3.4 The process of ukuthwasa
3.4.4 Communication link between the ancestors
Buhrmann (1986) argued that sangomas are the mediators between the ancestors and their living kin. An important aspect of ancestral beliefs is the role of the sangoma or traditional healer. They play a central role in the health and spiritual well-being of the community through the interconnectedness of the communication with the ancestors. Sangomas are interpreters through which ancestors and the living communicate. African ancestors communicate with the living by possessing the sangoma and passing on messages. They can also appear to a family member in dreams, but only a sangoma can decipher the meaning.
“I have no explanation for what happens to me when the ancestors take over my body. I do not have a recollection of anything that happens during that time because my mind and soul disappear to a place I do not know. I am unable to explain anything that is uttered through my
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lips at that time because I am not the one who is talking, the ancestors are. At times the ancestors alert me about a patient even before they arrive. They tell me about the patient’s life history and their reason for coming to see me, this allows me the opportunity to prepare myself for the visit because I even know the time that they will be coming.” – Prudence
“They whistle when they talk to me … My ancestors communicate through abalozi, which is whistling. I understand everything that they say through whistling, it is like a code language that we use and it works well for me. Sometimes the patient will hear the whistle, but is unable to make sense of the message. I am able to diagnose and provide a remedy for the patient through the whistling communication from my ancestors.” – Juliet
After their trial diagnoses, Prudence, Angela and Juliet shared that they had to go to the different traditional healers who were going to train and assist them with their ukuthwasa initiation journey.
3.4.5 “Communities of both the living and the dead”
“Ancestors are vested with mystical powers and authority. They retain a functional role in the world of the living, specifically in the life of their kinsmen, indeed, African kins-groups are often described as communities of both the living and the dead.” (Kopytoff 2012, 314)
Collectively, the participants acknowledged the belief and presence of the ancestors. When people die, it is believed they start a new life in another world. The world that they go to is different in that it blesses all those that have been called to it with higher powers and knowledge to assist those who remain here in our world. Even though we are in different worlds, the ancestors continue to guide and protect us; they empower us with the knowledge to assist each other through a holistic approach to life. In the everyday life of the African child, ancestors play a meaningful role whether one believes in them or not.
“They have all the knowledge that we lack. They are seers to many hidden things in this world…
Their knowledge surpasses everything that we think we know. They know about each and every person whether they knew them on a personal level or not, that is why we sangomas seem to know so much that is happening around us and in other people’s lives. They tell us what is happening, they tell us how to assist people to solve problems in ways that we as normal human beings would not have been able to think of. I personally see their existence as an important part of our culture and belief system as black people.” – Sarah
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When confronted with challenges in life it is a common practice for the living to communicate with the dead. Burning incense and calling clan names as an introduction to the communication process is one of the most common ways in which the living reach out to the ancestors. Others will go directly to the graveside of the people who have passed on to talk to them and share their difficulties. The TBAs shared that everything that they do is based on communication with the ancestors. According to Kopytoff (1971, 130), “the dead members of the lineage, as a collectivity, are appealed to in times of crisis (such as a serious sickness or a series of misfortunes) and, more regularly, on such occasions as the marriages of women of the lineage, the breaking of sexual taboos affecting these women, and the coming-out ceremony for infants.”
“You see Yonela, as black people we believe that our lives are overseen by our ancestors, they are there all the time whether we feel their presence or not. I’m sure you know even from your own experience that when things are not going well there is a need to consult the ancestors and find out why things are the way they are in your life. In my lifetime I have been able to assist many people understand why things have been happening the way they have been in their lives. The ancestors help me to uncover and see beyond what I know.” – Primrose
“How can they communicate when they are dead is a question I am often asked by people who do not believe in ancestors or my role as a practising sangoma. People think that because they are dead they are unable to communicate. They communicate beyond our understanding and are the glue that binds many African communities. Some people have even said to me that this whole ancestor worship and belief is nonsense and is backward. However, I always tell them that there is so much knowledge brought by the dead to our own lives.” – Dolly
“There are many instances where the ancestors have assisted people to overcome challenges in their lives. Through the guidance and knowledge of the ancestors I have been able to assist women who have been unable to have children, people who have been unemployed, families solve long standing feuds, and illnesses that are not known to the western practitioners. The ancestors are true communicators who are true to their people. They continue to look after us just as they did when they were still living on this earth. Beyond the grave is where my knowledge and assistance comes from.” – Juliet
The TBAs shared that the ancestors are involved in our everyday lives. Those who believe in ancestors believe that they benefit greatly from communicating with them. Bae and Van der
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Merwe (2008, 1300) maintained that “the concept of ancestral involvement in everyday life is more than a story or a myth”. Although, notions of modernisation are called upon for the rejection of ancestral practices as being backward and traditional, these practices are important to millions in many areas in the world (Oyewumi 2002). Ancestors can be defined as the living dead who hold influence over their living descendants (Bae and Van der Merwe 2008, 1300).
Those that remain in this world are still very much connected to those that have died;
communication does not only end when people die. Through rituals, communication between the living and the dead continues and the relationship grows. It is the social capital of the sangomas that allows this relationship and communication to thrive.
The living kin gain protection, blessings, explanations and guidance from those that have died.
According to Bae and Van der Merwe (2008, 1300), “the living descendants are believed to gain protection and blessings in return for their veneration of the ancestors. They further stated that “the ritual practices associated with ancestor worship are heavily reliant upon the premise that the dead are able to return to the living and have an influence on the lives of the living”
(1321).