ArticlesFr. Kaniky
In Latin cultures, blessing is essentially speaking, emphasizing the power of the word. In African cultures, however, these two combine both speaking and acting; there are rituals of blessing, although verbal formulas are rare. The emphasis is on action; to bless is to do something.
Among the Bantu of Uganda, the commonest word for blessing is mukisa, mugisa, or mugisha, which means luck, happiness, and well-being.
For the Alur, who are Luo, the same word means both blessing and pregnancy, inserting in the concept of blessing the elements of fertility and procreation, which, in the Bantu languages, will only be implicit. For the Iteso, aisirereng is to bless, while erereng means ‘fortunate’. To bless, therefore, is to make one fortunate. ‘To give a blessing’, as it is often rendered, implies that the one who blesses has the blessing, since no one can give what he/she does not have.
In fact, all blessing comes from God through the ancestors. This is why it is usually given by the elders, chiefs, or specialists who represent the ancestors. There is another common expression for blessing: goyo laa, in Luo and kuwanda eddusu in Luganda, with parallels in other Bantu languages. Literally, it means to spit saliva on someone. This expression is ambivalent; it expresses a blessing but it can also be a sign of rejection, depending on how one does it and under which conditions. Saliva is a blessing, the way rain is a blessing for the earth. It is also used for blessing things and for making medicine or charms more efficacious.
In the Sango language of the Central African Republic, rain is called ngu ti Nzapa, literary meaning ‘the water of God’. Sometimes, instead of spitting saliva, the one blessing puts water into the mouth and spits it on the recipient. Saliva, therefore, is a sign of fertility and life. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, in some tribes of the Upper Congo, old men bless by stretching their legs and the young pass between them. The element of fertility is very clear in this gesture; thus, at the basis of all blessings, there is life itself.
The commonest gesture of blessing is the laying of hands on the shoulders or the head of the person to be blessed. The hand is the externalization of the heart, the seat of good intentions; the head represents the personality, while the shoulders stand for the physical and the spiritual strength of the person. The role of good intention can be seen here. Even the act of being well disposed towards a person is itself a blessing.
The commonest gesture of blessing is the laying of hands on the shoulders or the head of the person to be blessed.
If we remember the divine nature and therefore, the power of the spiritual aspect of the human person in the African thought, we can understand how a good wish or intention can be beneficial; it can increase the vital force of another person and seal the unity of the elements that make him/her up. If the person who does so is part of the circle of the life force, this sealing is seen as taking place from within. Since for one to intend good for a person, one must draw close spiritually to the other, the drawing close itself makes the vital energy of the drawer increase the vital energy of the person for whom good is intended.
The gesture or ritual of blessing is believed to accomplish what it signifies. The one who blesses is a channel of whatever a human being can long for: good and long life, health, fertility, luck, prosperity, fulfillment of one’s dreams, success, etc. In short, to bless is to strengthen a person’s vital force. There are plants used for blessing in almost every African culture. Olwedo for the Acholi, lweza in Buganda and Busoga; there is akambula (the undresser), which the Bagwere use for cleansing themselves from all sorts of evil, etc. These plants are used as hyssop for blessing; people put their leaves in a basin of water and bathe in order to get blessings or wade off curses or the effects of a broken taboo.
The verb kweza, which is cognate to lweza, means ‘having something in plenty’. In Acholi, the ‘lwero’ may be cognate to ‘olwedo’. It denotes the act of ‘pruning’ and to prune is to cut away from a plant what would prevent it from flourishing. If this assumption is true, then the olwedo plant would purge away everything that prevents a person from flourishing and self-realization. Here, we have nature as an ally in the fight of life against death. These plants are believed to have a vital force, which man can use to strengthen or increase his own.
Some pastoral tribes in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi do not eat mutton, yet they keep sheep among their cows. It is believed that the presence of sheep is a blessing for the herd and that where there are sheep, thunder does not strike. Some domestic animals are a source of blessings. Sheep, in particular, are used in rituals of reconciliation and protection from epidemics.
There are geographical places believed to be rich in blessings. Apart from gigantic trees, large and tall stones, water sources and mountains, which are sanctuaries, and crossroads are seen as places where one can go to take a bath at night and go away cleansed. Crossroads evoke the idea of winds from the four corners of the earth. It is therefore a concentration of the earth’s vital force and an axis, which links heaven and earth; the ideal place for strengthening one’s vital force.
A human being is a longing animal. One longs to be better than one is and to have more than one has already. Blessings are answers to such a quest.
Fr. Edward Kanyike MCCJ
