Mythically, chickens are present at creation or
accompany the first humans. Among the Yoruba,
a five-toed chicken accompanies Obatala from
heaven to what will be Earth. Her scratching of
the loose earth brought with Obatala creates the
Earth. The Mende creator godNgewogives two
chickens as a gift to the first human couple. These
stories illustrate how chickens have the ability to
mediate between humans and the Divine, hence
their frequent use in sacrifice.
The Mende of Sierra Leone endow birds with
the gift of prophecy because, from their high
vantage points, birds are able to witness events
unfolding from a broader view than the ground-
bound human. Being able to interpret the lan-
guage of birds allows the foretelling of future
events. This ability is generally held by senior-
initiated Mende women. Birds also carry mes-
sages from the ancestors. A person traveling and
hearing the persistent voice of a single bird
could be hearing a message from a spirit being
relayed by the bird.
The chicken is also held in high regard. It
keeps village time with its morning crows and
returns to the coop in the evening. It is ever
watchful and squawks at the first stranger.
Mende women use the leaves a brooding chicken
selects as prenatal medicine. Pregnant women are
encouraged to emulate the self-disciplined focus
of a brooding chicken and are forbidden to eat its
flesh or eggs. The chicken also serves as a distin-
guisher of truth. To determine whether a dispute
has been settled among relations or friends, the
estranged person hold grains of rice in hand. If
the chicken pecks enthusiastically at the rice, the
dispute has been truly resolved. Other examples
of birds being used to distinguish truth exist in
stories among the Xhosa of South Africa, where
a bird identifies a murder, and in ancient Kemet,
where a feather is the ultimate judge of an indi-
vidual’s activities during life.
Another common spiritual association with
birds is their connection to the human soul. The
ba-bird in Kemet depicts a bird with a human
head. Thebais translated in the west as the soul,
but it really does not have an English equivalent.
It is the psychic force of a person that, when they
die, seeks to be united with theka, the life force
or sustenance of a person for the body to exist in
the afterlife. The image of theba-bird drawn in
funerary scenes hovering above the body or in
trees around the tomb shows this journey that
must be made every night.Denise MartinSee alsoAnimals; BaFurther Readings
Borioni, G. C. (2005).Der Ka aus
religionswissenschaflicher Sicht.Vienna, Austria:
AFRO-PUB.
Gittins, A. (1987).Mende Religion:Aspects of Belief
and Thought in Sierra Leone[Introduction by
Bryan Wilson]. Nettetal, Germany: Steyler
Verlag/Wort und Werk.
Olupona, J. K. (Ed.). (2001).African Spirituality:
Forms,Meanings and Expressions. New York:
Herder & Herder.BIRTH
In the vast catalogue of African spiritual and reli-
gious concepts, birth is one of the most profound
ideas connected to the major epochs in the jour-
ney of life, death, and reincarnation. Birth is a
sacred mystery to African people, but not entirely
unknowable. Birth reflects the activities of God’s
work. It is generally regarded as an important
event in the endless passage taken by human
beings, a continuum within the human experi-
ence. Birth is a central family episode that is met
with a tremendous amount of joy and sense of
fulfillment because the expectation of a child is
considered the highest gift from God. Thus, birth
is also a significantly revered experience for the
entire community.
According to John Mbiti, a noted expert on
African religion, several key features are associ-
ated with the birth of an African child. First, a
pregnant woman is expected to engage in specific
activities that will keep her and the child safe
until it is born. Second, communities often carry
out expansive rituals to thank God for the gift of
the child to come and to pray for the safety of the
mother and child. In addition, some women will
wear talismans for the purpose of protection during124 Birth