African Traditional Religion:Amasiko

[olufemi_baina_ayo]

African Traditional Religion

Amasiko (Rituals)


Rituals are extraordinary practices performed by the living for the spiritual world. These are communal religious practices for some special purposes like thanksgiving, rites of passage, appeasement, divination and sometimes for special needs on request of ancestors. Rituals revive the ancestors, which also means the relationship between the physical and the spiritual worlds. In these religious gatherings the community acts out its various forms of worship. Through these rituals unity and healing are achieved.

Ritual practice in African Traditional Religion is fundamental because people act out their religious beliefs in public. It is in ritual practice that individual religious participation and sharing is commemorated besides the daily practice based on respect and good morality. The community involvement is experienced in an "acted" form as there are times of "insiders" and "outsiders" participation. This participation is seen in the first taste (ukushwama) ritual practice which is only for the clan members.

Main Categories of Rituals

1. Amasiko Ekhaya (Kinship Rituals) Kinship rituals are specifically clan based. Kinship rituals are focused on an individual within the clan. The holistic healing of an individual depends on the kinship rituals. Her physical health, spiritual and emotional healing; are all based on kinship rituals. This type of ritual includes the rites of passage (birth, initiation, marriage and death), thanksgiving and appeasement. All rituals, irrespective of what the purpose may be, have a therapeutic effect. The symbolic recognition of the Spiritual Power is perceived in a ritual. In some communities, the "crying" of a sacrificial animal (usually a goat or an ox) before it is killed shows the acceptance of the offer by the spiritual world. The "cry" must not be mistaken for pain as some western interpretation declares. The accepted animal makes a cry once it enters the kraal before it is touched by an assegai. When the animal is consecrated by having an assegai thrust between its legs and some sacred speech simalteneously is uttered to the spiritual world, it continues with the "cry". If it does not cry it is let loose (xa ingakhalanga iyayekwa), as that is a sign of the rejection of the ritual by the spiritual world. If the animal is rejected, it may be due to the wrong person leading the process or because the ritual was not properly done from the beginning. Sometimes when one or more members of the family break the taboos prior to ritual performance or there is disharmony, the sacrifice is not accepted. During the ritual process all differences are set aside because ritual practice cannot proceed if there are conflicts, grudges, or power struggles within the members of the clan.

Unity and purity are the goals for communal worship; unity with God, relatives, friends and neighbours, and purity within oneself which brings peace form within. This results in better communication between persons in the community.

In a ritual a child learns and participates in ethical issues. While adults communally teach the young, at the same time they remind themselves of their obligation to be respectful citizens of the community. The aim of the ritual to create a healthy communication between the spiritual world and the physical world. Elderly people should live an examplary life so as to bring up a God fearing generation that will respect life and the environment they live in.

2. Amasiko Esizwe (Societal Rituals)
Societal rituals involve the community as a whole. In cases where there is a national disaster like drought and famine, people suggest a communal religious practice usually on a mountain through the chief. The community wil arrange a day to go to the mountain and appeal to God and the ancestors. On the mountain people wi sing and invoke izihlwele (all their clan ancestors) together as a community. As drought and femine involves the community at large, it is therefore the duty of the community head to take responsibility for the harmony of his/her people.

All these rituas are done in a communal way. Both the clan and the community are involved so as to witness the practises. African Traditional Religion therefore can be summarised as a way of life of the indegenous black people of Africa. It permeates all aspects of life; socially, physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. The ultimate aim is to unify human beings and maintain harmony within oneself, the clan, the community, between the physical world and the spiritual world.

Copyright 1999 The Xhosa Virtual Resource Network