WHITE people have the habit of labelling practices they don’t understand as, superstitions. Gullible Africans follow suit without bothering to find out how African ancestors came up with the practices and whether the functions they are meant to serve are indeed superstitious.
African totems and arts are examples of the practices labelled as evil by both whites and their overzealous converts.
The functions that totems serve in African society are scientific, not superstitious.
They are symbols of unity and oneness among Africans.
They help members of the same family identify, recognise and belong to each other even when they have never met before in their lives.
In the event of a dispute, once the persons involved realise that they belong to the same totem, the feud becomes a family affair and much easier to resolve without external interference.
The consequences of abandoning totems and other symbols of African identity and oneness are that, persons of the same blood may enter into an incestuous relationship or even marry, without knowing that they are related.
The deformities that may occur to children born of parents of the same blood are scientific, not constructions of superstition or witchcraft.
Observing totems and other symbols of family unity and oneness among Africans goes a long way in preventing incestuous relationships and resolving deadly confrontations amicably that may occur among members of the same blood or family.
The following story is instructive:
Why the crocodile does not eat hens
A hen came to the river every day.
She drank water there.
One day the crocodile saw her and wanted to eat her up.
But she cried, “Oh don’t eat me, my dear brother!”
The crocodile let her go. He could not eat his sister!
The next day, the hen came to the river again and the crocodile decided to eat her up this time. But again she cried, “Oh, don’t eat me, my dear brother!”
Again the crocodile let her go, but thought, “How can I be her brother? I live in the water, and she doesn’t.”
Then the crocodile went to his friend lizard and said, “Oh, friend, a big hen comes to the river every day and when I want to catch her, she says that I am her brother. How can that be?”
“Oh my silly friend!” lizard answered. “Don’t you know that the hen, the turtle, and the lizard lay eggs as crocodiles do, my dear? So we all are brothers and sisters. Do you understand?”
“Oh, thank you very much,” said the crocodile.
Now you know why crocodiles never eat hens.
They are one family.
So are Africans.
Sacred pythons
The totems that Africans adopt are not superstitious.
They are designed for Africans to coexist with Nature and protect their environment.
The following story is again instructive:
One day, some Naayire people and their chief went hunting.
They walked and walked in the bush, but found nothing.
When night came, they were very far from home.
“We must find a good place in the bush to sleep,” said their chief.
The hunters came to a place with big trees round it.
They decided to rest and sleep on the grass.
They did not make a fire.
They ate only some nuts for supper, which they carried in their bags.
Then they went to sleep.
They were all tired and slept soundly. They did not hear their enemies coming nearer and nearer to them.
But suddenly, in one of the trees above them, something moved and fell down on the head of a young hunter.
The hunter jumped up and cried.
And all the Naayire hunters got up quickly. Their enemies had surrounded them. A fight began and the enemies ran away.
Then the Naayire hunters came up to the young hunter and their chief asked, “What made you jump up?”
The young hunter said, “It was a python.
“It fell on my head, but did not bite me.”
Then the chief said, “From this day, our people will never kill a python.
“That python saved our lives. Pythons will be sacred animals in our country.”
Now you know why the Naayire love pythons and protect them.