AFRICAN SOCIETIEIS AND CULTURE

Question: The worship of ancestors is based upon the belief that the spirit continues to infleunce the living relatives discuss?

For most of the cultures,  ancestors  practices  are not the same as the worship of the  gods. When a person worships a god  at  a  local temple, it is to ask  for  some favour that can be granted by the  powerful spirit. In some cultures,  the purpose of ancestor veneration is  not to ask for  favours but to do ones filiai duty    some people believe that their ancestors actually need to be provided for   by their descendants others  do not believe  that the ancestors are even award of what their   descendants do  for them , but that the expression  of filiai piety is important, whether or not   the ancestor receives what is offered is not the issue. 

Therefore, for people unfamiliar with how   ancestor worship  is  actually practiced  and thought of  the use of the translation worship can be a cause  of misunderstanding and is a misnomer in many ways in English, the word worship usually  refers to  the reverent love and  devotion accorded a deity  or divine being. However, in  other culture, this act  of worship does not confer   any belief that the  departed ancestors have become some kind of deity rather, the act is away to respect, honour and look after ancestors in their after lives as well as seek  their guidance for their living descendants in  this regards many cultures and religions have similar  practices,. Some may visit the graves of their parents  or other ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in  order ancestors, leave flowers and pray to  them in order to honour and remember them, while  also  asking their  deceased  ancestors to continue to look after them.
However,  this  would not be considered as worshiping them. It is in that sense that the translation  ancestor veneration may convey a more accurate  sense of what practitioners, such as the Chinese  and other Buddhist influenced and Confucian influences societies, see   themselves doing 
In some eastern cultures, and a native American  traditions, the goal of ancestor veneration is to ensure the ancestors continued well being and positive disposition towards the living and sometimes to ask for special favours or assistance. The social or non- religious  functions of ancestor veneration is to cultivate kinship  values, such as filial piety, family loyalty, and  continuity of the family lineage,. while far from universal,  ancestor veneration occurs in societies with every degree of social, political and technological complexity, and  it remains an important component  of various religious practices  in modern times.    
Ancestor veneration is very prevalent throughout  Africa and serves as the basis of many religions. It  is often augmented by  a belief in a supreme being, but prayers and / or  sacrifices  are usually offered to the ancestors who may ascend to  becoming minor   deities  themselves. Ancestor veneration remains among many Africans, sometimes   practices alongside the later adopted religions of Christianity as in Nigeria among  the  Igbo  people and Islam among  the  different mande peoples  and the bamum in much of the continent.
Veneration of ancestors is also prevalent  throughout  the African island of Madagascar. Approximately half   of the country’s population of  20 million currently practice traditional religion  which tends to emphasize  links between the living and the razana (ancestors). The  veneration of ancestors has led to the widespread  tradition of tomb building, as well as highlands practice of the  famadihana whereby  a  deceased family members remains   may be exhumed to be periodically re-qrapped in fresh silk  shrouds before being replaced in the tomb.  The famadihana is an occasion to celebrate the beloved ancestors memory, reunites with family and  community,  and  enjoy a festive  atmosphere.  Residents of surrounding  villages are often invited to attend the party, where food and rum are typically served and a hiragasy  troupe of other musical entertainment is   commonly present. Venation of ancestors is also demonstrated through adherence today taboos that are respected during and after  the lifetime  of the person who established them.
It is widely believed that by showing  respect for ancestors in these ways, they may intervene on behalf of the living conversely, misfortunes are  often attributed to ancestors whose memory or wishes have  been neglected. The sacrifice of zebu is a tradition method  used to appease or honour the ancestors. Small,  everyday gestures of respect include throwing the first capful of a newly opened  bottle of rum into the north east  corner   of the room to give the ancestors their due share.

The ancient Egyptian pyramids are the most famous  historical monuments  devoted to the dead  Egyptian religion  posited the survival of the soul in connection with the survival of a physical receptacle for the soul, hence  mummification and portraiture flourished as  vital part of egyptain religion.
Although  some historians  claim that anceient  Egyptian society ws a “death cult” because of it elaborate tombs and mummification ritual, it was really quite the opposite. The philosophy that  “this  world is  but a vale of trears” and  that to die  and be with God is a better existence than an  earthly  one ws relatively unknown among the ancient egyptains. This was not to say that they were  unacquainted  with the harshness of life, rather, their  ethos include  a sense of national pride.  The  Egyptian people loved the  culture, customs and religion of their daily lives so much that they wanted to continue them in  the next -  although some might hope   for a better station  in  the  beautiful  west. This same  strong  sense of national and historical period still exists in modern day Egypt, although the religion  and  culture have changed.
Tombs were housing  in the hereafter and so they were carefully  constructed and decorated, just as  homes for the living were . mummification was  a way  to  return to receive offerings of  the things he /she  enjoyed  while alive. If mummification was not  afsordable, a ‘ka-statue” in  the likeness of the deceased was carved for this purpose. The blessed dead were collectively called the akhu,  or “shining ones” . they were described  as  ‘shining as gold  in the belly of nut” and were indeed  depicted as golden stars on the roofs of many tombs and temples.
The process by which aka  became  an akh  was not  automatic upon death, it involved a  70 day  journey through the duat, or otherworld,   which led  to  judgment before wesir, lord of the dead where  the  ka’s  heart would be weighed  on a scale against  the feather of ma’at representing truth . however, if the ka was properly prepared, this journey could be gaught  with dangerious pitfalls and strange demaons, hence some of the earliest relgions texts discovered, such as  the  papyrus of ani commonly known as the book  of the  dead and thepyramid texts were actually written as guides to helop the deceased successfully  neavigate  thedyat 
If  the heart was in balance with the feather of  ma’at, the ka passed judgment  and  was  granted access  to the beautiful west as an akh who was ma’aheru ‘ true  of voice” to  dwell  among the gods and other akhu.  At  this pint, only  was the ka deemed worthy to  be venerated by  the  living  through  rites and offerings . those  who became lost in the duat or deliberately 5ried to avoid judgment became   lost in the duat or deliberately tried  to avoid judgment became the unfortunate and   some  time dangerous mutu,  the restless   dead for the few whose   truly evil hearts outweighed the feather,   the  godless amount waited patiently behind desires judgment seat to consume them. She was   a composite creature   resembling three of the dead list animas   in Egypt, the crocodile, the hippopotamus and the lion. Being fed to Ammit was   to be consigned  to the  eternal void, to be ‘unmade”as  a ka 
Besides  being eaten by ammit, the worst fate aka could suffer after physical death  was to be forgotten for this reason, ancestor veneration in  ancient Egypt was an important rite of  remembrance in order to keep the ka ‘alive” in  this  life as well as in the   next  royals,  nobles and the wealthy made  contracts with their local priests to perform prayers and give offerings at their  tombs. In  return, the priests were  allowed to keep  a portion of the offerings as payment for services rendered. Some tomb inscriptions even invited passers by  to speak aloud the names of the deceased within  which help also  to perpetuate their memory, and  to offer water, prayers or  other things if they so desired.
In the private home of the less wealthy, riches were  carved  into walls  for the purpose of housing images  of familial  akhu and to serve as altars  of veneration. Many of these religious beliefs and ancestor veneration practices are still carried on today in the religion of kemetic or thodoxy
The romans like many mediterrean societies regarded the bodies of the dead as pollouting. During  romes classical period, the body was most often  cremated, and the ashes placed in a tomb outside the city walls. Much of  the month fo February was devoted to  purifications, propitiation and  veneration of the dead, especially at the nine-day  festival of the parentalia  during which a family honored it ancestors. The family visited the commentary and shared cake and wine,  both  in the form of offerings to the dead and as a meal  among themselves. The  parentalia drew to a close on February  21 with the more somber feralia, a  public  festival of sacrifices and offeringsto the manes  the potentially malevolent spirits of of the dead who required propitiation 
A noble Roman family displayed ancestral  images in the atrium of their home. Some of sources indicate these portraits were  bust, while other   suggest that funeral masks were also  displayed. The   masks, probably modeled of wax from the face of the decreased, were part of the funeral procession   when  an  elite roman died. Professional moverners more the masks and  regalia of the dead persons ancestors as the body  was carried  from the home,  through the streets, and to its final  resting place 
Early  Christianity’s  attitudes
Some  early Christians may have been persecuted for their faith, leading some to hide in the catacombs in Rome.  As a result, they may have found  themselves praying  and worshipping God surrounded by tombs and bodies of the dead. when possible, they  may have sought to pray among the  bodies of dead Christians, maybe using a cottin or tomb for an altar on which to celebrate the eucharni  from early  apostolic times,  it appears the church  held a respectful veneration for the dead. They reported  witnessing miracles in connection with the bodies  of  the  dead Christians, such as healing, or observing  set  smelling myth exuding from their bones. This, combined  with  their belief in the resurrection of Jesus and future  resurrection of all Christians (the  resurrection of Jesus and future  resurrection of all Christians (the  resurrection of the dead) eventually led to the veneration of saints and of their  relics.
Early accounts of martyrs include Christian witnesses making great efforts to obtain  the remains of  the martyrs  and the roman sometimes trying to  prevent this  . also, it became common to continue to ask Christians  leaders to pray for  them,  even after the leaders haddied  as they believed that  these Christians were still able  to pray  and that their prayers would still be effective  later, most of the various protestant sects that broke  away from  the catholic church  in the  16th  century  repudiated the practice of asking  intercession from the dead based on possible pagan origin of communication with the dead
Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - MARTINS LIBRARY

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE