ZULU
SYMBOLISM
The well-known Lutheran pastor and writer, Axel-Ivor
Berglund, in his book Zulu Thought
Patterns and Symbolism, quoting some Catholic investigators like Wanger
and Bryant of Mariannhill, shows how the izipandla are the tip of a huge
ancestor pagan mentality which links up by association all sorts of disparate
things. He says that these bracelets (izipandla) are only removed with the
greatest reluctance (p.239). I would concur
with this and I have noticed the great element of fear involved which goes
against the liberating message of the Gospel which frees one from fear and
superstition.
Berglund shows that the ancestors (amadlozi) are
linked in the traditional religion with sexual power (amandla) and male
semen (the Xhosa word for this is amadlozi – the same word the
Zulus use for the ancestors) and also with the ashes on the traditional Zulu
hearth (iziko – the place where charms are burned to make them
effective). Berglund says that ‘the Zulu
idiom umlotha stands for both ash and semen’. (p.242) Zulu dancing (p.236) excites (ukubhibhizela –
as cows are excited by a bull) or arouses the amadlozi. The hearth also has sexual associations
(p.103). Beer causes desire (uthando
pp.226, 115). Meat is closely associated
with the ancestors (p.227). Beer, meat,
women and fire are all associated with heat (shisa) and with the
amadlozi. Berglund also shows that the
starting point in an erection of a traditional Zulu hut near the point that
later will become the umsamo or shrine to the ancestors, shows the close
links between the male genital area and the ancestors (p.115). Since the revered amadlozi cause
sexual desires, then these desires are good and not immoral (p.115). In this light we can see why premarital sex (ukuqoma,
ukuhlobonga, ukusoma) is not frowned upon as procreation/fertility is one
of the greatest traditional values, as indeed, it was in nearly all traditional
pagan European societies. (In Indian
societies the lingam or stylised phallic symbol is prominent everywhere and
even adorns temples). Bryant shows this
convincingly in his history of the Zulu people where he also draws parallels to
traditional European societies. However,
in Zulu society celibacy is regarded in an unfavourable light as “wasting the
seed of the father”.
Promiscuity is raging like an uncontrollable fire in
our schools in South Africa, perhaps because old traditional pre Christian
values have not been unequivocally challenged by the Gospel values. Bishop Hubert Bucher of Bethlehem, Orange
Free State, maintains that the genuine conversion of a people and its culture
will only come about as a result of the confrontation between that which
‘people were told in the past’ and Christ’s ‘but now I tell you’.
History has shown clearly that no culture can survive
or be great without discipline, control and the sublimation of powerful
sexuality. Free gratification of
mankind’s instinctive needs is incompatible with civilised society:
renunciation and delay in satisfaction are the prerequisites of progress. For a culture to flourish there must be
authority, discipline and self-control.
As Christians, if we really love our fellow human
beings, we must be prepared to speak out even if it hurts feelings or causes us
unpopularity. If we want a church in
this country to survive, then syncretism has to be urgently tackled with the
same courage as the missionary priests like Fr Gerard of the Basotho, Fr
Mansuet Cmm. After all, cowards are not
admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven! (Revelation 21:8)
In traditional Zulu cosmology, everybody goes at death
to the land of the amadlozi. In
Christian cosmology there is heaven and hell (and purgatory – the antechamber
to heaven!). The copout on tackling
pagan customs leads to the following remark I once heard: “I’m not good enough
for heaven or bad enough for hell, so I will have to go to the land of the amadlozi!” In Christian cosmology there is no such
place! Are we undermining the power of
the Gospel to call all men to repent and be converted and transformed by the
Gospel or Christ which demands not less than everything?
We must beware of cosmetic inculturation like calling
on the amadlozi at the baptism of a child, because all people, good or evil,
become ancestors in traditional religion.
Many anthropologists are determined on preserving
cultures in a static state of primitive simplicity. They show an ignorance in the well-attested
power of the Gospel to transform cultures from within and a pessimistic view of
human nature’s ability to rise to new heights of cultural expression. In this regard, I would like to conclude with
a quotation from Steve Biko: “We must reject the attempts by the powers that
be, to project an arrested image of our culture. They have deliberately arrested our culture
at the tribal stage to perpetuate the myth that African people were
near-cannibals in life, and were preoccupied with sex and drink... It is
through the evolution of our genuine culture that our identity can be fully
rediscovered”.
INDEX: ZULU SYMBOLISM
RESPONSE FROM DR AXEL-IVAR BERGLUND
Church of Sweden Mission
Uppsala, 26th May 1992
Your much appreciated letter regarding amasiko
has arrived! My gratitude to you for
sharing with me in the fashion your letter contains!
The connection between the shades and ashes is
heat. It is in the heat of sexual union
that the shades bumba, i.e. bring about a new life. Likewise, it is in heat that the hearth
produces ashes. In each, i.e. the sexual
union and the production ash, there are ingredients that play a role and
without which neither the new life nor the ash would be a possibility. However, the issue at stake is the role of
the shades, fire being one of the “incarnations” of the shades. “Fire cannot be touched. The eyes see it, especially at night. Also the shades. They appear at night (i.e. in dreams). They are seen. But they cannot be touched. So the heat of the fire is like the heat
(sexual) of the shades. Both bring about
something.” As the shades are not
worshipped but indeed honoured, likewise ash is kept with reverence. Ash stands for cleanliness because it is the
product of fire. This is the reason for
the ash-heap, normally to be found close to the homestead, is looked upon as a
place of cleaning. The cleansing powers
of ash are demonstrated by way of e.g. ritual vomiting which I have described
in “Zulu Thought-Patterns and Symbolism”.
Ash is added to the water which is drunk prior to the vomiting “because
it cleans out the whole man”. Another
informant: “It is like this: When a man does work with his woman he becomes hot
in doing the thing of men with the woman.
He becomes hotter and even more hot until he simply sweats very
much. When the heat is high, the shades
burst out (of him), entering the place of darkness where they do the work of
creating another human. In their leaving
(the male) and entering (the woman) they find themselves enveloped in heat, the
woman also having become very much hot in the man working with her. Then they agree that this is the correct
place and attitude (moya) of making the child. The same with fire and the hearth. The hearth is like a woman in that it
receives the heat. It is simply open to
receive. When the fire comes, the fire
being heat like the heat of a man when he thinks of women, it enters the
hearth, finding it agreeable. Then it
creates ash because the fire is heat and the hearth is hot like a woman.” Ash is used in many cleansing rituals and
formerly as we today use soap. I have
seen this very many times in rural areas.
I hope that the above may have added a little to the
understanding of relationships between the shades and ash. If I can assist you further, please do not
hesitate to write. I shall be glad to
respond!
Very sincerely yours,
Axel-Ivar Berglund
