Chronicle Editor
Phathisa Nyathi
Not so long ago I said after writing “Journey to Great Zimbabwe,” I would follow up with “Journey to Stonehenge” and finally I would pen a third book in the series titled, “Journey to the Heavens/Stars.” That would mark the end of the journeying series after which the return journey may not be too far off. This I said in the realisation that after writing so much on African Thought, the enduring central themes were the celestial bodies. I therefore became keen to understand African ideas as they related to Astronomy.
What is very clear is that Africans have retrogressed when it comes to their knowledge about the heavenly bodies, just as has happened with their Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Alchemy. These have seriously declined. For now, we shall not concern ourselves with getting to the details why this has been so.
It is my very strong argument that if we do not fully understand Astronomy from an African perspective it is well-nigh impossible to understand the underpinnings in their spirituality, beliefs, cosmology, world-view and philosophy. A lot of their art, culture and heritage are anchored on their perceptions, ideas and knowledge about Astronomy. The adage that we commonly refer to is, “As above, so below,” is a philosophical statement and practice that links African Thought with practice to the heavenly or cosmic bodies.
Africans have observed the cosmos and admired and envied certain of its traits which they have thus sought to replicate on the cultural plane on the Planet Earth.
Someone who did not identify himself sent me on WhatsApp some elements of Ndebele Cultural Astronomy. It is some of these items that I seek to unpack and interrogate when I get to writing a book titled, Journey to the Stars/Heavens: Seeking to Understand African Astronomy. One important commonality among Africans is the shared ideas and knowledge of Astronomy and initially to control and time when certain rituals and ceremonies that seemingly facilitate revitalisation, renewal, rejuvenation and rebirth of life.
All these are celestially determined processes that Africans gleaned in the heavens and sought to replicate them on earth. Heavens are eternal and have in-built systems that power the eternal cycle and perpetuate through regeneration of their eternal lives.
Part of what I received went like this, “Ancient Ndebele people used celestial knowledge to chart seasons and to regulate agricultural cycles and rituals’ calendar. Celestial bodies determined healing rituals, and social and political decisions.
Emergence of a new moon called Kholiwe symbolised renewal, restoration, and revival of a peoples’ lives. Ndebele people would direct a prayer to a moon chanting “Kholiwe, hamba lomkhuhlane,” asking the moon to take away all diseases.
Here the essence is demonstration of total reliance and dependence on the celestial bodies for virtually all cultural and biological processes among Africans. Rituals and ceremonies had to be synchronised with movements and/or positions of celestial bodies. The moon in particular has a very strong impact on African culture. Its 28-day lunar cycle controls human cultural and biological processes. The number of ceremonies whose timing is determined by celestial bodies is innumerable and these are held at the same time every year.
This obviously demands that there be some celestial bodies that tell time when the annual rituals and ceremonies should commence. Some rituals are presided over by a king who symbolises the state and nation. Annually the King undergoes the cleansing and revitalising ritual and its accompanying ceremony known as Inxwala among the Nguni peoples. The ritual is some sort of renewal, rejuvenation, rebirth for the nation through its symbolic figure — the King.
On the date decided by celestial movement and position thousands of people gather to participate in the rituals and witness the King undergoing ukutshwama process where potency and vigour for the state and nation are passed on from a young virile bull to the king, state and nations.
At the same time the ritual and its accompanying ceremony are used to test loyalty to the King by his subjects. In 1872, for example, Chief Mbiko kaMadlenya Masuku of Zwangandaba Regiment/Village declined to attend Inxwala that was presided over by King Lobengula as he was against the installation of the Prince in 1870. Many other chiefs followed in his footsteps as they were for the installation of Prince Nkulumane.
For the purposes of this article the emphasis is the impact of Covid-19 and its impact on such annual rituals and ceremonies. Seeing as thousands of people attend the annual function the numbers go against the recommended measures and practices that are recommended to mitigate against the spread of the coronavirus.
The one case in point is the Inchwala that is held during the second weekend of February each year in Chipata, Zambia. The Ngoni (a Mozambican Tonga corruption of Nguni) lost their language to a point where they can no longer pronounce the clicks. Inxwala to them has become Inchwala. During Inchwala they seek national rejuvenation, renewal and rebirth in the same manner that the moon undergoes the same processes during the lunar cycle.
The King, as the embodiment of the nation, undergoes ukutshwama and it is believed that his renewal translates to the renewal of the state and nation. Loyalty to the monarch is reasserted and reaffirmed. Social cohesion is cemented and the nation moves forward through some culturally designed and driven intervention.
But, lo and behold, this year the second wave of lockdown has put paid to such an important annual ritual which experiences participation by other chiefs from various ethnic groups in Zambia and even from Malawi. There is an annual calendar in Zambia which details what ethnic group conducts its annual ceremony. The King of the Shangani people in Mozambique, one Nxumalo, also attends. The one year when we went to take part in the rituals, we saw the Zambian President Rupiah Banda in attendance, but not as Guest of Honour. Zambians know the boundaries well.
A few years before us the now beleaguered former South African President Jacob Zuma had attended Inchwala ceremony in Chipata. This year the organisers of the ceremony which links the present with the past saw it fit to abandon altogether the ritual which enhances the links between the past and the present and that way preserves the cultural and social identity of the Ngoni. The commercially lucrative ceremony has seen attendees lose a viable market. However, the greatest casualty has been the social and political ceremony with a strong cultural element and the survival of the people’s way of life.
The people can’t be amused with a virus that seeks to cripple a people’s cultural and social vibrancy. The coronavirus denies the kings the opportunity to don their crowns.
Online Reporter