African Influences

Remembrance of Ancestors:

Death, God and Immortality

Myths, Symbols, and Folklore Remembrance of Ancestors

Selection List:

Works Examined: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Sula by Toni Morrison Meridian by Alice Walker   Literary Conventions   Questions and Exercises

In traditional African religions and belief systems, death is seldom viewed as the termination of life, but rather as a continuation of life into the afterworld-another realm of existence. Certain religions, such as the Bakongo, consider the world as divided between the living and the dead, where death is regarded as an inversion of physical life. Others, such as the Yoruba, adhere to an ontology of death as a continuation between the worlds of the living, the dead, and the unborn.

Certain belief systems perceive of life and death in a temporal context: present and infinite past. In death, individuals remain amongst the living through memory. Here, through the act of remembering, family members and friends enable the spirit of the deceased to remain amongst the living--to remain in the present. This form of existence in death is maintained to the extent that individuals personally know the deceased are alive and are able to recall the deceased in both recollection and by name. (Note: Most often, spirits are thought to appear to those having known them the longest during their physical life. As a result, spirits most often appear to elder members in the community.) The spirit is thus kept alive in name and memory, thereby achieving a form of immortality. When there no longer exists someone in the community having known the deceased, then that spirit moves into the infinite past. Once this occurs, the spirit is considered no longer a member of the "human family." The spirit thus joins all others in "collective immortality." Spirits are often thought capable of functioning as emissaries between humans and Supreme Beings. There exists a belief in the efficacy of spirits. Often, there are ceremonies enacted where ancestral worship occurs. During these events ancestors are remembered, petitioned for protection, and familial ties reinforced. Routinely, grave sites might be decorated with favorite objects having belonged to the deceased. These objects are thought to possess multiple purposes including: 1) use by the deceased in afterlife, 2) if broken, the object's spirit is released in order to join that of the owner's and 3) favored objects attract the attention of the spirits. Mirrors, shiny objects, things with reflective properties are also considered as capable of attracting spirits. Once the objects are brought to the deceased, petitions are made requesting the spirit's assistance.   

Program content by Violet Bryan,Ph.D. and Robin Vander