zulu

Zulu Proverb - Unyawu aluna mpumulo

Qhakijane — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:40:34 -0600

Unyawu aluna mpumulo - Literally: The foot does not have a nose.

Background.

This is said of a smart-aleck type of a guy, who eventually walks into a trap as a well deserved “serve him right” situation.

… because had he known, where his feet were taking him, they would have smelled the trouble and gave him due warning to keep off; as it were feet do not have olfactory faculties and through his own advice he walked into a sticky situation.

So it sometimes reads: The wise guy eventually walks into trouble of his own making.

Zulu culture, language & traditions

Zulu Proverb - Ukufihla induku emcubeni

Qhakijane — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:37:01 -0600

Ukufihla induku emcubeni - Literally: To hide a staff in the cow dung

Background:

In Zulu culture the cattle kraal is the main meeting place where ordinary, ceremonial and spiritual matters are discussed and enacted . It’s smells of urine, and cow dung are reassuring to the men folk because they mean life, wealth and continuity of the bloodline. It is alleged the first creatures to emerge with man from the primordial bed of reeds were cattle. Without cattle there can be no African. All important rituals involve the lowly cow.

Over the years the cattle kraal is covered by a thick warm layer of manure that traps heat during the day and offers a warm solar blanket in the evenings. Some clans bury their senior male members along the cattle kraal under the warm blanket of cattle dung. Its walls are made of stones and the gnarled poisonous branches of the umsimbithi tree to keep away the inevitable predators. Generally there is a designed area where women do not tread upon in the kraal.

The treacherous fellow is the one who on pretext invites you for a serious discussion in the kraal but with the intention of taking you by surprise by reaching a concealed weapon well hidden in the carpet of cattle dung.

In view of the holiness of the place and the treachery involved, this idiom is used to express extreme displeasure against betrayal and treachery. Zulus enter the cattle kraal unarmed and not anticipating any danger or hostility.

Zulu culture, language & traditions

Zulu Proverb - Ukhamba lufuze imbiza

Qhakijane — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:33:37 -0600

Ukhamba lufuze imbiza - Literally: The calabash resembles the fire pot.

Background:

This is said of a child or offspring who takes after the parent. The obvious logic being that the same clay mined at the same mud hole, was used by the potter in making both the fire pot and the calabash. Therefore the contents may differ but the substantial matter of constitution is the same for both the fire pot and the calabash.

So this proverb actually says: Don’t you see, he actually takes after his father anyway!

There is agreement here with other ancient cultures in the Middle East and Egypt who actually saw the Creator as the Great Potter who fashioned men and women with his hands and in a way He sees fit. This metaphor was not lost to Zulus as well.

This proverb is not used for physical resemblance but for conduct, temperament and other behavioural attributes in a negative sense.

A well seasoned human being, is the one who spent most time in the Potter’s hands and in the oven, being able to withstand all problems that life throws in his or her way. But the bad human being is obviously fashioned from poor clay, and has spent little time in the oven of personal maturity and this carries even to his offspring.

Zulu culture, language & traditions

When the teachings were lost or forgotten - the function of the scapegoat

Qhakijane — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:32:25 -0600

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?

Zulu culture, language & traditions

The teachings of Unkulukulu

Qhakijane — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:21:10 -0600

The Teachings of Unkulunkulu became the oral wisdom of amaZulu and their system of elders were equipped with judgement in order to interpret this wisdom.

Unkulunkulu is not God. Missionaries in their zeal to plant a Christian cosmology into the African natives, took the word UNkulunkulu, and translated it into God. In Zulu cosmology nothing is as far from the truth. In modern South Africa, millions of black people regard UNkulunkulu as God. From a true and etymological point of view, Unkulunkulu is the Being who is created like ourselves who came out first. Another rendering of the name of this Being is umvelingqangi.

As a word umvelingqangi consists of the following concepts: vela – to appear qangi – for the very first time. Hence the One-who-appeared-for the–very-first-time. In Zulu cosmology Unkulunkulu came out first to prepare a living space for the human beings who are to follow him later. Unkulunkulu did not create the earth but he came out first to prepare a place for us. It is the same concept used by Jesus when He said He is going to heaven to prepare a place for His followers. The heaven was already created but in anticipation of his permanent guests he is going to prepare mansions (spiritual abodes not houses) so that the saints will have a living space.

So Unkulunkulu prepared the earth for human habitation. Unkulunkulu certainly was a very powerful being who had powers to subjugate and tame nature for human habitation. He later died, and went back to the Great Unknown Beyond our sensual perception.

In Zulu cosmology Unkulunkulu was the Great Teacher. Unkulunkulu taught people how to live in peace with the world and the earth. For this purpose the Teachings of Unkulunkulu were handed down as Traditions, they were an Oral Tradition and human beings (abantu) also continued with the work of handing down a Received Tradition to their descendants long after Unkulunkulu had left. These traditions covered many aspects of life: birth, puberty, marriage, death, war, illness, medicine, hunting, and many others. Some traditions were taught as Secret mysteries by those with specialized knowledge to those who were initiated especially medicine.

General teachings were the preserve of the elders. They presided on special cases and dealt with issues in the light of changed and new developments in the lives of the people. Over many years after the departure of Unkulunkulu, Zulus (read: Africans) always referred matters and cases of law to their elders for resolution and equitable handling.

Now over time the gist of these teachings came to be known as ubuntu. These were not book teachings residing in a library but these were practical livable teachings that were characterised by the spirit of Great Humanity. In any African language the hyperbole “he is not a muntu” means he/she is great distortionist of the behaviour expected of one who adheres to the teachings received from Unkulunkulu.

In any culture in sub-Saharan Africa if I am told that so-and-so is not a muntu, I immediately know that I am dealing with a perverse individual. They don’t need to spell out the details, and I will immediately know that here is a species of rebellious, defiant and immoral human being. Now ubuntu is the unwritten law, etched indelibly in the hearts of Africans. You cannot bribe me not to know that you don’t have ubuntu. This is the kind of knowledge that exist like a human conscience never controlled by men, to be used irresponsibly by men, but a TRUE knowledge of moral soundness a tribute to the Moral Pedagogic Expertise of Unkulunkulu.

There are many things that Africans must have done since the departure of Unkulunkulu and certainly one of them was that they were never ancestral worshippers. I don’t want to get entangled in dabates that will take away what I am trying to establish here. It is the Received Teachings from ancestors that Africans appeal to for personal or collective redemption in times of spiritual crisis.

Any act by an individual or group of people which undermined the Teachings of Ancestors as received from Unkulunkulu, that person was seen to be undermining the peace and prosperity of that individual, family or community. Therefore sin in an African sense was perceived to have an immediate adverse effect on the well being of the community. Such an act of subversion became known as ubuloyi, ukuthakatha, ifiti, and many other similar words which prove our communal ancestral descent.

Zulu culture, language & traditions

Stories of Creation

Qhakijane — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:12:16 -0600

From a philosophical point of view, Zulus see human beings as coming from another dimension of existence. Hence they suddenly appeared on earth.

The earth is also seen as a created domain but the world used for creation is dala. Therefore God created (wadala) heaven (izulu) and earth (nomhlaba). This is how Genesis 1:1 is translated into Zulu.

But the Zulus had a smile on their face when this translation was rendered. The root word Dala in Zulu means ancient and hoary and ageless. Therefore creation from a Zulu conceptual point of view is conceived as a process which took place many years ago infact ageless, probably running in millions of years. Immediately from this we arrive at a scientifically validated fact that the earth is far older in age than its creatures including man who is a late comer who emerged from a Holy Spiritual place, with a clear Holy and Spiritual mandate. In the Zulu cosmology it is important to note where man emerges from. It is this place that gives a clue to the purpose and destiny of man.

For instance if you have a military mandate you clearly receive your orders from the Commander in Chief probably if you are an American General from the Pentagon. Therefore Zulus see themselves emerging from a highly regarded spiritual vantage point into the world. Other Bantu cultures see themselves emerging from a mountain top. This is not a childish guesswork but it clearly points to the fact that this particular tribe see itself descending from a point of intersection of heaven and earth and clearly unless you choose to be stubborn, it is a point of Spiritual genesis because where heaven and earth meet, it is a point of Devine Intervention and from thence they descend to the earth with clear divine instructions.

Now having emerged from the reed marsh, Zulus claim that the first humans were received by Unkulunkulu.

Unkulunkulu – is literally the Great-Great One (nkulu=great) hence His greatness being ascribed to Him due to His being the Foremost One, the First to Emerge and subjugate the created world. He therefore emerged from the Unknowable Greatness and established a crown, a kingdom, a domain, space for rulership, using a blueprint of spiritual principles, so that man could live in the world. These concepts are in total agreement with all knowledge of ancient religions about the first things that appeared from the unknown.

Zulu culture, language & traditions

The process of emergence - people of the reeds

Qhakijane — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:03:58 -0600

We are told that the word umuntu (plural abantu) spiritually means those who emerged from the reed in an ancient marsh.

The process of emerging is described as ukudabuka i.e. to forcefully tear a covering and emerge. From this we learn that from a Zulu point of view the process of human creation of first human existence entailed a period of gestation in the pre-world because it was when the first humans were sufficiently well developed that their physical womb was torn down and their emerged into the world. As in human birth, the umbilical detaches and the amniotic sac bursts open and the child emerges into the world.

It is important to realize that the reed should not be literally seen as the substance that encased the first humans. The reed should be understood in terms of its biological qualities as a hollow plant shoot, and the combination of water and earth for its existence, which three are necessary for life to thrive.

In Zulu when a person is asked “udabukaphi?” it means that where do you just come from? It may also mean from which world do you come from? Or from which country do you come from? Hence in the Zulu cosmological thinking the human beings have emerged from an unknown world. There is no attempt made to explain where they have emerged from prior to the reed and the marsh. The marsh and the reed therefore do not attempt to portray themselves as a literal place with specific geographic co-ordinates but should be understood from a spiritual point of view.

Osiris, Moses, and many ancient Gods have their emergence into the spiritual world via the reeds and marsh, a place of significant spiritual meaning. Even the children of Israel in their exodus to the Holy Land, crossed a marsh of reeds, generally wrongly translated into English as the Red Sea.

The reed provided the holy papyrus which ancient Egypt used to preserve her ancient Holy Writings. It is therefore immature to ridicule the Zulu cosmology as a childish invention because it points with unmistakable accuracy together with other ancient religions to the fact that water, reeds, and earth are an ancient Holy combination whose symbolism modern man has unfortunately forgotten.

The reed spiritually not literally, stands for the spiritual umbilicus that joins man as a not-yet-creature-in-creation-process to the Great Unknown Powers beyond. It means that there has been a protracted process of nurturing and feeding the uncreated man with powers and spiritual nourishment from the Great Beyond or Heaven if you prefer. The hollow reed symbolizes the conduit through which this transaction took place. Therefore we look for meaning not in the literal meanings and like St. Paul we see the unmistakable spiritual symbols that testify more eloquently of why Zulus located the uncreated man in marsh of reeds.

Chichewa is another ancient language spoken roughly around present day Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe with its various local variations. In Chichewa we unmistakenably see that the root word, nthu the same word used for umuntu (Zulu) or munthu (Chichewa) or Motho (Sotho) is used to denote a verb which means to appear suddenly. This verb is bunthuka. It is a remnant of the ancient meaning that validates the Zulu meaning that umuntu waduka ohlangeni (literally a human emerged from a reed). To bunthuka is to come into view suddenly and be seen.

It is therefore safe to assume that word umuntu means to appear or to emanate from the Great Unknown. When a man is from another racial group or culture the Zulus would refer to him or them as those who have emerged from another reed-place. Izinhlanga therefore refers to people of other racial groups.

Zulu culture, language & traditions