Zande

The modern Sudan is situated in the ancient civilisation of Nubia,
bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea, and located in Northern Africa. It is the largest country by area in Africa. Geographicly, the Sudan is located in the extremes of varying sandy desert to tropical forest. Population wise, there is an estimated 26 million people living in the Sudan. Of the 26 million, seventy percent are Muslim, five percent are Christian, while twenty-five percent are of indigineous faith. Of the twenty-five percent of indigineous religious practitioners, the Azande people exist.
The word Sande, meaning “the earth”, is the root of Azande, meaning “the people who possess much land”. The Azande dwell in savanna forest, where they cultivate the soil, raising a variety of plants, and where they also hunt and fish. It is here, where the Azande have survived as a people for a long period of time in a hostile and difficult environment, and it is here where the Azande have developed a complex society, rich in religious custom.
Among the Azande, the supreme god is Onyame. Onyame could be referred to as the sky-god. This one supreme god, Onyame, the sky god, is given credit of creating the world. Also, Onyame created all spiritual entities beneath him in a pantheon of lesser gods and spirits, particularly ancestor spirits. These lesser gods, spirits, and ancestors act as Onyame’s intermediaries with man. The Abosom (lesser gods) were created by Onyame to act on his behalf and were given certain powers to carry out that mission; while the Nsamanfo (ancestors) are the custodians of the laws, customs, and traditions. Although Onyame is considered the sky god, in which his matters are that of the heavens, Onyame’s terrestrial functions is providing protection to the people.
Onyame sent his children to earth to confer his beliefs upon it. These bore the names of what are now rivers and lakes, revered and worshiped as containing the power and the spirit of the great Creator. Ancestor spirits resided in the stools the Azande had used in their lifetime. Stools were thus part of an Azande’s life spirit and greatly honoured. Their designs were hierarchical; certain types were reserved for the holders of specific high offices. The religion of the Azande focuses on the worship and reverence of ancestors. In the Azande religion, the Gods and the spirits of the ancestors are always present.
Ritualistically, the Azande religion has a god concept, but Onyame is not central in their common rituals. For example, the Azande honored the earth goddess in the annual Adae ceremony. This ceremony is held on Thursdays. Thursday is the natal day of the earth goddess and work on that day was prohibited, otherwise misfortune would result. Also, Azande hunters recieve guidance by consulting termites. First they would go to a termite hill, and then ask their questions. For instance, a hunter might inquire, "Will evil spirits steer the beasts into, or away from my traps?" Then the hunter would poke two sticks into a termite hill and leave it for a day. If one stick was eaten that was a yes, if the other stick was eaten that was a no. If the termites ate both sticks it was an emphatic "yes", and when the termites ate neither stick it was an emphatic "no".
The Azande also practice, and celebrate marriage, and circumcision ritually. Azande marriage is not a sudden act but rather a culmination of a long cumulative series of events. Marriages took place by payment of a bride-price, traditionally in iron spears, to the bride's family. In regards to circumcision, boys assemble in a hut and the operation is performed with ceremony. The boys sleep in seclusion for about two months. Before the circumcision is healed, the boys go naked, until the final preparation for the circumcision dance had been made. After circumcision, a boy is recognized as a person old enough to have sexual intercourse and his adult status is acknowledged.
Death is another transitional phase in Azande religion, which is marked by ritual and belief. The Azande believe that at death, their souls joins the totem of their clan. The Azande say “Death has always a cause, and no man dies without a reason”. When a person dies, a portion of one finger nail and one toe nail and some hair are always removed before burial. These are used to find out who has bewitched the deceased
Among the Azande, witchcraft is considered to be a major danger. They believe that witchcraft can be inherited and that a person can be a witch, causing others harm, without realising her or his influence. Because of this danger, effective means of diagnosing witchcraft are, for them, vital. One method is through the use of an oracle. The most important being, benge, a poison which is fed to baby chickens. The chick's death or survival provides the oracle's answer. Azande also use benge to judge other evidence in a court before a chief.
Witchcraft, magic, and divination are major features of social life, and are part of daily existence. Everyone is potentially a witch for some of the time, although only a few people can be said to be habitual witches. The Azande believe that any hatred or dislike of one person by another, however slight, is a potential cause for witchcraft. Thus, a person with an ill-temperment, perhaps physically deformed or mutilated, and who is jealous or otherwise spiteful, is widely suspected of being a witch.
The Azande believe that all bad luck – illness, misfortune, accident, death – is caused by witchcraft. They do not conceive of a world in which luck, accident or misfortune have non-supernatural causes. All bad events have a supernatural origin. Thus every misfortune that befalls an individual is cause for determining who has bewitched you. To minimize the likelihood of being bewitched, an individual may attempt to conform as closely as possible to ideal Azande moral and social behavior. The Azande believe that witches may do them harm by performing magic rites with bad medicines.
Witch-doctors, who sell magical services are commonplace in the Azande, and their magic generally takes the form of whistles, amulets, charms or the like. The Azande produce numerous statuettes called yanda, whose magic powers favour, among other things, success in hunting and fertility in initiates. The appearance of yanda is often the result of the statue being used in ritual practices.
In sum, it is best said that Azande is not a static religion. Located in the hostile and difficult environment of the Sudan, the Azande have survived as a people for a long period of time. Azande religion, by providing a common foundation of ritual, belief, and practice, provide a strong set of principles for indigenous Sudan society.






















Bibliography

Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1971. The Azande. Oxford. Clarendon

E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Faber and Faber, London

“Azande” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azande

“Sudan” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan

“Azande Religion” http://www.africangold.co.za/pages/Stories/yanda.htm