The Religion of the Matabele and Subject Tribes
In order to understand a people properly one must know something of their religious beliefs; for all the important actions of their lives rest upon their religion. Find out what a person believes and you have a pretty good idea of his character. A native is loth to talk about his religion, and will, unless he fully understands and trusts the questioner, often evade answering directly questions asked upon this subject. It is somewhat difficult to dissociate the religious beliefs of the Matabele from those of the first inhabitants of the country, as the two are so closely interwoven.
It would seem that all the natives, with whom we have come into contact, have some conception of a God, however vague that conception may be. They do not as a rule discuss Him and His attributes among themselves, and so differ greatly in the attributes ascribed to Him. They often prefer to deal with and worship the lesser spirits, especially the shades of their ancestors with whom they are somewhat familiar, than a great God Whom they do not know and Whom they fear, for the shades they think can intercede for them. The native is really very religious, but prefers to take that religion found ready to hand rather than to make an attempt to fathom that which he does not understand.
The Matabele when asked who their god is will readily respond that it is the King Umzilikazi. They say, "He gave us the country and everything we have, and our customs and laws, and him we worship." This can be easily understood from the belief of the Zulu tribe, of which this is a branch. The Zulu will say that Umkulukulu (the oldest or first one) is the one to be worshiped, as he gave all the rest their religion and customs. As their ideas of worship were very elastic, there was no difficulty in including other departed spirits in the list of those worshiped. All who left them could intercede for them in the spirit world; hence, when the old queen was buried, the woman who washed her face just before burial said, "Go in peace and speak a good word for us to the king, and to those who have gone before, so that we too may find a place and not be found fault with."
This very fact, that their religious beliefs are so elastic, makes missionary work often the more difficult and discouraging among them. They will quite readily accept the God one preaches, and Christ as the Savior of men, but to their way of thinking this does not interfere with their worship. This fact was forcibly thrust upon me one day in coming to a kraal near the mission that had been frequently visited. The people here had much light and often came to the services, and their son Masikwa was a baptized member. On this occasion we found the older people worshiping the spirits, and said to the woman,
"How is this? We thought that you worshiped the Lord Jesus."
"Oh! yes, we do," she replied, "He is the Big Spirit and we worship Him too."
It was not at all difficult for her to include Him among the number of spirits to be worshiped. She was willing to accept all who might be able to help them, and even give Him a large place alongside of the others. The fact that He had been on earth and died only added to the conception that He was like the rest. The force of the resurrection idea she had not grasped. It will be readily seen how difficult it is to inculcate the idea of one Supreme Being Who alone should be worshiped, and Who is a jealous God and will brook no rivals.
On the other hand, the belief in an intercessor has its useful side in giving them the Gospel, for we endeavor to impress upon their minds that Christ is the Great Intercessor, Who "ever liveth to make intercession for them," a risen Savior, not a dead One. The great question here is, "Intercede for what?" Sins they do not claim to have. To them religion has nothing to do with morals, for neither if they live pure moral lives are they the better, nor if they are base and licentious are they worse when they come to die. The spirits whom they worship are of their own conception and have the same loves and hates. As Mr. J. W. Jack says: "Down all the ages to the present time so frightful have been the abysses of depravity, the intolerable cruelty, the extravagances of nameless lust associated with religion, that if the veil were lifted, Christianity could not bear the story." The raw native will tell you that lying, stealing, murder, and adultery are bad, but they do not look upon these as having anything to do with their religion.
Again, the very fact that they are so tolerant in their religious views, and so ready to include all, led the Matabele early in their history to adopt the religion of the conquered tribes. The oldest and, to them, the most powerful and most widely-worshiped of these heathen deities was Umlimo. This was the name of one worshiped by the Makalanga. He was supposed to have his abode in the Matopo Hills, several of which places are still pointed out. If one may judge from the information received from the natives, the worship greatly resembled that of the ancient Greek oracles. When any important question of the tribe was in need of solution, or even when individual questions arose, they would go to the hill or cave in which the Umlimo was supposed to have his dwelling place, carry a present, perhaps of beer, meat, or other food, and, placing it on the rock, remove to a respectful distance and then make known their wants. They said the answer would come from the very depths of the earth.
It is said: "The answer was given by means of ventriloquism and, as the speaker was inside the cave and invisible, the voice appeared to the inquirer to issue from the very bowels of the earth. The extreme ingenuity of the device will be better appreciated when it is known that the spirits of the departed are universally believed by the natives to dwell in an under world. For a ventriloquist to practice his calling as a diviner in the foregoing manner is probably not unworthy of that oracle which Socrates himself felt it necessary to consult at Delphi."
In this way they would inquire as to the cause of drought, rinderpest among the cattle, locusts, and the like, and they were told that these came through the white man. In speaking of their worship some would acknowledge that a priest dwelt in the cave and received their offerings, and that he would consult Umlimo and give forth the answer in sepulchral tones to the worshipers. This god was also worshiped at the opening of every year by a great dance, so that he would send an abundance of rain. One special place of worship was in a large cave in the midst of the Makalanga country. As this was said to be only about five or six miles from Mapani Mission, I had a desire to visit the spot and see what it was like. Setyokupi, one of the first Christian girls at Mapani, offered to accompany Ndhlamlabi and myself to the cave, as she lived near the place but had never visited it. We started early one morning to the home of Setyokupi, which was several miles from the mission, and from there continued our journey to the cave. It was much farther than we had anticipated, and we walked quite a distance before reaching the immense kopje, or hill of stone, in which the cave was. Then our way wound round and round among the rocks for a long distance. Setyokupi saw that the task was greater than she had anticipated, and fearful of losing ourselves, we asked a young lad, whom we met in the neighborhood, to guide us. After reaching the cave we were obliged to climb forty or fifty feet up the side of the rock before we could enter.
It was a large cave, extending back into the rocks, and would have formed several good-sized rooms. We had understood that the worshipers generally took a present and left it in the cave. This was frequently a branch or twig of a tree; consequently there were to be seen in it many dried leaves and branches of trees, the thought in their mind in this connection being no doubt similar to that of the olive branch of peace. There were also a few old ornaments and cloth, but nothing of value. Here it was said the people came to have their yearly dance and pray for rain. Everything on the inside was quite old, and it looked as if the place had not been visited lately, but we were informed that there was another and more important place of worship in the vicinity in which there was a pool of water. This we did not see, nor did we learn of its location. The day was fast passing and we were obliged to hasten back to the mission.
At this time, 1905, Europeans had already been fifteen years in some parts of the country and the natives about Matopo Mission were always quite willing for anyone to be present at their religious festivals. Many were beginning to throw off some of their old superstitious ideas, and some were accepting Christ; so there was no thought of impropriety in our making this tour of investigation. The account of it no doubt came out through the little boy who accompanied us, and although these natives in Mapaniland were more raw than those about Matopo Mission, perhaps nothing further would have been thought of the visit, had the rains come on that year at the usual time. Unfortunately they were exceptionally late, not really coming until the first of January, and the people were becoming desperate. It is always necessary for the heathen to let the blame rest somewhere, and as the witch doctors and diviners generally hate the missionaries because of their loss of custom and prestige, so they naturally put the blame upon our visit to the cave. I never learned that they placed the blame upon myself, but they did upon those who accompanied me. Ndhlalambi's life was really in danger that year and his people were much concerned for his safety. He, however, did not seem concerned about himself and continued to go back and forth and see about the work at Mapani. Several years later Setyokupi, who is a most devoted Christian, had to bear the blame from the older people for a similar drought, the years of plenty intervening being overlooked. We as missionaries, however, always try to be careful not to stir up unecessarily the opposition of the natives.
According to some of the older natives Umlimo is worshiped under various names; in fact, there is a trinity. In the hills to the south is the father, Shologulu. He is stern and unbending and is to be greatly feared. In the east is the son, Lunzi, who is kind and easy to be entreated. The mother, Banyanchaba, is in the north. Just how much tradition, handed down from Christianity, is embodied in this idea cannot be ascertained, but the belief is quite ancient.
Again, some of the natives say that certain of the people at times claimed to be Umlimo and to have the power ascribed to him. One of these was a woman whom the king, in order to test her power, put in a hut near him. He convinced himself of her false pretenses and punished her accordingly.
In a general way natives do not concern themselves about a Supreme God. Some, of course, will readily say that He made everything. Again we have inquired of others,
"Who made the trees, the rocks, the grass?"
They will answer, "We came here and found them already created, so we did not concern ourselves to inquire who made them."
This indifference or spiritual laziness had much to do with their religion. On another occasion we were speaking with a native living near Mapani Mission, and were telling him that he ought to repent and accept Christ as his Savior. To excuse himself he said:
"He made me. He brought me into the world and it is His business to boss me up."
He really meant to say, "I am here by no choice of my own. He made me. I am His and He has a right to do as He pleases with me."
This idea of fate runs through all their beliefs. They have no volition of their own. Everything that comes to them, whether of accident, sickness, ill luck, or whatever it may be, is the result of malevolent spirits which are in league against them. In fact, all their worship is one of the propitiation of the malevolent spirits. Good spirits will not harm them.
One day in the Sabbath-school class, where questions were freely asked, one of the older men said, "Since I hear you tell who God is and what He likes, and who Satan is and what he does, I see that our god, whom we have been worshiping, is Satan himself."
The amadhlozi (spirits of the departed) are constantly besetting their path, causing sickness or misfortune, or else helping them to do what they desire. Their expression, for ill luck is Angi ladhlozi (I do not have any spirit). When sick they send for the witch doctor to tell where the trouble is. He may say that one of the spirits thinks he had not been properly treated and wishes a goat. The goat is brought and killed, and a small portion of meat is used with medicine for the sick, but by far the greater part of the meat is generally appropriated by the witch doctor himself, who was no doubt more desirous of it than the shades.
If health is not forthcoming for the sick, he is certainly bewitched. This is generally the belief when one dies or is suffering from an incurable disease. The witch doctor then takes his "bones" and "smells out" the supposed witch, and he is very careful to select as his victim one who is not very popular in the community by reason of his wealth or other circumstances. This one is accused of bewitching, and is ignominiously put to death, and all his property confiscated.
Since the occupation of the country by the English much of this killing of supposed witches is done away with, but there are still violent deaths, which looks suspicious. Since our stay at Matopo there was an instance of an old woman being drowned, which was traced directly to the witch doctor and he was punished. There were also several instances of supposed suicide by hanging, which looked as if there might have been foul play, but which could not be ferreted. It is not unusual for the old or infirm to be gotten rid of in this way, especially by the ordeal of drinking poison.
It would be unjust to say that their doctors never use remedies; in fact, they have many herbs which they use and some of these are very efficacious. In fever we have seen them administer a greenish-looking powder of a native herb, which tasted much like quinine, and we were surprised once to see a native physician pass through the mission premises with a wallet full of various kinds of herbs. He had a pass from the magistrate to practice among the natives, and he proudly opened his wallet and displayed his drugs. Notwithstanding that they have these remedies, yet, in practice, this is often so mixed with charms and other superstitious ideas, that it is difficult to tell wherein the real remedy lies. A witch doctor, who lived near us and who had much light, exclaimed one day, "I can give medicine, and if the Lord says the sick will recover, he will recover; if He says the sick one will die, he will die; my medicine cannot save him."
When one treats a native in his home for any disease, it is always difficult to induce his people to follow the prescribed treatment; for they desire often to use their arts as well. A case of scurvy was at one of the villages, and they came to the mission for help. We went over. The boy had been losing blood for several days and was very weak, seemingly in the last stages of the disease. They had been using their arts, but to no avail, and had come to the mission as a last resort. Elder Steigerwald reproved them for waiting so long, and took hold of the case, hoping still to save him. After looking to the Lord for guidance, he managed to get the bleeding stopped, but to see that everything was properly carried out one of us remained for a time at the kraal. When he was thought to be out of danger he was left with his people, with strict injunctions to do just as they were told. When the patient was next visited it was found that the people had again brought out their charms and put them about his head, and it was necessary to frighten them thoroughly before they would follow instructions.
Parents are always very anxious to have their children at home if they become sick. This may partly be owing to natural solicitation on the part of the parents, for they love their children as well as white parents do, but it is also due to the fact that they cannot use their divinations properly except at home. Then, too, if they die, they are always anxious that their people die at home. In this way we often had great difficulty in keeping at the mission some who were sick and needed care.
One of our boys was very sick and we had been unable to help him, and both he and ourselves were looking to the Lord in his behalf. He was a good Christian and perfectly conscious all the time, and quite ready and willing to die if such was the Lord's will. His parents lived near and had been trying to take him home, but he did not wish to go; and we too thought it best for him to remain under our care. When he became very low, it was necessary to inform his parents. The father, who was a very violent and wrathy man, was determined to take the boy home, but we felt sure that a move at that time would be fatal, and told the father so.
He replied, "I'll take him home if he dies on the way. I'll not have it said that my child died and was buried away from home." And it was with great difficulty that he could be prevailed upon to let the boy remain. The Lord heard our prayer in his behalf and he recovered.
From what has been written it may readily be seen that the African believes in the immortality of the soul; that the souls of the departed take cognizance of what is done on the earth by the survivors; and that they have power over those who dwell on the earth to help, harm, or intercede in their behalf. They also believe in transmigration of souls, that the spirit of the departed often enters a snake, bird, lion, rhinoceros, or other animals, each of these tribes having its own especial animal. This does not necessarily imply that the soul remains in these forms. Frequently they speak of the animals as only a medium through which the spirit appears to its friends.
The Matabele revere the snake and will not kill it. The first year of the mission a long snake entered one of the huts, that was in process of erection, and climbed up near the roof. I told one of the boys to knock it down and kill it. He recoiled from the idea and refused. Thinking he was afraid I took a hoe, knocked it down and killed it. When other natives came to the mission the incident was related to them by the boys and they expressed great surprise. I rather supposed that they were surprised at my prowess, until one woman who knew me better than the others exclaimed, "Were you not afraid to kill it? Perhaps it was one of your friends." I then found out that the snake was an object of reverence.
Matshuba said that when his father was ill a snake entered his hut and he exclaimed, "That looks like a child of mine, it is so pretty. It is your brother, Matshuba."
"Is that the reason," we inquired, "why so many people are afraid to kill snakes?"
"Yes," he replied, "they think their friends come to visit them in this form."
Again, once while out kraal-visiting we were speaking to some people who were working in their garden. Some one came from their kraal with a message of some kind, and soon all was commotion and hurry.
I inquired, "What is the matter? Where are you going?"
They answered, "Two snakes have entered our hut and we must go and see them."
"Will you kill them?"
"No, they are probably some of our friends, who have come to visit us," was the reply.
The people were also accustomed to use a goat in their worship and then drive it away on the veldt. I know very little of this ceremony, except that when it was told to me, I was forcibly reminded of the "scapegoat" of the Israelites. Each family also has a sacred ox or cow among the herd. They do not worship images, and are surprised to find that there are people on earth who do. Two of the boys in reading their Bibles one day learned for the first time that some people worship images made by men's hand, and they were as much surprised as any white child could have been.
"Do they answer their prayers?" inquired they. "Can they talk, or do they know anything? Is it something like we make cattle out of mud to play with?"
We are accustomed to despise people who worship animals, and it is certainly not very elevating; but they are God's handiwork, and are they not superior to many of the hideous images of idolatrous nations? When these people do worship, the object of their reverence is not the animal, but the souls of their people who they think enter the animals.
Spiritualism is a legitimate product of their beliefs. I can best illustrate this feature of their worship by giving an instance which came to our notice in the year 1900. It was a religious dance. The chief actors had come from a distance and the worship was in honor of one of their dead relatives, the aim being to bring back the soul and hold conference with it through one who acted as medium.
We felt to avail ourselves of this opportunity of seeing something of their worship, that we might have a better understanding of the same. The mother of Kelenki, one of our converts, participated and she, heathenlike, was anxious to have her boy take part, but he of course refused, as he had always done when urged to join with them. It was only about two miles from the mission, so Brother and Sister Lehman and myself went over for a short time. We entered the village at about 3 P. M. and found about one hundred people assembled. They had just been drinking beer and were feeling quite good. As many of them knew us, they greeted us quite pleasantly, nothing loath to see us on this occasion, provided we did not interfere in their worship.
One of the most noticeable features at first was the evident attempt at ornamentation on the part of the women, especially the older women who were to take active part in the proceedings. We might add that only the older people took part in this dance, and that the ornamentation of the body is always a noticeable feature of their worship. Their dress, or rather undress, consisted of a short skirt of dirty, greasy leather, covered with a heavy embroidery of bright-colored beads. The rest of the body was ornamented with beads and heavy brass rings, neck, waist, arms, and ankles being heavily laden. The headdress consisted of a broad band of beads artistically put together.
Our attention was soon drawn to three women seated on the ground before one of the huts, each with a large drum made from a hollowed log, over one end of which was a skin tightly drawn. On this drum they were beating with their hands and accompanying the sound with low, plaintive singing. Presently a man, who proved to be the leader, or medium, stepped out, beating at the same time on a drum made of a broad wooden hoop, over which was stretched a piece of skin. He was a tall, athletic-looking fellow, clothed in a short skirt similar to that worn by the women. He had many yards of blue cloth wrapped about his body and a yellow scarf thrown over one shoulder. The drum which was beaten with a stick produced a sharp ringing sound, and he danced with a peculiar backward step, keeping time to the beating of his drum, and sang, calling upon the shades. To this the women, beating the drums or tomtoms, would respond. A number of other men with similar drums joined him in the dance, and the air was filled with their melody.
This was continued for some time, when all suddenly ceased and disappeared within a hut and continued their dance within. We were invited to enter, and after creeping through the low doorway we found ourselves in a hut about eighteen feet in diameter, with a somewhat higher roof than is to be found in many native huts. The performance was similar to that on the outside, except that others joined in the dance, but all danced alone. The actions and contortions of the body became more and more rapid and violent, and there was also leaping and jumping, the heat and violent exertion of the body causing the perspiration to flow freely.
The medium finally worked himself up into sort of a frenzy and announced that a spirit had entered the door. With this he pretended to enter into conversation, but as he spoke in the Shuna language we did not understand him. The dancers all finally rushed out on the rocks and the leader fell down exhausted. After their return the same motions were continued, but a new feature was added by women entering, having native-made bells tied to their ankles, and these added to the general din. The motions of all were more or less similar, and even when the actions and contortions of the body were the most violent, they were somewhat rhythmical. The noise was deafening in the extreme, and would have surely waked the dead were such a thing possible. In addition to a dozen drums and the bells, there were yelling, whistling, and singing. A huge battle-axe was handed around from one to another, and part of the time was dangling on the neck of the leader. Sad as one felt at the delusion under which they labored, he could not but be impressed by their evident earnestness, and only wished it might be expended in a better cause.
They did not forget our presence, and no doubt we did interfere with the freedom of their actions. The medium came toward us several times, beating his drum. Thinking he might be annoyed at our presence we spoke to the headman, but he hastened to assure us that we were welcome to remain. In fact, he as well as many others in the kraal, seemed to be spectators rather than participants in the worship.
They finally became quiet and the medium again claimed to converse with the departed, and this time one of our boys interpreted. Of course both questions and answers were given by the medium. Among other things he said: "I see a spirit enter the door. It says, 'Who are these white people? Are they the people who killed the Matabele?' No, they are missionaries and like the black people." It seemed evident that not only the spirit but some of the strangers present were somewhat afraid and needed assurance that we were harmless.
We returned home sad at heart for their heathendom. We were informed that this worship continued until late in the night and two days following. There was much beer drinking and immorality, so that even some of the heathen in the kraal were thoroughly disgusted.
The Matabele do not use drums in their religious dance like the Mashona. Once when we were out kraal visiting we happened to come upon some of these worshiping at Fusi's kraal. We stopped only a few minutes to see what they were doing, and were greatly shocked by the hideousness of their looks and actions. The very stamp of the bottomless pit seemed impressed upon their features.
Heathen worship, heathen dances, and hideous rites are becoming less and less in the vicinity of the mission, for the natives are fast losing faith in their old religion. The missionaries need a great deal of patience, forbearance, and firmness in dealing with the perplexing problems in reference to the natives' beliefs, but in the end God's cause is sure to win.