African Masks, Tribal Art and Sculptures

Majority of African tribal people agree that the soul of a human being lives on after death.

Some tribes, eg. the Yoruba people of Nigeria, believe that each person has at least three spiritual beings. Firstly, there is the spirit “emi”, which resides in the heart and lungs and is fed by the wind through the nostrils. It allows a man to live – breath, walk, work, speak, hear, see and make love. The second one is “ojiji”, the shadow, which follows its owner everywhere. The last spirit, “eleda” can be translated as “guardian soul”. Before the death of a person, the “emi” spirit appears in his/her relatives dreams to let them know that he/she will die soon. Apparently, even in daytime, the chilly presence of a dying relative may be felt from far away. The ghosts of those who die middle aged may go and live in far away places and even marry. A wife would not even know that her husband was a mere ghost. When his time comes, the man dies a second time. After death the “eleda” spirit goes to heaven to confess to the Supreme God, Olorun, what it has done on earth. The good soul will be sent to “Orun Rere”, the Good Heaven. The souls guilty of cruelty, theft, witchcraft or murder will go to “Orun Buburu”, the Bad Heaven.

Generally, the most popular idea as to where the wicked souls continue their existence is the forest. The great forests of Africa are full of magical beings and spirits, mainly evil ones. The spirits also reside in dark, damp, deep caves in the mountains, disguised as bats or below the surface of rivers and lakes. The graveyards are also full of them.

The good souls –on the other hand - of the loved ones, or those who were respected and admired will live on for many generations. In many regions of Africa the ancestors are remembered and worshiped. The spirits of parents and grandparents emanate an invisible but active power for the benefit of their descendants, provided, however, that they are not forgotten. Annually, during a special ceremony, spirits of the ancestors are invoked to bless their children with good health, with children, with good crops, to remove disease and bad fortune. The Zulu people of South Africa, for example, used to perform a special ceremony called “ukubuisa” (to bring back) to persuade the spirit “idlozi” of a beloved father to come back a year after his death and live in the kraal (hut) with his children. In this way he, with his life-long experience, can still help them with their daily worries and problems.