3.2. Cultural values and lifeways

In this study, I explain cultural values and lifeways as they were first described by Temples (1969), who was known as a founder of Bantu Philosophy. He was followed by many African philosophers (ie. Mbiti 1994) whose philosophical views could be considered ethnophilosophy or African Philosophy. (Chachage 1994). - In general, African ontology is anthropocentric. Although there are different categories: God, spirits, man, animals and plants, phenomena and objects without biological life, man is at the centre of the world. (Mbiti 1994). Anderson (1986) explains the African worldview as a triangle in which man is at the centre surrounded by various powers and beings that influence his life. At the top is God, the Creator. On one side of the triangle are the living-dead ancestors, on the other side the divinities. At the base of the triangle are the lower magical powers or spirits that may trouble man. Man as a human is aware of his position in relation to the other forms of existence, since a balance must be maintained and since all modes must keep their proper place and distance from each other. This anthropocentric ontology implies complete unity or solidarity, which nothing can break up or destroy. (Mbiti 1994.)

Temple’s (1969) explanation of Bantu ontology consists of the same categories as Mbiti’s, but his emphasis lies on the hierarchy of forces. He claims that the central value in different Bantu cultures is life, which is also called force or vital force. The goal of Bantu is to acquire vital force to make life stronger. All beings are seen as forces which interact, and the interaction is based on the principle of hierarchy of forces: God is at the top, followed by ancestors (forefathers, founders of clan, the dead of the tribe in an order of seniority) and the living human beings above animals, plants and minerals. (Chachage 1994, Masolo 1994.) Specially gifted human beings, such as medicine men and witches, who use their intelligence, are capable of manipulating and using the spirits for good or harm for their communities. Such results can be good, as in the case of protective medicines, or evil, as in the case of killing by magic. In order to achieve the effect, the person practising magic voluntarily arranges the interaction between a specific force that will act as the efficient cause, like a snake, tree, or charms, and the force of the victim-to-be. (Van Pelt 1982, Masolo 1994.)

Mbiti (1994) states that the traditional African religions view God as the Creator, Originator, Sustainer and the source of energy for man and the universe. The spirits are either created superhuman beings or ancestral spirits, meaning the spirits of departed human beings. Spirits exist everywhere, but they are most likely to be found in big trees, bushes, forests, rivers and mountains. The spirits chest the destiny of man. Man includes both the human who are alive and those to be born. Animals, plants and natural phenomena and objects constitute the environment in which man lives, and he can establish a mystical relationship with them. (Van Pelt 1982, Pennington 1985, Gehman 1990, Masolo 1994, Mbiti 1994.) Spirits need matter to give form and matter needs spirit to give it force, being and reality; so spirits need humans and humans need spirits. (Richards 1985.) On that basis African traditional societies believe in spiritual causation of diseases. (Obeng 1994.)

The traditional African concept of time is based on ontology. Mbiti (1994) explains that the concept of time may help to explain beliefs, attitudes, practices and the general way of life of African people. African time is two-dimensional, with a long past and the present. A linear concept of time with an indefinite past, the present and an infinite future is foreign to African thinking in which the future as an actual time is absent apart from the present up to two years hence. (Mbiti 1994.)

In Swahili, the two time dimensions are called sasa and zamani. Both of them have quality and quantity. People speak of them as big, small, little, short, long, etc. in relation to a particular event. Sasa refers to the events that have just taken place or are taking place now at the moment or are just about to take place in the near future. Sasa time can extend into the future for about six months or, at the most, one year. Zamani time overlaps sasa time to some extent in the present, but it also goes back very far into the past time. It absorbs, holds, and stores all the events that have ever occurred. It is more significant than sasa because it stretches endlessly back into the past. It includes the time of myth when all the stories of creation took place and when the great and famous heroes of the past performed their exploits. (Anderson 1986, Mbiti 1994.)

Time is conceived of as it relates to events, and it must be experienced in order to make sense or to become real. The mathematical division of time has little relevance for Africans; e.g. the events which occur within a given period are more important than the actual number of hours or days within the same period. The rising of the sun is an event recognised by the whole community, but it does not matter whether the sun rises at 5 am or 7 am as long as it rises. The African is not a slave of time; s/he makes as much time as he wants. For example, it is not uncommon to find Africans spending the day conversing with friends because the event and feeling of communal participation are important, and time is of less consequence. (Pennington 1985, Mbiti 1994, Sarmela 1984.)

Rhythmic reckoning of time is typical among the Bantu. The African in his traditional setting does not use a calendar of numbers, since numbers are ideas, not events. Instead, the traditional African counts time daily and yearly by a series of rhythmic events. The day is divided into milking time, grazing time, resting time, drinking time, home returning time and evening milking time. The months are marked by the events in the phases of the moon and the year is determined by the cycle of seasonal events, such as the rainy season followed by the dry season. This rhythmic calendar is complete when the cycle of rhythm closes. For example, the new year can only start when the rain comes and the planting can begin again. ( Anderson 1986, Mbiti 1994.)

Mbiti (1994) calls the natural sequence of human life “ontological rhythm”. The stages in human life are marked by “rites of passage”. A man is not considered to be a full human being until he has gone through the whole process of his own physical birth, naming ceremonies, other initiation rites at puberty and finally marriage followed by the birth of a new child. Then he is a real human being and a complete person because he has participated fully in the ontological rhythm of life and has contributed to the continuation of life of the family.

Death is a process that removes a person gradually from the sasa to the zamani. After the physical death, a person continues to exist in the sasa for as long as the rest of the living members of his family remember and recognise him by name. Through procreation, the dead person’s name is passed on to a grandchild and he can live on in sasa through a grandson who bears his name. Mbiti (1994) calls him/her living-dead, because s/he is physically dead but alive in the memory of those who knew him/her and in the world of spirits. This state of being remembered is called “personal immortality”. When there is no longer anyone alive who remembers the living dead personally by name, s/he sinks beyond the horizon of sasa into zamani and the process of dying is completed. The living dead enter into the state of “collective immortality” that is a state of the spirits who are no longer formal members of human families and with whom people have lost personal contacts. The community of spirits function as intermediaries between God and man. Many of the spirits are feared, and magical rituals are performed either to get their help or seek protection from them if they are angry. The state of spirits is the destiny of man in African ontology. (Pennington 1985, Anderson 1986, Mbiti 1994.)