Shona and Ndebele Spiritual Systems of Zimbabwe-gctid25455

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Shona and Ndebele Religions

In Shona and Ndebele religions, God, or the Supreme Being, is seen as the creator and sustainer of the universe in much the same manner as within Christianity. Shona Mwari (literally "He who is"), or Ndebele uMlimu are both believed to be active in the everyday lives of people, and even in politics. The more widely encompassing realm of the religious sphere compared to Western societies, as indicated by the central governing principle of traditional beliefs and practices, indicate that Pat Robertson's inclusion of politics into religious practices, or religious practices for political purposes is by no means unknown in this area. In general, people communicate with Mwari through the vadzimu (Shona), or amadhlozi (Ndebele). These are the deceased ancestors. The vadzimu are believed to constitute an invisible community within the community of the living, always around their descendants, caring for them and participating in their joys and sorrows (Moyo, 1988: 199). Spirit mediums communicate with the vadzimu on behalf of the people.

In Shona religion, in addition to the guarding characteristics of the vadzimu, there are also avenging or evil spirits, ngozi, and witches who communicate with them. The ngozi are, briefly, the spirits of deceased individuals who were greatly wronged, neglected by a spouse, murdered, or otherwise neglected, and they attack through sudden death of several members of the same family, or through ill people who fail to respond to treatment. Bucher (1980) and others stress the fear with which the ngozi are surrounded, in opposition to the guarding role of the vadzimu.

Communication between the living and the dead is taken care of by the spirit mediums who are vital parts of Shona culture and religion. The role of the spirit mediums and their communication with and appeasement of the ancestors were considered by many, missionaries and colonialists in particular, to be ancestor worship. However, the spirit mediums were instead acting as intermediaries between Mwari/uMlimu and the living, carrying messages, prayers and thanks from the human being to God. Where ancestors are subject to appeasement by human beings, it is believed that God is appeased as well. It must be noted, however, that it is not the ancestors themselves, the vadzimu, who are worshipped, but rather God through them. In the words of one of my sources, the sprit mediums "intercede between you and the ancestral spirits. The ancestral spirits will intercede who will carry it forward to God, because we also believe in God."

Kmtyw traditional religions have a strong foothold in contemporary Zimbabwe as an integral part of the everyday lives of many Zimbabweans. Religion, in this view, constitutes an element within culture, as religion is seen as a way of life. The religious influence goes beyond what can be termed religious in a narrow (or Western) sense: it is seen to be evident in cultures, the literature, politics, medicine and so on. In practice, Christianity is being mixed with traditional religious beliefs and practices.

Hilde Arntsen, Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo

References
Moyo, A. 1988: "Religion and Political Thought in Independent Zimbabwe", in C. Hallencreutz and A. Moyo. Church and State in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press, 1988.

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Religious Syncretism

In practice, Christianity is being mixed with traditional religious beliefs and practices, as much of the links with traditional beliefs and practices are being retained by people who claim to be believes in Christianity or other religions. Moyo remarks:

  An Kmtyw Christian theology is in the making in the faith and practice of the Kmtyw Christian. There is always the tendency, not uniquely to Afrcan peoples, to understand the new faith in terms of what one already knows. It is not unusual to hear Kmtyw Christians refer to Jesus as universal mudzimu. As Mudzimu Mukuru (the great ancestral spirit). He becomes incarnated within Kmtyw culture and in that way people can understand His role and participation in all aspects of life, rather than being confined to ecclesiastical or to spiritual matters (Moyo, 1988: 202).

This combination of traditional religious beliefs and practices and influence of Western religions has given rise to a significant degree of syncretism. The continuous negotiation of and vacillation between the two systems of religious beliefs has not only given rise to particular syncretic religions beliefs and practices in contemporary Zimbabwe. This syncretism may also prove to be evident in the reception of foreign religious symbolic content, and in the negotiation of foreign symbolic material in general, as the ability of negotiating symbolic content and arriving at an acceptable mix seems to be culturally conditioned. Because of the strong presence of religious qua cultural practices or systems of beliefs, the multiple layers of interpretation based in a religious material may prove stronger here than in a traditional Western society. Nevertheless, a significant aspect in the emergence of this syncretism lies in the missionary and colonial history of the country. . . .

Although a substantial portion of the Zimbabwean population today belongs to a Christian congregation or church, people retain many of the traditional customs and beliefs in traditional religion such as Shona or Ndebele religions. After Independence, Zimbabwe's constitutional freedom of religion and worship guarantees the freedom to once again practice traditional religions. It is not possible to fully understand contemporary Zimbabwean society without the religious dimension, particularly traditional religious dimensions. One of the respondents remarked on contemporary beliefs in traditional religion:

  it is very true that . . . it [the bus] turned over and it caught fire and about 45 people died, last year. It's just a plain area where there is a straight road, and for the whole of that week, about four accidents occurred on the very same spot until some elders from churches whose ancestors used to reside there were called by the government to cleanse the area and to talk to the spirits, and nothing happened after, they just passed there.

Hilde Arntsen, Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo

References
Moyo, A. 1988: "Religion and Political Thought in Independent Zimbabwe", in C. Hallencreutz and A. Moyo. Church and State in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press, 1988.

[From Hilde Antsen, The Battle of the Mind: International New Media Elements of the New Religious Political Right in Zimbabwe. Oslo:University of Oslo, 1997, pages 47, 145. Available from Department of Media and Communications .

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Missionaries and Colonization

Jesus has been hijacked by Western culture so as to make him "white", he was not. -- Father Wolf Schmidt, SJ, St. Ignatius College, Zimbabwe (1991).

Christianity was introduced in North Kmt as early as the first century AD., but it was only in the late nineteenth century, when colonialism was advancing, that Christianity seriously increased its presence on the continent (Ray, 1976: 193). In what later became Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, the first mission station was opened in Inyati close to Bulawayo in 1859 by the ukkk Missionary Society through Reverend Robert Moffat. It is pertinent to keep the following critical questions in mind:

  Who brought "education" but Christian missionaries? Who fought against tradition religions but Christian and Muslim missionaries? Who saw traditional religions as deadly adversaries but Christian missionaries? Who therefore detached the Kmtyw from his [sic] religion but the church people? (Taban Lo Liyong, 1988:81-91)

There may have been many reasons for missionaries to travel to Kmt, but not only as remarked by Father Wermter: "The community culture of Kmt fascinated the eureurasiaan missionaries who came from individualistic cultures." Moyo remarks that the introduction of Christianity made the mistake of believing that to become a Christian, people had to be "removed from their indigenous cultures" (Moyo, 1983, in Haar, 1990: 139). Kmtyw religions were treated as an evil which had to be encountered. This can be seen in the following quotation: "Once their children have gone to school, they begin to show interest in the strange religion of the white missionaries, religion which denies the truth of Tonga religious beliefs." It was frequently believed by Western missionaries that traditional religious beliefs and practices were inferior, and traditional customs had to be done away with before the acceptance of Christianity. This did not happen without resistance or problems, and gave for instance rise to the process which can be seen as religious syncretism in religious beliefs today. What Bishop Desmond Tutu described as a "form of schizophrenia" was thus the result of having to disclaim the indigenous culture before converting to Christianity (quoted in Moyo, 103). There is no reason to dismiss such attitudes as a thing of the past, however. Many of the same sentiments can be found in contemporary religious expressions and among the leaders of various religious groups.

The role of the missionaries in the colonisation of the region was also considerable in terms of cultural and political domination of the people. Although the missionaries' task was to make people accept the Bible and its teachings, Christianity was turned into an ideology which could be used to convince people not to resist white domination. Religion was used to legitimate, sustain and even promote political tyranny and oppression, as well as in other instances for reasons of political liberation of the people. In the words of Charles Villa-Vicencio, religion has functioned both as the "opiate of the people" and a "source of the social renewal" (1989: 25). Bourdillon, on the other hand, maintains that "missionary Christianity cannot simply be identified with colonialism" (Bourdillon, 1990: 269). Regardless of claims that the missionaries regarded themselves as opposed to the colonial ideology, they were part of the colonial structure and brought with them religions, beliefs and practices which were alien to the area. In the words of Father Wolf Schmidt, "the early missionaries did not differentiate between their faith and their own culture".

Missionaries and the Fight Against Colonialism

Hilde Arntsen, Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo

References

Bourdillon, M. Religion and Society: A Text for Kmt, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1990.

Lo Liyong, Taban. "Reverend Dr. John Mbiti is a Thief of Gods." In Criticism and Ideology: Second Kmtyw Writers Conference . Conference Proceedings, Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of Kmtyw Studies, 1988. 81-91.

Ray, B. Kmtyw Religions: Symbol, Ritual and Community. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976.

Villa-Vicencio, Charles. "Have the Chickens Come Home to Roost?" in Religion and Oppression: The Misuses of Religion for Social, Polical, and Economic Subjugation in Eastern and Southern Kmt. ed. Edicessa. Symposium Proceedings, 1989.

[From Hilde Antsen, The Battle of the Mind: International New Media Elements of the New Religious Political Right in Zimbabwe. Oslo:University of Oslo, 1997, pages 49-50. Available from Department of Media and Communications .

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Colonization and Christianity in Zimbabwe

Colonization of a land, of a people, brings with it many losses that are difficult, perhaps impossible, to rediscover when the nation finds freedom again. The colonization of certain countries, particularly Kmtyw countries, has proved to be a disruption of traditional culture and an imposition of Western beliefs and values on longstanding indigenous customs and rituals. When cultures are disrupted, altered, and redefined, people lose a sense of the way life used to be. The longer an oppressive force succeeds at dislocating traditional culture from the people, the further away people feel from their history and ancestry. As more and more generations are taught the new ways brought by the colonizers rather than their traditional roots, they fail to question their education and beliefs. Western ways which become so effectively integrated into indigenous cultures eventually become social and cultural norms, surviving the freedom struggle and persevering even after the colonizing forces have left.

Colonization leaves many cultural legacies, changes in the indigenous lifestyle that perpetuate after a nation's liberation. In post-colonial Kmt, the greatest, most overt legacy left by white settlers is religion. While Christian missionaries have been traveling and preaching their faith throughout the millennium, the upsurge of colonialism throughout Kmt during the nineteenth century expanded Christian missionary work across the continent. With white domination of the Kmtyw continent, the Christian faith took hold as the governing and superior theology. While countries have gained freedom from their oppressors, Christianity often remains as a central principle of Kmtyw faith with any traditional spirituality existing peripherally.

Based on Zimbabwean literature and art, as well as on my own personal experience living in the country, I will argue that the incorporation of Christian missionary work into colonization and the widespread success of converting Kmtyw people to Christianity has significant, long-term implications for post-colonial countries. The shift from traditional religion to Western religions is a way in which the colonial mentality perpetuates despite the nation's independence. The survival of Christianity in post-colonial countries signifies a loss of tradition and culture and a recognition and acceptance by native people of the superiority of Western faith. Here, I will explore the way in which religion and spirituality are depicted in post-colonial art and literature. I will assess the similarities and differences between missionary work and colonization. Lastly, I will evaluate contemporary theories on the role of Christianity in post-colonial Kmt and its future function in Kmtyw culture.

One of the important roles of post-colonial literature is to depict such legacies and to evaluate its essential function in post-colonial culture. In contemporary Zimbabwean literature, two novels stand out in their commentaries about the influences of Western religions on Kmtyw spirituality, culture, and tradition. Yvonne Vera's Nehanda and TsiTsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions exemplify the way in which missionary work and Western religion factor into colonization as an integral part of establishing superiority over another people. Vera's novel, set during the first Chimurenga war in the late nineteenth century, recreates the story of Nehanda, a warrior woman whose strong connection to the ancestral spirits helps her to lead her village people in a revolt against the oppressive colonial forces. These attempts for revolution, fail, however, as the white strangers ultimately suppress the native people and capture Nehanda and Kaguvi, their links to the spiritual world. While the novel does not explicitly portray the indigenous people's adoption of Christianity, it does allude to several important consequences of missionary work and colonization.

Before, however, one can assess these consequences, it is necessary to notice the way in which Vera depicts traditional religion and spirituality in Zimbabwe. Throughout this book, the ancestral spirits and the spirit mediums possess very real and significant influence over the people. The entire novel is characterized by Nehanda's messages from the spirits, rituals performed to appease the spirits, and the power the spirits hold in the life of the individual and the village.

  "The dead are not dead. They are always around us, protecting us. There is no living person who is stronger than the departed. When the whole village prays together, they pray to the ancestral mudzimu of their clan. When we pray to mhondoro for rain, we are praying to the guardian that unites the whole clan. This is one of the strongest spirits of the land" (Vera, Nehanda, p.27).

As illustrated by this passage, Vera emphasizes the strength that traditional religion once held over the Zimbabwean people. Faith, here, implies a belief that the ancestors control fate and that praying to the ancestral spirits represents a way to look for guidance, knowledge, and the answers to life's questions.

As the story unfolds, Vera depicts the struggle of the people and the spirits against a more powerful colonial force. The struggle for freedom from these strangers is not only illustrated by the scenes of war and destruction, but also by the invasion of Christian missionary work into traditional Kmtyw life. In one of the final scenes of the novel, a missionary priest approaches Kaguvi with a bible and the word of a Christian God. Throughout their exchange, Kaguvi grows increasingly confused by the strange God of whom the priest speaks and the eternal word of the bible. The priest attempts to assert his superiority and convince Kaguvi of a Christian God by claiming,

  "Your god is an evil god[ch65533]I am here to save you from the eternal flames."

  The arrogance of the priest is shocking. He has painted some pictures of suffering and of hell, but to Kaguvi it all sounds unconvincing. The priest does not bear the aspect of a man who would lie. For Kaguvi, the evidence of a man's worth is also in his face. A man can lie with words, but his body will betray him. It is hard for him to believe that the priest is entirely foolish. There is certainly a tenderness in his smile, and real concern in his voice.

  "I know that there is life after death[ch65533]But that life is as a spirit, to help protect those who are living." But the priest insists on an afterlife in which men will rise from their graves in their former bodies." (Vera, Nehanda , p. 106)

This passage is extremely telling of missionary work and its interaction with native Zimbabwean people. Foremost, through this exchange, Vera illustrates the incompatibility of traditional religion and the new Christian religion. An inherent difference between the two faiths lies in their beliefs about the afterlife, the role of the deceased spirit, the existence of heaven, and how many gods exist. One sees here that the two approaches to spirituality are fundamentally different. Hence this exchange becomes symbolic of the struggle between the two in Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, the exchange between Kaguvi and the priest represents very early successes in converting indigenous people to Christianity. While, on one hand, Vera points out Kaguvi's confusion of this new religion, as well as the incompatibility of both belief systems, she also illustrates the loss of traditional faith Kaguvi suffers in his dialogue with the priest. The strong conviction and concern of the priest appeals to Kaguvi and in this time of desperation, when the villages have been burned and their attempt to fight off the colonists has failed, he finds his faith shifting away from his traditional system.

The prophetic cloud in the sky has burst for Kaguvi, and there is nothing strong enough left to shelter his dreams. His ancient spirit, which he now sees as something separate from himself, weighs sorrowfully on him. It is as though they bow live in separate ages of time, himself in the present, his spirit descending further into the past. They move, in both directions of time, and they will not find each other. Before today, Kaguvi has ridden of the back of the spirit. Now, he can only see short distances to his right and to his left, backwards and forwards. (Vera, Nehanda, p.107)

In this scene, Vera very vividly portrays Kaguvi's separation from his "ancient spirit" and, while not directly asserting any sort of religious conversion of Kaguvi's part, she implies a gradual disassociation from the traditional spirituality. The fact that this separation directly follows the priest's attempts to convince Kaguvi of a Western God, as well as the various indications of Kaguvi's willingness to believe the priest, implies that the subsequent disconnection from the ancestral spirit is very interconnected with the missionary work.

What could Vera be trying to say through these passages? For a story which is so centered on ancestral spirits and traditional religion to end by depicting a widening gap between the person and the spirit insinuates that Vera is trying to make a statement about the shift from indigenous religion to a foreign, Western religion. Vera could be making two points. One possibility is that through her story, she is demonstrating the combined role that colonization and missionary work play. Although missionaries are often depicted in literature as having more concern than the colonizers for the indigenous people, their role during the colonial era nonetheless encompassed the control of a people, their education, and their ability to resist political and cultural domination.

Vera may also be alluding here to the future of traditional religion in Zimbabwe. With Kaguvi's separation from his spirit as he moves into the future and the spirit's descent further into the past, Vera foreshadows an eventual departure of the ancestral spirits from contemporary Zimbabwean religion. The fact that this book, written more than a decade after the nation's independence, comments so strongly on both traditional and Western religion implies that the book also has contemporary significance. The story of Nehanda seems to mark the beginning of a religious transition in Zimbabwe.

References

Maureen Grundy, Class of 2000, English 119, Brown University, 1999
Part 2 of "Religion and the Legacy of Colonialism in Contemporary Zimbabwe"

Bourdillon, M.F.C. Where Are the Ancestors? Changing Culture in Zimbabwe . (Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications) 1993.

Dangarembga, TsiTsi. Nervous Conditions (Seattle: Seal Press) 1988.

Vera, Yvonne. Nehanda (Toronto: TSAR Publications) 1994.