Troutman, Guardians, Guides, and Mediators.The Spirits in Shona Religion.pdf

8/10/2019 Troutman, Guardians, Guides, and Mediators.The Spirits in Shona Religion.pdf

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Guardians, Guides, and Mediators

The Spirits in Shona Traditional Religion and a Christian Alternative

By Rev. Philip H. Troutman

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

MW725 Primal & Folk Religions

Dr. Eunice Irwin, professor

Asbury Theological Seminary

Fall, 2004

Copyright 2004-2014 by Philip H. Troutman. All rights reserved.

This paper may be freely copied and distributed as long as it is not altered in any way,and as long as credit is given to Philip H. Troutman as the author.


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1

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

I. THE SHONA PEOPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A. Shona History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

B. Shona Social Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

II. SHONA SPIRITUAL BELIEFS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A. The Spirits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

B. The High God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

C. Religious Specialists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

D. The Vicissitudes of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

III. CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL SHONA BELIEFS. . . . . . . . . . 23

A. Take Traditional Shona Religious Beliefs Seriously.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

B. Spiritual Power An Indispensable Ingredient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

C. Shona Needs and Christian Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

MAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

REFERENCES CITED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33


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Guardians, Guides, and Mediators

The Spirits in Shona Traditional Religion and a Christian Alternative

By Philip H. Troutman

INTRODUCTION

In this research paper we examine some traditional religious beliefs of the Shona people of

Zimbabwe, specifically their beliefs regarding the spirits. Our purpose is twofold: 1) To discover the

essential functions of the various spirits and religious specialist in Shona religion; and 2) to

demonstrate how Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit can fulfill all the functions of the Shona spirits,

and meet the felt needs of the Shona people which their traditional religion meets for them now.

We will begin by reviewing some basic information about the Shona people and their history.

Then we will look at Shona kinship and social organization, which form the background for an

understanding of the Shona conception of the spirit world. Next, we will consider the traditional

beliefs of the Shona regarding the spirits, and the religious specialists who deal with them. Finally,

we will address the ways in which Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit, provide a viable alternative to

Shona traditional religion and its spirits.

I. THE SHONA PEOPLE

The Shona, like nearly all of the peoples of southern Africa today, are a Bantu people.1

According to the S.I.L. Ethnologue (www.ethnologue.com) Shona is the name of a language2

familycontaining seven languages. Shona is also the name of one particular language of this3

family, and of the people who speak the various dialects of it. Of these, the three main ones are

Zezuru, Korekore and Karanga, There are approximately 10,000,000 Shonas in Zimbabwe, or about

80% of the total population. (CIA World Factbook, 2004).

2


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Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 3

A. Shona History

About the second century C.E. a wave of early iron-age Bantu-speaking peoples migrated

southward into the fertile, mineral-rich, high plateau stretching from the Limpopo River north to the

Zambezi, and from the Kalahari desert east to the Inyanga Mountains, which includes the territory

of modern Zimbabwe. (Thorpe, 1991:49-50) Starting about 1000 C.E., for the next two or three

centuries, Bourdillon (1976:20) explains that, A new group of people moved onto the plateau, and

the early iron-age peoples were absorbed into a culture cluster which is continuous with the cluster

of cultures of the nineteenth century Shona peoples.

From the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries, a culture arose among the Karanga people

called the Zimbabwe culture. They built series of stonework settlements across the southern region

of the plateau, with their capital at Great Zimbabwe, near present-day Masvingo. The Zimbabwe

culture endured approximately two and a half centuries, and then declined.

The Portuguese arrived on the Indian Ocean coast in 1498, and began their push inland.

(Newitt, 1999) In 1569 they tried and failed to subjugate the Mutapa state under Mwene

Mutapa. But early in the 17th century, the Portuguese succeeded in conquering the Karanga

chieftaincies of the north, including Mwene Mutapa, allowing them access into the central and

southern parts of the plateau. In 1693 the Portuguese were again defeated, this time by the Rozvi

chief of Changamire. At its height, the Changamire-Rozvi state controlled the whole of present-day

Zimbabwe. However, in the 1790s, the Rozvi Empire went into decline.

In the early 19th century, the Ndwandwe people were forced northward into Zimbabwe by the

Zulu king Shaka and his warriors. Their invasion devastated the Rozvi empire, and in the 1830s the

last Rozvi ruler was killed in his capital of Khami. Then in the 1840s, the Ndebele invaded under

king Mzilikazi, who built his capital at Bulawayo. Most of the Karanga chieftaincies of central and

northern Zimbabwe retained their independence, but were required to pay tribute to the Ndebele.

In the 1860s, reports of gold deposits on the plateau sparked increasing European interest in


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Matabeleland and Mashonaland. During the 1880s Germany, Britain and Portugal divided up the4

Indian Ocean coast, and engaged in fierce struggles with the remaining African chiefdoms for control

of the interior. The Portuguese defeated the last chief to bear the title Mwene Mutapa in 1917.

In 1889 Cecil Rhodes and the newly-chartered British South Africa Company were granted

authority to mine and settle a vast area including both Mashonaland and Matabeleland. In 1890

Rhodes established the city of Salisbury in northern Mashonaland, and the territory was officially5

named Rhodesia in 1895. In late 1895 Shona and Ndebele chiefs united in an attempt to overthrow

the white settlers rule, but the rebellion was put down in 1897.

That same year, colonial administrators divided the vast territory into two separate colonies:

Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Southern Rhodesia

became a white settler-dominated colony under the administration of the British South Africa

Company. To guarantee cheap labor colonial administrators levied taxes on the black population,

who were forced to seek jobs on white-owned farms or in the mines in order to pay their taxes.

When the BSA Company charter expired in 1923, Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing

British colony. The 1930 Land Apportionment Act divided the colony into separate areas for whites

and blacks, allocating over half the land area to the 50,000 white settlers, who represented less than

5 percent of the colonys population. The Great Depression slowed white immigration, but after

World War II the pace picked up again. By 1950 the white population of Southern Rhodesia had

risen to about 125,000, and by 1960 that number had grown to 220,000 still a small percentage

of the total population. As the black population grew, the land allocated to them became increasingly

overcrowded, and large numbers of blacks to move to the colonys urban areas.

In 1963, led by Ian Smith, white Rhodesians petitioned Britain for independence. The British

government refused, insisting on constitutional reforms leading to black African majority rule. So

in November 1965 Smiths government unilaterally declared Rhodesian independence, and in 1969

Rhodesia formally declared itself a republic. With help from the white South African government,

the white Rhodesian government held power without much difficulty until the mid-1970s.


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In 1962 Joshua Nkomo formed the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), drawing

support mainly from the Ndebele people. In 1963, more radical Marxists formed the Zimbabwe

African National Union (ZANU), drawing wide support from the Shona people. After the Rhodesian

government banned both ZAPU and ZANU, they developed into guerrilla groups which continued

to fight a bush-war against the white-led government until full independence was achieved.

Peace negotiations began in 1976, but no agreement resulted. In an attempt to garner popular

support, in 1979 the white-led Rhodesian regime enacted a new constitution permitting limited black

majority rule. Moderate black politician Abel Muzorewa became the countrys first black Prime

Minister, leading a coalition government with the white-led Rhodesian Front party. But ZANU and

ZAPU viewed Muzorewa as the puppet of the white government, and continued their struggle.

Finally, in 1980 with the help of British and American mediation, the Rhodesian government signed

the Lancaster House agreement providing for majority rule. In elections that same year the

Zimbabwe African National UnionPatriotic Front or ZANUPF roundly defeated ZAPU, and

Robert Mugabe was installed as prime minister. The new independent nation was renamed

Zimbabwe, after the great Shona culture of a millennium before.

Since independence, Zimbabwe has travelled a rocky path. The Lancaster House agreement

had promised the redistribution of white-owned land to landless blacks, but this was delayed, causing

dissatisfaction with the Mugabe government. Internal unrest grew, as Ndebele dissidents began to

stockpile arms for a possible insurrection. The ZANU-PF government severely repressed the

Ndebele opposition, and Nkomo and other ZAPU M.P.s were expelled from the government. In 1985

elections, ZANU won again by a landslide everywhere but in Matabeleland.

However, the Mugabe government was shaken by corruption scandals. To consolidate his

power, in 1987 Mugabe engineered a revision of the constitution, combining the powers of head of

state and head of government into the new office of President. In the early 1990s, the economic crisis

in Zimbabwe began to ease, as the civil war ended in neighboring Mozambique, and South Africa

embraced majority rule. ZANU-PF won 82 percent of the vote in 1995 legislative elections, amidst


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wide-spread accusations of unfair election practices. Mugabe was reelected president in 1996.

In 1997 Mugabe announced a controversial program of land redistribution, in which 1,500

white-owned commercial farms were to be seized without compensation and divided among landless

blacks. Faced with strong opposition from both white farmers and the international community, in

1998 the government announced a new plan to buythe farms with foreign aid money. However, this

aid money was never forthcoming. So in 2000, faced with increasing internal opposition, the Mugabe

government began seizing white-owned commercial farms, which temporarily gained him renewed

popular support, but ended commercial food production on most of the seized lands. In combination

with several years of drought, this has led to wide-spread food shortages. Mugabe was once again

reelected in 2002 in an election widely considered unfair by international observers. Food shortages

and frequent politically-motivated violence have continued up through 2004.

B. Shona Social Organization

In order to understand the Shona people and their spiritual belief system, we must have a clear

picture of their traditional social organization.

1. Shona Tribes

The term tribe is an extremely imprecise one in English, which might be applied to any one

of several divisions of traditional Shona society. It is certainly not accurate to refer to the Shona as

a single tribe. According to Bourdillon, (1976:31-32)

The derivation of the word Shona is uncertain. It appears to have been used first by the

Ndebele as a derogatory name for the people they had defeated, and particularly the

Rozvi. The Shona did not call themselves by this name and at first disliked it; even now

they tend rather to classify themselves by their chiefdoms or their dialect groups(Karanga, Manyika, Zezuru, Korekore, etc.) though most accept the designation Shona

in contrast to unrelated peoples. The extension of the term to all tribes native to Rhodesia

appears to have been a British innovation.

In this paper I apply the word tribe to those large groups of Shona which are distinguished

one from another by their dialect or language. Each of these groups is itself composed of numerous6


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sub-tribes. (Bucher, 1980:21). For the Shona, beyond loyalty to the chief and the land of ones

clan there is a sense of belonging to one of these larger groupings or tribes.

2. Shona Chiefdoms

Thorpe (52) sketches the outlines of the traditional Shona political system for us:

Traditionally Mashonaland was composed of a patchwork of chieftaincies or clan

divisions called nyika (land, chiefdom). In each nyika the dominant clan [mutupo] forms

the nucleus of the ruling class. . . . Each nyika consists of districts or wards (dunhu)

which, in turn, comprise villages (musha) consisting of several homesteads.

However, the nyikais much more than a politico-geographic division, and the chief or mambo

is much more than a political leader. Bucher (31) gives us the details:

For the Shona, as for people elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, land is not merely an

economic asset, but has a value which is intimately linked with the tribe, its chief, andthe spirits of their ancestors. The chief is often referred to as the muridzi(or mwene) we

nyika, the owner of the land. The meaning of nyika, the Shona term commonly used for

land, comprises also the chiefdom and the people, for nyika means people occupying

the land, and their rights thereto, and there is a Shona saying that the chief is the people,

the people are the chief.

Chiefdoms vary in size from small areas with one to two thousand inhabitants, to large areas

with a population of ten thousand or more (Bourdillon, 121). As Thorpe notes, large chiefdoms are

divided into dunhuor wards, usually governed by one of the chiefs sons or brothers.

Above the ordinary chiefs, in former times there was sometimes a paramount chief who ruled

over several lesser chiefs. Some paramount chiefs succeeded in bringing a large number of

chiefdoms under their control, uniting a whole section of the country into an empire, such as the

Changamire-Rozvi empire, or the empire of Mwene Mutapa.

3. Shona Families

Bourdillon (37) explains, Rural Shona communities, like small, closely-knit communities all

over the world, are built around their patterns of kinship. How any man or woman behaves towards

another depends largely on how they are related. All Shonas belong to a clan, or mutupo, and further

to a subclan orzvidao. Bourdillon (37) continues: The clan name is often the name of some animal,

the elephant for example, or the eland or monkey, and usually members of the clan are not allowed


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to eat the flesh of the animal or at least there is a token taboo on some part of the animal, such as the

heart or trunk of an elephant. The members of a particular mutupoconsider themselves to be related

even when they cannot trace actual kinship.

The Shona kinship system is patrilineal. In their use of kinship terms people distinguish

members of their own patrilineal group only by generation, age and sex, and not according to

genealogical distance. Thus the term baba(father) can [also] mean a fathers brother, or any man in

the patri-clan belonging to the fathers generation. . . . Similarly all females in the fathers generation

and belonging to the same clan are called vatete(paternal aunt). (Bourdillon, 39) However, A

person clearly distinguishes between his father who begot him and other fathers [vababa] who have

less authority over him and towards whom he has fewer obligations. (44)

Bourdillon (41) explains that: [T]he residential group consisted primarily of a patrilineage

three to five generations deep under the family head. This group would live in a family village, or

musha. A traditional mushawould include: A man, who is the family head, his wife or wives and

their children; his parents; his younger brothers, their wives and children; and his unmarried sisters.

Each of the nuclear families would live in their own homestead or cluster of huts, with separate huts

for each wife and her children. Unmarried young men would have their huts near or on their fathers

homestead, as would the unmarried women. All these homesteads together form the musha.

After the family heads younger brothers marry and have several children, they may move away

to begin their own musha. When the family heads sons marry, they bring their wife or wives to live

on a homestead at their fathers musha. When the head of the family finally dies or becomes too

feeble or senile to maintain order, his eldest son becomes the new head of the musha.

Thorpe (52) gives us this insight into the importance for the Shona of their kinship ties:

The boundaries between religion and culture are not always clearly discernible in African

traditional communities. One reason for this is the close family bond characterised by the

phrase mwana wamai(mothers child). This bond extends beyond the confines of the

visible family to embrace those still to be born and, even more significantly, those who

have passed from the physical to the spirit realm, thereby becoming ancestors. The

closeness and the concomitant binding obligations of Shona family life extend to village


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and ward divisions as well.

The pressures of modernization have eroded the traditional extended family system. But still,

says Bourdillon (42):

The ideal system of the past often survives in spite of the numerous influences for

change. One of these is the social and economic independence encouraged by labour

migration . . . Another is the diminishing availability of land which prevents a group

dependent on subsistence agriculture from growing too large. A third is the impossibility

of the extended family living together in urban areas . . . Nevertheless, in the rural areas

the ideal remains of keeping the extended family together.

So although many Shona people in the twenty-first century live in the urban centers of

Zimbabwe, the majority of the Shona still live in rural and semi-rural areas and maintain their

traditional social organization. This organization of Shona society into individual patrilineages

(musha), and these into chiefdoms (nyika) is integral to Shona traditional spiritual beliefs.

II. SHONA SPIRITUAL BELIEFS

Though the spiritual beliefs of the Shona vary somewhat from tribe to tribe, there are sufficient

commonalities to enable us to talk of Shona traditional religion. In the following summary I

identify and describe the major spirits the Shona believe in, and the religious specialists they consult.

A. The Spirits

In Shona traditional religion it is hard to overstate the importance of the spirits of deceased

members of ones own patrilineage, of the legendary founders of ones clan, and of the mythical

founders of the tribe as a whole. Bourdillon (1973:11-12) writes:

The basis of traditional religion among the Shona, as among most Bantu peoples, is thememory of, and respect for, deceased members of society expressed in a highly

developed ancestor spirit cult. The Shona believe that when a person dies his spirit

(mweya: literally, breath or wind) leaves the body and continues in an afterlife defined

primarily in terms of the believed influence of the deceased on the community he or she

has left. . . .The believed powers of the spirit are not clearly defined. Family spirits are

believed to have some control over all that affects the physical welfare of the community

they have left, but they have no control over more senior spirits and it is believed that

they can be defeated by powerful witchcraft. Very old people are believed to have some


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of the powers, particularly power to influence the health of relatives, normally attributed

to the spirits. (12)

According to Shona traditional religion, there are four major classes of spirits which have

dealings with human beings. These are: the midzimu (sing. mudzimu) or spirit elders; the7

mhondoro(sing. and pl.) or chiefly, lion spirits; the mashavi (sing.shavi) or alien spirits; and8

the ngozi(sing. and pl.), the angry, avenging spirits. Above all these isMwari, the High God.

1. Midzimu Spirit Elders / Family Guardian Spirits

According to traditional Shona spiritual beliefs, the first level of spirits is that of the

midzimu(also vadzimu ). Michael Gelfand (1962:51) gives an excellent introduction to the midzimu:7

The word mudzimu(pl. vadzimu) means spirit of a dead person and includes every spirit,

and thus strictly speaking denotes both the spirits of dead relations and the tribal guardianspirits (mhondoro). Generally the term is used by the Mashona to refer to the spirits of

parents and grandparents, and as these are largely protective in function we might refer

to them as guardian spirits. Perhaps spirit elder is another suitable term. Other workers

prefer the term ancestral spirit, but my objection to this term is that it gives the

impression that honour is paid to the spirit ancestors of the family dating back for

centuries, whereas in practice honor is paid to the departed grandfather and grandmother

and not to older ancestors. The MaKorekore do not recall the names of ancestors beyond

the father and mother of the departed grandparents, and call for help only from the

grandparents.

The midzimuserve as guardians, guides, and sometimes disciplinarians of their living family

members. Bourdillon (1973:12) details their care of their immediate descendants, especially

protecting them from attacks via witchcraft. Bourdillon (1976:41) writes, After the death of the

father, his spirit is believed to continue to provide protection for his children and his grandchildren.

Favours are asked of the spirit of the father, and when they are received he is thanked with offerings

of snuff or millet beer.

The father of a particular patrilineage is very important in Shona traditional religion.

Bourdillon (41) explains:

The old patrilineage of three to five generations of the descendants of one man is still

recognised under the name chizvarwa. While the head of the group is still alive, it forms

the most fundamental family unit. . . . Whether the group stays together after his death

depends on the size of the groups and on the relationships between the sons of the family


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head; but for ritual purposes, the groups acts together until all his grandsons are dead, or

have left the locality.

And after the patriarch of the family dies, his spiritual importance greatly increases:

The spirit of the common ancestor becomes a prominent spirit guardian of the whole

group, and is frequently honoured with ceremonial millet beer. . . . The chizvarwagenerally has a bull dedicated to the spirit of the common ancestor, to be sacrificed when

he shows signs of wanting it, and often there is a spirit medium who become possessed

by the common ancestor when he wishes to speak to his living descendants. So even after

his death, the common ancestor keeps the group together. (Bourillon, 1976:41-42)

So, the midzimufamily guardian spirits or spirit elders form the most important spiritual reality

for the Shona people in their daily lives. It is to their family midzimuthat the Shona first have

recourse when the problems of daily life assail them.

2. Mhondoro Lion or Chiefly Spirits

A second level of midzimu are the powerful spirits of deceased chiefs, called mhondoroor lion

spirits. Bucher (32) notes that, The chiefs ownership over the land and its people derives from

his supposed connection with the mythological founder-ancestors of his chiefdom. It is they who are

believed to have chosen him, and bestowed on him their own prodigious powers. Bucher (34) calls

the mhondoroterritorial spirits, because, The real owners of the land are, of course, the spirits

of the deceased tribal rulers and particularly those of the mythical founder-ancestors of the

chiefdom. The mhondoroare extremely important to Shona society: The spirits of these men are

believed to protect the fertility of the land and to control the rainfall.

3. Magombwe Great Tribal Spirits

There is another, even higher level of great tribal spirits called magombwe. These are the most

powerful of all the spirits, who rule over the whole territory of a tribe, and all the tribes chiefly

mhondoro, although they are still ultimately subject to the high god. (Bourdillon, 321) These spirits

include ChaminukaandNehandaof the Zezuru in the central region of the country; andDzivaguru

andKaruva of the Korekore. Each of these spirits has a full cultus of its own, and their medium are

senior to all other mediums in their region. Bucher (34-35) explains the function of the magombwe:


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Although people normally honour only the territorial spirit of the chiefdoms in which

they live, during prolonged droughts delegations from chiefdoms over a hundred

kilometers away come to the sacred groves of . . . [Dzivaguru and Karuva] to ask for rain

for their home areas. In central Shona country, the most powerful spirit mediums are said

to be possessed by the spirits of people who lived in the country so long ago that nothing

about them is remembered. Prayers are addressed to the most important of these spirits,

Chaminuka and Nehanda, in rain rituals in widely dispersed locatities.

The exact nature and origin of the great tribal spirits like Chaminuka and Dzivaguru is unclear: They

may have been directly created by or have emanated from Mwari (Gelfand, 1959:14); or they may

be the spirits of people who lived in the country so long ago that nothing about them is remembered.

(Bucher, 34) Bourdillon says that Dzivaguru and Karuva are the spirits of an ancient dynasty

defeated by the invading Korekore centuries ago. (Bourdillon, 1976:299)

4. Mashavi Alien or Stranger Spirits

The mashavi, are alien spirits or stranger spirits. Bucher (89) explains that the mashaviare

spirits of deceased people, unknown to the community, especially of those who have died away from

home and whose spirits are restless because their bodies were buried in a strange land, or perhaps

the spirits of young unmarried persons , or others whose spirits were not settled through the

appropriate kugadzira funerary ceremonies. Bourdillon (1976:282) observes that, Mashaveinclude

the spirits of neighboring peoples, of white people, of certain animals (especially baboons) and

occasionally of other objects such as aeroplanes. There are also water spirits.

5. Ngozi Angry or Avenging Spirits

The ngoziare angry or avenging spirits. An ngozimay be the spirit of someone who was

murdered, a child killed by witchcraft, a person who received no proper burial, or simply a spirit

extremely displeased with the actions of the living. Bourdillon (1976:273) gives us more details:

Of all evil influences, an angry spirit (ngozi) is perhaps the most greatly feared by the

Shona. It should be noticed that under this category come a variety of spirits. A ngozi

may be some stranger spirit aroused by a witch and the havoc it wreaks is akin to witch-

craft. It may be the spirit of some unrelated acquaintance avenging mercilessly some

wrong. Or the spirit may be a spirit elder angry at the bad behaviour of its living

descendants. Thus the concept of ngozirefers not so much to a type of spirit as to is

supposed action: death and destruction in the victims family.


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Thorpe (57) believes that, the ngozi . . . represent evil and ill-will not dealt with in this life.

He continues: It would seem that the Shona subscribe to the idea that the evils which people do live

after them and return as ngozi to harm and claim vengeance. Bourdillon (270) describes the ngozi:

An angry spirit is terrifying. Such a spirit attacks suddenly and very harshly. It usually

attacks an individual through his family causing a succession of deaths or death followed

by serious illness in other members of the family. And an angry spirit is not easily

appeased. . . . The Shona believe that an angry spirit can also cause serious quarrels

within a family, loss of property and wealth, or any devastating misfortune. In practice,

the tensions and fears following death believed to be caused by such a spirit, and the

difficulty in appeasing it do on occasion lead to the break up of a family group.

However, Bourdillon (273) notes that, If the avenging spirit is a family spirit, it may become a

friendly spirit elder once it has been appeased.

Based on the outline we have given of Shona traditional beliefs about the spirits, we can

identify their primary functions, which explain their importance to all of Shona life. The midzimu,

mhondoroand magombwespirits: 1)Provide care, protection and helpin the vicissitudes of life, i.e.

sickness, misfortune, drought, etc.; 2) Provide instruction and direction for making important

choices and decisions which affect the future of the individual, the family or the whole tribe; and

3) Serve as mediatorsbetween their living descendants andMwari, the High God, to induce him to

action in favor of the people as a whole. Clearly, no version of Christianity which fails to fulfill all

these functions can ever hope to become the life-faith of the Shona people.

B. The High God

Just as do most of the peoples of Africa, the Shona believe in a high god, whom they call

Mwari. (Bourdillon: 1976:320; Thorpe, 1991:54; Zvarevashe, 2001:294). The Shona understanding

ofMwaricontrasts markedly with the Christian understanding of God at several key points. It would

be difficult to give a better explanation of the general beliefs of the traditional Shona regarding the

high god than the one offered by Bourdillon (320-324), so I quote him at considerable length:

He is known by many names including: Nyadenga or Dedza (Lord of the Sky),

Musikavanhu (Maker of the peoples), Chikara (One inspiring awe), Dzivaguru (The great


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pool), Chirazamauva (The one who provides for the good and bad), Mutangakugara (One

who existed at the beginning) and Mwari (a personal name). Mwari is now the most

common name for the high god, spread by Christian missionaries from the cult in

southern Shona country and explicitly associated by many with Christianity. The Shona

rarely speak about the high god and in most of Shona country no attempt is made to

communicate with him or to influence his actions either by imprecation or ritual. The

high god is, however, believed to be some personal being above and more powerful thanthe lion spirits [mhondoro]; even such spirits as Chaminuka are ultimately subject to the

high god.

Traditional beliefs are unclear about the nature of the high god and his relevance

to the origins of the world. People believe that he is in some way ultimately responsible

for all that happens. He knows everything and sees everything, and is ultimately

responsible for the weather, the fertility of the land, the wild forests, character traits of

men, and so on. . . . Mwari is not a man and nobody has ever seen him.

Although Mwari is known by different names, he is believed to be the God of all

men. . . . He is considered to have made the white people as well as the black. . . .

Mwari is believed to be too remote to be concerned even with the spirit elders of

a family, but the Shona believe that the more important lion spirits can communicatewith him. . . . It is thought that a powerful lion spirit on good terms with his people

should normally be able to persuade Mwari to allow rain to fall on his chiefdom. Also,

senior lion spirits are believed to be able to call support for themselves from the high

god. . . .

Three types of events are especially attributed to the high god. The first comprises

events with an effect more widespread than the territorial domain of even the most

powerful lion spirits. . . .

Secondly, those events are attributed to the high god which are in the natural order

of things in the sense that they are expected and do not require further explanation in

terms of a personal agent. Thus occasionally, when no evil influence is suspected, the

death of a very old person may be said to have been caused only by Mwari, and the sameis sometimes said of mild illnesses when no diviner is consulted.

Thirdly, thunder and especially lightning are usually understood to come from the

high god. These reveal occasional and unusual power coming from the heavens which

is terrifying, unpredictable and inexplicable in terms of the ordinary events of life. . . .

Since the Shona lack a systematic theology, their ideas about their spirits are

expressed primarily through the activities in which the spirits are concerned. Since

regular rituals normally concern only the more intimate and local spirits, Shona ideas

about the high god naturally tend to be somewhat nebulous. For most Shona, belief in the

high god is operative only on the rare occasions that other beliefs are inadequate. . . .

Certain of the greater lion spirits merge and are confused with the concept of the

high god. . . . In some areas, Dzivaguru, the high god, is said to have a home in Korekore

country, clearly associating the high god with the famous lion spirit; but others use

Dzivaguru as a praise-name for the high god with no reference to the Korekore-Tavara

lion spirit cult. . . . And the distinction is often obscure between the high god and

Chaminuka, who is clearly the most important spirit to many Shona peoples.

Among the Karanga, however, in the south of Shona country and probably under

the influence of neighbouring Venda peoples, there is an organized cult of Mwari, the

high god. . . . Mwari is the name of the lion spirit of an ancient ancestor in the more


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central Wedza district it is possible that the southern cult of Mwari originated

historically from this lion spirit cult. But the Mwari of the southern cult is identified with

the high god, and it was from early contact with this use of the name that Christian

missionaries spread it throughout Shona country as the name for the high god of all.

Fr. Zvivarashe, a Shona Jesuit, is adamant that the Shona have always believed in one High

God, who must be considered the same being as the Christian God, Yahweh. He writes (1980:294):

In Shona religion God is known as Mwari, (the Supreme Being). . . . Mwari is the creator

of midzimu who in Shona religion function as Mwaris messengers. . . . He is The

Spirit that has created everything. It is He who controls and upholds everything. He is not

a spirit alongside other spirits. He is The Spirit that is categorically unique. He has no

equals. He is so great, so sacred, so holy, etc. that he cannot be seen by mortal men.

Hence he can only be approached effectively through the ancestral spirits who are near

him in the spirit-world.

C. Religious Specialists

In Shona traditional religion, there are three types of religious specialists we must consider.

1. Masvikiro Spirit Mediums

Bourdillon (1973:16) writes: Common to most Shona peoples (the Manyika being the most

notable exception) is the belief in, and the practice of spirit mediumship where the spirit is supposed

to take possession of and speak through a human hosts. The Shona believe that the midzimu,

mhondoro,magombweand mashavispirits all seek a living host they can inhabit or possess, and

through whom they can subsequently manifest themselves when they wish to do so. The person so

chosen is called asvikiro(pl. masvikiro), a spirit host or medium. Bourdillon (17) states that spirit

mediumship operates at various levels from that of family spirits to that of the famous tribal spirits

whose cults stretch far beyond the boundaries of any chiefdom.

The primary function served by the various spirit mediums is to serve as a channel of

communication between the spirit realm and the realm of ordinary human existence. This

communication is in a real sense a dialogue, as the living communicate their needs and requests to

the spirits through the agency of the spirit medium, and the spirits in turn communicate their will to

the living through the mediums, as well as acting on behalf of their descendants or tribe by healing


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sickness, sending rain, granting fertility to wives and livestock, and protecting them from the evil

powers of the witches. Thorpe (58) gives one example: Very often midzimu spirits wish to

communicate directly with their offspring, to which end they select a member of the family as their

mouthpiece. Bourdillon (1973:17) describes the process by which a person becomes a spirit host:

The usual sign by which a person knows he is to become a medium is a long and

troublesome illness, often accompanied by some mental disorder. This is divined to be

a request by a spirit for the patient to become its host. People commonly believe that

once a spirit has chosen its host, it will have its way however reluctant the host. After

divination, the host eventually undergoes an initiation ceremony at the hands of a senior

medium. The initiation may involve a certain amount of instruction from the senior

medium, and it may involve tests of validity of the new host by questions on the life and

relations of the spirit. But for most hosts the initiation is little more than a seance under

the guidance of a senior medium and consecration to the spirit by ritual cutting of hair.

The mhondoroof a deceased chief is said to possess a medium through whom he continues to

make his wishes known regarding the affairs of the chiefdom and its people. Thorpe (58) explains:

When a spirit medium is chosen by an mhondoro tribal ancestral spirit, the person thus

chosen is treated as the mhondoro himself and addressed accordingly. It is understand-

able that he thereby gains considerable status in society and is called upon to give

guidance in the selection of a new chief when necessary. He also figures prominently in

rain ceremonies, since the mhondoro as the ultimate owner of the nyika can give or

withhold rain. Requests to the mhondoro ancestral founder are not made by the

mhondoro host, however, but by the head of the clan.

The great magombwespirits like Chaminuka and Dzivaguru also have their mediums, who are

senior to all other mediums, and through whom people ask the magombwefor rain and good crops.

In times of great calamity or severe extremity the chiefs may ask the magombweto intercede with

Mwarihimself on behalf of their people.

The mashavistranger spirits also seek hosts to possess. Bucher indicates that, It appears that

from their early days Shona have accredited stranger spirits with the power to bring luck to hunters.

Thus Bullock writes that ashavican alight on a hunting dog or even a gun and confer success while

it abides there. (Bucher, 89) Bourdillon (1976:283) says that, In most areas, such traditional arts

as hunting, playing the mbira(a dominant Shona musical instrument), divining and healing are

attributed to possession by appropriate mashave.Thorpe (57) notes that, People possessed by


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mashavi spirits often unite to form cults according to the skills with which they are endowed.

The mashavi do not always grant their hosts special powers or helpful abilities. In fact,

Bourdillon (282) comments that in fact, Most [mashavi] are said to want only to dance. Gelfand

(1959:162) points out that, While alien spirits usually bestow good qualities, . . . there is ashave

the mazirikazi shave which causes the medium to become a witch when she is possessed.

2. Manganga Diviner-Healers

In the day-to-day life, the most important religious specialist for the Shona is the nganga

(pl. manganga). The word ngangahas traditionally been translated witch doctor because one of9

the ngangasprimary functions is to determine when witchcraft has been the cause of an illness or

misfortune, and to ferret out the witch. However, the role of the ngangain Shona society is much

broader than that. A ngangatypically engages in: Healing of organic illnesses through the use of

herbal medicines; divining which of several alternatives is the best choice, using rectangular block

of wood similar to dice called hakata, or cowrie shells or bones, all of which are cast on the ground,

and the resultant patterns interpreted; determining which spirits are causing the sickness or trouble

plaguing a family; and battling against angryngozispirits and preparing countermeasures against the

attacks of witchcraft. Gelfand (1959:99) translates nganga healer and diviner, while Bucher (113)

employs the compound diviner-healer.

Bourdillon (1976:189) explains that:

There are two types of nangain Shona society. Some are believed to operate under the

direction of healing spirits and with the aid of their power. Others simply use the skill

they have learnt from their tuition by experts. It is possible to acquire the title of nanga

simply by learning the art of herbalism during a period of apprenticeship with a senior

herbalist. . . . Although such a nangamay acquire a regular clientele, he can never

acquire the reputation and income of someone reputed to be able to cope with moreserious spiritual troubles. To deal with the spirit world requires the help of a specialist

healing spirit.

The essential qualification for being recognized as a powerful spirit-led ngangais evidence that

a person has, in fact, been chosen to be the spirit-medium of a helping-healing spirit which consents

to possess him/her when called on for help. Bourdillon (189) explains:


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Often this is the spirit of a deceased close relative (usually a parent or grandparent) who

was a nangaduring life and wishes to continue his (or her) work through a living

descendent. Frequently, the healing spirit is a wanderingshavespirit which may pick on

any person . . . A nangawho practises through the help of a family spirit elder is likely

to be regarded as more powerful than the host of a wanderingshave spirit.

Thorpe (59) describes the process by which a person becomes a spirit-led nganga:

The first signs of calling to practise as a nganga are similar to those of spirit possession

generally, although the person concerned often has healing dreams in which he or she (a

nganga may be either male or female) is instructed, for example, on where to dig for

particular herbal remedies. Often this calling runs in families, since it is usually the

ancestral spirit of a former healer who seeks a host so as to continue its activities. It may,

however, also happen to someone who does not have a nganga ancestor, especially if it

is a shavi healing spirit seeking a living host.

Once the illness has been diagnosed by a practising nganga as having been caused

by a healing spirit, and the spirit has been accepted by the person and the family, the

individual undergoes training with a practising nganga. Occasionally a person does nothave . . . a call to become a healer, but simply undergoes training. These instances are not

common, however, as the gift of healing is understood to be a spiritual one which must

be passed on to living hosts. Upon completion of the training period, a feast is held by

the family of the novice nganga and the healer then sets up practice.

3. Muroyi The Witch or Sorcerer

The Shona, like all traditional peoples of Africa, have a strong belief in, and fear of, witchcraft

or sorcery in Shona, uroyi. The last of the Shona traditional religious specialist we need to

consider is the muroyi (pl. varoyi) or witch or sorcerer, who employs the powers of uroyito cause

illness, misfortune or even to kill other people. Bucher (105) states that the most powerful and

therefore the most feared of witches are those believed to be possessed by a shavi ro uroyior

alien witchcraft spirit who gives them ultra-human powers to do evil. The stereotypical witch

is a woman who roams about in the night committing weird and horrible deeds. While a witch is

especially likely to take vengeance by using his/her powers to harm someone towards whom they

bear a grudge, Bourdillon (201) notes that often they have no other reason for harming or killing

than the pleasure of doing evil. He notes that the most horrible characteristic of the varoyiis their

predilection for eating human flesh. (202)

Bourdillon (199) reports that the Shona quite frequently view sickness and misfortune as due


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to witchcraft. Witchcraft can explain all types of misfortune from minor ailments to conflict with

an employer or losing ones job, and many Shona believe that death is always due to witchcraft. But

it is important to note that Shonas belief that witchcraft is the cause of an illness or misfortune does

not necessarily mean they are ignorant of the role of natural causes in the misfortunes of life.

Bourdillon (199) explains:

Often when witchcraft is believed to be operative, it acts in conjunction with evident

natural causes. Thus should a man be killed in a drunken brawl, the natural cause of

death is obvious and nobody denies it: but the Shona would want to know what made the

aggressor kill his victim on that occasion . . . If a man loses his employment after a

quarrel with his employer, he can still ask what jealous witch created the

misunderstanding and the rift between himself and his employer. And even when a very

old man dies, some claim that the only explanation of why he died precisely at the time

he did is that a witch killed him (though others accept that he may have died simply

because he was tired).

Natural causes can answer the question of howsomething happens. But there is the

further question of why, why to this particular person and why at this time and place.

Europeans are likely to speak of chance or perhaps of divine providence, but the Shona

find a more ready answer in terms of witchcraft. So the Shona belief in witchcraft deals

with a realm beyond the more natural series of events; it neither conflicts with empirical

evidence nor is it essentially irrational. (Emphasis added)

As in the case of the nganga, a muroyimay be male or female, though the tendency is to

suspect women more often than men. Thorpe (58-59) draws a clear distinction between the two:

The nganga has an abundance of power which should de directed towards the good of the

community, while the muroyi usurps power for destructive purposes. The muroyi is the

antisocial individual who causes division within society. The purpose of the nganga, on

the other hand, is to unite and maintain solidarity in the community.

Nevertheless, he notes, since the power at issue is supernatural, both the nganga and the muroyi

are feared. Besides, not all nganga achieve the goal of spreading well-being. A nganga, in one way

or another, may be diverted to pursue selfish ends and thus be suspected of witchcraft. (59)

D. The Vicissitudes of Life

With the Shona belief in the role of the midzimu(spirits) and their masvikiro(mediums), and

the powers of the manganga(diviner-healers) and the malevolent varoyi(witches) all firmly in mind,


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we have the elements necessary to understand how traditional Shona religionists view and deal with

sickness, misfortune, and the general hardship that is so much a part of their everyday lives.

Conditions in traditional Shona villages are difficult at best. Food is often scarce. Obtaining

water is a perennial problem, and the sources are often contaminated. Malaria, dysentery,

tuberculosis, measles, and a variety of water- and food-borne parasitic diseases, are a constant threat.

Misfortune takes many forms: Droughts occur every few years; plagues of grasshoppers are a regular

occurrence; field rats often eat a significant portion of the family corn crop; and a troop of baboons

or a single elephant can lay waste an entire field in a matter of minutes. Little children fall into the

cooking fire and are horribly burned. Thatch-roofed houses are struck by lightening and consumed

in flames. Mud-brick walls, soaked with heavy rains, collapse inward, often crushing someone

inside. Lions and leopards kill cattle and goats; crocodiles snatch away unwary bathers.

Before sickness and misfortune occur, the Shona seek the care and protection of their midzimu

spirit elders. When sickness or other misfortunes do strike, the Shona try to ascertain their cause, and

take remedial action which they hope will prove effective. We will look at the way traditional Shona

religionists undertake these steps.

1. Asking for Care and Protection

The first and simplest way to deal with sickness or misfortune is to try to avoid them by

seeking the protection of ones familys or clans vadzimuor spirit elders. Thorpe (57) writes of

them: Generally the midzimu are understood to be protective spirits responsible for the welfare of

the family (midzimu yapamusha) or of the tribe (mhondorospirits). To ask for their aid, the family

will consult the known medium of the appropriate spirit with their request, and perform whatever

rituals the medium indicates will please the spirit.

In order to request help from the midzimu, a family must maintain good relations with them.

This is done by remembering and honoring them on a regular basis. Bucher (68-69) explains:

[F]ormal rituals in honour of the ancestral spirits involving a large attendance are directed towards

the familys agnatic spirits. These should also always be remembered at any purely social gathering,


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the senior agnatic representative spilling some beer for them onto the ground and sometimes adding

a pinch of tobacco as well. This is the expected ideal, but Bucher admits that, In practice, however,

many Shona families engage in what might be termed a wait-and-see-game, putting off the

performance of rituals and neglecting to make token offerings to their ancestral spirits, until positive

proof that their ancestral spirits feel neglected is established through divination. (69)

While the Shona most often seek help and protection from their vadzimu, who are very real

spirit-persons to them, they also employ a variety of medicines or charms imbued with non-

personalspiritual power, which have been prepared by a ngangaand are believed to be effective in

preventing many types of illness or misfortune. Charms may be carried or worn on the person in

order to promote success in hunting or some other endeavor, or to protect one on a long journey.

Medicines may be hidden in the bedclothes to help a woman conceive. Or a small, mysterious

bundle from the ngangamay be buried in the ground outside or inside the house to ward off

wanderingshaviand angry ngozi.In traditional families, young children especially are almost always

seen wearing a necklace or bracelet made of a bit of string, perhaps with a bead or two, which the

mother obtained from a ngangato protect the childs health.

2. Ascertaining Causes and Applying Remedies

As we have noted above, the Shona have a well-developed folk natural science, (Hiebert,

1999:49) and are fully aware of a variety of natural causes which may produce desirable and/or

undesirable effects. To begin with, Thorpe (59) declares that, The Shona recognise that many

illnesses have ordinary causes and these are treated by home remedies or, nowadays, taken to

Western doctors. Ordinary people are familiar with folk remedies for basic illnesses, and the

competent ngangahas a wide arsenal of herbal medicines at his or her disposal.

However, according to traditional Shona beliefs, sickness, misfortune or plain bad luck are

generally attributed to spiritual causes. Those things which seem to have no human explanation are

understood as having an invisible cause. (Thorpe, 59) One of the spiritual causes of illness can be

a failure to show proper respect for the spirits of ones ancestors, particularly of ones father: Beer


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should occasionally be brewed for the spirit of ones father simply to honour him. If this is omitted

for a long time, the Shona believe that he may ask for beer by causing illness in his descendants.

(Bourdillon, 45) Often the remedy the ngangaprescribes for illness is a social one. When a ritual

has been overlooked, it must be performed; if living members of the family have been neglected,

they must be cared for. Wrongs must be set right. (Thorpe, 61)

In other cases, as we have seen, the ngangamay determine that an illness is due to a spirit

elders orshavispirits requesting to make the afflicted person his host. In these cases, the remedy

is usually to acquiesce, with the dubious result that the illness is exchanged for repeated bouts of

spirit possession. These episodes do, however, cause consternation and awe in those who witness

them, which serves to bestow fame and a sort of prestige on the spirit-host. This might be understood

as compensation for the perturbation a such a person suffers.

When any severe or prolonged illness occurs which does not respond to other treatments, or

when grave misfortune strikes, such as a house fire or other accident, people will consult the nganga

for him/her to divine the cause. These more serious cases may be determined to be due to the attack

of an angry or avenging ngozi.In this case, the nganga must call on his/her spirit-helper to possess

him or her, and then do battle with the ngozi to exorcise it from the afflicted person or drive it out

of the area. To succeed, the ngangas helper-spirit must be more powerful than the angry ngozi.

In other cases of misfortune, serious illness or sudden and/or violent death, people will again

consult the nganga, but they will likely already be convinced of the cause: Witchcraft! Again, as in

the previous case, whether the nganga is able to help or heal depends on whether his/her helper-spirit

is more powerful than theshavi ro uroyiof the witch.

If a nganga diagnoses witchcraft as the cause of an illness or death, the immediate next step

is to divine who is the witch. This leads to bitter accusations and recriminations, as often the accused

person is a member of the sufferers own family. Bucher (109) states that it is hard to conceive of

any other type of accusation which can so readily embitter social relations and increase

social tension. Such allegations frequently lead to assault, resulting in serious bodily

harm or death; sometimes they have caused the accused to commit suicide; often they


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result from marriage difficulties and provide the alibi for a desired divorce; at the very

least, they always lead to the witchs being avoided, while more often the accused is

forced to leave the community for good.

In all of the above cases where people suffering illness or misfortune go to the ngangafor help,

there is no guarantee that the ngangas treatment will result in restoration or healing. In some cases,

a person afflicted with a deadly disease such as AIDS will consult one ngangaafter another in a vain

attempt to stave off impending death. And regardless of whether a ngangais successful in treating

a particular illness, the payments can be exceedingly high, impoverishing the sufferers family.

Surely there must be a better way to find protection, direction and help in times of trouble than

the desperate dependence on spirit-elders, mysterious medicines andshavi-possessed nganga! It is

this better way that forms the last section of this paper.

III. CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL SHONA BELIEFS

Now that we have examined the main aspects of Shona traditional religion we are ready to

suggest how faith in Jesus Christ, and a real experience of the power and presence of his Holy Spirit

can provide the Shona with a viable, that is, a livable, alternative to their traditional religious beliefs.

A. Take Traditional Shona Religious Beliefs Seriously

The first thing I believe we must do is take traditional Shona religious beliefs seriously.

Bucher (14-15) says it well when he writes:

Generations of . . . missionaries have looked down upon the bulk of religious notions

held by the Shona and other African peoples, regarding them as naive superstitions . . .

[But] the Shona belief in the existence of spirits is not simply superstition, in the sense

in which this term is understood in present-day Western societies. Rather it representsa complete system of religious assumptions, a veritable weltanschauung, which is

intended to answer mans most existential questions.

If the Church is ever to take deep roots among the Shona people and in their

culture, her missionaries whether they are Whites or Blacks have to take the existence

of this all-embracing traditional Shona religion seriously. It is true that in fulfilling her

task, given to her by Christ, the Church has to absorb whatever good is found to be sown

in the hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples.

However, it is also her task to echo Christs call to repentance through all generations.


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Genuine metanoiaof a people and its culture will only come about as a result of the

confrontation between that which people were told in the past and Christs but now I

tell you.

This confrontation can only take place if on the part of the Church the existence of

these African cosmologies as fully-fledged religious systems is taken seriously. Only

then is it possible to appreciate to the full their importance in the life of individual

African.

Whatever we ourselves may believe about the ontological reality of the Shona spirits, we must

keep in mind that for the Shona at least, they are very real. If we are to minister to the Shona people,

we will have to begin by taking seriously their beliefs and worldview.

B. Spiritual Power An Indispensable Ingredient

If we take seriously Shona spiritual beliefs and practices, we will come face to face with the

issue ofspiritual power.This is an indispensable ingredientin any religion which hopes to satisfy

the Shona peoples felt needs for protection and security.

Charles and Marguerite Kraft highlight the urgent need for missionaries and other ministers

to learn how to receive from God and employ spiritual power. They assert: [I]n the Bible [we] see

a God of miracles, One who stands up to Satan and defeats him. (2) The worldview of the people

in Jesus time differed greatly in some respects from the Shona worldview. But they also had one very

important thing in common: The desire to seepowerat work in practical ways. The Krafts write:

First century Jews . . . looked for power demonstrations . . . Knowing this, Jesus provided

power proof. . . . Jesus presented a whole Gospel. This involved good news concerning

salvation from sin. But it also involved good news concernings Gods ability and

willingness to release people from present problems. Prominent among these problems

are the need for physical and emotional healing plus the need to be released from

demons. Much of the world is still looking for a God who is concerned about all of these

needs, a God who keeps Jesus promise to set captives completely free (Lk 4:18). (2)

The Krafts indict Western missionary Christianity as, sub-biblical. . . strong on the need for

a commitment to Christ for salvation. . . weak, however, in the area of greatest concern to peoples

like these the ability to deal with the evil powers that are continually pummeling them with

misfortune, disease, infertility and other ills. (1). As a result of this, [T]he majority of . . . the


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peoples of the world who have been converted to such powerless Christianity continue to make use

of their traditional power sources. (1)

Nowhere in the world has this last statement been truer than in Africa. From my own eleven

years in Mozambique, as well as from consultations with many African colleagues, I have come to

believe that the number-one problem with our methods of evangelism and discipling in Africa is that

we have proven unable to satisfy the peoples valid desire for real, practical spiritual power to meet

the needs they formerly met through the practices of traditional religion. As a result we have

produced literally millions of split-level Christians (Hiebert, 1999:15) who come to church every

Sunday and then go the ngangaevery Thursday night! Bucher (15) believes that missionaries must10

admit that most of their African converts have a foot in both camps: they have been baptized and go

to Church, while they also cling tenaciously to essential points of the faith of their forebears.

To avoid producing any more split-level Shona Christians with a foot in both camps, and

to help those already living this way to come to a more satisfying and less hypocritical practice

of their Christian faith, I suggest that we must demonstrate to traditional Shonas that through faith

in Jesus Christ and the fulness of his Holy Spirit, Christians have all the power we need to deal with

the evil powers that would try to harm us and dominate us through fear and even possession.

C. Shona Needs and Christian Answers

As we said at the beginning of this paper, I believe Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit, can fulfill

all the functions of midzimu, mhondoroand magombwe, meet the felt needs of traditional Shona

people, and do so in a more existentially satisfying way than the spirits can.

1. The Need for Care and Protection

As we have seen, the first, most basic need the Shona people feel is for someone powerful

enough to care for and protect them.To meet this need, missionaries, evangelists and ordinary

Shona believers must both proclaimand demonstratethat Jesus has the powerand authorityto

protect them in all situations.


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Firstly, we mustproclaimJesus power based on the witness of the Holy Scriptures. Jesus said,

All authorityin heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18). In Luke 9:1-2 we

read, When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave thempowerand authorityto drive out

all demons and to cure diseases. . . In John 13:3, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things

under his power. In Romans 1:4 Paul writes of the one who, through the Spirit of holiness was

declared withpowerto be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

And in Philippians 3:20-21 he speaks of a Savior from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has

powerthat enables him to bring everything under his control. (All emphasis added.)

For the Shona, perhaps the most important power they require of Jesus is that he be able to

protect them from the attacks of witchcraft, angryngozispirits, and the threat of being forced against

their will to become the host of someshavispirit. Scripture gives us numerous examples of Jesus

power over spirits of all kinds. An notable demonstration of Jesus power over demons is the case

of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1-20, where Jesus drove out a whole legion of powerful

demons. Other references to Jesus defeating evil spirits include: Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 1:32-34,

39; 7:24-30; Luke 4:33-37; 9:37-43. Jesus also demonstrated his power over sickness, performing

many healings in which the illness or debility is directly attributed to demonic activity: Matthew

12:22-23; Mark 9:17-29; Luke 6:18-19; 13:10-17.

A word of caution is in order: We must make clear to newly-converted and non-Christian

Shona people that Jesus exorcizing and healing ministry is different in essential kindfrom that of

the manganga. In Matthew 12:22-29, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the

power of Beelzebub, the prince of Demons. This would make Jesus ministry equivalent to that of

the manganga. However, Jesus not only repudiates the charge, but turns it around and identifies the

exorcisms of the Pharisees disciples as Satans work instead!

Furthermore Jesus, as God, caresabout us and understandsour needs, even better than do the

Shona spirit elders. Hebrews 4:15 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to

sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we


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are. In Luke 12:30 Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about the things they need in this life

because, your Father knows that you need them. Peter tells us, Cast all your anxiety on him

because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Finally, we see that Jesus followers the Apostles, and the seventy-two, for example also

share Jesus power to cast out demons and heal. In Luke 10:17-20 we read:

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in

your name. He replied, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you

authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the

enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but

rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Accounts of the Apostles working miracles, casting out demons and healing include: Mark 6:7-13;

Acts 3:1-10; 5:12-16; 8:4-8; 14:8-10; 16:16-18; 19:11-12; 20:7-12. This last incident is not just a

healing, but records Pauls actually raising the young man from the dead!

Now, we come to the second phase of assuring Shona traditional religionists that Jesus can

meet their needs for care and protection: We must demonstrateJesus power in a ministry of healing,

and deliverance, according to the gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to each missionary, evangelist,

pastor or lay believer. I have never, to my knowledge, exercised the gift of healing, but I know

personally African pastors who have. And numerous times I have led the group of church elders as

we laid hands on a person possessed by an evil spirit (whethershavior ngoziI cannot say) and cast

the spirit out in Jesus name. We must not shy away from confrontations with Satan and the powers

of evil, or from peoples need for healing. We must take the authority Jesus has given us and use it

to demonstratethat Jesus has power over than the spirits that attack and afflict the Shona.

2. The Need for Orientation in Decision-Making

At times we all feel the need for guidance which goes beyond the help of even the wisest

human counselor. Traditional Shona seek this guidance from their spirit elders. As an alternative,

we must againproclaimand demonstratethat God in Christ provides us with the guidance we need.

James 1:5 is the premier proclamation passage in this regard: If any of you lacks wisdom,


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he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

In John 16:13 Jesus promises his disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. In Luke

12:11-12 Jesus advises his disciples: When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and

authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy

Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. The promise this last passage is valid also

for those who may be confronted by members of their family or the local community, or by the

nganga,to explain why they no longer participate in the ceremonies requesting aid from the vadzimu.

Furthermore, the Scriptures teach us that the Holy Spirit may give Jesus disciples a message

of knowledge, (1 Corinthians 12:8) the gift of prophecy and the ability of distinguishing between

spirits (v. 10). In Acts 11:8, Agabus accurately predicted a famine through the Spirits inspiration.

In Acts 27:34 Paul correctly assured his traveling companions that none of them would die in the

storm and shipwreck which stranded them on the island of Malta. All of these passages proclaim that

Jesus through his Holy Spirit can provide us with the guidance we need for daily living.

But again, after we have shared these passages with traditional Shona believers and

unbelievers, we must also demonstratethe gifts of wisdom, knowledge, discerning of spirits and

even prophecy, according as the Holy Spirit chooses to give them to us. I have never prophesied, but

I have often received supernatural help to discern that someone I was dealing with was evil, or was

lying, or was otherwise motivated by Satan. I believe missionaries, evangelists, pastors, and lay

Christians must submit ourselves wholly to the Spirit, believe that he will give us these gifts, and

then exercise them in faith when he does. In this way Shona traditional religionists will see that in

Christ they have a guide more reliable than the mudzimuof their dead grandfather or the mhondoro

of a dead chief.

3. The Need for a Mediator with God

The Scripture also speaks to the Shonas felt need for a mediator who can present their

petitions toMwari. Paul writes: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the

man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men the testimony given in its proper


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time. (1 Timothy 2:5-7) And he assures the Romans that, In the same way, the Spirit helps us in

our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

Ephesians 2:18 says that through Christ we have access to the Father by one Spirit.

(Ephesians 2:18) Hebrews 4:16 assures us that through Jesus, our high priest, we can approach the

throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time

of need. And Jesus declares, I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my

name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your

joy will be complete. (John 16:23-24)

For those of us who already know first-hand Jesus love, grace and help in our lives, the

Scripture passages I have cited form a litany of assurance, confirming what we already know from

our own experience. But for pre-Christian Shona, Scripture quotations by themselves will carry little

weight. Rather, the most powerful and convincing testimony will be that of committed, single-

level Shona Christians who have experienced Gods power, protection and help in their daily lives.

The testimony of victorious believers in Christ to Gods existential faithfulness is the most

attractive and convincing witness possible to those who practice Shona traditional religion. When

their fellow Shona, members of their community and of their own family, testify of Jesus power to

protect, guide and give us access to God the Father, and then demonstrate this reality in their lives,

Shona people will turn to Jesus in faith and find that all their needs are met in Him.

CONCLUSION

As I finish this paper, I am painfully aware that we have barely scratched the surface of all that

Shona traditional religious beliefs and practices mean to those who follow them as a way of life.

Many other issues could be explored, such as the way the Christian concept of God differs from

traditional Shona beliefs about Mwari, or the question of Christian substitutes for the social


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functions of Shona ancestor veneration (preserving family history, promoting family cohesiveness,

maintaining community discipline, etc.) However, I have been able to show some of the ways

Christianity can be truly Good News to traditional Shona people as they find in Jesus the One who

has more power than all the midzimu, mhondoro, magombwe, mashavi, ngozi, masvikiro, manganga

and varoyiin the world.


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Copyright 1980 by the Oxford U niversity Press

MAP

THE SHONA-SPEAKING PEOPLES AND NEIGHBORING GROUPS


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Troutman / Research Topic and Bibliography / p. 32

REFERENCES CITED

Bourdillon, Michael F.C.

1973 Traditional Religion in Shona Society. In Christianity South of the Zambezi.

Edited by Anthony J. Dachs. Salisbury, Rhodesia: Mambo Press

1976 The Shona Peoples.Gwelo, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.

Bucher, Hubert

1980 Spirits and Powers: An Analysis of Shona Cosmology. Cape Town: Oxford

University Press.

Central Intelligence Agency

2004 The World Factbook. Accessed December 13, 2004 at

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zi.html.

Gelfand, Michael

1959 Shona Ritual With Special Reference to the Chaminuka Cult.Johannesburg: Juta

& Company, Limited.

1962. Shona Religion With Special Reference to the Makorekore.Johannesburg: Juta

& Company, Limited.

Hiebert, Paul G., R. Daniel Shaw, Tite Tinou

1999 Understanding Folk Religion. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books.

Kraft, Charles and Marguerite

1993 The Power of God for People Who Ride Two Horses. The Kingdom and the

Power.Ventura, California: Regal.

Newitt, Maylan D. D.

1999 "Zimbabwe." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Redmond, Washington:

Microsoft Corporation.

Thorpe, S. A.

1991 African Traditional Religions An Introduction.Pretoria: University of SouthAfrica.

Zvarevashe, Ignatius M.

1980 Shona (Bantu) Traditional Religion inAfer, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 294-303.


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Troutman / Research Topic and Bibliography / p. 33

1. The designation Bantu derives from the fact that all the languages of this grouping use some form

of the root -ntu-to designate being, so that the resulting word for human (or personal) being is

something like muntu (sing.) / bantu (pl.) in Shona munhu / vanhu. The Bantu language group

includes such well-known languages as Shona, Zulu, and Swahili.

2. The Summer Institute of Linguistics Ethnologue is considered by many to be the authoritative source

for information regarding the classification and derivation of the worlds more than 6800 languages.

3. These are: Kalanga (Zimbabwe, Botswana); Manyika (Zimbabwe, Mozambique); Nambya

(Zimbabwe); Ndau (Zimbabwe, Mozambique); Shona (Zimbabwe, Zambia) Tawara (Mozambique) and

Tewe (Mozambique). (S.I.L. Ethnologue).

4. Matabeleland was the territory of the Ndebele in the south and west of present-day Zimbabwe, while

Mashonaland was the territory of the Shona, in the north and east.

5. Present-day Harare.

6. However, some authors, such as Michael Gelfand (1959:13ff; 1962:51ff) use the word tribe

interchangeably with the word clan to describe the people descended from and/or governed by a

particular chief. This usage of the word tribe may appear in some direct quotations in this paper, and

should not be allowed to confuse the reader.

7. Many Shona nouns have a double plural. In the case of mudzimu, the plural may be either vadzimu.or

midzimu.Midzimubegins with the plural prefix mi-which is applied to many classes of things, and so

refers to the spirits in a general way; while vadzimu, begins with the plural prefix va-which is used

to denote persons, and so indicates that the spirits are persons whom we respect.

8. Also spelledshave / mashave.

9. Also spelled nangaand nganga. The word begins with the nasal ng as though you were to say

English sing a but without the si-. No words in English begin with this sound. The final ng is like

that in English finger.

10. For the Shona there is no special spiritual significance to any particular weekday as far as I know. I just

picked a day at random.

NOTES

Troutman, Guardians, Guides, and Mediators.The Spirits in Shona Religion.pdf

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