BLESSING
Blessing refers to the act of calling on the divine to
bestow protection, prosperity, health, peace, and,
generally speaking, all manners of good fortune as
defined by the community. In African religion,
blessings are expected from God, the divinities,
and the ancestors, the main actors of the benevo-
lent African spiritual world. In as eminently reli-
gious a world as the African world, requests for
blessing are numerous. Blessings can be personal
or communal; they can occur in a formal or infor-
mal manner and setting, and they may concern all
life matters.
However, African people are most definitely
concerned with life and with the process through
which life sustains and regenerates itself—that is,
fertility. Hence, one finds that fertility occupies a
central and frequent place in appeals for blessings.
Fertility not only involves human procreation, but
also extends to land and animal reproduction and
growth. Thus, rain, without which drought,
famine, and devastation would prevail, causing
much pain to the whole community, is commonly
acknowledged as a blessing from God. In times of
drought, communities will organize communal rit-
uals in an attempt to secure that they be blessed
with rain again. Other societies, such as the
Lovedu of South Africa, for instance, hold a Rain
Ceremony every year for the express purpose of
guaranteeing the continuous and abundant flow of
rain in the coming year. Water, in general, is inti-
mately associated with life and fertility in Africa.
In the same vein, children are also very much
desired. According to an African proverb,
“Children are the reward of life.” The birth of
children ensures parents that they will receive
proper burial rites and will be effectively remem-
bered, thus allowing them to remain socially alive
after they die. The ancestors are the ones who bless
the living with children. When a couple experi-
ences difficulty achieving pregnancy, the ancestors
are immediately suspected to be responsible for
obstructing conception. Thus, rituals whose pur-
pose is to secure ancestral blessing for human (and
land as well as animal) fertility abound.
Among the Bemba people of the northeastern
part of Zambia, for example, a woman is pre-
sented with a miniature clay pot filled with water
on the day of her wedding by her paternal aunt as
a blessing. Likewise, among the Guusi people of
Kenya, in East Africa, fertility being controlled by
patrilineal ancestors, the grandfathers are asked
for their blessing to bring an increase in people
(and cattle). One may also ask to be blessed with
good health, well-being, and a trouble-free life.
There are several manners in which blessings
can be bestowed. As an informal act, a blessing
may take the form of a prayer, a song, a libation,
or the burning of incense, among other possibili-
ties. The Gada people, for instance, believe that
the burning of incense will attract blessings to
their homes. Burning a white candle in one’s home
is also widely associated with a similar effect, in
particular in the African religious diaspora.
Common also in Africa is the spraying with water
of a newborn baby’s body by one of the midwives
as a way of welcoming it into the world and bless-
ing it with long life and good health.
As a formal act, a blessing will require some
form of ceremonial act officiated by a spiritual
leader or elder. In addition to prayers that will be
said and libations that will be poured to open the
way, sacrifices and offerings will most likely be
made so that one can receive the desired blessing.
Such ceremonies may center around one person, a
group of persons (e.g., as it is the case during initi-
ation ceremonies), or the whole community, as in
the case already mentioned of Rain Ceremonies.
People and communities tend to offer what is
most valuable to them as tokens of their deep
appreciation for the blessings of the spiritual
world. Thus, beer among the Lovedu and butter,
fat, meat, honey, and honey mead among the
Maasai are conceived of as the most powerful
agents of blessings, and therefore figure promi-
nently in blessing rituals. Women are sprinkled
and smeared with honey, mead, and butter by
Maasai elders during rituals to ensure abundant
fertility. Likewise, in Vodu in Haiti, divinities
(the Lwa) are offered their favorite food to dis-
pose them favorably toward human requests for
blessing. Hence, one will offer rum and pork to
Papa Ogu, the divinity of war, or champagne and
delicate cookies to Ezili Freda, the Lwa of love
and fertility, because they are known to be fond
of those things.Ama MazamaSee alsoOfferings; Rituals; Sacrifices126 Blessing