Of Spirits and Healing: Cultural Values and Post-conflict Reconciliation Agenda in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article discusses dynamics in the appropriation of Christian and ‘‘African religious’‘traditions in post-conflict reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe. It shows that sickness and healing in Ndebele tradition and culture are understood within a two –tier system which consists of ‘‘normal- natural’‘and ‘‘deviant spirit- induced’‘ sickness. Consequently healing has to be understood in spiritual dimensions as well. The article examines how victims and perpetrators of violence can heal from the sickness caused by the legacies of a violent past of “Gukurahundi” in which an estimated 20,000 people were violently killed and not buried in a traditionally accepted manner. Not burying one’s dead in Ndebele religion, to which many of the victims of Gukurahundi belong, implies living outside their protection, and killing innocent people leads to suffering the consequences of avenging spirits. Unfortunately mainline churches have not attended to this traditional spiritual need of the relatives of the dead and disappeared victims and perpetrators of Gukurahundi. Instead they have stigmatised indigenous religious conception of healing. As a result politically engaged religious groups such as Grace to Heal (GtH) have recognised the need and proceeded to assist in refurbishing the shallow graves. Subsequently they have provided the focal point for traditional rites through which the local people reconcile with their dead. This initiative by a Christian organisation can be viewed as a charismatic deviation from the central belief or established tradition in mainstream Christianity. The mixture of Christian and Ndebele traditional religion in dealing with the dead and disappeared in the wake of Gukurahundi is a key aspect of social and cultural dynamics.