AFRICAN+TRADITIONAL

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There are many various African traditional religions, so for the intents and purposes of this Wiki, we have concentrated on the religious practices of the Xhosa people of South Africa, since this is the cultural group associated with our region, the Western Cape. The supreme being among the Xhosa is called //uThixo// or //uQamata//. As in the religions of many other African peoples, God is rarely involved in everyday life. God may be approached through ancestral intermediaries who are honoured through ritual sacrifices. Most Xhosa-speaking people accept Christianity in one form or another today. Cultural traditionalists combine Christianity with traditional beliefs and practices. Lengthy rituals, initiations, and feasts distinguish Xhosa religious practice.

A newborn baby is introduced to the community of the living and the departed by performing the Birth ritual. An animal is slaughtered and its blood symbolises the joining of the physical and the spiritual worlds of the child. Several processes take place from the day the child is born. The baby is welcomed by the elderly women until the piece of its umbilical cord falls off. The mother is confined inside the hut until the umbilical cord falls off – usually a period of 10 days. This symbolises that the new baby belongs to the whole community, not only the family. When the mother and the child come out of the hut after the cord has fallen off, the cord is buried near the village in a religious way by the elderly clan women. This burial attaches the child permanently to his or her ancestral land or birthplace. This is reflected in the traditional greeting //Inkaba yakho iphi?//, literally "Where is Your Navel?" Children are usually named by their fathers or grandparents and all names have special meanings.
 * BIRTH **

 It is important for a Xhosa boy to go through initiation at a certain stage of his life. Initiation is our way of marking the transition of a male from the status of a child to that of an adult. When the boy is ready, usually between the ages of 13 and 16, he will tell the eldest “father figure” in the family that he wants to go for initiation. Then this man calls a meeting, and a date for the ceremony is decided upon and preparations begin. The family will choose //ikhankatha // - the one who will supervise the initiate. After that, the ritual proceedings start, with a sacrifice believed to convey blessings. The boy’s head is shaved by his elder brothers, and his hair is burnt. This is to prevent the hair from being used in nest building by birds such as the Cape Wagtail. A traditional initiation dance is held, with dancing and singing all night. After this, the boy is kept in isolation in an initiation hut, which is built of sticks and grass. Initiates are painted with white ochre, and wear a white sheepskin or blanket to ward off evil. During this time of isolation, the initiates learn many formal teachings to prepare them for their adult roles, such as those of head of the house, husband and father. Life in isolation serves as a means of instilling discipline in the boys. The actual circumcision happens toward the end of the initiate’s isolation. This initiation ritual is very secretive and private. Initiates may not discuss what happens to them during this time, so little is known about the actual rituals that occur during this time. Girls are also initiated into womanhood. They too are isolated, but for a shorter period and female initiates are not harmed in any way .
 * PUBERTY **