The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
IN the last installment we made reference with regard the connection between water and spirituality. Reference was made to examples that pertain to African experiences. However, what is important even before getting that far is to realise that applied symbolism, allegory and metaphor that relate to water in given communities depend very much on the knowledge and perceptions that people embrace.
In water, a community perceives certain traits and characteristics which enable it to apply water to various uses particularly with regard to the spiritual realm. When water is put to comparable uses in diverse communities it can be surmised that the communities hold similar views, ideas and perceptions with regard to water.
The link between spirituality and water may be one such common idea deriving from shared perceptions of the same element, water. Where we see commonalities in applications, we are tempted to conclude that the diverse communities do share commonalities in thought and perceptions pertaining to water. If in Africa we see the same ideas that related to water and spirituality and at Stonehenge we find the same, it may mean indicate some shared thought, perceptions and cosmologies between Africans and the creators and builders of Stonehenge. Practice is informed and underpinned by underlying beliefs and worldviews.
Of interest to us is how perceptions of water tally with the emerging primary theme and its feeder or secondary themes. Where we posit the presence of a strong spirituality such as one resident at Stonehenge, do ideas and perceptions of water tally with that theme?
As already alluded to in previous articles, a given cultural landscape will not have antagonistic themes. Instead, there will be one common theme with complementing secondary themes.
Water is perceived as characterised by continuity, endlessness and imperishability. Water merely changes state or form depending on the environmental conditions it is subjected to. It may be solid, or liquid or vapour. That translates to perpetuity as found in the solidity of rocks. We thus may say water is eternal as manifested through its hydrological cycle. Once we are in that frame of thought we begin to see it as comparing with spirit which is perceived as eternal and immortal. Erect positions of rock and wooden pillars in earth holes is reminiscent of expressions of sexuality, the source of eternity, continuity, perpetuity and endlessness.
Eternity as expressed in, through and by water already exists at Stonehenge. That is a thought that is shared in common with Africa. Water is cyclical in its existence. This is what Africa posits with regard to the human soul or spirit. We did allude to the spirit which when out of a human body, continues to exist in the various forms of flora and fauna. Finally, through these stages of incarnation, it heads towards the stars and its life resumes in the human body and the cycle continues ad infinitum.
This is exactly what happens with water when it transforms from solid to liquid, from liquid to vapour and back to liquid. This is an unending cycle that is comparable to that of the human spirit which incarnates several times and gets to the very point where it was before. In both cases, there is no beginning and no end as pertains to a circle which is the universal building design and a chief characteristic of spirit and spirituality.
Water readily moves and seeks to take the shape of its container. That makes it very fluid and adaptable. In its movement it exhibits rhythm, thus making it similar to the cosmic bodies whose movements are periodic, rhythmic and thus predictable.
Water shares traits in common with the arts. Water is thus noted for many reasons: a calming ambience, some sense of awe, its movement, its form, its colour and its power. It creates a sense of calm and relaxation. As a result of its solvency, fluidity and its hydrologic cycle, it is regarded as a sacred symbol, and sometimes viewed as the abode of the spirits and God.
It is these traits that have led to the various applications of water within the spiritual dimension among the numerous communities. With this perception of water, particularly in Africa, we can now proceed to look at the ways water is used within the spiritual realm in Africa. We saw, in the first article water being regarded as the source of life and that it is the source and support for life forms, both flora and fauna.
But this is not all. Water is thought to have some healing power. Its potency will vary depending on its locale, be it a waterfall, cave in rock, hollow in a tree, sea or the first rains of the rainy season.
A traditional doctor may be seen squirting a spray of water from his/her mouth on a sick person. Water being used in this manner is thought to purify or cleanse and drive away spiritual impurities. Alternatively, a fly whisk may be used to achieve the same results.
Water transforms an individual from one state to another; from a state of impurity to one of purity and cleanliness.
Initiation is usually associated with bathing to mark transition from a state of impurity to one of purity and spiritual cleanliness. This too goes for one who is sick. Sickness is not always pathogenic. Where one is divorced from the divine, illness may be the result.
Not so long ago I witnessed a funeral service presided over by a Catholic priest. Water, I presume blessed water, was sprayed over a coffin. This was water being used in the purification process as part of facilitating the journey of a spirit in a purified form to the land of the living dead. In addition to spraying blessed water the priest used smoke from some urn and spewed it over the casket. Clearly, the target is not the gleaming casket but the departed spirit or soul.
Here the Catholic Church is doing what traditional Africans have been using from time immemorial. Ukuchela is spraying with medicated water while the process of using smoke (smudging) is ukuthunqisela. In both instances the processes reflect the belief systems of practitioners. Both processes would be rendered frivolous and meaningless where there was no underlying belief in the existence of spirits and spirituality.
Spirits too are meaningless among a people who do not posit the Duality of Being, the belief that a human being comprises ephemeral and perishable material body and the intangible eternal and immortal spirit which after death continues with eternal life within the spiritual dimension. An old church like the Catholic Church reflects spirituality that existed long before the advent of Science and Technology.
