Considerations on the Symbolism of Some Bantu Religions

Focuses largely on Julien Bonhomme's "The Mirror & the Skull" which deals with the initiation element in the Bantu religion which developed during the colonial era. Bantu is an initiatic religion that makes uses of hallucinogens & a symbolic mirror in its rites which are desig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Homme 2007-10 (184), p.167-189
Main Author: de Heusch, Luc
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Gabon
Religions
Secret Societies
Witchcraft
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Focuses largely on Julien Bonhomme's "The Mirror & the Skull" which deals with the initiation element in the Bantu religion which developed during the colonial era. Bantu is an initiatic religion that makes uses of hallucinogens & a symbolic mirror in its rites which are designed to allow the participants to contact the ancestors. The motivation for initiation is misfortune & the consequent need for discovering the source of misfortune. Exposes both Bonhomme's understanding of such symbolic places, objects & figures as beneficial ancestors & malefic sorcerer, diurnal forest & the nocturnal village temple, the aforementioned mirror, a child-like experience under the authority of a symbolic mother, & a mythic Woman of the Sun who is chased from heaven & is transformed into a sacred tree. This symbolism we are told does not reflect a rite of passage but a series of ritual complications which progressively make the initiate a complicated person. The powers of the ancients are placed on stage, so to speak, in a series of developments resulting in growing knowledge. In addition, introduces several other works dealing religious syncretism in general as it exists in this linguistically-defined section of Africa. Bonhomme's work is said to allow a summing up of speculations, admittedly problematic, on the subject of syncretism. Maintains Comparative Ethnology, History, & Anthropology all have something to offer in aiding understanding the issues under discussion. While granting that there is no authentic version of many variations of the ritual symbolism in question, objects to Bonhomme's reduction of symbolism to functional interactions. Claims the understanding of a symbolism that antedates monotheism, even when combined with such a tradition, must go beyond its role in a latter-day religious tradition. References. R. Ruffin
ISSN:0439-4216