The Sunday News
WITHOUT exception, all societies seek good health and longevity. There may be differences pertaining to how health has been compromised, in other words how illness has afflicted a person. This is about the cause of ill health. For example, in traditional Africa, there are many causes of illnesses, in line with the belief systems of the people.
Sometimes ill-health or sickness may be perceived at the work of malevolent individuals who are driven by jealousy and malice. Their operations are spiritual and very complex ranging from casting their shadows on intended victims that they seek to harm.
That may be done surreptitiously with words being uttered silently. A chant is important, be it silent or loud. This is a demonstration of the power of the word.
It should not therefore, come as a surprise when some people object to having people stand next to them in such a way that their shadows fall on other persons. This is a very complicated science that relies on phenomena, forces and powers that are not easy to comprehend.
These apparently are the African spiritual gifts that we now denigrate and despise without ever seeking the underlying principles at work. What the boss regards as nonsense, we are quick to sing the refrain.
Is a human being constituted in the same manner as the universe? Is he a miniature universe operating on similar principles? Are there forces at work that may be manipulated to cause harm to other people? We should never deceive ourselves that we fully comprehend the universe and its micro-manifestations and representations.
However, in this article we are not concerning ourselves with the intricacies of the natural and original science that Africans draw upon because of their knowledge and belief systems.
We are still trying to identify the presence of spirit beings operating within Stonehenge. We are not here referring to the ancestral spirits that exited their hosts upon death. The people of interest to us are the living ones who are spiritually endowed above average persons.
They are, to use African parlance, spirit mediums regardless of terminologies that may apply in different societies. These people who are spiritually gifted to maintain links with the departed spirits possess the power to diagnose illnesses and come up with remedies and cures.
Their operations are in harmony with the worldview of the community in which they live. In terms of causes of illness, they operate within what society knows, expects and believes in. The idea of divination or diagnosis is found in all societies. What differs are methodologies. Out of diagnosis or divination, emerge possible interventions that may result in healing or cures.
Divination or soothsaying is found in all civilisations, both ancient and modern. Inevitably, it will take different forms in different societies depending on their worldview, cosmology and beliefs. However, it may take the following forms: horoscope, astrology, crystal gazing, tarot cards and Ouija board.
Clearly, this list has left out Africa and her practices. Africans have strong beliefs and practices that pertain to divination. In the IsiNdebele language, the terms used vary: ukukhanyisa, ukuhlahlula, ukubhula, ukutshaya amathambo, ukuvumisa, ukuphosa ulwandle/ingedla et cetera. Some of the terms relate to the artefacts used in the divination process. For example, ulwandle/ingedla refer to the seashells that are used to divine. All the processes are dependent on the spirit.
There are spirit persons that rely on the spirit to divine with no recourse to artefacts such as seashells or wooden tablets. Some people may use as many as five sets of wooden tablets that apparently bear female symbols. In Shona and Kalanga, these tablets have names and meanings attached to them. They create a landscape that is analysed and interpreted with a view to revealing that which was hidden.
Are we therefore suggesting that at Stonehenge there were similar worldviews and cultural practices? A crystal ball was excavated at Stonehenge. A crystal ball is also known as an orbicular gazer or crystal sphere.
The ball is used in foretelling which is associated with the performances of clairvoyance and scrying.
These practices predated Christianity. In fact, Christians viewed these as heretical.
Divination, as a philosophy and practice, determines the hidden significance or cause of events and sometimes foretelling the future. Spirituality, which guides and informs divination, has the capacity to scan the past, the present and the future. Water is another surface that soothsayers or diviners rely on.
The two surfaces rely on reflections of light or visions that appear on them. Light is concentrated or focused.
A crystal ball was and still is used in the practice of divination. The spirit persons at Stonehenge might have used crystal balls in searching for causes of illness to come up with possible cures. It has been suggested that Stonehenge was a healing place that was approached by the sick.
For that reason, some parts of the stones found there were taken away as they were thought to possess healing powers.
That power, if indeed it was present, relied on the presence of spiritual power. Divination was guided by the presence of spiritual power. Crowds would have undertaken healing pilgrimages to the site endowed with spiritual power as already alluded to in the previous articles.
Divination was used to check the presence of equilibrium between the living and their spirits. A healthy and balanced link was sought to ensure a healthy relationship and relatedness. It was not every Tom, Dick and Harry who was spiritually equipped to navigate the different realms of the material, spiritual and ancestral dimensions.
Soothsayers were well equipped to deal with the complex linkages and ensuring some sound balance and equilibrium in the various aspects of life within and between realms of a different character within the broader worldview and cosmology that they operated within.
Once again, to fully appreciate the seemingly mythical practices and phenomena need to be perceived in the proper context, from the operative and guiding minds of the time.
That was the time when the world communities were operating from nearer Source before migrating mentally and ideologically because of concrete interactions with different environments.
The one guiding and informing aspect that faced onslaught was spirituality when what hitherto had been regarded as the truth began fast retreating into the realm of myths and legends.
In the next article we shall investigate yet another item that was excavated which we are persuaded to think was associated with spiritual revelation or divination, especially at the level of utility.
