could do to this religious institution, kept
10 Anthropology arM Humanism
all information about the Mugwe secret from the strang-
ers. The Meru people would variously describe the
Mugwe as "the king," or god, apparently in reference
to his being the source of blessings and the protector of
the ethnic group. The source of the power of the
Mugwe, however, was a topic of curiosity (Bernardi
1986:2-3). The Meru people believe that the power is in
the tail attached to the body of the Mugwe. The tail
designates the Mugwe as a liminal figure, which en-
ables him to mediate between two spheres of reality, the
human and spirit worlds (Bernardi 1986:4).
ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN THE ARTS
The preponderance of animal images in virtually all of
the African art traditions points to the role of animal
symbols in the expression of sacredness, power, and
other aesthetic qualities of leadership. I illustrate this
here with reference to the arts of two ethnic groups in
Africa: the Igbo of eastern Nigeria and the Legba of
eastern Zaire. Among the Igbo people, a cult object
called ikenga is produced to celebrate and mark the
achievements of individual persons. These objects are
commissioned and then placed on domestic shrines
alongside other ritual objects belonging to the ancestors
(ndiche) and individual guardian gods (phi) (Boston
1977:2). The presence of ikenga art is understandable,
given the fact that the Igbo people are especially noted
for their entrepreneurship within an egalitarian and
highly complex social system, qualities that support
"personal achievement" (Boston 1977:4). These quali-
ties have given rise to the quest for ikenga and sub-
sequently to the numerous ikenga figures that represent
and symbolize personal success and individual attain-
ment (1977:4). The ikenga carvings portray images of
various animals; as a rule, the carvings are horned
(1977:4). This is the "most distinctive feature of these
carvings" (1977:2). The images are of those animals
generally known among Igbos for their strength, agil-
ity, and vigor, such as the leopard, lion, ram, and ante-
lope. The presence of animal horns in ikenga art has
given rise to much discussion by William Fagg and
other art historians. Fagg (1963:10) argued that "the use
of the horns of animals signifies growth and increase in
life forces and natural power." Ikenga art, therefore,
represents the creative life force and the regeneration
that Fagg observed. Boston also observed, inde-
pendently of Fagg, that for the Igbo people, a horn
symbolizes masculinity (Boston 1977:112). It represents
men's achievement in "hunting, warfare, farming"
(Boston 1977:112), and the like. One remarkable contri-
bution of Boston's study is that, unlike previous schol-
ars before him, he situates ikenga art in the religious and
social context of the Igbo world within which ikenga art
properly functions. In addition, he challenges the ten-
Volume 18, Number 1
dency to see a control over matter for its own sake as
the essential purpose of ikenga art and, rather, sees
ikenga art "as a dynamic state of being, in which force is
continually being generated and released" (Boston
1977:112).
The second example deals with the Legba people of
Zaire, among whom animal figures feature promi-
nently to express the ideology, rituals, and perfor-
mances of the Bwami age-grade association (Biebuyck
1986:1). Bwami is a hierarchical, complementary age-
grade system into which men and their wives are initi-
ated. Unlike the art of several African states, which is
openly displayed and acquired, Legba art is highly
selective and cannot be easily understood in its ritual
context. The Bwami association affects all circumcised
males, together with their wives. As one moves from a
lower grade to a higher grade, one's social and ritual
obligations increase. A significant part of the initiation
ceremonies is the use of certain objects (isengo, mesengo).
These objects are taken from the animal and plant
world, and a few from the mineral world. They are used
"either in their natural state or transformed" (Biebuyck
1986:22). The objects are kept in the initiation house and
carried by the individual initiates to the initiation space.
The shoulder bag that most initiates use is made of
antelope hide. After initiation, the objects are stored in
the house of the senior initiated wife, "whose duty it is
to preserve their secrecy and integrity" (1986:26).
In the course of the initiation, these objects are "dis-
played and manipulated," conveying the essential
meaning and intention of the rituals. While being used,
the initiation object is spoken of as "heavy" and "sa-
cred" (Biebuyck 1986:25). The objects cannot be pro-
faned, and they cannot be owned, interpreted, or even
understood by outsiders. It is not strange that the
Legba, who are a forest people, would make use of
animal objects and metaphors in Bwami initiation cere-
monies. Their use is based on the extensive knowledge
of domestic and forest animals. Many animals and birds
are mentioned in the ritual, celebrated in songs, mim-
icked in movement and in trance, and displayed as
ritual objects.
In addition to the natural objects, some of the initia-
tion-constructed sculptures are zoomorphic (Biebuyck
1986:103). Here, animal figures consisting of wood or
ivory figurines are seen in small sizes, portraying such
animals as frogs, snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and ele-
phants (1986:103). The Bwami initiation rite is a means
of acquiring status, prestige, and wealth, and of wield-
ing power and authority in social groups (1986:66). The
performances and dances that accompany the cere-
mony patterned after animal images, convey these es-
sential qualities of Legba society. The pedagogical func-
tiorLshould not be missed. By means of a strong display
of aphorisms, the initiate is exposed to the basic princi-
Olupona Animal Symbolism in African Religion and Culture
pies and values of the society by which he or she is
expected to live henceforth. The initiation objects on
which the rites and symbolic expression depend are
regarded as "heavy and dangerous" objects. This means
that, on the one hand, they relate to the characteristics
of the objects, and, on the other, they convey a sacred
meaning that goes beyond the physical and anatomical
qualities of the objects. These matter-spirit dualities are
an essential expression of African art and culture.
FERTILITY RITUALS AND ANIMAL SYMBOLISM
Those persons familiar with African societies and cul-
ture are aware of the Africans' concern for fertility,
reproduction, and children. The whole notion of "per-
petuating life" involves not only human fertility but the
reproduction of crops and animals in agricultural life
(Jacobson-Widding and van Beek 1990:15). Sacrifices
relating to puberty and marriage rites often involve the
use of domestic animals, especially the goat. Among the
Mwaba-Gurma of North Togo, goat sacrifices are per-
formed to ensure the fertility of the newly married
woman and the procreation of many children, and to
send away the evil forces that may disturb the marital
life of the young (De Surgy 1983, cited in Jacob 1990:88).
In the same way, the Winye Gurunsi of Burkina Faso
proffer goat offerings to ensure the fertility of their
maidens. For them, the goat is considered a "gemelli-
parous animal" that gives birth to two young animals
of opposite sexes (Jacob 1990:88). The ideal pattern of a
family is therefore linked to the fertility metaphor of
goats. The goat metaphor also signifies the ideal of
having children of the opposite sex.
Cattle play a significant role in the fertility rituals of
the Zulu people of southwestern Africa. According to
Berglund, the fertility ceremony centers on the cult of
Nomkhubulwana, the heavenly priestess. She is a vir-
gin goddess and is associated with marriageable maid-
ens. She is also connected with fertility in cattle and
agricultural plants (Berglund 1990:255). During the pu-
berty ceremony, Nomkhubulwana takes charge of
young maidens, giving counseling and advice on vari-
ous aspects of the institution of marriage that the maid-
ens are about to experience. In the course of the
Nomdede ceremony, the girls will herd three carefully
selected animals. They are a heifer (isithole), a calf
(emithi), and a cow with a full udder and a "plentiful
flow of milk" (Berglund 1990:259). The three animals
represent the desires and aspirations of the maidens as
they prepare to court, marry, and produce children. As
Berglund recently observed, the heifer refers to the
attractive and lustrous maidens; they wish to become
the image of Nomkhubulwana, the beautiful maiden
par excellence. The calf portrays pregnancy, a prereq-
uisite to marriage in contemporary Zulu society. Berg-
11
lund's informant remarked that in the past men would
not insist on women being pregnant before marriage,
but these days, as a result of frequent cases of infertility,
most men would not marry a woman unless she is
pregnant. The third animal, the cow, stands for the large
breasts that would produce plenty of milk for breast-
feeding the children. The Zulu make further connec-
tions between fertility and cattle. Cattle and humans
share several qualities, and both are linked to the shades
of the ancestors. Both cattle and humans give birth in
the ninth month, both live in the homestead, and the
gallbladders of both are the habitations of ancestral
shades (Berglund 1990:261).
CONCLUSION
I have shown in this article that animal symbolism
resonates throughout the entire African religious struc-
ture. In a way, the spirituality of animals is an integral
part of the African worldview and religious configura-
tion. The environmentalists' concern for the protection
of nature, especially of the animal species, must be
premised, among other things, on the spirituality of
animals and their mythic and symbolic relationship to
the human community.
Acknowledgments. This paper was presented at the Confer-
ence on the Spirituality of Matter, East-West Center, Hawaii,
June 1992.
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