Agriculture Reference
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or simple natural objects such as wood, stones, feathers, bones, or pebbles. It is by activation that
they can have any utility or use as curatives in traditional medicine. It is absolutely wrong to inter-
pret their use to mean that the African healer believes that such objects have powers of their own,
although they can ordinarily serve as mediums of natural forces in their normal existence and by
their nature.
Shrines are also created or recognized as centers of worship, and the symbols and artifacts resi-
dent in such shrines serve only as points of fixation rather than fetishes as such. These shrines serve
almost the same purpose as the Christian churches or the Moslem mosques. The totems and carved
statues serve the same purpose as the Christian emblems, and once the objects acquire their new
status, they are venerated and treated with utmost respect. However, should they lose that status,
the objects no longer command respect. Among the Igbos, for example, a man could have an Ikenga
made for him as the symbol of his strength but will not hesitate to discard the wood if he finds it
useless. In a similar vein, the genealogy pots kept in sacred groves are bought from the market, but
when they have been consecrated and made to be symbolic representatives of members of the kin-
dred group, it becomes a very serious offense to break one.
It is this form of symbolic representation that accommodates the role of masquerades and tribal
masks in African culture. Ancestral spirits and benevolent deities are sometimes represented by
masquerades, and as soon as a person adorns the garb of the masquerades, even his or her friends
will treat him or her with respect, even awe.
The use of certain animal parts as ingredients for the preparation of remedies may not necessar-
ily be for any functional organic role but for their symbolic manifestation or as consecrated objects.
It is important to stress that, until a thing is designated, as will be discussed further, the artist
has relative freedom to present the object as he or she deems it. But, once it is designated, the form
or style becomes immutable. The symbol selected must as far as possible be representative of the
character it is supposed to depict. An effigy of Gu, god of arms and war, of the Fon (Dahomey)
can be cast only in iron. It would be considered foolish, even insulting, to have a softwood mask
so designated. The divinity cult of Ifa uses an iron staff, Oshun, deity and has to be of a particular
form. The bronze plaque used for the Amufi ceremony in Benin is made to specifications. A carv-
ing made to depict an Oba, Obi, or Eze must show aspects of the ruler's regalia. It would not be
enough to have just any carved face and give it a royal name. The Ashanti wooden dolls (Akuada),
carried on the back by women who desire babies, are usually made to precise sizes (ca. 14-16 in.),
with highly stylized bodies and large flattened heads. The power and authority of the Mende mask,
Bundu-doble, from Sierra Leone, can only be expressed in the effigy recognized among the Poro
society as a symbol of the society's protective deity. The Kono initiation bearded mask, Nianu, from
the N'zerekore sacred forest of Guinea, has to depict the fearful image intended since it may not be
seen by women and children.
INCaNtatIONS aND thE MaGIC POWEr OF thE WOrD
An important component of African traditional medicine is the use of incantation as a tool in the
healing process. Whereas the American Indians and some Asian peoples use powerful psychotropic
drugs such as peyote or mescaline to enjoy some measure of religious ecstasy, the African priest
utilizes incantations and invocations to raise the consciousness of the human mind.
Incantation exploits the power of the spoken word, the vibratory fiber of existence as denoted
by rhythm, and the participatory role of designated images. The components of an incantation are
word, rhythm, and imagery. The power of the spoken word gives meaning, status, and designation
to “things.” It is the word employed during invocation that confers life force, power, and identity to
the many fetishes used in traditional medicine. The word Umendu , Nommo , or Ish is both water and
fire, the breath of life—without the word, material objects have little power of their own.
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