Of Seagods, Spirit Mediums and Our Beliefs

Beliefs are the standpoints from which we view the world. But they often fail when they meet the lens of objective scientific scrutiny. How do they form, whose interests do they serve and what should we do about them when they are proven false? Join me as we answer all these questions with respect to an indigenous African tribe, Ngqabutho Dlodlo explores.

Dr. Michael Shermer says that human minds find patterns in the world and fill them up with meaning until they become mental strongholds we have come to know as beliefs. Whether political, religious or supernatural, the mind will go on to find evidence for those beliefs until they are reinforced and regarded as truth.

A neutral example is this: suppose one is passing through a forest, and they hear a sudden rustling sound in the bushes; the instinct will be for one to run like hell for their lives. The operating belief is that one’s life is in danger, evident from the disturbing sound which might be pointing to the presence of a predator. The reality though, might be that there was no predator at all, just a strong wind passing through, shaking the fragile trees! So you see the brain selectively chooses to see what one believes and acts on it. This serves an existential function, saving one’s life in case a real threat or predator is present hence preventing a dire outcome. It should be noted that the belief in this case was false and would have been proven so if only enough evidence, beyond reasonable doubt was gathered!

Evolution has conditioned us to prioritise our lives especially in cases where there isn’t enough time to analyse the evidence. Since science proves most of our firmly held beliefs as false, what should be done then? Abandon them?….No! It would not be easy to do so…why? Because “a belief is not merely an idea that the mind possesses but rather one that possesses the mind”, a quote from Robert Oxton Bolt.

Our beliefs hold firmer still if they are socialised, that is if we take them trusting in the wisdom of our parents and the society we grow up in. Traditional religious beliefs are of such a kind. Exhibiting these, are the Tonga,a fascinating people residing in northern Zimbabwe and southern Zambia along the Zambezi Valley.

They are subdivided into what is called “Bantu batatu”, meaning three people including the Ile and Lenje. Held precious amongst them is a belief in the Supreme Being, “Mizimo” who manifests his presence through lower gods mediated by the ancestors to spirit mediums then to the people of Tonga and Lozi. That is the hierarchy of their deities, one gathers. Their powers, these gods, is seen manifesting in nature often taking snake-like form or controlling the weather. Only the well-vested spiritualist knows how to decipher their messages when they appear.

Nyami nyami is one deity believed in and worshipped. He has the body of a snake, the body of a fish and length unknown. Fiercely he guards and protects the waters of the mighty Zambezi and its people. Yes! he is a seagod like Poseidon and Neptune. Unlike these two though, legend has it that Nyami nyami would expose his body out of water and let poor people cut him for meat. Huh! a god that provides. It is said that people lived in peace with him because there is nothing they ever asked from him which he denied.

It was so, until one fateful season in the 1950s that everything changed. Nyami nyami’s wife Kitapo…wow a god with a wife? so rare, went down the river to give blessing to the people. On her way back she found that British colonialists had built Kariba dam, blocking her way. Kitapo is a mermaid by the way and Ngalale Hamaila, an elderly Lozi man with gently fading eyesight, is the one person who claims to have seen her, how ironic! Anyways, that is what he told CGTN Faces of Africa journalists in 2018.

Now that the dam could not let Kitapo reunite with her lover, Nyami nyami became furious. His anger was the kind felt along with 57 000 villagers displaced by the construction of the dam. His rage was more pronounced in 1957, when water pierced through the dam, bursting its walls in a thundering crash. Science would say the cause was a technical glitch but the Tonga maintain that Nyami nyami did it. People died in that event because he was missing his wife and his sacred territory was invaded. The rains and floods would not stop until the elders were consulted and a sacrifice was made to ask for forgiveness. The British, men of science, bowed down to tradition alas! And I should have been there to watch. Well, a few days later there was peace and they carried on with construction.

To this day, there are shrines amongst the Tonga and Lozi people where Nyami nyami is worshipped. Eye witness accounts of the seagod such as that of Jabula Kagwenda of the Bagande Royal Clan still keep the fire of belief brightly burning. Great stuff!

In August 2014, as a research student with the Centre for Development Studies, I had the honour to interact with the Tonga people living a traditional way of life. I administered the Louisiana Tech University developed Paranormal Belief Scale to over sixty people from the community. The scale measures the extent of belief in spiritualism, superstition, witchcraft, precognition, extraordinary life forms and traditional religious beliefs. A striking 75% of the people from that sample had a very strong inclination towards believing in the collective paranormal (N. Dlodlo,2014). I am convinced the figure would have been slightly lower or higher owing to the fact that some questions on the scale are Eurocentric.

Other researchers studied the Tonga during that period as well, like Lilian Silwila of the University of KwaZulu Natal. She has reaffirmed that the Tonga’s beliefs are entwined with nature where the revered gods manifest their power.

Ample proof is in the belief that only cursed seed does not bear fruit hence the necessity of a ceremony to solicit the ancestors' blessing. Infact two ceremonies, the “lwiindi lwaku mwaka" during planting season and the “lwiindi lwa kooloka” during harvest season are done. There is no way that the Tonga could harvest before doing all that. It is binding right? Well, that’s just the way it is.

Two spirit mediums, the Sikatongo, a male high priest and Mulela, a female care giver, seclude themselves for a number of days in preparation for the lwiindi lwa kooloka. To do their part, in the past, the community would abstain from sex for days for it was believed that engaging in the act interrupted crop production, polluted the land and disturbed the ancestral spiritual order. Hold on a minute, like really? Yes!

While the spirit mediums are in seclusion, beer is brewed and brought forth as an offering to the ancestors, a trickling treat to appease their spirits, and trust me it’s not beer as you and I know it. It is the kind that is thick, creamy and traditional. Delicious!

First fruits of the harvest, the cream of the crop, best of the best, are carried to the sacred hut, the “kaanda ka malende”. This is where the Sikatongo, convinced of mystical powers, dedicates the produce to the ancestors and then blesses it in a ritualistic fashion. The community cooks and eats together on that particular day, believing that the ancestors are happy and partaking as they are also part of the community of the living dead.

“Malende”, a rain shrine is visited to give thanks and ask for more rain the next season. Barefoot women dressed in black outfits, burst in songs of praise as they theatrically circle the sacred heart in their ringing tunes. Barefootedness is by the way a symbol showing their connection to the spiritual world and emphasizes the holiness of that ground. The rather gothly black outfit, is their cry as to what kind of clouds they are pleading for, dark and rich with rain.

If all of this, folks, is not done or done wrong, then misfortune befalls the land and its beloved, it is believed. Disasters like drought, floods and famine sure are a sign of sanctions from the disappointed spirits of the divine, ouch! In an endnote readers, I do not care whether what the Tonga believe is the truth but one thing stands real, and its that, belief in their gods gives them a sense of belonging and meaning to life in a very unique way. Isn’t that just wonderful?

Ngqabutho Dlodlo is a freelance journalist and you can contact him on his email ngqabuthodlodlo@gmail.com or interact with him on Facebook.