Plants

Plants occupy an essential and diverse space in religious beliefs and practices. Plants are the source of foods such as seeds, nuts, grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables that nourish humans, living-dead, and deities. Plants provide the herbs used to make medicines that heal physical and spiritual bodies. Plants provide reeds, gourds, dyes, and fabrics used for shelter, creating rhythms, and adorning the body. Without these things, African religions would be one-dimensional and austere.

The life of a plant from seed to maturation back to germination mirrors the process of creation and echoes the cyclical return of the sun, moon, seasons, and human life. It is no wonder that many traditions hold that people were created from plants. The Zulu creator god Mvelinqangi emerged from a reed and subsequently brought from it men, women, animals, and the fruits of the Earth. The Xhosa, Lenge, Shangana, and Tonga of South Africa also maintain that God created humans from reeds. The Tonga call this reed Liblangu, and the marsh of reeds from which other peoples emerged is called Nblanga.

There are many rituals associated with sowing, harvesting, and consuming plants because they provide the primary source of nutrition for so many communities. The rituals can involve a sacrifice to ancestral and nature spirits before sowing, a blessing of seeds by chiefs or priests, and a ceremony to ensure adequate rainfall. Finally, the first-fruit celebrations at the harvest are where the bounty is presented for blessing, storage, distribution, consumption, and celebration of the yield.

The use of plants in the form of medicine for healing and well-being is universal on the continent. Africans have understood the principles and powers of plants for millennia and have been able to treat a variety of spiritual and physical illnesses. Much of this knowledge exists in the oral tradition and, unfortunately, much has been lost with the transition to more Western lifestyles. In the Sande women's secret society, women advance in prestige and standing as they master an increasing knowledge of plants. But even the pubescent initiates are taught to distinguish specific herbs. Experienced herbalists look for néku, a young shoot or sprout, when making any herbal preparations because it is considered to have the most life force and greatest therapeutic properties. Specific herbs can be rubbed on the ear so that a person can understand the language of the birds. Also, when there is a dispute among Mende women, the parties involved are made to undergo a ritual bath with herb-infused water as part of the restitution. Malidoma Some relates the story of a blind healer who was able to understand the [Page 530]language of trees and plants, a skill that baffled even his healing colleagues. The plants would tell him which ones to use to cure illnesses, how and when to prepare them, and which to avoid. Plants have supernatural powers; the leaf is the manifestation of the divine life force. It can be a lifelong study to learn how to access and apply it properly.