African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 426
that some societies use libations to manipulate the ancestors’ disposition in order that
they can act according to the human needs.
Sacrifice, offerings, and libations are closely related because they constitute a
significant component of African worship. Sacrifices involve the slaughter of a domestic
animal to God or ethnic divinities through the ancestors. Although blood is a rare form of
libation, it is poured as an expression of the seriousness of calamities such as drought,
floods, epidemics, and death. In both agricultural and pastoralist communities, the blood
shed from the animal is the greatest and ultimate form of libation, one which reconciles
people with God and other divinities. Offering as part of religious ritual involves the
giving of material things, such as food, drinks, or coffee beans, as is the case in Uganda,
and Kola nuts in West African countries such as Sierra Leone. Pastoralists and
agriculturalists perform libations as part of supernumerary acts that accompany main rites
as in the rituals that follow sacrifice (Pritchard 1974; Lienhardt 1987). Ritual specialists
pour out liquids on the emblems or shrines to revere ethnic divinities, as is the case with
the Nuer and Dinka of Sudan.
The mystical power of ancestors and other spiritual beings is believed to flow through
the blood and other liquids to revive human vitality and welfare. Sacrifice makes it
possible for the living to enter into a relationship and spiritual union with ancestors, who
mediate for them. The ritual experts ensure that the intercession is possible through meals
and drinks shared with the ancestors. Part of the sacrifices are eaten by the members,
while some is left at the shrines or ritual spots to be “consumed” by ancestral spirits and
other spiritual beings such as ethnic divinities. Among the Chewa people of central
Malawi, the spirits of the dead (Mizimu) are offered portions of beer in small containers,
some of which is sprinkled on the ground near the shrines. However, many African
societies consider blood and other forms of valued drinks as the most important share of
the spiritual beings.
In some cultures, such as the West African societies, blood of the sacrificial animal is
sprinkled on the beneficiaries and the emblems of divinity. Alternatively, the participants
would partake in beer or beverage drinking at the ritual spot after pouring some on the
ground. The supernumerary rites, of which libation is one, create new bonds among
participants, and revitalizes human relationships with deities, ancestors, and God in order
to provide for human needs. Libations complement other rituals such as consecration,
invocation of supernatural beings, immolation, and aspersions to malignant spirits in the
acts of worship and spirit veneration.
Libation and Family Communion
The African family community is composed of the living, those yet to be born, and the
dead. The dead, and especially the ancestors, are important members of the family,
because their spiritual nature give them abilities to cause and prevent afflictions,
depending on their perceived relationship with the living. The dead are also believed to
be endowed with the power to guarantee good health and general human well-being,
provided that their rapport with the living is good. Filial-parental relationships exist
between the ancestors and their descendants. The living have a duty to take care of the
departed, while the dead have a responsibility to protect the living and ensure that they