The religious make and history of South Africa is
fascinating. While we have observable and strong evidence of religious and
mythological beliefs, some of our understandings come from outside testimony
from Europeans, and therefore, some of what we understand about the history of
South African myths and religion may be incorrectly interpreted. With this
being said, there is still a lot of tradition and history that informs us.
Some of the earliest inhabitants of South Africa were the
San. San people are typically recognized as hunter gatherers. Like many other
religions, the San religion believes in a physical and spiritual world. Interestingly,
they believe that the spiritual world can be accessed through a human Shaman. When a powerful animal is killed, they
believe a portal is open between the two worlds, and a Shaman may enter into
the spiritual world by entering into a dance that leads into a powerful and
spiritual trance. This trance enables the Shaman to do many incredible things
such as healing the sick, controlling the weather, and even telling the future.
[1]
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| Shaman Dancing Source: http://thesanbushmen.blogspot.com/2011/11/san-religion.html |
Among lesser deities, the San also believe in an all-important
god called Kaggen, who is a trickster deity. His actions can be either good or
bad, and he can take on many physical forms however his name translates to
Mantis; so many San worship mantises. They also give significant importance to
the Eland bull, which they believe Kaggen can inhabit. [2] In addition to venerating many animals, some San even revere the moon.
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| Eland Bull Source:https://visitstothepark.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/rietvlei-18-10-2012-308.jpg |
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| Source: http://thesanbushmen.blogspot.com/2011/11/san-religion.html |
Other South African inhabitants, known as the Khoi-khoi,
have a very similar culture to the San and, likely, are of the same ancestry.
The explanation of their origination and split from the herdsman San can be found
in myth. The myth states that there were two men, a blind man and a hunter. One
day the hunter found a hole where the from which the animals came. The hunter
took this blind man to this place and one day the blind man regained his
eyesight and decided to trap the animals. The process by which he caught the
animals included covering himself in oil—something the hunter found undoable.
In the end, the hunter continued to hunt and the blind man began to practice
animal husbandry. The Khoi-khoi would become the people of animal husbandry. [3]
The Khoi-khoi separated from the San “probably within the last five hundred
years, when they acquired cattle and stopped being hunters.”[4]
Another myth says that a traveler named Heitsi-Eibib was
dancing with the king of snakes. They danced and ultimately Heitsi-Eibib jumped
across a fire. The king of snakes followed suit but fell into the fire. The
king’s cattle then became Hietsi-Eibib’s cattle[5].
Christianity has had a great impact in South Africa. For
instance, in the 1820’s, missionaries such as John Philip successfully
campaigned for improved treatment of the Khoi-khoi. This brought a favorable
view of Christianity to the people.[6]
Furthermore, colonization, a primarily negative event, helped Christianity take
a foothold in South Africa. In fact, Christianity is now the dominant religion
in South Africa with a large percentage of the population professing to be some
type of Christian. This is a stark contrast to the minute percentage of Muslims
in the region. Islam has had a much smaller impact on South Africa than it has on
other African countries.
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| Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_South_Africa |
Books
Belcher, Stephen. African
Myths of Origin. NY: Penguin Books, 2005.
Harris, Joseph E. Africans
and Their History. NY: Meridian Books, 1998.
Meredith, Martin. The
Fortunes of Africa. NY: Public Affairs, 2014.
Links
http://www.khoisan.org/religion.htm
http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_bushmen.html
http://thesanbushmen.blogspot.com/2011/11/san-religion.html
https://mythologycurator.tumblr.com/post/80598354224/origins-khoikhoi-man-eating-trolls
https://visitstothepark.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/rietvlei-18-10-2012-308.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_South_Africa
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