What does Xhosa do when a baby is born?
The Xhosa people have various rites of passage traditions. The first of these occurs after giving birth; a mother is expected to remain secluded in her house for at least ten days. In Xhosa tradition, the afterbirth and umbilical cord were buried or burned to protect the baby from sorcery.
How important is the baby in the Xhosa culture?
Birth in the Xhosa culture, is an important rite of passage and is therefore treated with due respect, honour and celebration. Traditionally, the birthing mother is attended to by ‘grand-mothers’ in her ‘rondavel’, who have experience in birthing babies.
What are Xhosa rituals and traditions?
In Xhosa tradition, the ancestors act as intermediaries between the living and God; they are honoured in rituals in order to bring good fortune. Dreams play an important role in divination and contact with ancestors. Traditional religious practice features rituals, initiations, and feasts.
What happens if Imbeleko is not done?
Xhosa ancestors believed that if a person did not undergo iMbeleko, they would experience many difficulties, including being cursed with bad luck, getting sick, or even dying.
Why is Imbeleko done?
The imbeleko ceremony is a celebration to introduce and welcome a newborn child, but occasionally even an adult newcomer may be introduced to both the living and the ancestral spirits.
What happens during Imbeleko?
Imbeleko is a ceremony that is conducted on the 10th day after the baby is born, or later. This is an act of detaching the umbilical connection from the mother and introducing the child to the ancestors. Directly translated, imbeleko means the act of giving birth or to carry on your back.
Why is Imbeleko important?
Imbeleko is a celebration which is a token of hospitality to introduce the new arrival in the family, to both ancestors and living people. There is no age limit in Zulu society. The main aim is that of welcoming a new person to the new world. Normally a goat is slaughtered.
What happens if iMbeleko is not done?
How do you do iMbeleko?
For imbeleko a goat must be slaughtered as a sacrifice to the ancestors (a goat is always slaughtered for a feast that involves talking to the ancestors), and the family elder responsible for talking to the ancestors will call the baby by its name when presenting it to the ancestors at the same time the goat is being …