Ancestor worship in Africa

The ancestor worship is not all, but most nations south of the Sahara Africa an important part of traditional culture or religion . It includes a spiritual relationship to the deceased ancestors who continue on to traditional ideas in this way , this side can participate in life.

Islamic clergy in northern Africa as well as western missionaries in sub-Saharan Africa “fought” the relationship between Africans and their ancestors for a long time and in some cases until today. Ancestor worship has therefore been largely hidden to this day and is seldom the subject of open conversation, especially with western interlocutors. Observations and field studies by foreign as well as local researchers currently paint a picture that is consistent in many respects, which is summarized below.

Definitions and delimitation

Many different practices of ethnic religions around the world , which have certain essential elements in common, are referred to as ancestor cult . These include, for example, a belief in spiritual beings or animism , respect for the family line and strong group cohesion as well as the rite of an act of sacrifice . While the cult of the dead relates more closely to all those deceased who may still be known to the practitioner personally, the cult of ancestors mostly focuses on a few, but prominent forefathers, some of whom lived generations before.

Looking for a proper name of their traditions Africans speak even today likes of " Community with the ancestors" (community with the ancestors) . The term " ancestor worship " ( ancestor worship or ancestor cult ), which was used earlier , is today [2009] largely rejected as inapplicable, as it reflects a tendentious view of western viewers that rejects the ancestral relationship. Instead it is proposed of "ancestor worship" (ancestor veneration) to speak.

The term " Ahn " is an honorary title. Ancestors are not simply all ancestors, but only those who have made a contribution to the community. The ancestors and their worship have both a social function - stabilizing the community - as well as a religious function (mediator between god (s) and humans).

Beliefs

Living ancestors

The relationship between Africans and their ancestors is more than mere memory and their worship is more than a mere cult of the dead , because according to the African understanding, it is about a lively relationship with communication in both directions. The relationship to the ancestors is based on the conviction that the ancestors are not completely dead after their passing out of this life, but continue to exist in an invisible way, keep in touch with their descendants and influence their lives.

The Christian religious philosopher John S. Mbiti coined the term living-dead for the recently deceased . The “living dead” at Mbiti who died a natural death and are properly buried can communicate with people as well as understand the language of the spiritual beings on the other side and God. According to Mbiti, the deceased with the living and the unborn represent one of the three levels of human condition. People who have grown up with initiation are obliged to marry and care for offspring, because this is the only way to connect the living to death Function and thus ensure the continued existence of the community.

Importance to the community

To be rooted, to know one's where from, to stand in a certain tradition, is of fundamental importance for Africans. The ancestors embody their own origin and identity.

Fundamental to the African way of life is u. a. the great importance of the community . Mtu ni watu - this Swahili proverb freely translates Mbiti as I am, because we are (“I am because we are”). Traditionally, the African does not define his identity and personality from his individual achievements, but from his position in the community - in the tribe , in the clan or in the extended family . However, this community consists not only of the living, but of the living, their ancestors and the not-yet-born. The veneration of the ancestors or the ancestor by the descendants has the power to create and strengthen the community: Ancestors are the common point of reference, and in their role model they embody the common values that hold the community together.

Ancestors as role models

Last but not least, ancestors fulfill an important role model function, the role of moral models in which they come close to the Christian saints. With the example of their life they set the framework for wrong and right in the community in which they are worshiped. Conversely, one can also speak of the fact that a community, with the veneration of an ancestor, reveals the values and standards that should apply in it. This expresses a strong tradition-oriented way of thinking in African communities.

Ancestors as mediators

Mediocrity is characteristic of traditional African societies. In many important matters in life one speaks not for oneself, but through a mediator or spokesman - for example in the negotiations between families that precede a marriage. All the more, when addressing a higher-ranking personality such as a chief or a king, it is even considered improper to address him directly; you do this through an intermediary, even when you are within sight and hearing of the addressee.

When asked whether the highest deity ( the Supreme Being ) is available in African religion for the ordinary faithful, there is no uniform picture. However, the notion that this deity should only be approached through intermediaries is widespread. Ancestors are seen as those who after their death have reached a status in which they are closer to the divine than the living and can mediate in both directions. In this, too, they are similar to the saints in the Catholic understanding. The concerns of the believers are conveyed through the ancestors of the deity, although this is not the responsibility of just anybody among the living, but the respective heads on behalf of their community - the king or chief for the people, the elder for the clan or the extended family. Conversely, the ancestors form the channel for the divine life force (Life-force, Force Vitale), which is to reach the believers and is absolutely vital for them in a world in which they see themselves threatened by spirits, witches and other spiritual forces ( which are the ultimate cause of illness, hunger, storms, etc.). A good relationship with the ancestors is therefore essential and it is no coincidence that it is repeatedly viewed as the heart of traditional religiosity.

Appearances of the ancestors

According to the traditional view, ancestors have a wide range of possibilities to establish contact with the living and to make their will known to them. This includes supranatural appearances as well as the interpretation of natural events. Africans tell of apparitions in which an ancestor spoke to them and they z. B. rebuked or given them a certain order, such as better caring for his grave. In addition, appearances of snakes are often interpreted as an encounter with an ancestor; Calamities that can affect Africans in life, such as illness, drought, storms, etc., are often interpreted as ancestral punishment for their own misconduct, especially when they last longer and cannot be made to disappear through ordinary prayers. These interpretations show that the work of the ancestors is seen as ambivalent - helpful in times of crisis, but also punitive, where norms of the community are violated and this is therefore in danger. All in all, the work of the ancestors is seen predominantly positively, i. H. community-building and community-sustaining.

Criteria for ancestral status

Not every ancestor is an ancestor. "Ahn" is an honorary title that is only awarded to certain ancestors according to certain criteria, comparable to Christian canonization.

The following criteria apply:

an exemplary life
Marriage and offspring
to have reached old age and died of natural causes. This excludes v. a. Suicide deaths, but also those who have died due to certain illnesses whose illness can be viewed as a punishment for misconduct (e.g. AIDS). On the other hand, early death is acceptable when working for the community (e.g. in a defensive war)
an important position in the community during his lifetime.

On the basis of these criteria, one can say that the ancestral status can in a certain way form an extension of the position that the deceased held during his lifetime. However, this does not apply if the first criterion has been violated. In this context, Africans repeatedly point out that z. B. Idi Amin is not revered as an ancestor today because of his crimes in Uganda.

Men are usually venerated as ancestors (who already have the dominant position in the community of the living), whereby it is reported from individual peoples that women and even children can acquire ancestral status.

stages

Ancestors who died relatively short time and are still with the living in personal memory are called personally and often buried in their own garden in order to be as close as possible to them. V. a. protective power of attorney attributed, hence the name "Schutz ancestors" ("Tutelary Ancestors").

Ancestors whose life is so far back that the descendants no longer remember them personally are called flat-rate and anonymously. They are already further removed from the living and are therefore all the closer to the (just as far removed) deity. You will therefore be particularly attributed to the mediating authority between God and the living, which is why they also called " intermediary -Ahnen" (mediator Ancestors) are referred to.

Only a few particularly outstanding leaders of the community association are remembered individually and by name, even if they are beyond personal memory, whereby they take on legendary features in the memory. They become archetypes of exemplary (community-serving) behavior. This is especially true for the figure of a common ancestor, a " Founding Ancestor" , to which every community (tribe, extended family) usually refers.

Often a god himself or the Supreme Being is also referred to as the ancestor or "Great Ancestor", i. H. denotes the origin of all life.

Categorization

Not only because of the diversity of practices across the continent, but also because of their level of education, Africans express contradictions when it comes to the question of what exactly is spoken of by ancestors and their veneration. While ordinary believers describe ancestors as a reality experienced by them (e.g. in visions), academic theologians occasionally also speak of the ancestors as a symbol , sign , a metaphor (Nürnberger) or a myth (Bediako).

Forms of ancestor worship

It is particularly difficult to make statements about this because, as already mentioned, the ancestors' worship is largely hidden. Ancestors can be anywhere, but they prefer special places. These can be bushes, small patches of forest, mountain peaks, caves or cemeteries. Places where Africans seek ritual contact with their ancestors - ancestral shrines - are outside the house in the garden, mostly in the great outdoors. These places may or may not be in the immediate vicinity of the person's burial site. In front of the shrine, the ancestors are addressed by name after the living person has offered gifts; this includes above all the libation . These are less to be understood as offerings than as the opening of a communication and as a sharing of the goods with the ancestors with whom one is in living connection and who belong to the community.

Some African theologians today attach importance to the fact that these are ultimately not intended for the ancestors, but through them - as mediators - for the highest being, the deity. In this sense, African theologians emphasize today that ancestors are not worshiped, but venerated ( venerated, not worshiped ). That is, they are not themselves viewed as divine beings to be worshiped. Of course, it is also acknowledged that the boundary is fluid and in individual cases is exceeded. Rites for the ancestors can be performed alone or together - with the use of a priest.

In Gabon, followers of the Bwiti cult use parts of the Tabernanthe iboga plant to make contact with their ancestors in a dream-like state of intoxication.

Differences among sub-Saharan peoples

Even if there is no study on the entirety of the peoples of Africa south of the Sahara - such a study would be far too extensive - field studies on individual peoples show that not all south of the Sahara know the tradition of ancestor worship or communication. Differences can be made out even within the same tribe. The largest people, for whom the ancestors are of no importance, are probably the Maasai in East Africa.

African theologians, however, agree that ancestors are of great importance to the majority of the peoples south of the Sahara. According to the number of reports and the scope of the theological discussion of this tradition, two focal points can be identified: Ghana and the Akan culture that is at home there, and East Africa. In southern Africa there is the Nyau cult of the Chewa .

Conflicts with world religions

Ancestor Worship and Islam

In the early stages of Islamization, there may still be sacrifices to the ancestors, but in fully Islamized societies the cult of ancestors has been replaced by collective rituals of the new religion. According to Islamic understanding, offerings are now reinterpreted as voluntary donations ( sadaqa ) and removed from the context of ancestor worship. The ancestor cult exerts too dominant an influence on everyday life for it to be compatible with the comprehensive role of Islam . In place of ancestor worship, saints are now being used, which were previously not in use in sub-Saharan Africa. (See Islam in Africa )

Ancestor Worship and Christianity

Western missionaries initially vigorously opposed ancestor worship in Africa because they saw it as the heart of traditional piety, which should be replaced by Christianity. The ancestors were seen as rivals of Christ, the only mediator to God. The ancestral apparitions, which were threatening in some cases, were also repeatedly referred to.

Since about the time when most of the African states gained independence (around 1960), however, there has also been a new reflection on African values in African Christianity. In this context, efforts are made to see the ancestors in a new light and to integrate them into a Christian worldview. It is likely that the view of the ancestors will also experience changes and that the originally pre-Christian ancestor worship will in a certain way be appropriated by Christianity. This is almost inevitable because the community with the ancestors is traditionally tied to a blood relationship, but Christian community exceeds this. Today it is quite possible among African Christians to speak of ancestors in a spiritual sense, for example when the Ghanaian philosopher Joseph Boakye Danquah , one of the fathers of Ghanaian independence, describes the German missionary Johann Gottlieb Christaller as his ancestor.

Efforts to integrate ancestor worship into a Christian worldview are of course controversial in Africa too and are rejected as syncretism in evangelical circles .

Opponents and advocates of ancestor worship today unanimously state that ancestor worship has not only survived - despite efforts to the contrary by Western missionaries - but that a revival can even be observed. Especially in times of crisis, people seem to increasingly seek support from their ancestors again. Ancestor worship is usually strongest where people are rooted in a grown rural community.

All of this also applies to Christians. African theologians like Mbiti complain that Christianity is only a “Sunday cult” in which one goes to church on Sundays, but during the week ancestor worship and other pre-Christian practices are followed.

Connection to pre-Christian ancestors?

As already mentioned, the connection to the ancestors is vital for many Africans. For Christianized Africans, the idea that one's ancestors are in hell and that a connection with them is not possible because they were not Christians is unbearable. This is where the question of God's righteousness comes into play - how can He punish the ancestors who, before the missionaries arrived, had no chance to hear the word of God? Christian theology is looking for a way out to think of such a community also with unbaptized ancestors. Often reference is made to 1 Peter 4: 6, according to which the gospel is or was also preached to the dead, and to the section in the 2nd article of the Apostles' Creed, which speaks of Jesus having descended into the kingdom of the dead.

The ancestors in Christian theology

African theologians today lament the western character of Christianity, how it was brought to them by the missionaries and how, in their opinion, it remains a foreign body in Africa to this day. Western and even often ancient Hellenistic thought patterns and linguistic regulations are criticized as foreign and incomprehensible to Africans. The efforts of many African theologians today are therefore aimed at the inculturation or indigenization of Christianity. This means that they are looking for points of contact in their own African traditions. Since the relationship to the ancestors occupies a central position in the traditional worldview of the Africans, it is not surprising that points of contact are also sought in this area.

These can be found above all in the field of Christology , where titles from the ancestral tradition are sought today that are supposed to express the meaning of Jesus for Africans in an understandable way: proto-ancestor, brother-ancestor, but also ancestor titles in native languages, such as that in Ghanaian Akan culture common nana (originally used for the grandfather). It is controversial whether the view of Jesus as a special ancestor means the end of all other ancestral relationships or veneration or whether as a Christian one can continue to maintain an honoring relationship with ordinary ancestors.

In ecclesiology, it is important for African Christians that the ancestors are also connected with the living in church fellowship. The section in Article 3 of the Apostles' Creed , which speaks of the communion of saints , is therefore of particular importance. It is disputed whether this also includes ancestors before the arrival of the missionaries, who thus died unbaptized, but were exemplary in their lives and important for the community. The Eucharist is seen as the celebration in which Christ, the ancestor and decisive mediator, transmits the life force of God to the believers and shares it with them or among the members of the Church.

Ancestors as a theme in ecumenical relationships

The relationship with the ancestors is one of the most controversial issues within Christianity around the world today. This became clear not least at the plenary assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1991 in Canberra / Australia. The lecture by the Korean theologian Chung Hyun Kyung, in which she conjured up the spirits of the ancestors, triggered stormy reactions - both positive and negative. While some called the lecture a “holy moment”, others - v. a. Orthodox, but also Protestants - from syncretism and threatened to leave.

African Christians and churches today point to the increasing weight of their continent, where Christianity is growing the most, while in Europe it is decreasing in membership and importance. With a new self-confidence, Africans bring their issues to international church organizations. Last but not least, this includes the relationship to the ancestors, which they want to see reassessed. As a result, z. For example, the Lutheran World Federation set up three study groups in spring 2006: 1. Spiritualism: a challenge to the churches in Europe, 2. ancestors, spirits and healing in Africa and Asia: a challenge to the churches, 3. Spiritism: challenges for the church in Latin America.

Ancestor cult in Madagascar

Many Foko believe that people live on as Razana after their death . The Malagasy people believe in a creator god (Andriamanitra), but people cannot turn to him directly through prayer. This is the task of the ancestors. Similar to the saints in Catholicism, they play an important role as mediator between the living and God. If a family or person happens to bad luck, a dead turn hard can ( famadihana ) held to appease the spirits of ancestors. The dead are taken from the grave, there is a celebration, they are dressed in new shrouds (raw silk) and then buried again. Middlemen are the so-called ombiasy (a kind of shaman or witchdoctor ) who, after a long training in orally handed down traditions, are masters in medicinal herbalism .

Often a famadihana is held to make amends for a violation of a fady (taboo rule). The ombiasy analyzes the conditions within the community and declares habits, places, people, animals and plants to be taboo. As a rule, the fady gains strength in that it is directly linked to ancestor worship and the dead (razana). The turning of the dead festival is the most important rite in the Malagasy ancestor cult. The ombiasy decides if and when this is necessary by making spiritual contact with the razana (dead). Famadihana was partly forbidden by the colonial rulers because the families got into debt. It bears a certain resemblance to the Mexican cult of the dead , in which people celebrate, dance and eat on the grave. Those affected by the fady pay for ritual, musicians and food to the extent that the ombiasy deems appropriate.

literature

Kwame Bediako : Biblical Christologies in the Context of African Traditional Religions . In: Vinay Samuel, Chris Sugden (eds.): Sharing Jesus in the Two Thirds World. Evangelical Christologies from the contexts of poverty, powerlessness, and religious pluralism . The papers of the First Conference of Evangelical Mission Theologians from Two Thirds World, Bangkok, Thailand, March 22-25, 1982. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI 1983, pp 81-121.
Bénézet Bujo : African theology in its social context. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN 3-491-77654-6 ( theology intercultural 1)
Émile Durkheim : Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1994, ISBN 3-518-06417-7 .
Sylvester Kahakwa : Theology of Ancestors from African Perspective . In: Africa Theological Journal Vol. 30, No. 3, 2007, ISSN 0856-0048 , pp. 195-216, acton.co.ke (PDF; 112 kB).
John S. Mbiti : African Religion and Worldview. de Gruyter, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-11-002498-5 ( De Gruyter study book ).
Charles Nyamiti : Christ as our Ancestor. Christology from an African Perspective. Mambo Press, Gweru 1984 ( Mambo occasional papers - Missio-pastoral serie 11, ZDB -ID 2525582-4 ).

Individual evidence

↑ Christopher I. Ejizu: African Traditional Religions and the Promotion of Community Living in Africa. africaworld.net
^ J. Spencer Trimingham: The Influence of Islam upon Africa. Longman, London / New York, 2nd edition 1980, pp. 74, 82
↑ Religion in Madagascar (English report)
↑ Text about the Fady (Madagascar)

[1] Christopher I. Ejizu: African Traditional Religions and the Promotion of Community Living in Africa. africaworld.net

[2] J. Spencer Trimingham: The Influence of Islam upon Africa. Longman, London / New York, 2nd edition 1980, pp. 74, 82

[3] Religion in Madagascar (English report)

[4] Text about the Fady (Madagascar)