The place of ancestors in African society
It is a widely held belief among scholars and students of African socio-cultural studies that the myth of ancestry predominates the traditional and institutional life of the African. The extended family is constituted by both the living and the dead. The dead, chiefly the adult dead, form the closest link between the living and spirit world. The ancestors are the invisible protectors of the living descendants. They guard, direct and exercise a disciplinary influence over family affairs, traditional ethics and social relationships of the community they had left behind.
It is believed that the ethereal power of ancestors does outwit and overcome the destructive forces of evil men and sorcerers. And where a family's ancestors are 'alive' and proactive the presumption is that 'medicine' men keep well clear and there is progress and prosperity in that family.
On the contrary where is poverty, disease, illness - mental and physical, it is alleged that ancestors might be 'sleeping', probably because they are not attended to regularly and not placated sweetly enough. The Yoruba people of Nigeria have an invocative expression:
"Baba mi, ma sun o" - literally "My father, don't sleep".
This may be a call to a dead father, grandfather or guardian to be attentive to one's needs and to rekindle one's opportunities. It may form part of a prayer to the departed ancestor imploring his vigilance and support in times of difficulties.
African people do venerate their ancestors with such religious intensity that non-Africans are led to conclude that they practise 'ancestor worship'. The notion of 'ancestor worship' is certainly wrong. Traditional African people do not worship ancestors any more than Christian do not worship saints and angels and archangels.
Reverence is paid to ancestors by performing libations. In Akan, Ewe and Gwembe and other ethnic groups, libation precedes celebrations of birth, marriage, good farm harvests, the attainment of puberty, funeral ceremonies and indeed at all the crises points of during the journey through life.
In Akan society for example, libation is poured at home, at the 'stool house', in private and in public. A home grown Akan and for that matter, traditional African, would not sip or drink water or wine without first pouring some on the ground in offering and thanksgiving to the ancestors.
In Anlo society libatory supplications are offered to ancestral spirits as intermediaries to the throne of the Supreme God. It is thought that the Supreme Being, the omnipotent, the omniscient is far too busy to concern himself/herself with the 'little' affairs of mortal beings. In the Gwembe community in the Supreme Being is reachable the mediation of the ancestors called MIZIMU or the BASANGU.
The BASANGU are offered chicken and goats rather than beer or any alcoholic drink. The officiating elder would make the offer on the doorsill by pronouncing on the spirits to be "..cool as water is cool…. Let us all proper…". Ancestors are summoned individually by name and asked to bring along with them other spirits whose names the living could not remember. Any known ancestral spirit could be invoked but the spirit of deceased parents are more closely associated with their living children, siblings and their household.
The veneration of ancestors is not, in fact, totally widespread in all African ethnic communities. In eastern Sudan, the Nilotic Nuer and the Masai people attribute no particular role to the efficacy of ancestors. Their religious observance is more focussed on God or Divinity, symbolically linked with the sky and rain.
In theory, it is contended that ancestral spirits are acting "in loco Dei" and "pro Deo". Some African traditional scholars argue that libation is the equivalent of the Christian celebration of "communio sanctorum" - "the communion of the saints".