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What are the rituals associated with death in traditional African communities?

      

Explain the rituals associated with death in traditional African communities.

  

Answers


Maurice
(i) Abstaining from routine work by the community members.
This symbolizes respect accorded to the death.

(ii) Mourning or wailing to announce the death and as a sign of sorrow.

(iii) Singing and dancing to comfort the bereaved, praise the dead and request the spirits and ancestors to receive the dead.

(iv) Washing of the corpse in herbal waters to preserve it and prepare it for the journey to the spirit world.

(v) Burying the dead with property which is believed to assist him/ her in the hereafter.

(vi) The burial site is carefully selected in the ancestral home so that the spirit of the deceased does not haunt the living members.

(vii) Offering of sacrifices to appease the ancestors so that they receive and welcome the new member.

(viii) Feasting and drinking beer to encourage, strengthen the bereaved and as a farewell meal with the dead.

(ix) Breaking of pots and destruction of the homestead to symbolize the physical separation of the deceased from the living.

(x) Sharing of the deceased's property among the relatives as a sign of solidarity with the dead and the care given to his/ her property.

(xi) Lighting of fire symbolizes the chasing away of the evil spirits associated with death.

(xii) The shaving and washing rituals by the bereaved members to cleanse off the impurities of death.
It also showed the continuity of life after death and the declaration that a normal life had resumed.
maurice.mutuku answered the question on August 30, 2017 at 06:42


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