Cultural Heritage: Perceptions of blood – Meaning attached to it

21 Feb, 2016 - 00:02 0 Views

The Sunday News

Pathisa Nyathi

BEFORE we deal with the promised subject let’s shed more light on blood and its perceptions within the Ndebele traditional society. For starters, blood was seen as symbolising the extension of a lineage. When a man or woman says, in reference to another person, “Lo ligazi lami.” This is my blood; he means the person in question is his/her progeny. “Abahlobeneyo” are persons who are blood relatives. Blood binds them together. Husband and wife in normal circumstances are not blood relatives. This may not be the case among people such as the Babirwa where there are preferred cousin marriages.

We pointed out last week the difference between blood in the vessels and blood that is no longer within one’s vessels.

In the latter case we cited menstrual blood and the taboos pertaining to it. Women who were menstruating were not allowed to pass through a herd of cattle nor were they allowed to get into the cattle byre. We did explain that Africans sought one thing in most of their cultural practices: continuity, infinity and eternity. In a book that we are working on we seek to bring out this preoccupation and, in particular, demonstrate its expression within the visual arts.

Decorative symbols in Zimbabwe and beyond sought to symbolise eternity. Women, as we shall demonstrate, played a greater role in the natural process of attaining continuity. Through the circle and chevron decorative symbols, both of which are metaphors for women, Africa saluted and accepted women as greater players in fulfilling continuity.

Men and women kept their clothes separate. Women were not allowed to jump over men’s weapons of war such as spears, knobkerries and shields. All these prohibitions were motivated by African cosmology. Dead blood transferred death to what it got in touch with. The African of yesteryear did not engage in sex with a menstruating woman. He believed death resident in the blood would be transferred to him.

It does seem the issue in all cited cases was the particular blood in question and more specifically that it was blood associated with failed attempts at procreation which is the symbolism and reality of continuity.

We should note that blood that oozes out of a cut vein in a woman’s arm is not treated the same way. This is easy to appreciate if one uses Afro-centric spectacles to view the cultural practices in order to identify the cosmological underpinnings.

Blood oozing from a corpse, whether it is of a male or female is considered defiling, impure. It is associated with the condition of death. It does not come as a surprise therefore when the Ndebele perform elaborate cleansing rituals after burial. Those who placed the corpse in the grave, who may have got into contact with his blood and other body fluids, are the ones that are cleansed the most. They are the most defiled.

The same sort of thinking applies to menstrual flow. That special blood anticipated pregnancy that is life of a new individual. Instead, there was no life. The blood died and flowed out. Its perception is based on a failed natural process which lies at the heart of procreation which fulfills continuity.

When a community sought to regenerate itself by regenerating its king, blood from a speared beast was rushed to the king who partook of it immediately. But why the rush? We need our Afro-centric lenses once again. Regeneration is a critical element in the lives of African individuals, groups, communities and societies.

Rebirth was seen as regeneration of life and was symbolised by day and night cycles. It was also symbolised by the appearance of the new moon on the western sky.

The moon waxed till it was full moon, full life following rebirth. Beyond full moon the moon begins to wane, losing its life and gaining death. Finally, it “dies” after the appearance of successive crescent moon stages.

The moon did not “die” forever. It reappeared on the western sky. This is the cycle of life that Africans observed and saw some relationship between life and death: birth-growth-development-decay/degeneration-death-rebirth. This is what they sought after as this cycle was the basis of eternity, infinity and continuity.

Living blood imparted life to the community. The community was symbolised by its king and the king partook of the living blood on behalf of the community which was regenerated just like the rising moon. Many communities celebrated the appearance of the moon. Among the BaKalanga there was some incantation recited by the children when they saw the new moon:

Hoya mwedzi wagala,

Wagala pana duntule,

Duntule kati kama n’ombe,

Kama n’ombe tinde kaTjilisa,

KaTjilisa kuna Mhulutjatja

Mhulutjatja dzinotambatamba,

Tamba tamba nezwanana zvayo (Collected from Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu).

The above excerpt is from a fuller rendition which will appear in our forthcoming publication (Echoes from The Past: Interpreting Zimbabwe’s Decorative Symbols).

The book lays emphasis on the absence of witches when a new moon appears. It is interesting to note that the absence of witches is regarded as promising better quality life. That certainly was reason for celebration. The Ndebele also seem to have had similar ideas concerning the new moon. When a new moon appeared it was welcomed with the words, “Kholiwe hamba lomkhuhlane!” The new moon was being requested to take away diseases with it.

I have said it before that in order to understand the traditional African one has to understand his mind, his cosmology, his axiology and his aesthetics. The four qualities mentioned here mediate the final version of Zimbabwe’s decorative symbols by ensuring that they are in tandem with African cosmology, African axiology, African aesthetics and African epistemology.

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