During the 1930s an ordained King known as Mangisi Nchingashuba took the reigns over the Kalanga people. His kingdom stretched over the lush greenery, mountainous plateau and refreshing rivers in Nswazwi. Nswazwi is a small village on the border between what was known as Bechuanaland and Rhodesia. During the spring equinox on Inzalo ye Langa, the kalanga king would trek up the mountain to pray for rain. King Mangisi was spiritually gifted and was honoured as the bearer of life within the community cause metsi ke bophelo. He was deeply connected to the primordial waters through dreams and acted as an intermediary between human and celestial beings. When he reached the top of the mountain, he would kneel down draped in ancestral cloths with black and white beads singing praises to Ngwali. Ngwali or Mwali is considered the name for Ndzimu, the creator and most high God. "Dumilani Ngwali Tatebedu Ndzimu wedu" he greets. In prayer and supplication with thanksgiving he would put his request forth "tajamumuli tokumbila vula". "Bana ne bathu mushango bafa nejala noku oma. Tokumbila vula mumuli kuti batho bakhone kuchila" he pleads. His words are a plea to God to open up the heavens and nourish the thirst and hunger of He[R] children by sending blessings of rain. Ngwali would then release a word unto King Mangisi, the clouds would blacken and the skies would begin to pour.
Bakalanga and Bakaranga are southern Bantu clans found in Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, northeastern Botswana and Limpopo in South Africa. Both clans stem from one core tribe; the only difference between the two is the linguistic dialect influenced by geographical location. The tribe is deeply rooted to the waters of the abyss and have been blessed with the gift of rainmaking. Throughout history, different custodians honour the gift bestowed unto them and manifest it from the spiritual to physical realm. A well documented custodian is found in Northern Limpopo known as Queen Modjadji of the Balobedu. Modjadji means "ruler of the day". Maselekwani Modjadji I is known to be a descendent of the Karanga people who fled her father's kingdom in Zimbabwe in the 1800s. She then settled in Vhenda and established her own kingdom. Her sacred magic to create rain was honoured and celebrated throughout the land and passed down six times down the lineage. There is currently no ruling queen as the last incumbent Makobo Modjadji VI mysteriously passed away in 2005.
Prophetic utterances, praise and dreams were the tools to connect to the waters and life cycle. The Kalanga & Karanga clans would anchor the prayers of their leaders in song & worship. Amawosana would be clothed in black kilts made from ostrich feathers symbolizing dark clouds and heavy rains with white tops that represent moisture. The villages would give thanks for the rains yet to come to the rhythm of the beating drums. The big, medium and small drums known as tjamabhika, neshumba and dukumo respectively were used to summon the ancestral spirits of the land. Ancient Kemetic practices exercised Heka the god of magic to commune with the gods. "Scent, sound (chant and music), ritual gesture (including dance), and the observation of celestial phenomena were choreographed with the use of sacred literature to evoke the divine presence into the human sphere." [The Sacred Magic of Ancient Egypt] This was seen as an emulation of the cosmogenesis and would invite the forces of creation into the sacred space.
"He made heka for them,
To use as a weapon for warding off occurrences.
And he made them dreams for the night,
To see the things of the day."
-King Merikara, Dynasty 10 [The Sacred Magic of Ancient Egypt]
The power to pray for rain is also evident in the bible in 1 Kings 18:41-45. "Then Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!' So Ahab prepared a feast. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and fell to the ground and prayed. Then he said to his servant, 'Go and look out toward the sea.' The servant went and looked , but he returned to Elijah and said, 'I didn't see anything.' Seven times Elijah told him to go and look, and seven times he went. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, 'I saw a little cloud about the size of a hand rising from the sea.'... And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel." Rainmaking is not a religious belief, but a science with a knowledge system. Belief is a thought which is deemed to be true whereas science is a study of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Therefore, even though Elijah's story is captured within religious doctrine, the art itself is scientific.
In Nguni cosmology Nomkhubulwane is the deity associated with light, rain and fertility. She is the only daughter of Mvelinqangi; the zulu divinity in female form. "She establishes the female principle as philosophically the primary force of creation" Sibusiso Masondo writes in African Traditional Religion in the face of Secularism in South Africa. Nomkhubulwane means "she who chooses the state of the animal" hence her ability to express herself as various totems. Rain is a symbol of fertility, "the way the sky and earth connect to embody the function of fertility is through rain" Zanemvula of Girl Boss SA explains. Historically, Nomkhubulwane would be celebrated through the cultivation of a field in her honour. The village would plough and sow seeds in sacred soil in an isolated field at the beginning of each harvest cycle. Such a field was not tended and no one was allowed to harvest anything from it. In essence, Mother Nature was revered, honoured and celebrated.
Harmony between celestial beings, human beings and nature is crucial in maintaining the balance between the heavens and the earth. Humanity's existence and survival is dependent on nature, therefore humans need to learn to wrap themselves with humility in the face of it. Alignment to what is instead of what you want it to be is the first step. We sit at the feet of nature hoping to be taught unfathomable wonders which may contain solutions to worldly challenges. It is important to acknowledge that "nature is there in its own right, for itself primarily, and secondarily for mutual co-operation with humankind," Sibusiso Masondo describes. Perhaps if we were to shift our minds from being conservationists of the Garden of Eden to behaving as dependents and beneficiaries of the fruits of the earth we will be okay.
So now the pressing question is what happened to those powers ? How do we realign with the gifts that were bestowed upon us? Where did we lose ourselves ? To this day, the river still flows and the mountain still stands but we've lost our essence. Do we still kneel down and call onto Ngwali or sing songs of praise to Nomkhubulwane ? Who are we ? And what have we become ? We are the children of the soil, the gifts and powers of nature are still within us, lets become the vessels we were created to be.
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