When the Teachings were lost or forgotten, Zulus and many other Africans believe that recourse could be obtained by appealing directly to those who are on the other side of the Great Unknown particularly those with a stake in the continued well being of their descendants. This is a communication of last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted. The spirit of a goat is sent over to convey the S.O.S. message.

Why a goat? In every language in Africa a goat is called imbuzi. It is in Zulu, perhaps because of its ancient roots, that the meaning of this word has been preserved. Imbuzi means in Zulu “the one who goes to the spiritual realm to enquire on your behalf.”

In the book of Leviticus 16:20 -28 in the bible we are familiar with the concept of the scapegoat into whose ears the priest confesses the sins of the community and the other goat which according to the same scriptural verses, “videotapes” all the sins and good deeds of the sacrificing priest and sends it to the Unknown Beyond to God, in order to deliver the message of the community to God. By the way the scapegoat is released into the mountains, where the agility of the goat, climbs very high into the mountain mists where the evil spirit of AZAZEL resides.

The spirit of the goat does the same function that today is done by the ubiquitous SMS and email. It is specifically sent to enquire on behalf of those matters that our collective memory cannot resolve. Here are some hintful Zulu words:

buza- to ask
umbuzo – a question, a riddle
imbuzi – “the asker” the inquirer
-bu – a root word standing for crying aloud (ukububula), also for evil (ububi)
-zi – a root word for knowledge, wisdom, knowing (as in ukwazi to know) isazi (a wiseman)

Therefore imbuzi – one who is beset with evil or misfortune and whose condition makes him or her to wail aloud and who truly wants to know the reason thereof..

Needless to say, to see Africans as benighted ancestor worshippers is a great disservice to our spiritual heritage. In fact if we can place the time frame in which the goat sacrifices were done in Leviticus, we can immediately locate the time frame in which Africans including Zulus, were doing goat sacrifices. We are therefore dealing with an age that can safely be located into around 3000-2000 B.C.

Without sounding trite, there are practices and many of them that undermine the integrity of African and Zulu culture in particular. That a car is used for hijackings, for drunken driving, for committing crimes or for launching bomb, does not detract for the good moral reason why cars were invented (although the exploitation of fossil fuels has many serious negative consequences). African belief are no different; they are abused by both insiders and outsiders but that does not diminish their spiritual value. This article strives to expose that. Today, Christian beliefs are seen as being responsible for and justifying wars and torture around the world, it certainly does not detract from the fact that its founder stated unequivocally that “Love your enemies!” It is spiritual casuistry that interprets love as an act of smart bombs or false intelligence to destroy the other “enemy” people.

Colonialism and conquest brought foreign beliefs to us through the door of theft, deception, greed, racial oppression and exploitation. The western world is tired and is truly spiritually exhausted. It is time that Africans look deep into their own spiritual resources and save themselves. We are a nation of “leavers”, we leave our culture. we leave our countries, we leave our values, we leave our religions, and a person who leaves his or her Teachings becomes an Umloyi, umthakathi, a mfiti, a mrogi, unawares without consciously knowing to be doing so. We want to restore our humanity, our respect, our good behaviour, our good morals, because something in us has been distorted and destroyed. But we know it is not possible to go back, but it is possible to go forward and build on a solid foundation and build the Spiritual Kingdom of Anthu.

Until you understand the fundamental spiritual truths of why your people said they came down from Kapirimtiya, you must know that you are a being alienated against himself, a rebel and a true distortion of who you really are! Remember it is the lowly and simple numbering system from 1 to 10 that the marvels of modern science that you enjoy today are built upon. Until you also work hard at our most simple beliefs, who do you hope to attain the greatness that lies before you?