{"id":1163,"date":"2022-03-18T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/support.centreforelites.com\/causes-and-effects-of-evil-in-african-traditional-belief-2\/"},"modified":"2024-03-15T01:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T23:05:32","slug":"causes-and-effects-of-evil-in-african-traditional-belief-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/support.centreforelites.com\/ru\/causes-and-effects-of-evil-in-african-traditional-belief-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Causes and effects of evil in African Traditional Belief"},"content":{"rendered":"

 Arising f<\/span>ro<\/span>m the corporaten<\/span>atur<\/span>e o<\/span>f Zam<\/span>bian comm<\/span>unities that wer<\/span>e he<\/span>ld toge<\/span>ther by a web of kinship relationships and other s<\/span>ocial stru<\/span>ctu<\/span>res, alm<\/span>ost every form of evil that a person suffered wa<\/span>s believed to be caused by m<\/span>e<\/span>mbers of his\/her community. <\/span>T<\/span>here is no event without a spiritual\/m<\/span>etaphysical cause; hence people looked beyond physical events to their spiritual <\/span>etiology.<\/span> T<\/span>his situation arises out of the nature of the African continent.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Causes<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n

D<\/span>roughts and floods, sickness and health, rich harvest and poor cr<\/span>ops, high infant m<\/span>ortality, and so on, lead naturally to the extern<\/span>alisation of cause and eff<\/span>ect and to the p<\/span>ostula<\/span>tion o<\/span>f agencies more powerful than a hum<\/span>an. Against this background life was uncertain, and people looked beyond them<\/span>selves to solve its r<\/span>i<\/span>d<\/span>dles and to b<\/span>e ensured <\/span>of <\/span>st<\/span>ability.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every form of pain, m<\/span>is<\/span>f<\/span>ortune, sorrow or suffering;every illness and sickness; every death, whether of an old person or the infa<\/span>nt child<\/span>; eve<\/span>ry f<\/span>ailur<\/span>e of the crop in the fields, of huntingin the wilderness or of fishingin the w<\/span>aters; every bad om<\/span>en or dream<\/span>: thes<\/span>e are all the m<\/span>anifestations of evil that hum<\/span>an experien<\/span>ces are blam<\/span>ed on som<\/span>ebody i<\/span>n the corporate society.<\/span> As a result, young people in Zam<\/span>bia were taught st<\/span>rictly how to observe the religious rituals<\/a>, cerem<\/span>onies, laws, and avoidance of taboos, for the sake <\/span>of their own survival<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin and Salvation<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The conceptof salvation am<\/span>ong <\/span>African traditionalists was<\/span> determ<\/span>ined by what one was saved from. Africans concep<\/span>tualize sin in term<\/span>s of \u201cbig sins\u201d and \u201cm<\/span>inor sins\u201d.  Big sins are listed as violations of tribal taboos or revealingto wom<\/span>en and the uninitiated the secrets o<\/span>f what takes place at in<\/span>itiation. Small sin<\/span>s includetrespassing on a neighbour\u2019s property, failing to care for a neighbou<\/span>r\u2019s stock when the need arises, child abuse, and bitterness. Punishm<\/span>ent for big sins varied from drinking hum<\/span>an waste m<\/span>atter to capital punishm<\/span>ent.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin from an African viewpoint appears to be an anti-social act, and salvation can only be obtained by satisfying social dem<\/span>ands.  <\/span>For exam<\/span>ple, when a person was caught with som<\/span>eone else\u2019s wife that person was required to pay dam<\/span>ages or a fee and in addition, a white chicken had to be slaughtered in order to reconcile the two people through the shedding of blood. A whit<\/span>e colour signified the purifyi<\/span>ng of the consciences of the offender and the offended. Young people were religio<\/span>usly instructedthat to be saved, therefore, was to be accepted first in the community of the living, then in the place of the dead.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death and the Afterlife<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most Zam<\/span>bian tribes possessed m<\/span>yths explaining how death f<\/span>i<\/span>rst cam<\/span>e into the world and one of the m<\/span>ost fundam<\/span>ental featuresof traditional life was the re<\/span>lationship between the living and the living-dead. People accepteddeath, but every hum<\/span>an de<\/span>ath was believed to have external causes. People had to discoverand state the ca<\/span>uses of death.  <\/span>These<\/span> causes were said to be the results of m<\/span>agic a<\/span>nd witchcraft or spirits who were offe<\/span>nded and bore a grudge, or from a powerful curse.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One or m<\/span>ore causesof death were to be given. Though death was accepted, it could be prevented because it was always caused by another agent.  <\/span>At de<\/span>ath a person went to join the \u201cshades\u201d or \u201cliving-dead\u201d, for as long as he<\/span>\/she<\/span> was rem<\/span>embered by those who rem<\/span>a<\/span>in. During this tim<\/span>e, usually three or four generations, the person m<\/span>i<\/span>ght visit his\/her fo<\/span>rm<\/span>er hom<\/span>e a<\/span>nd see his\/her relatives and was thought to have a real interest in the welfareof the fa<\/span>m<\/span>ily and clan, and to hover around the community. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,<\/span> there is a sense of separation<\/span>. P<\/span>eople canno<\/span>t say to him<\/span>\/<\/span>her, \u201cHere is a seat,sit down and let us prepare a m<\/span>eal for you.\u201d S<\/span>he<\/span>\/he appearsonly to one or tw<\/span>o m<\/span>e<\/span>m<\/span>bers of the fam<\/span>ily, particularly the older ones and enquires about the welfare of the others. S<\/span>he<\/span>\/he cannot participate fully\u2026but his\/her appearance strengthens fam<\/span>ily links between rela<\/span>tive<\/span>s in this lif<\/span>e and those in th<\/span>e s<\/span>pirit world.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am<\/span>ong the Lam<\/span>ba people in Zam<\/span>bia, an individual is understood to be made up of three parts: body, person and spirit.  <\/span>\u201c<\/span>W<\/span>hen a pe<\/span>rson dies his\/<\/span><\/span>her body is buried; <\/span>him<\/span><\/span>self<\/span>\/<\/span>herself goes to ichiyabafu<\/i>(the abode of the dead), and his\/her umupashi <\/i>(sp<\/span>i<\/span>rit) r<\/span>etu<\/span>rns to the village to await reincarnation\u201d. Traditionall<\/span>y, when a good person dies his\/her spirit is thought to com<\/span>e back in one of his\/her sisters\u2019 children. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a re<\/span>sult, his\/her sister\u2019s children are in som<\/span>e respec<\/span>ts m<\/span>o<\/span>re im<\/span>portant than their ow<\/span>n. \u201cIf the birth is nor<\/span>m<\/span>al it is the m<\/span>aternal grandm<\/span>other who decidesupon the nam<\/span>e of the child<\/span>. S<\/span>hould the child fall sick after a day or two, or even a week, the people say, s<\/span>he<\/span>\/he has refused the nam<\/span>e\u201d and another<\/span> name<\/span> is c<\/span>hosen. He<\/span>nce the pra<\/span>ctic<\/span>e of waitinga f<\/span>ew days bef<\/span>or<\/span>e nam<\/span>i<\/span>ng a child is practiced so that on<\/span>e can see who she\/he is like in te<\/span>rm<\/span>s of dispositio<\/span>n. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/span>n Zam<\/span>bi<\/span>an culture the issue is not the afterlife but the way in which the living dead continue to be involvedin life am<\/span>ong the living.<\/span> Interestingly,the Lam<\/span>ba people in Zam<\/span>bia us<\/span>ed to burn witches and wizards because they believ<\/span>ed tha<\/span>t f<\/span>i<\/span>re<\/span> was one thing that could destroy the spirit. As far as death was concerned, young people were taught to religiously m<\/span>aintain offerings of food, ani<\/span>m<\/span>al blood an<\/span>d any other accepted sacrifices as well as to engage in consistent prayers and observance of proper religious rites to avoid unnecessary death.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 Arising from the corporatenature of Zambian communities that were held together by a web of kinship relationships and other social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":149,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[149],"tags":[309,84],"class_list":["post-1163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-african-religions","tag-ancient-religions","tag-world-religions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t