The Sunday Mail
By Friday Chisanyu
An African belief refers to the human systems and their customs on their daily basis.Most customs are characterised from people’s social way of life as well as what they consider to be the most important, for example, religious activities, totems, and the way they marry each other and extend their families.
Symbols of wealth are a variety; cattle, goats, sheep and broilers are the major ones whilst there are some which are more superior and uncountable and these determine a person’s respect in the community.
Beliefs maybe expressed practically while man involves himself in spiritual activities and feel comfortable on doing them.
As the years go by, African beliefs are changing due to the new generation which is establishing new patterns, in the process altering human customs.
Satisfactorily though, people are enjoying their lives through practicing and maintaining their African heritage.
Above all, African beliefs and customs are the main aspects that create the humanity of a person.
However, people need to maintain their wellbeing as far as life is concerned.
A nation without beliefs is said to be unorganised and regarded as weak.
African totems are derived from wild animals such as birds, fish and snakes while others are from human body parts such as the leg and heart.
Totems build up some relationships and allow intermarriage between people of diverse totems.
As per the Zimbabwean cultural discourse, people believe in God, the creator ’Nyadenga’, whom they worship through ancestors. Spirit mediums play an intermediary role between the Almighty God the creator and humans.
How clans and totems came to be
They started from the individual members of the family desiring a specific animal such as a lion and all the behaviour patterns of that animal.
That animal assumes the title of holiness stature and is sacred within the specific clan which would have adopted it as a totem.
The totem was not to be eaten and it is assumed that if one gets to eat or kills that particular animal, one would automatically loose teeth.
When Mutota split people for the sack of marriages.
It was advisable to marry a woman from the same blood group. There started to develop some polygamy, while other men had three wives or more.
Families began to expand in the sense that every wife had many children. In this case, clans were a barrier to the intermarriages between these many children.
Archaeologist discovered that we are all Africans and besides that, we are the original people who should inherit the African’s earthly goods.
Beliefs of totems
People name totems according to the language they use. Some use Shona and Ndebele while others use Zulu.
A person is mainly called by his or her totem after doing noble things in his or her community.
When a person marries many wives or gets high yields in the fields, they become respectable in African society.
Totems can be used when appreciating something positive and if a person generally conducts himself well.
A wife can show her respect to her husband by calling him by his totem.
Family members can also use totems during meal times to show appreciation.
Poems of Tribes
In these poems, human history from the past is basically narrated. It emphasizes on how man manages his life concerning both industrial and agricultural production.
Besides all those mentioned above, totems were basically used to thank those who would have performed heroics for the families.
Totems are very important because they are used on specific occasions to respect each other.
Politics and the traditional African religion
Certain traditional rituals were conducted each time they intended to conduct campaign rallies as the leadership sought wisdom and guidance.
Our ancestors are interested in the welfare of their descendants; they are also interested in good governance, social order and stability.
It was with this in mind that God, through our ancestors, gave us the tried and tested leadership of African people.
Even Christians themselves acknowledge the fact that the leadership, health systems and wealth of Africans is not ordinary. Ancestral spirits occupy a central and important position in the African traditional religion.
Zimbabwe is the land of our forefathers and that land was passed to us by the forefathers. The ownership of land by our ancestors is the main link between politics, religion and spirituality in Zimbabwe. Our ancestors, through the spirit mediums, have control over rainfall and the fertility of the land as well as the natural resources.
The relevance and importance of our ancestors has survived up to this day since traditional African religious rituals are still being conducted.
The conducting of traditional African rituals has remained consistent in a most remarkable way.
Many Zimbabweans who converted to Christianity have, in a way, maintained some elements of the African traditional religion, as they did not completely ignore the African traditional religion.
The missionaries never took the African traditional religion seriously, as they thought it was all about witchcraft, black magic as well as a religion which encouraged people to worship their ancestors instead of worshipping God.
The world over, each and every country has adopted its own indigenous knowledge system which is being passed from generation to generation.
Each and every country uses its indigenous knowledge as an opportunity to progress and mobilise knowledge for sustainable development.
In African Religion systems, there are traditional pharmacologists who are specialists in identifying different problems and medicines, and this also includes veterinary medicines.
Nowadays African Religion systems are at risk because of the changes in natural environments, cultural changes on a global scale, economic and political issues. Some of African customs may vanish and disappear because they may not sustain new challenges created by foreign technologies.
Christians are discouraged to believe in African customs yet they are African people. Zimbabweans were told that participating in any traditional ritual is a sin.
However, the African traditional religion was not destroyed. It is still being practised widely across the country.
Mr Friday Chisanyu is the founding president of the Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association (ZINPA).
