The Zulu people are agro-pastoralists that live in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Their name comes from their word for the sky, "izulu", as they believe the first humans originally lived in the sky. The Zulu's mythology(773), various objects and places that are sacred (778), and their spirits and gods (776).
The Zulu mythology states people long ago lives in the sky with their deities. Their creation myth states that all people originally lived in the sky with the gods. However, one man got in trouble for riding the favorite ox of iNkosi, the Zulu sky god or "Lord of the Sky". iNkosi punished the man by cutting a hole in the sky that led down to Earth and throwing the man through the hole. The man was exiled there and had to struggle to survive for a month. Taking pity on the man, iNkosi has the most beautiful woman of the sky go down to Earth and become the man's wife. The two would become the first humans of Earth, according to Zulu tradition.
Mountains are considered prominently as places of sacred religious rituals and ceremonies. This is due to the Zulu's traditional belief that the thunderstorms, which are common in KwaZulu-Natal, are the embodiment of iNkosi' power and anger. These thunderstorms usually hit the mountains, which the Zulu believe rubs off iNkosi's power onto the mountains. They perform many rituals and prayers on or near the mountains as they believe the power imbued into the mountains will make their ceremonies and communications with the gods more powerful and meaningful. In one such ritual, people go up the mountain to receive iNkosi's blessing. They do this by spreading medicines with the use of a spear's tip on their body, with the help of another.
iNkosi, or the "Lord of the Sky", is the most prominent deity of the Zulu religion. iNkosi also goes by many other names as well such as uMvelingqang, uMdali, and uMenzi. The Zulu also have several spirit animals in their culture as well. One example is the uMonya, a rock snake that is sent by iNkosi to lay on top of goats' horns where Zulu religious medicine is stored. It's believed that the uMonya keeps the medicines fresh by laying on them. Another spirit animal of the Zulu is the Insingizi, a bird favorited by iNkosi. The Insingizi is regarded as a messenger of iNkosi. Its gender is used to make predictions, usually about the weather. If the Insingizi is male, then it will thunder because thunder is associated with iNkosi, a male god. Of course, if the Insingizi is female, then it will not thunder. However, the Zulu find this troubling because thunder usually accompanies a rainstorm, which they want to happen.
Bibliography:
Berglund, Axel-Ivar. 1976. “Zulu Thought-Patterns and Symbolism.” In Studia Missionalia Upsaliensia, 402. Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fx20-008.
Flikke, Rune. 2018. “Healing in Polluted Places: Mountains, Air, and Weather in Zulu Zionist Ritual Practice.” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture 12 (1): 76–95. doi:10.1558/jsrnc.33646.
“Zulus, Arseny Priests, Oil, Painting ... - Pxfuel.com.” Pxfuel. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-javec.
Your research is beautifully done and very informational! I found it very interesting to on the Zulu and which gods is most prominent in their culture. Though I am curious, why is a woman Insingizi troubling? Specifically, do women play a part in being bad omens in Zulu culture? I've noticed in many cultures that females are depicted as "bad", an example I know are the Banchee from Irish culture being female spirt messengers of death or dying as they wail.
ReplyDeleteIn the Zulu culture, thunder brings rainstorms (which are good for the Zulu's agriculture) are associated with iNkosi, a male god. So the Zulu associated no thunder with women, which makes a female Insingizi troubling.
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