Venus Rising
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Venus Rising South African Astronomical Beliefs, Customs and Observations P.G. Alcock Venus Rising Venus Rising South African Astronomical Beliefs, Customs and Observations P.G. Alcock Venus Rising: South African Astronomical Beliefs, Customs and Observations. Copyright © 2014 P.G. Alcock, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book has been catalogued as follows: Alcock, P.G. Venus Rising: South African Astronomical Beliefs, Customs and Observations/by P.G. Alcock; First edition, 2014. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-919966-04-5 Dewey No. 398.3620968 Page design and layout: Jo Marwick, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Key terms for the book: • African indigenous celestial knowledge; • African concepts of heaven and the supreme being; • The Moon, the Sun and the stars as well as solar eclipses and lunar eclipses, comets and meteors in South Africa; • South African poems, riddles and other expressions associated with the heavens; • South African place names linked to celestial bodies. Also published by the same author: Alcock, P.G., 2010. Rainbows in the Mist: Indigenous Weather Knowledge, Beliefs and Folklore in South Africa, South African Weather Service, Pretoria, 582 pp. From Silimela Son of Makinana Summon the nations, let’s apportion the stars: Let the stars be apportioned. You Sotho, Take Canopus, To share with the Tswana and Chopi, And all of those nations in loin cloths. You of KwaZulu, Take Orion’s Belt, To share with the Swazi, the Chopi and Shangaan, As well as uncircumcised nations. You Britons, take Venus, To divide with the Germans and Boers, Though you are folk who don’t know how to share. We’ll divide up the Pleiades, we peoples of Phalo, That great group of stars, For they’re stars for counting off years, For counting the years of manhood, For counting the years of manhood, The years of manhood. I disappear! Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi, Xhosa poet (1875–1945). Source: Opland (1992); Eve (2003). i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to sincerely thank Ms W. Leeb, Mrs P. Weston, Ms A. Zaverdinos and Prof C. Plug for their help in securing a number of old or obscure references. Thanks are also due to Miss K. Nixon who kindly allowed me access to her extensive collection of Africana. I am likewise grateful to J.M. Feely who assisted me with information on Xhosa celestial bodies. Messrs T.P. Cooper and W.P. Koorts as well as Ms S. Davies were always willing to help with data on southern African comets. Prof. K. Snedegar very generously sent me a copy of his unpublished manuscript on South African indigenous astronomical knowledge. T.P. Cooper; Dr I.S. Glass, C. Rijsdijk and C. Turk read the more technical sections of the book and made a number of suggestions to improve the content. Their input is highly appreciated. Prof. P.S. Groenewald was most helpful in tracing rare publications on Tswana beliefs and customs, and provided valuable assistance on Northern Sotho linguistics. Prof. D. Ambrose, in similar vein, kindly assisted me with Southern Sotho material. Prof. A. Wilkes was likewise very helpful in respect of the Southern Ndebele. The current author, however, is fully responsible for any errors in the text. A book on South African indigenous knowledge, written by the present author, was published by the South African Weather Service in 2010. The book is entitled: Rainbows in the Mist: Indigenous Weather Knowledge, Beliefs and Folklore in South Africa. This book is a companion volume to the current publication, which was funded by the Department of Science and Technology in Pretoria, with the project being administered via North-West University. The author is most grateful to both agencies for their financial and logistical support. Jo Marwick played a major role in the book’s reaching fruition, in terms of her dedicated editing and layout skills. Finally, I must thank my Louise for giving me the space needed to write this book. I owe her much more than I can ever repay. Neither the copyright holder of a translated extract from the Xhosa poem: Silimela Son of Makinana (Opland, 1992; Eve, 2003), nor the copyright holder of the poem: Ode to Nkwenkweland (Samuelson, 1974) could be traced, despite sustained efforts. Apologies are tendered should any infringement of copyright have occurred, which will be rectified in subsequent impressions of the book. The picture on the front cover is reproduced by kind courtesy of Pieter Arie Binsbergen (1969– ), artist, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, Pretoria. ii CONTENTS Page Chapter 1: Preamble ...................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Heaven including the Sun ............................................................. 11 A discussion of primary African deities and creation .............................................. 11 The San ...................................................................................................... 11 The Khoikhoi ............................................................................................... 22 The Zulu ..................................................................................................... 27 The Swazi ................................................................................................... 29 The Ndebele ................................................................................................ 29 The Xhosa ................................................................................................... 30 The Venda ................................................................................................... 32 The Tsonga .................................................................................................. 33 The Sotho-Tswana ........................................................................................ 34 The Lemba .................................................................................................. 36 Other beliefs ................................................................................................ 37 Linguistic terms used to describe east and west ..................................................... 38 General solar beliefs ........................................................................................ 39 The San ...................................................................................................... 39 The Khoikhoi ............................................................................................... 49 The Northern Sotho ....................................................................................... 51 The Southern Sotho (Basotho) ......................................................................... 52 The Tswana ................................................................................................. 52 The Zulu ..................................................................................................... 55 The Xhosa …… ............................................................................................. 57 The Swazi …… ............................................................................................. 60 The Tsonga .................................................................................................. 61 The Venda …… ............................................................................................. 62 Retarding the passage of the Sun ........................................................................ 63 Times of the day and night ................................................................................ 63 The summer and winter solstice ......................................................................... 64 The seasons in southern Africa ........................................................................... 65 Heavenly bodies as national and other symbols in South Africa ................................ 69 A significant hill .............................................................................................. 71 Some mythical creatures and beings of the night .................................................... 71 Riddles and other expressions relating to the Sun ................................................... 74 The Northern Sotho ....................................................................................... 74 The Southern Sotho (Basotho) ......................................................................... 75 The Tswana ................................................................................................. 75 The Tsonga .................................................................................................. 76 The Venda ................................................................................................... 77 The Lemba .................................................................................................. 79 The Xhosa ................................................................................................... 79 The Swazi ................................................................................................... 80 The Zulu ..................................................................................................... 80 The Southern Ndebele ..................................................................................