New life in the traditional African society and Christianity 

• New life means leaving an old way of life and taking a new and different path after undergoing a certain experience.

New life in the traditional African society

• In the traditional African society, each stage in life brought in new things to the person concerned. These stages of life were birth, initiation, marriage and death. They were known as rites of passage
• Whenever an individual was being initiated into a new stage/life there were celebrations and a lot of merriment.

1. Birth 

• This was the first rite of passage in the traditional African society.
• There was great joy when a child was born. This new life would be welcomed with ululations and celebrations by the parents, relatives and neighbours.
• They would eat and drink together. They also brought gifts for the newborn child.
• The child was given a new name.
• The newborn showed that the parents had started a new life of parenthood.

The birth of a child was highly valued in the traditional African society because:

• Children were seen to strengthen a marriage.
• They provided protection for the community and hence were a blessing to it.
• It was believed that when the parents became old, the children would take care of them.
• Children provided continuity of the family lineage and the community.
• They were seen as a sign of wealth, hence they caused their parents to be held in high regard.
• Children removed the curse of bareness in a family and in the community. Children helped with work at home.
• They inherited their parents’ property.

2. Circumcision or initiation stage 

• This was the second rite of passage in the traditional African society.
• It was considered a very important rite of passage. This meant a person had become an adult.
• Becoming an adult meant that one had left one’s childhood activities. One could fulfil his/her new duties and roles.
• Communities initiated their adolescents in different ways.
• In some communities they initiated both girls and boys, in others they initiated boys only.
• Some communities made marks on the initiates while others removed a few teeth to mark this rite.
• The initiate had entered a new life and this was marked with song and dance. Find out how your community initiated its people and narrate it

Circumcision as a rite of passage 

• The initiates were prepared for adulthood through talks given by the older members of the community.
• The boys were kept in separate huts from the girls.
• The things they learnt included:

1. Myths concerning God.
2. Secrets of their clans or tribes.
3. Religious beliefs and practices.
4. Myths concerning the origin of their tribes.
5. Myths concerning the origin of the world and humankind.
6. Responsible behaviour.
7. New life skills, such as how to conduct oneself in a relationship like marriage.
8. Challenges and roles that came with adulthood.

• Initiation into adulthood was considered important because:

1. The initiate could get married and have children after this.
2. The endurance of pain prepared one for the challenges of adult life.
3. The shedding of blood was interpreted as a sacrifice to God and a symbolic union with the spirits of the living-dead and the ancestors.

• However, it is important to note that in the present African society initiation has undergone some changes such as:

1. Most societies no longer circumcise girls, especially if it involves female genital mutilation (FGM).
2. They are also taking boys to hospital to be circumcised in more hygienic ways to avoid the risk of spreading HIV/AIDS.
3. The duration of time of seclusion is shorter than it used to be.

3. Marriage 

• This was the third stage/rite of passage of the traditional African society.
• Marriage is a union between two people: a male and a female.
• In the traditional African society, marriage was considered an important rite of passage and was taken seriously.
• The main reason for marriage was to get children who would ensure continuity of the community.
• Sex outside marriage was not allowed. Getting children outside marriage was also greatly discouraged.

• However, men were allowed to have many wives in order to get many children.
• Marriage was arranged either immediately after initiation or later. • Traditional marriages were marked by ceremony and celebration.
• After marriage, the newlyweds moved from their parents’ homes and started living in their own new home.
• With the arrival of children, they became parents with new roles and duties.
• Married people were expected to live together till death separated them.
• Separation/divorce was rare.

4. Death 

• Africans in the traditional African society believed life continued after death. Therefore, the counsel of an elder already dead was quoted as though the elder were still alive.
• People believed that death was just a passage to a new stage of life in the spirit world with the living-dead and ancestors.
• Africans showed respect to the dead by giving them a proper burial to avoid annoying them

• The life of the living also changed in some societies. If it were a husband who died then his family would make arrangements to replace him with a father figure from the community.
• If the person who died was from a good family, it was believed that blessings would come to that family.
• Ancestors were believed to visit and interact with their living relatives.
• Children were named after their ancestors and the living-dead as a way of pleasing the spirits.

• Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about the living dead?

A. They are people who died but who we still remember
B. They may be people who died when we were young but we remember them
C. They may be people who died recently when we were of age
D. They are people who died long before we were born

• Which of the following statements is TRUE about ancestors?

A. They are people who died but who we still remember
B. In some traditional African communities, it was believed people talked to
God through ancestors
C. Christians pray to ancestors
D. All ancestors believed in Jesus Christ

• The MOST important reason why the dead were buried with some of their items in some traditional African communities was

A. people feared using a dead man’s items
B. it was believed the dead person would need the items in the spirit world
C. people were so rich that everyone was buried with his belongings
D. the gods commanded that dead people’s items be buried with the respective
owners
c) Differences