THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN AFRICAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TODAY

List of Contents

• THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN AFRICAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TODAY

• How the Religious specialists acquire their skills

• (a) Medicine people

• (b) Mediums

• (c) Diviners

• (d) Rainmakers

• (e) Priests

• (f) Prophets/ seers

• (g) Elders

THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN AFRICAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TODAY

The religious specialists include:

1. Medicine people.
2. Mediums.
3. Diviners.
4. Priests.
5. Rainmakers.
6. Prophets.
7. Seers.
8. Blacksmiths.
9. Elders.

How the Religious specialists acquire their skills

The religious specialists acquire their skills through the following ways depending on their specialization:

1. Inheritance.
2. Apprenticeship.
3. Dreams and visions.
4. Being possessed by the spirits.
5. Receiving a call from God/ ancestors.
6. Observation of the work of other specialists.​

(a) Medicine people

They are also known as healers, herbalists, traditional doctors.
They perform the following functions;

• Identify illness and their causes.
• Identify appropriate treatment and prevention measures for the illnesses.
• They avert the effects of a curse.
• Offer sacrifices and prayers to God and ancestors.
• Prepare charms for protection against witchcraft and evil spirits.
• Give medicine to increase fertility in both people and animals.
• Act as counselors, guiding people on all issues of life.

Relevance in modern society

1. Medical doctors and scientific researchers today work side by side with traditional healers to alleviate human suffering.  Herbs are used to make modern medicine.
2. Some people still believe that there are some illnesses that cannot be treated in hospitals hence turn to herbalists.
3. Some people also believe that medicine people who practice magic have the power to change their fate e.g. they are consulted to influence political fortunes, legal matters and enhance academic performance.​

(b) Mediums

• Are people though who spirits and ancestors communicated with the living.
• They give the cause, nature and treatment of a disease or misfortune.
• They reveal messages from the spirit world on behalf of the living.
• They give information concerning lost articles or theft.  They only acted when they were spirit possessed.

Relevance today

1. Are not common in Kenya today but they are in the West African countries.
2. There are people who still believe in the messages revealed through mediums.  However, their role has been eroded by the influence of Christianity.

c) Diviners

• ​Are people who reveal secret information from the past or the future.
• Get their power through inheritance or divine calling.
• The use divination objects, common sense and insight.
• Unveil mysteries by interpreting the information received from the spirits.
• Help the society to solve issues that are difficult for them to understand.
• The do the work of counselors, judges, advisers, comforters, assurers during crises.
• They also play the role of priests, seers and fortune tellers.
• Diviners are still consulted in Kenya today particularly during moments of crises.
• They, however, face many challenges:

• Divination is condemned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:10 – 11)
• Science and technology have further diminished their importance since many mysteries can be explained through science and technology.

(d) Rainmakers

• Are highly respected.
• Get their power through supernatural endowment and apprenticeship.
• They observe the behavior of plants, insects and animals.  They study the sky, stars, moon, clouds, wind movement and their body senses to predict weather.
• They use sacred objects in rainmaking.
• They act as intermediaries between God, the spirits and human beings.
• They beseech God either to bring rain when there is a drought or to stop rain when there are floods.
• Some rainmakers practice as diviners, medicine people, medium and priests.
• They give offerings and sacrifices to God and pray on behalf of the people.

Functions of Rainmakers

1. They perform rituals to cause rain.
2. Have the ability to stop destructive rain.
3. They predict weather conditions by studying the skies and behaviour of plants and animals.
4. They preside over religious functions.
5. They advise the community on both religious and social issues.
6. They give blessings to the members of the community.
7. They mediate between people and God.

Relevance today:

1. Rainmakers are often engaged during public gatherings and other big events to delay the rain until the event is over.
2. Christianity has eroded people’s believe in rainmakers.
3. Christians believe that only God is able to resolve a difficult situation.
4. Meteorological departments now give information on the weather and seasonal changes.

(e) Priests

• Perform religious duties.  They either inherit the position or receive a divine call.
• Offer sacrifices and offerings and preside over rituals and prayers.
• Take care of religious places i.e. shrines.
• They act as judges, advisers and experts in traditional rituals and rules.
• They pour libation, offer prayers of petition, repentance and thanksgiving to God.
• They intercede for human beings before God, the spirits and the ancestors.
• They are made to be in charge of royal graves.
• They install kings and chiefs.
• They symbolize God’s presence in the African society.
• They act as guardians of community knowledge, taboos, religion and oral history.
• Sometimes they perform rainmaking ceremonies and conduct fertility festivals.
• They drive away witches, appease spirits, reverse curses and protect people from danger and harm.

Relevance today:

1. Their roles has been diminished by several influences e.g. Christianity and formal education.
2. African priests no longer play major religious roles in the community.  Their duties have been replaced by those of religious leaders i.e. bishops, pastors and priests in Christian      churches.
3. Traditional priests are sometimes invited for national public functions to offer prayers.

(f) Prophets/ seers

• ​Prophets are also referred to as seers.
• A prophet is a person who can foretell the future by revealing visions, dreams or messages from God.
• They foretell invasions i.e. war, drought or epidemics.
• They communicate God’s message to the community and predict the will of God.
• Prophets often play the role of political leaders, diviners, ritual leaders, mediums and legal and moral advisers to the community.
• They perform religious duties which were beyond priests and medicine people.
• They receive messages from the ancestors and the spirits through dreams and spirit possession.
• They carry out cleansing rituals.
• Tey advise people on religious matters.
• They pray to God on behalf of the people.
• They act as judges and preside over disputes.
• They are guardians of the community’s customs and traditions.
• They act as the spokesmen of their communities.

Relevance today

1. People still consult prophets before making important decisions.
2. Today people prophesy in churches or Christian fellowships through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
3. Many people take their religious leaders as prophets because they act as the conscience of the society to tell the people what God expects from them.

(g) Elders

• ​Are senior members of the community.
• In charge of families, villages and clans.
• Are people who are morally upright.
• They settle disputes in the community.
• They are custodians of the community property and decide how it would be shared.
• They are custodians of the traditional values, customs and history of the people.
• They offer guidance and counseling to the members of the community.
• Elders console the community in times of distress i.e. war, famine and other calamities.
• They are consulted by the individuals before making families decisions.
• They stipulate the rules and regulations to be followed for the maintenance of law and order.
• They lead the community during important functions such as the rites of passage and religious ceremonies.

Relevance today:

1. Elders today help in settling disputes which are too culturally defined for the courts e.g. family rows and land disputes.
2. Elders have been called by the Kenyan government to help solve land disputes and ethnic clashes.
3. Elders still carry out rites of passage i.e. initiation.
4. Elders are useful in maintaining the African culture through oral narratives, songs, poetry, proverbs and riddles.
5. Elders provide useful information to researchers in History and Anthropology.
6. They give general guidance to individuals, family and the community as a whole.

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