Heroes and WarsIt was a common practice for the Asante army to
call on famous Asante warriors during battle. The
names would be spoken, shouted, and sung as the
army went into battle. The Yoruba called on a
mythical god of war. Other ethnic groups have
similar ways of expressing their connectedness to
heroic ancestors. Inasmuch as ancestor reverence
is considered to be at the base of all African ways
of obligation, it is the fact that we are obliged to
the ancestors that causes us to grant reverence.
With war comes death. The general attitude of the
African toward the dead is one of respect. There are
certain taboos among some ethnic groups about
death. They do not even speak the word. A taboo is
a socially sanctioned prohibition against performing
certain acts. Most taboos seem to involve sexual rela-
tions with certain people and under certain circum-
stances. The incest taboo applies to a larger range of
people in Africa than in Europe. In Africa, it applies
not only to members of the same family, but also to
members of the same clan or lineage. Taboos against
marriage tend to be stronger and stricter than those
against copulation. Yet the rules of exogamy, which
are a direct result of these taboos, influence the social
structure of African societies. The rules regulate the
exchange of women and marriage compensation,
which work to maintain a society’s cohesion.
Taboos around death are the most troubling.
Among the Akan people of Ghana, one does not
speak of death, and one must certainly not say
that the king is dead. These are taboos for which
the person would have to make restitution in
some ritual propitiation.
The Fear of DeathIn all societies, there are people who are terrified
of ghosts and people who havethanatophobia, the
fear of death. This is different from the typical
African’s response to death. In African cultures,
fear associated with death involves collective dan-
ger, not individual fear; thus, the idea of thanato-
phobia in some Western and other cultures is
more an individual rather than a communal fear.
Taboos are communal, not individual, and a per-
son who breaks one actually violates the fabric of
the society. It is like tearing a hole in a beautiful
blanket. It must be repaired or everyone suffers.
Respect for the dead is a given among African
traditionalists and believers. The Asante have cer-
emonies every 3 weeks for the ancestors. They are
given water to wash their hands and soul food,
that is, food for their souls. The Gikuyu elders put
a little food on the ground for the departed spir-
its. The light of the ancestors is thought to stand
in the place where they stood.
People do not pray to ancestors, they pray to
god, but they ask ancestors for intercession. No
Africans pray to their ancestors any more than they
pray to their living fathers. Prayer is reserved for the
gods. A person may pour libations to the ancestors
to ask the ancestors for a special favor. For example,
“Why do you treat us like this? Why did you give us
this problem? What must we do to appease you?”
These are like scolding messages; they are not
insults, but conversations that men hold with the
spirits expressing disappointment for failures.
At the moment of the conversation, one realizes
the reciprocal nature of reverence for ancestors
because, although the ancestors do not speak, they
demand and desire more and more. Believers are
obligated to carry out every sacrifice that is
required to appease the ancestor.
In conclusion, it must be made clear that
Africans do not debate whether the ancestors are
gods; they know that they are ancestors, and this
is a special category of belief. Historically, one can
see that conquerors have often appropriated some
of the ideas of the people they conquered, yet the
conquering religions do not see ancestors as
Africans have seen them. Death is a clear con-
frontation with reality because, in the view of
Africans, it is where one crosses over to the ances-
tral world, and it is only by accessing the ances-
tors that the living are able to commune with
those on the other side.The Idea of Ancestral Reincarnation
Africans believe in reincarnation, but the African
idea is not based on a written text; it is based on
the belief that humans beings live in a cycle, that
things go around and come around. African rein-
carnation is based on the religion of ancient
Egypt, where the priests said that we shall come
back millions and millions of times.
Two points should be made clear about reincar-
nation. The first is that this belief in reincarnation isAncestors 51