Encyclopedia of African Religion

power to maintain the consistency of the spiritual
relationships among all entities.

The Sacred Fire (Okuruuo)

Each oruzo has its own sacred fire generated by
specialstickscalledozondume.Thefireconsistsof
a stump that is left to lie in the ashes, and only
when there are important rituals is it stirred into
flames. In the evening, some burning charcoals or
a stump of fire are taken into the main house.
From this fire the sacred fire is lit in the morning.
This is done by the mother of a virgin.
It is important for this fire to be burning at all
times because it represents the contact between
the living and the Dead. It is believed that the
ancestorswouldfeelinsultedandmayinflictsome
form of punishment on the community if the fire
is not burning. The fire inherently has a spiritual
value, and this is the contact point between the
deceased members of the family and the living. At
the fire, prayers, offerings, and other important
functionsaretakingplace.Toputitinsimplelan-
guage, this is where the activities of the day are
reported to the ancestors.
Some of the common rituals that take place at
the sacred fire (okuruuo) are the following:

• Name giving:Achildwhoisbornisbroughtto
  thefireandgivenaname.Thisislikeintroducing
  thenewmemberofthefamilytotheancestors.
  Afterthenaming,theoccasioniscelebratedwith
  theslaughterofacoworasheep.


• Circumcision:Beforeaboyistakenfor
  circumcision,heisbroughttothesacredfire
  wheretheancestorsareaskedtoblesstheboyand
  givehimprotection.Aprayerisofferedfor
  protectionandthatthepainwillnotharmtheboy.


• Marriage: A newlywed couple is brought to the
  fire to announce to the ancestors that they are
  now married. This is to ensure that the
  ancestors will know where the bride is. When
  the bridegroom brings his wife to his father’s
  homestead, they are brought to the fire. The
  lady is introduced to the new ancestors. Fat is
  applied on her, and she is given sour milk. This
  shows that she has changed oruzo.


• Sickness and healing: The sick are brought to
  the sacred fire. The ancestors who are believed
  to have caused the sickness are asked to remove

the curse or punishment. When something is

terribly wrong in the homestead, someone from

the other oruzo will come and perform some

rituals that will remove the evil. This is called

okuhuhura(take off, cleansing).

Visiting the Graves

The Ovaherero belief system is based on ancestor

worship.Theancestorsareregardedaspartofthe

homestead,andtheyplayanimportantroleinthe

lives of the people.

There are two ways in which the Ovaherero

peoplevisitthegravesoftheancestors.Thefirstis

when a person is buried or someone who did not

attend the funeral requests to visit the grave. In

this case, the visit is for the purpose of seeing the

graveandgivingrespect.Thepeoplewhovisitthe

grave will place there some small stone or small

leaves. This is to give respect to the deceased. The

second way is when someone who was a hero or

an important person is buried at a certain place.

People will visit the place to give their respect to

the fallen hero. This is calledokuyambera(to put

green leaves on the grave).

Okuyambera is a highly religious ritual, and

people are only allowed to go there on the per-

mission ofondangere(a traditional high priest).

Duringthistime,peoplearepayingrespecttothe

deceased, but also praying for many things,

suchastheremovalofsickness,rain,wealth,and

prosperity. When a Herero person is traveling

and he knows of a place where there is some

important person/ancestor buried in the area, he

is expected to get out of his car and kneel at the

place to please the spirits of the ancestors. It is

believed that failure to do this could result in a

terrible accident.

Godwin Uetuundja Murangi

See alsoZulu

Further Readings

Malan, J. S. (1995).People of Namibia. Pretoria, South

Africa: Rhino.

Vivelo, F. R. (1977).The Herero of Western Botswana:

Aspects of Change in a Group of Bantu Speaking

Cattle Herders. St. Paul, MN: Wagner.

Ovaherero 513