FOR the BaTonga, ‘return’ from the dead is a serious affair where ghosts or avenging spirits are associated with the ‘second coming’ after the burial of a community member.
Although ghosts are treated as fearsome spirits of the dead, some are treated with respect and are sometimes welcome in the family to protect the living from other evil spirits; some of the ghosts are used to fight enemies.
According to some definitions from culturists and academics, a ghost is the soul or spirit of the dead. They vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic lifelike visions.
The act of contacting a spirit of a dead person is known as necromancy among the BaTonga.
Ghosts are also generally described as solitary, humanlike essences. They are believed to haunt particular locations or people they were associated with in life.
There is a strong belief in the existence of ghosts among the BaTonga people of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Ghosts also appear in corporeal form, and their supernatural state is given away by behaviour rather than appearance.
According to research, they may be mistaken for the living. They may be mute, appear and disappear suddenly or leave no footprints or other traces.
But how does this come about?.
According to BaTonga elders, rituals are carried out to ‘resurrect’ a dead family member or relative to be used as an avenging spirit or ghost to fight for and protect the family.
While funerals are among the most important and visible observances of the BaTonga cultural life, the belief in afterlife of the dead is also held in high esteem, hence the reverence in ghosts.
While in other tribes mourning rituals reflect the beliefs and attitudes towards death and as such begin immediately after the family member has been confirmed dead.
When a death is announced, the family is immediately regarded as ‘polluted’, which implies a negative shadow which also means that the family is thrown into a state of disequilibrium. A family death is believed to have contaminated the relatives of the deceased.
The family of the deceased will be contaminated and anyone who comes in contact with the corpse will also be regarded as such.
The period preceding the burial will be accompanied by certain rituals that will be performed.
These include the smearing of the windows with ash to reflect a gloomy atmosphere, turning wall pictures face-to-back as well as switching off radios and television sets.
The rationale behind all these efforts is to demonstrate openly the intensity of deep sorrow and remorse.
Again, the rationale would be to symbolise death to the whole community.
For the BaTonga, when a death occurs in the family, family members are said to have been symbolically crushed by a mud wall and need to be released. This imaginary wall surrounding the survivors symbolises their bereavement.
As a result, they may not take part in the normal life of the society until they have been purified or cleansed through performance of a ritual to bring back the spirit of their loved one to be with them.
The belief in the existence of an afterlife as well as manifestations of the ghost is widespread as it pre-dates animism or ancestor reverence in pre-literate cultures such as the BaTonga.
Most cultures dispose of their dead with a ritual such as burial in order to separate the dead from the living.
For BaTonga traditional culture, this is an exception.
There are usually a number of rituals accompanying the burial and these vary according to ethnicity, clan, kinship and belief system.
According to BaTonga elders, if the deceased has been chosen to protect the family, he will be put on a stool or chair sitting in an upright position.
Family members and some close relatives will then be asked to ‘talk’ to the deceased, often asking him or her to ‘come back’ and look after the living. They beg his/her spirit not to depart the house and remain at the homestead.
In most cases, a nganda or hut is built for the ghost so that he resides at the home and protects the family from evil spirits.
After all the rituals are done, the corpse is carried out of the house; a traditional praise-making is done by a close elderly relative.
The eulogy serves as a means of honouring the deceased and also for psychological relief.
Eulogy is supposed to evoke a response from the dead relative that they have accepted to stay at the homestead.
This also happens during the burial where the bereaved would be sitting on one side of the grave and are not expected to take part in the singing.
The bereaved would also continue to engage in cleansing rituals for purification with special medicine until the end of mourning or death ‘fades’ away and it is presumed that life will continue after the burial with the ghost taking its place in the community.
According to elders, some ghosts have defended community members from other evil spirits lurking in their communities.
Some ghosts are known to have escorted people from beer drinks during the night and protected them from wild animals and other dangers.
The BaTonga people have traditionally used their homestead as a final resting place where their dead are buried.
For example, a man is buried in a kraal in the yard of the homestead.
This is done because there is a specific meaning attached to the dead being buried in the home.
There is often an attachment to place, which has become woven into the individual’s personal identity.
It is also believed, among the BaTonga, that every person has an environmental past that consists of places, spaces and properties which have served instrumentally in the satisfaction of one’s biological, psychological, social and cultural needs which serve as part of the socialisation process during which self-identity is developed.
Therefore, if family members wish to invoke the spirit of a dead person they go to his/her grave and ‘wake’ him/her up so as to help fight in the family’s corner.