African Ideas About the Afterlife

The following excerpts are from John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (New York and Washington, 1969), 159-164.

Again it is clear that people view death paradoxically: it is a separation but not annihilation, the dead person is suddenly cut off from the human society and yet the corporate group clings to him. This is shown through the elaborate funeral rites, as well as other methods of keeping in contact with the departed, which we shall discuss below. Death becomes, then, a gradual process, which is not completed until some years after the actual physical death. At the moment of physical death, the person becomes a living-dead: he is neither alive physically, nor dead relative to the corporate group. When his own Sasa period is over, he enters fully into the Zamani period; but, as far as the living who knew him are concerned, he is kept "back" in the Sasa period, from which he can disappear only gradually. Those who have nobody to keep them in the Sasa period in reality "die" immediately, which is a great tragedy that must be avoided as all costs....

...For peoples who think that the hereafter is in another world or a distant place, food and weapons may be buried with the dead body to sustain and protect the person in the journey between the two worlds or places. For the majority of peoples, however, the next world is in fact geographically "here," being separated from this only by virtue of being invisible to human beings. The Chagga hold that the journey takes nine days from this to the next world, and the soul must travel through a dangerous desert region. On arrival at the other end, the soul has to be admitted by older spirits. To make the journey less demanding, the corpse is anointed with fat, "given" milk in the mouth and wrapped with hide, to provide it with food and protect it from the scorching desert sun. A bull is also killed for the grandfather of the deceased, so that he would help the soul when it arrives at the next world. The Lodagaa believe that the land of the departed lies to the west, being separated from this by the river of Death. As soon as the funeral rites are performed, the soul begins its journey. At the river, it is ferried across, for a fee of 20 cowries, which friends and relatives provide at the funeral. But crossing this river is an ordeal whose hardness depends on the nature of the life that a person has led in this life. Therefore, "good" people get across easily, but "bad" people fall through the boat and must swim across the river, which can take up to three years to do. It is debtors, thieves, witches and those who denied something to others that face the greatest difficulties in either being allowed to cross or in the act of crossing the river. The Ga people also believe that, at death, the soul must cross a river, and, on arrival at the other side, the nose is broken so that the departed speak in nasal tones....

...Death proclaims the formal conflict between Zamani and Sasa forces. As soon as a person dies, he becomes a living dead--he is a "spirit" in the sense that he is no longer in the body, and yet he retains features which describe him in physical terms. He still retains his personal name, so that when he appears to human members of his family, they recognize him as so-and-so. He is counted as part of the family in many ways, even though people know and realize that he has forsaken them. Part of his being survives in the memory of those who knew him while he lived and in the children who survive him. It is primarily his family which "keeps him going," so to speak. When the living-dead appears, it is to those who see him; there is no affectionate warmth such as one witnesses when relatives or friends meet in this life. There is no exchange of greetings, which in African societies is an extremely important social means of contact; and when the living-dead departs, human beings do not give greetings to other living-dead. Socially, therefore, something has happened, something has cooled off, and a real distance between the living-dead and human beings has begun to grow. We have pointed out already that the living-dead may give instructions, or inquire about the family, or make requests to be given something, and may even threaten to punish members of the family for not carrying out particular instructions or for not caring sufficiently for the living-dead. People are keen to do their "best" for the living-dead, chiefly because these are in a position of need just as little children have to be cared for by adults. The personal immortality of the living-dead is for all practical purposes dependent on his progenies. At the same time, the living-dead are in the intermediary position between man and God, and between man and the spirits. Human beings keep the relationship going between them and their living-dead, chiefly through libation, offerings of food and other items, prayers and the observation of proper rites towards the departed or instructions form them....

...Belief in reincarnation is reported among many African societies. This is, however, partial reincarnation in the sense that only some human features or characteristics of the living-dead are said to be "reborn" in some children. This happens chiefly in the circle of one's family and relatives. The living-dead who has been reincarnated continues, however, to have this separate existence and does not cease to be. I suspect that this belief is partly the result of externalizing people's awareness of the nearness of their living-dead, and partly an attempt to explain what is otherwise a purely biological phenomenon, which applies not only to human beings but also to animals. Those who hold someone in the state of personal immortality see biological or character resemblances in a young child, and immediately feel that since the particular living-dead has not yet sunk into the oblivion ... he has "returned" to them....

The following excerpts are from Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (New York, 1978), 13.

Because of the powerful position of the ancestors, burial rites become very important. Improper or incomplete funeral rites can interfere with or delay the entrance of the deceased into the spiritual world and may cause his soul to linger about, as a restless and malevolent ghost. Funeral ceremonies are long, complex, and expensive, but it would be a great disgrace for a family not to observe the proper rites, even if they must go into debt to do so. Before a funeral is complete, several customs must be observed: preparation of the body for burial, the wake, interment, mourning after burial, and later mourning at varying periods." The graves of the deceased of some West African peoples are elaborately decorated with the personal effects of the individuals buried there.

Rites honoring the ancestors vary from the simple private offering of food and drink, a gesture that may occur anytime, to more elaborate public ceremonies such as the adae ceremonies held by the Ashanti twice every 43 days, in which the stools of past clan rulers, representing their spirits, are fed and honored. There are societies, such as the Youruba Egungun society and the Ibo Mmo society, that foster the cult of the ancestors. Members of these societies go about masked and ceremonially garbed, imitating the dead on certain ritual occasions in order to warn the errant living to mend their ways."

Reader Response Questions:

How do African religions view death? Why are funeral rites and care with burial important? Describe the relationship between the "living-dead" and its former family. Why do the living need a relationship with the "living-dead?" How is belief in reincarnation "partial?" To what extent, in your opinion, does Morrison borrow her conception of Beloved from traditional African beliefs about reincarnation and the "living dead?"