Conformity of the Lemba Cult to a Ngoma Type of Cult Affliction - Essay Example

Conformity of the Lemba Cult to an Ngoma Type of Cult Affliction Conformity of the Lemba Cult to an Ngoma Type of Cult Affliction The Lemba is a historical cult of trade, marriage relations as well as healing which came into being in the mid-seventeenth century in the triangular region that extends from the Atlantic coast to the Malebo Pool which presently is in the cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, from the Congo (formerly Zaire), River northwards toward the Kwile-Niari River (Janzen, 1982). The Mpumbu market that is located on the hilltop and overlooks the Malebo Pool was the most western end point of the Riverian trade network (Janzen, 1982). The vast trade network covered the Congo basin (Martin, 1972). Westwards, the rapids on the Zaire River required the trade to the coast to follow the routes on the land. For three centuries, all trade used the same inland routes. The Lemba controlled the trade on the north bank (Janzen, 1982). They kept the routes open and regulated the local markets (Janzen, 1982). In addition, they ensured that the rapid international trade did not destroy their local communities. The Lemba cult of the Congo conforms to the an ngoma type cult of affliction. By the mid-eighteenth century, a total of fifteen thousand slaves were shipped annually from the parts of Malemba, Cabinda and Loango (Janzen, 1982). The slaves were drawn from the inland societies which viewed trade as disruptive despite its economic advantages. The conflicts of interest between the social order and trade explain somewhat why the Lemba, a word meaning “to calm” (lembikisa) became associated with therapeutic affiliations- a “drum of affliction” (nkonko or ngoma) (Janzen, 1992). The Lemba’s illnesses are described in a variety of ways. For example, possession by Lemba’s ancestors, which is common in the drums as a mode of affliction to any illness affecting the heart, head, sides and abdomen, that is, the vital organs ofa human body, a typicalmiraculous recovery from a deadly illness, typical witchcraft symptoms and difficulty in breathing to mention but a few (Akombo, 2003). The erratic list of Lemba symptoms, however, tells little about it than it does the identification of the individuals who were afflicted in the Lemba community (Awanbor, 1982). Normally, it was the religion’s elite, chiefs, prominent healers, judges and especially the individuals engaged in mercantile work (Comaroff & Comaroff, 1993). The ability of such persons to harness success in commerce, as wellas their aspiration to wealth, is what made them vulnerable to the envy and evil thoughts by their kinsmen and thus in some sense marginal in the society and sick with the affliction by the Lemba. In the typical drum of affliction fashion, a Lemba doctor-priest usually takes the individual suffering in hand and administers the initial purification act (Comaroff & Comaroff, 1997). If the individual can muster further sponsorship, then they can undergo the full therapeutic initiation before the local priests and priestesses (Janzen, 2000). The Ngoma-type cults of affiliation are related dynamically to the Lemba people. The states of the Lemba people have either been under tutelage by the government and served in legitimation of the sovereign power or have perpetuated and preserved the segments of the society that are not directly related to the state. In the absence of the states, these cults have provided the format for the perpetuating social segments, and in particular those that are afflicted or marginalized such as the women, handicapped and those who are stuck with misfortune in tasks related to the economy such as hunting, commerce or the productivity of women. In some of the settings of the Lemba, the cult is found to have been providing the basis for social organization, normative social authority, organizing economic activity and responsible for the more esoteric artistic and religious activities. The Ngoma cult of affliction constitutes a paradigm of specific religious ideas and beliefs about health, medicine, illness and healing. The word ngoma was indigenously translated by Turner (1981) as simply meaning drum. However, Janzen who is an influential scholar on the subject suggested that the Bantu word to be maintained, a move which was followed by many other scholars. By using the indigenous term of the word, an individual implies and affirms the ngoma’s intrinsic plurality of dimension and meaning. It can thus refer to a drum, or the singing of the community, music and dance (Bensimon, Amir & Wolf, 2008). It can, however, also refer to the symbols and aims of the performers of the group itself. A scholar using ngoma as a term retains the plurality of the connotation rather than narrowing the concept to fit a Westernized sense in matters such as possession and trance (Beidelman, 1982). What is more, ngoma needs to be regarded as much more since it is comprised of a dynamic collection of processes and traditions that deal with the interpretation of suffering and aims at the removal of the same. Even though the ngoma is a phenomenon which moves beyond the clear lines of the Western categorization, it is identified as a classic which is formative and ancient an institution in the Southern and Central Africa. The ngoma practices are found throughout the region of Southern and Central Africa which are the same regions in which the Bantu speakers were found. As a ritual therapeutic institution, ngoma offers the means of understanding one’s affliction. The said interpretation of individual suffering is thus embedded in the frame of African concepts and religious beliefs. Therefore, the ngoma institution assumes the existence of the spiritual beings and subsequently the involvement of these beings in affliction. The entire complex of therapeutic interventions in the healing institutions of the Lemba was centered on the indication by the ancestors and spiritual beings that an individual has been chosen to participate in the ngoma. The selection is apparent of the suffering that an individual experiences, but the interpretation of the suffering is treated as a call from the spiritual world which requires the intervention of a divinity. The diviner is one who can easily identify the spirit who selected the individual for a particular purpose. After the case is diagnosed, and the ngoma spirit is identified, the individual is then referred to a ngoma healer. The suffering can usually occur in many forms such as infertility, job loss, illness, familial conflict as well as financial struggles. The recruitment and selection procedure thus starts with the call by the spirits who usually use divine powers in conveying their message which is often received in the form of suffering in the observable realm. It is never clear the criteria that the spirits use when choosing new followers. Their selection may be based on an individual’s sensitivity, strength, ego, or even cultural receptivity in times of pressure and stress. Separation of an individual in the Lemba cult, expressed as affliction, acts as the initial stage in recruiting a ngoma adherent. Spiritual beings and ancestors who call a person to partake in the ngoma intend the individual to take up the ritual leadership role and ultimately become a ngoma healer. In light of this, the aim of the ngoma is to bring healing to an individual by removing suffering and making sense to the sufferer the situation and the calling. The afflicted individual is thus required to move from an involuntary relationship to a voluntary one with the ancestors and calling spirit through mediumship. Basically, the ngoma institute of the Lemba cult is comprised of an individual coming to terms with the living dead in relation to the misfortune and fortune of the sufferer and their community. Cults of affliction usually have an intrinsic logic to utilize misfortune and hardship during the ngoma process. Misfortune is used and transformed into power while the afflicted person develops the potential of moving beyond personal distress so as to contribute to the alleviation of the collective constraint. Societal distress and the preservation of the ngoma usually have a characteristic of interweaving political and healing power. In this sense, political power is best understood as the act of ordering and reordering social relations. Political power is more in line with the African ideas of health and life. Ngoma-type institutions are traditionally determined by the scope of power and the aim of transforming the social environment, as well as the afflicted individual. The power and genius of the ngoma in regard to transformation is the assistance of a suffering individual by a ritual expert to rebuild their identity in the presence of their community. An individual works on their self-transformation, while the social network is also being transformed. When addressing imbalanced power relations, adversity and suffering, marginality, and providing the framework of turning affliction into vitality, the ngoma is primarily concerned with the social reproduction of health. In a social context, the ngoma therapy is usually comprised of the ngoma adherents; the healers, experts and the kinship group of the afflicted individual as well as other lay individuals responsible for playing a supportive role in the therapy (Falola, 2003). The social environment’s primary aim is equal to the objective of the individuals with affliction; all the involved persons usually strive to remove sufferingand renew identity through the ngoma. The efficacy is particularly assured regardless of the specific techniques employed even though the entire community is not kin (Feierman & Janzen, 1992). Practical and explicit involvement of people surrounding the afflicted person begins with an initial diagnosis to determine illness (Ferguson, 1999). This is usually done by the kinship or family of the sufferer. Among the Lemba, health-seeking behavior is a family issue. The relatives of the victim decide the actions to take and where to go. The expertise of a ngoma diviner comes into play only when the relatives decide the course of action. At this juncture, the diviner is tasked with clarifying the case by focusing on a set of questions which will guide their conclusion in regard to the case. When the illness requires the diviner to communicate with specific spirits, the sufferer is usually referred to a ngoma healer who is communicating and employed by the spirits. The ngoma healer is supposed to facilitate the healing process. Restoration of health is usually achieved when the sufferer manages to overcome the affliction and expresses this conquest in a personal articulation of their illness experience. The treatment and affliction of illness and affliction requires the continuous development of new therapies, updated communication with the spiritual and ancestral beings as well as the acquisition of appropriate medicine (Livingston, 2005). Therefore, the healers cross borders frequently. In the event that the healers fail to cross the borders, then the healing activities may lose the divine power or become less attractive to the audience seeking the health. The traditional healing environment is characterized by the healers being on the recipient’s end. These healers receive their healing knowledge from the spiritual world (Bate, 1995). Thus, they are required to be constantly adjusting to the sources of their power. The necessity of crossing borders when re-inventing appropriate techniques of healing is also a result of the changing expectations of the health seekers (Landau, 1996). When individuals in the Lemba cult become very familiar with the practices of a healer, they often turn to other experts whose techniques conserve the mystery associated with healing. The ngoma-type cult of affliction emphasizes on the therapeutic elements of song and dance. It is majorly practiced by countries in the lower equatorial zone. The cult has led to the marginalization of weaker groups such as women and children (Deikman & Lessing, 2003). This leads to unequal living standards as the women and children suffer due to the patriarchal inclinations and determinants of such cults (Drews, 2000). The ngoma-type cults of affliction propagate inequality in the societies through the stature given to men at the expense of women. Women are not allowed to exercise freedom of their reproductive rights. This exploits the women as they are considered to be of lesser social authority as compared to men who are allowed to exercise power over everyone in their family and clan including the women and the children. The women are also assumed to be poor at making decisions based on their finances. The use of affliction and other forms of suffering led governmental inclusion. The government’s participation in the accent of the culture of affiliation and suffering through the use of the cult to pursue individual political desires which eventually led to the emergence of centralized shrines. An example of the centralized shrine is the Bunzi shrine of coastal Kongo (Gufler & University of Kent at Canterbury, 2003). The shrines attract a form of royal authority. This kind of power attracts and traps the people into an inexplicable source of power. Some spirits are believed to have various powerful positions in the clans. An example is the spirit of the cult of Ryangombei in central Africa. The spirits in the cults are focused on the rituals performed and the consciousness of the peoples too (Werbner, 2003). The long existence of these cults of affiliation leads to a definitive way through which cultural values are defined. Changing the definitions then leads to a rise of numerous social patterns. Additionally, the social adjustments brought about by the existence of dominant spirits in the particular areas leads to the development of adepts (Binsbergen, 2012). Cults have evolved over time just as any other group of people would. The-type cults in Central and South Africa, for instance, have developed fully functional healers and priests who work toward achieving the goals of the cult and spreading its influence further. In most situations, the rural people would take their beliefs to the city with them (Bell, 1997). The introduction of cults in the city would lead eventually lead to their significant shifts in functionalities and symbolism. In other cases, it would result in the development of split cults as some of the believers would be swayed by the modernity of the city (Janzen, 1992). Consequently, they would lose their loyalty to the cults and embrace modernization or civilization. The constant influence of city life and the cults has led to the development of some inter-cultic churches. In these types of churches, divine truths are combined with cultural affiliations to achieve the desired impact on the believers. This is mostly experienced in exorcisms where the cult priests induce the drums to facilitate the exfiltration of demons from people .e.g. lunatics. In conclusion, the Lemba cult of the Congo conforms to the ngoma-type cult of affliction. Members of the cult practice ngoma related techniques in communication with the spirits when deriving healing remedies for their clientele. The ngoma-type cult of affliction like any other type of affliction cult uses intrinsic logic in utilizing misfortune and hardship during the ngoma process. Afflicted members seek the help of diviners and ngoma healers to restore their wellbeing. References Akombo, D. O. (2003). The Use of Drumming as Cure for Children with Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Bowling Green: Music Therapy International, Inc. Awanbor, D. (1982). The Healing Process in African Psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 36(2), 206. Bate, S.C.(1995). Inculturation and Healing. Coping-Healing in South African Christianity. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. Bediako, K (1995). Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Maryknoll: Orbis. Beidelman, T.O.(1982). Colonial Evangelism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 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