Chronicle Editor
Pathisa Nyathi
NOT so long ago I made some presentation to the students at the University of Susquehanna, US. The two topics that I presented related to African Thought and myths in present day societies.
The university is keen to promote intercultural communication among students from varied cultural backgrounds. Between the two topics, the one that turned out to be of particular interest to me was one dealing with myths.
It occurred to me that all communities and societies did have myths that played a part in their lives. It became clear too those myths do not go away. Instead, they mutate like Covid-19 virus. In some instances, they get sanitised, secularised and assume a new life.
What started as magic, transformed into religion and ultimately into science.
The other observation was that demythologised myths found their way to the arts industry as science fiction in films. The arts in particular has embraced elements of some myths. Architecture, drama, art are some of the artistic genres that have accommodated myths albeit disguised as modernity.
It seems communities and societies build from their past and move forward. The link has a stabilising influence, renders positive orientation and some motivational effect. Meaning is rendered in human effort. Wasteful starting all over again is avoided. There is no effort to reinvent the wheel.
The wheel must move faster and more smoothly with minimum energy input.
In view of the thoughts that visited my restless mind, I began thinking more and more about sacred individuals, objects and places. Do they have a role to play in modern societies? After a long and hard search, I concluded they do.
It has been a search that was initiated by theft of sacred objects from St Andrews Catholic Church in Bulawayo. It appears sacredness is a source of recognised spiritual power, which has a taming effect on individuals that would otherwise behave like bulls in a china shop.
Rogues. Belief that there is sacred power watching over our behaviour and seeking that we keep to the straight and narrow path.
In the African belief system, this was even more apparent. When an individual strayed from the straight and narrow path, immediate and dire consequences followed the particular individual and others made efforts to obey the mores, rules and observances as relating to the holy and the sacred.
Respect and sometimes veneration are rekindled within individuals and a self-respecting society may be the result. Sacred individuals become the beacons of a society and their enduring legacies become reference points to future generations.
A journey with milestones and beacons is one that indicates direction and commitment coming out of the knowledge that one is on course. That is reassuring and unlocks the inner energy that is needed to power perseverance, commitment and dedication. Sometimes we take these issues for granted.
Some sense of belonging and rootedness is important for a people who meet challenges head on. Belief that one is acting within the confines defined by sacredness is re-assuring. Life as being, as presence and as a perpetual struggle releases energy that commits individuals to set long term and short-term goals with the zeal and commitment to achieve.
Conservation was one theme that Africans were particular about. Nature had to be preserved for the sake of creatures that depend on it. Nature was God and God was Nature. The diverse species of flora and fauna require an environment that will sustain them to eternity.
When features on geographical, animals, plants, trees, mountains, rivers and water bodies acquire sacredness conservation measures stand a better chance of successful implementation. There is in this instance effortless compliance. Sometimes it is out of reverence but at other times out of fear. The end justifies the means.
Sacredness has a legitimising effect. Sacred individuals are spiritually endowed. Their status commands respect, obedience and loyalty. They become pacesetters who have power to normalise the abnormal, restore sacredness and balance where it has been lost or disturbed.
Where they are men and women of wisdom and rectitude, they are likely to lead their communities to a better self-rewarding and self-fulfilling level.
In societies and communities, there are norms, mores and morals that are taken as social, cultural spiritual and religious yardsticks. Their relevance and meaning take on a higher level when there are individuals who not only preach the stipulated yardsticks but also live by example.
Sacredness has that quality or status, some forceful and potent allure to demand observation of what a community regards as good, truthful and honourable.
Reading about the Dogon people of Mali it became patently clear that their religion is infused with a lot of sacredness. The people seek attainment of the truth, which is a state that may return them to immortality. In Africa, immortality was arduously sought after and cosmogonies of various African communities tell of myths that explain the loss of eternal life.
Among the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, the animal that carried the message of eternal life was the chameleon (uNwabu) who however dilly-dallied along the way. In the end, the fast-running Lizard (uNtulo) who brought the message of death to the people overtook him. The Dogon, like many other ancient societies have such stories.
What may vary are the animals that brought the contradicting messages. In all cases though the message that was given to the people was one of their becoming mortals, a state they do not cherish they do not cherish at all.
Places associated with sacredness seem to have possessed healing powers. In most instances, the sacredness was rendered through connection with the spiritual world, which is the abode of the immortal who possess the power to heal. It was so with Stonehenge which was a cemetery and therefore a site associated with healing spiritual power.
It was/is such beliefs that sometimes lead to mutilation of some pieces or artifacts associated with sacred shrines.
Some sacred springs are associated with magical healing power. Pilgrims make a beeline to such places to seek restoration to full health.
Both the sacred individuals and sites are thought to possess the power of healing. In a world where the sick and lame are found in large numbers, sacredness promises redemption, recovery and reinvigoration.
Sacredness, like myths, have a place in modern society where ancient beliefs find a new lease of life. It is a way of looking at life from a different angle resulting in satisfaction and contentment. It is just old wine in new caskets.
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