Guardians, Guides, and Mediators

The Spirits in Shona Traditional Religion and a Christian Alternative

By Rev. Philip H. Troutman

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

MW725 Primal & Folk Religions

Dr. Eunice Irwin, professor

Asbury Theological Seminary

Fall, 2004

Copyright 2004-2014 by Philip H. Troutman. All rights reserved.

This paper may be freely copied and distributed as long as it is not altered in any way,
and as long as credit is given to Philip H. Troutman as the author.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

I. THE SHONA PEOPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A.

Shona History.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

B.

Shona Social Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

II. SHONA SPIRITUAL BELIEFS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A.

The Spirits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

B.

The High God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

C.

Religious Specialists.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

D.

The Vicissitudes of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

III. CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL SHONA BELIEFS.. . . . . . . . . 23

A.

Take Traditional Shona Religious Beliefs Seriously.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

B.

Spiritual Power An Indispensable Ingredient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

C.

Shona Needs and Christian Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

MAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

REFERENCES CITED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Guardians, Guides, and Mediators

The Spirits in Shona Traditional Religion and a Christian Alternative
By Philip H. Troutman

INTRODUCTION
In this research paper we examine some traditional religious beliefs of the Shona people of
Zimbabwe, specifically their beliefs regarding the spirits. Our purpose is twofold: 1) To discover the
essential functions of the various spirits and religious specialist in Shona religion; and 2) to
demonstrate how Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit can fulfill all the functions of the Shona spirits,
and meet the felt needs of the Shona people which their traditional religion meets for them now.
We will begin by reviewing some basic information about the Shona people and their history.
Then we will look at Shona kinship and social organization, which form the background for an
understanding of the Shona conception of the spirit world. Next, we will consider the traditional
beliefs of the Shona regarding the spirits, and the religious specialists who deal with them. Finally,
we will address the ways in which Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit, provide a viable alternative to
Shona traditional religion and its spirits.

I. THE SHONA PEOPLE

The Shona, like nearly all of the peoples of southern Africa today, are a Bantu people.1
According to the S.I.L. Ethnologue2 (www.ethnologue.com) Shona is the name of a language
family containing seven languages.3 Shona is also the name of one particular language of this
family, and of the people who speak the various dialects of it. Of these, the three main ones are
Zezuru, Korekore and Karanga, There are approximately 10,000,000 Shonas in Zimbabwe, or about
80% of the total population. (CIA World Factbook, 2004).

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 3

A.

Shona History
About the second century C.E. a wave of early iron-age Bantu-speaking peoples migrated

southward into the fertile, mineral-rich, high plateau stretching from the Limpopo River north to the
Zambezi, and from the Kalahari desert east to the Inyanga Mountains, which includes the territory
of modern Zimbabwe. (Thorpe, 1991:49-50) Starting about 1000 C.E., for the next two or three
centuries, Bourdillon (1976:20) explains that, A new group of people moved onto the plateau, and
the early iron-age peoples were absorbed into a culture cluster which is continuous with the cluster
of cultures of the nineteenth century Shona peoples.
From the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries, a culture arose among the Karanga people
called the Zimbabwe culture. They built series of stonework settlements across the southern region
of the plateau, with their capital at Great Zimbabwe, near present-day Masvingo. The Zimbabwe
culture endured approximately two and a half centuries, and then declined.
The Portuguese arrived on the Indian Ocean coast in 1498, and began their push inland.
(Newitt, 1999) In 1569 they tried and failed to subjugate the Mutapa state under Mwene
Mutapa. But early in the 17th century, the Portuguese succeeded in conquering the Karanga
chieftaincies of the north, including Mwene Mutapa, allowing them access into the central and
southern parts of the plateau. In 1693 the Portuguese were again defeated, this time by the Rozvi
chief of Changamire. At its height, the Changamire-Rozvi state controlled the whole of present-day
Zimbabwe. However, in the 1790s, the Rozvi Empire went into decline.
In the early 19th century, the Ndwandwe people were forced northward into Zimbabwe by the
Zulu king Shaka and his warriors. Their invasion devastated the Rozvi empire, and in the 1830s the
last Rozvi ruler was killed in his capital of Khami. Then in the 1840s, the Ndebele invaded under
king Mzilikazi, who built his capital at Bulawayo. Most of the Karanga chieftaincies of central and
northern Zimbabwe retained their independence, but were required to pay tribute to the Ndebele.
In the 1860s, reports of gold deposits on the plateau sparked increasing European interest in

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 4

Matabeleland and Mashonaland.4 During the 1880s Germany, Britain and Portugal divided up the
Indian Ocean coast, and engaged in fierce struggles with the remaining African chiefdoms for control
of the interior. The Portuguese defeated the last chief to bear the title Mwene Mutapa in 1917.
In 1889 Cecil Rhodes and the newly-chartered British South Africa Company were granted
authority to mine and settle a vast area including both Mashonaland and Matabeleland. In 1890
Rhodes established the city of Salisbury5 in northern Mashonaland, and the territory was officially
named Rhodesia in 1895. In late 1895 Shona and Ndebele chiefs united in an attempt to overthrow
the white settlers rule, but the rebellion was put down in 1897.
That same year, colonial administrators divided the vast territory into two separate colonies:
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Southern Rhodesia
became a white settler-dominated colony under the administration of the British South Africa
Company. To guarantee cheap labor colonial administrators levied taxes on the black population,
who were forced to seek jobs on white-owned farms or in the mines in order to pay their taxes.
When the BSA Company charter expired in 1923, Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing
British colony. The 1930 Land Apportionment Act divided the colony into separate areas for whites
and blacks, allocating over half the land area to the 50,000 white settlers, who represented less than
5 percent of the colonys population. The Great Depression slowed white immigration, but after
World War II the pace picked up again. By 1950 the white population of Southern Rhodesia had
risen to about 125,000, and by 1960 that number had grown to 220,000 still a small percentage
of the total population. As the black population grew, the land allocated to them became increasingly
overcrowded, and large numbers of blacks to move to the colonys urban areas.
In 1963, led by Ian Smith, white Rhodesians petitioned Britain for independence. The British
government refused, insisting on constitutional reforms leading to black African majority rule. So
in November 1965 Smiths government unilaterally declared Rhodesian independence, and in 1969
Rhodesia formally declared itself a republic. With help from the white South African government,
the white Rhodesian government held power without much difficulty until the mid-1970s.

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 5

In 1962 Joshua Nkomo formed the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), drawing
support mainly from the Ndebele people. In 1963, more radical Marxists formed the Zimbabwe
African National Union (ZANU), drawing wide support from the Shona people. After the Rhodesian
government banned both ZAPU and ZANU, they developed into guerrilla groups which continued
to fight a bush-war against the white-led government until full independence was achieved.
Peace negotiations began in 1976, but no agreement resulted. In an attempt to garner popular
support, in 1979 the white-led Rhodesian regime enacted a new constitution permitting limited black
majority rule. Moderate black politician Abel Muzorewa became the countrys first black Prime
Minister, leading a coalition government with the white-led Rhodesian Front party. But ZANU and
ZAPU viewed Muzorewa as the puppet of the white government, and continued their struggle.
Finally, in 1980 with the help of British and American mediation, the Rhodesian government signed
the Lancaster House agreement providing for majority rule. In elections that same year the
Zimbabwe African National UnionPatriotic Front or ZANUPF roundly defeated ZAPU, and
Robert Mugabe was installed as prime minister. The new independent nation was renamed
Zimbabwe, after the great Shona culture of a millennium before.
Since independence, Zimbabwe has travelled a rocky path. The Lancaster House agreement
had promised the redistribution of white-owned land to landless blacks, but this was delayed, causing
dissatisfaction with the Mugabe government. Internal unrest grew, as Ndebele dissidents began to
stockpile arms for a possible insurrection. The ZANU-PF government severely repressed the
Ndebele opposition, and Nkomo and other ZAPU M.P.s were expelled from the government. In 1985
elections, ZANU won again by a landslide everywhere but in Matabeleland.
However, the Mugabe government was shaken by corruption scandals. To consolidate his
power, in 1987 Mugabe engineered a revision of the constitution, combining the powers of head of
state and head of government into the new office of President. In the early 1990s, the economic crisis
in Zimbabwe began to ease, as the civil war ended in neighboring Mozambique, and South Africa
embraced majority rule. ZANU-PF won 82 percent of the vote in 1995 legislative elections, amidst

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 6

wide-spread accusations of unfair election practices. Mugabe was reelected president in 1996.
In 1997 Mugabe announced a controversial program of land redistribution, in which 1,500
white-owned commercial farms were to be seized without compensation and divided among landless
blacks. Faced with strong opposition from both white farmers and the international community, in
1998 the government announced a new plan to buy the farms with foreign aid money. However, this
aid money was never forthcoming. So in 2000, faced with increasing internal opposition, the Mugabe
government began seizing white-owned commercial farms, which temporarily gained him renewed
popular support, but ended commercial food production on most of the seized lands. In combination
with several years of drought, this has led to wide-spread food shortages. Mugabe was once again
reelected in 2002 in an election widely considered unfair by international observers. Food shortages
and frequent politically-motivated violence have continued up through 2004.

B.

Shona Social Organization

In order to understand the Shona people and their spiritual belief system, we must have a clear

picture of their traditional social organization.

1.

Shona Tribes

The term tribe is an extremely imprecise one in English, which might be applied to any one
of several divisions of traditional Shona society. It is certainly not accurate to refer to the Shona as
a single tribe. According to Bourdillon, (1976:31-32)
The derivation of the word Shona is uncertain. It appears to have been used first by the
Ndebele as a derogatory name for the people they had defeated, and particularly the
Rozvi. The Shona did not call themselves by this name and at first disliked it; even now
they tend rather to classify themselves by their chiefdoms or their dialect groups
(Karanga, Manyika, Zezuru, Korekore, etc.) though most accept the designation Shona
in contrast to unrelated peoples. The extension of the term to all tribes native to Rhodesia
appears to have been a British innovation.
In this paper I apply the word tribe to those large groups of Shona which are distinguished
one from another by their dialect or language.6 Each of these groups is itself composed of numerous

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 7

sub-tribes. (Bucher, 1980:21). For the Shona, beyond loyalty to the chief and the land of ones
clan there is a sense of belonging to one of these larger groupings or tribes.
2.

Shona Chiefdoms

Thorpe (52) sketches the outlines of the traditional Shona political system for us:
Traditionally Mashonaland was composed of a patchwork of chieftaincies or clan
divisions called nyika (land, chiefdom). In each nyika the dominant clan [mutupo] forms
the nucleus of the ruling class. . . . Each nyika consists of districts or wards (dunhu)
which, in turn, comprise villages (musha) consisting of several homesteads.
However, the nyika is much more than a politico-geographic division, and the chief or mambo
is much more than a political leader. Bucher (31) gives us the details:
For the Shona, as for people elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, land is not merely an
economic asset, but has a value which is intimately linked with the tribe, its chief, and
the spirits of their ancestors. The chief is often referred to as the muridzi (or mwene) we
nyika, the owner of the land. The meaning of nyika, the Shona term commonly used for
land, comprises also the chiefdom and the people, for nyika means people occupying
the land, and their rights thereto, and there is a Shona saying that the chief is the people,
the people are the chief.
Chiefdoms vary in size from small areas with one to two thousand inhabitants, to large areas
with a population of ten thousand or more (Bourdillon, 121). As Thorpe notes, large chiefdoms are
divided into dunhu or wards, usually governed by one of the chiefs sons or brothers.
Above the ordinary chiefs, in former times there was sometimes a paramount chief who ruled
over several lesser chiefs. Some paramount chiefs succeeded in bringing a large number of
chiefdoms under their control, uniting a whole section of the country into an empire, such as the
Changamire-Rozvi empire, or the empire of Mwene Mutapa.
3.

Shona Families

Bourdillon (37) explains, Rural Shona communities, like small, closely-knit communities all
over the world, are built around their patterns of kinship. How any man or woman behaves towards
another depends largely on how they are related. All Shonas belong to a clan, or mutupo, and further
to a subclan or zvidao. Bourdillon (37) continues: The clan name is often the name of some animal,
the elephant for example, or the eland or monkey, and usually members of the clan are not allowed

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 8

to eat the flesh of the animal or at least there is a token taboo on some part of the animal, such as the
heart or trunk of an elephant. The members of a particular mutupo consider themselves to be related
even when they cannot trace actual kinship.
The Shona kinship system is patrilineal. In their use of kinship terms people distinguish
members of their own patrilineal group only by generation, age and sex, and not according to
genealogical distance. Thus the term baba (father) can [also] mean a fathers brother, or any man in
the patri-clan belonging to the fathers generation. . . . Similarly all females in the fathers generation
and belonging to the same clan are called vatete (paternal aunt). (Bourdillon, 39) However, A
person clearly distinguishes between his father who begot him and other fathers [vababa] who have
less authority over him and towards whom he has fewer obligations. (44)
Bourdillon (41) explains that: [T]he residential group consisted primarily of a patrilineage
three to five generations deep under the family head. This group would live in a family village, or
musha. A traditional musha would include: A man, who is the family head, his wife or wives and
their children; his parents; his younger brothers, their wives and children; and his unmarried sisters.
Each of the nuclear families would live in their own homestead or cluster of huts, with separate huts
for each wife and her children. Unmarried young men would have their huts near or on their fathers
homestead, as would the unmarried women. All these homesteads together form the musha.
After the family heads younger brothers marry and have several children, they may move away
to begin their own musha. When the family heads sons marry, they bring their wife or wives to live
on a homestead at their fathers musha. When the head of the family finally dies or becomes too
feeble or senile to maintain order, his eldest son becomes the new head of the musha.
Thorpe (52) gives us this insight into the importance for the Shona of their kinship ties:
The boundaries between religion and culture are not always clearly discernible in African
traditional communities. One reason for this is the close family bond characterised by the
phrase mwana wamai (mothers child). This bond extends beyond the confines of the
visible family to embrace those still to be born and, even more significantly, those who
have passed from the physical to the spirit realm, thereby becoming ancestors. The
closeness and the concomitant binding obligations of Shona family life extend to village

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 9

and ward divisions as well.

The pressures of modernization have eroded the traditional extended family system. But still,
says Bourdillon (42):
The ideal system of the past often survives in spite of the numerous influences for
change. One of these is the social and economic independence encouraged by labour
migration . . . Another is the diminishing availability of land which prevents a group
dependent on subsistence agriculture from growing too large. A third is the impossibility
of the extended family living together in urban areas . . . Nevertheless, in the rural areas
the ideal remains of keeping the extended family together.
So although many Shona people in the twenty-first century live in the urban centers of
Zimbabwe, the majority of the Shona still live in rural and semi-rural areas and maintain their
traditional social organization. This organization of Shona society into individual patrilineages
(musha), and these into chiefdoms (nyika) is integral to Shona traditional spiritual beliefs.

II. SHONA SPIRITUAL BELIEFS

Though the spiritual beliefs of the Shona vary somewhat from tribe to tribe, there are sufficient
commonalities to enable us to talk of Shona traditional religion. In the following summary I
identify and describe the major spirits the Shona believe in, and the religious specialists they consult.

A.

The Spirits
In Shona traditional religion it is hard to overstate the importance of the spirits of deceased

members of ones own patrilineage, of the legendary founders of ones clan, and of the mythical
founders of the tribe as a whole. Bourdillon (1973:11-12) writes:
The basis of traditional religion among the Shona, as among most Bantu peoples, is the
memory of, and respect for, deceased members of society expressed in a highly
developed ancestor spirit cult. The Shona believe that when a person dies his spirit
(mweya: literally, breath or wind) leaves the body and continues in an afterlife defined
primarily in terms of the believed influence of the deceased on the community he or she
has left. . . .The believed powers of the spirit are not clearly defined. Family spirits are
believed to have some control over all that affects the physical welfare of the community
they have left, but they have no control over more senior spirits and it is believed that
they can be defeated by powerful witchcraft. Very old people are believed to have some

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 10

of the powers, particularly power to influence the health of relatives, normally attributed
to the spirits. (12)
According to Shona traditional religion, there are four major classes of spirits which have
dealings with human beings. These are: the midzimu7 (sing. mudzimu) or spirit elders; the
mhondoro (sing. and pl.) or chiefly, lion spirits; the mashavi8 (sing. shavi) or alien spirits; and
the ngozi (sing. and pl.), the angry, avenging spirits. Above all these is Mwari, the High God.
1.

Midzimu Spirit Elders / Family Guardian Spirits

According to traditional Shona spiritual beliefs, the first level of spirits is that of the
midzimu(also vadzimu7 ). Michael Gelfand (1962:51) gives an excellent introduction to the midzimu:
The word mudzimu (pl. vadzimu) means spirit of a dead person and includes every spirit,
and thus strictly speaking denotes both the spirits of dead relations and the tribal guardian
spirits (mhondoro). Generally the term is used by the Mashona to refer to the spirits of
parents and grandparents, and as these are largely protective in function we might refer
to them as guardian spirits. Perhaps spirit elder is another suitable term. Other workers
prefer the term ancestral spirit, but my objection to this term is that it gives the
impression that honour is paid to the spirit ancestors of the family dating back for
centuries, whereas in practice honor is paid to the departed grandfather and grandmother
and not to older ancestors. The MaKorekore do not recall the names of ancestors beyond
the father and mother of the departed grandparents, and call for help only from the
grandparents.
The midzimu serve as guardians, guides, and sometimes disciplinarians of their living family
members. Bourdillon (1973:12) details their care of their immediate descendants, especially
protecting them from attacks via witchcraft. Bourdillon (1976:41) writes, After the death of the
father, his spirit is believed to continue to provide protection for his children and his grandchildren.
Favours are asked of the spirit of the father, and when they are received he is thanked with offerings
of snuff or millet beer.
The father of a particular patrilineage is very important in Shona traditional religion.
Bourdillon (41) explains:
The old patrilineage of three to five generations of the descendants of one man is still
recognised under the name chizvarwa. While the head of the group is still alive, it forms
the most fundamental family unit. . . . Whether the group stays together after his death
depends on the size of the groups and on the relationships between the sons of the family

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 11

head; but for ritual purposes, the groups acts together until all his grandsons are dead, or
have left the locality.
And after the patriarch of the family dies, his spiritual importance greatly increases:
The spirit of the common ancestor becomes a prominent spirit guardian of the whole
group, and is frequently honoured with ceremonial millet beer. . . . The chizvarwa
generally has a bull dedicated to the spirit of the common ancestor, to be sacrificed when
he shows signs of wanting it, and often there is a spirit medium who become possessed
by the common ancestor when he wishes to speak to his living descendants. So even after
his death, the common ancestor keeps the group together. (Bourillon, 1976:41-42)
So, the midzimu family guardian spirits or spirit elders form the most important spiritual reality
for the Shona people in their daily lives. It is to their family midzimu that the Shona first have
recourse when the problems of daily life assail them.
2.

Mhondoro Lion or Chiefly Spirits

A second level of midzimu are the powerful spirits of deceased chiefs, called mhondoro or lion
spirits. Bucher (32) notes that, The chiefs ownership over the land and its people derives from
his supposed connection with the mythological founder-ancestors of his chiefdom. It is they who are
believed to have chosen him, and bestowed on him their own prodigious powers. Bucher (34) calls
the mhondoro territorial spirits, because, The real owners of the land are, of course, the spirits
of the deceased tribal rulers and particularly those of the mythical founder-ancestors of the
chiefdom. The mhondoro are extremely important to Shona society: The spirits of these men are
believed to protect the fertility of the land and to control the rainfall.
3.

Magombwe Great Tribal Spirits

There is another, even higher level of great tribal spirits called magombwe. These are the most
powerful of all the spirits, who rule over the whole territory of a tribe, and all the tribes chiefly
mhondoro, although they are still ultimately subject to the high god. (Bourdillon, 321) These spirits
include Chaminuka and Nehanda of the Zezuru in the central region of the country; and Dzivaguru
and Karuva of the Korekore. Each of these spirits has a full cultus of its own, and their medium are
senior to all other mediums in their region. Bucher (34-35) explains the function of the magombwe:

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 12

Although people normally honour only the territorial spirit of the chiefdoms in which
they live, during prolonged droughts delegations from chiefdoms over a hundred
kilometers away come to the sacred groves of . . . [Dzivaguru and Karuva] to ask for rain
for their home areas. In central Shona country, the most powerful spirit mediums are said
to be possessed by the spirits of people who lived in the country so long ago that nothing
about them is remembered. Prayers are addressed to the most important of these spirits,
Chaminuka and Nehanda, in rain rituals in widely dispersed locatities.
The exact nature and origin of the great tribal spirits like Chaminuka and Dzivaguru is unclear: They
may have been directly created by or have emanated from Mwari (Gelfand, 1959:14); or they may
be the spirits of people who lived in the country so long ago that nothing about them is remembered.
(Bucher, 34) Bourdillon says that Dzivaguru and Karuva are the spirits of an ancient dynasty
defeated by the invading Korekore centuries ago. (Bourdillon, 1976:299)
4.

Mashavi Alien or Stranger Spirits

The mashavi, are alien spirits or stranger spirits. Bucher (89) explains that the mashavi are
spirits of deceased people, unknown to the community, especially of those who have died away from
home and whose spirits are restless because their bodies were buried in a strange land, or perhaps
the spirits of young unmarried persons , or others whose spirits were not settled through the
appropriate kugadzira funerary ceremonies. Bourdillon (1976:282) observes that, Mashave include
the spirits of neighboring peoples, of white people, of certain animals (especially baboons) and
occasionally of other objects such as aeroplanes. There are also water spirits.
5.

Ngozi Angry or Avenging Spirits

The ngozi are angry or avenging spirits. An ngozi may be the spirit of someone who was
murdered, a child killed by witchcraft, a person who received no proper burial, or simply a spirit
extremely displeased with the actions of the living. Bourdillon (1976:273) gives us more details:
Of all evil influences, an angry spirit (ngozi) is perhaps the most greatly feared by the
Shona. It should be noticed that under this category come a variety of spirits. A ngozi
may be some stranger spirit aroused by a witch and the havoc it wreaks is akin to witchcraft. It may be the spirit of some unrelated acquaintance avenging mercilessly some
wrong. Or the spirit may be a spirit elder angry at the bad behaviour of its living
descendants. Thus the concept of ngozi refers not so much to a type of spirit as to is
supposed action: death and destruction in the victims family.

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 13

Thorpe (57) believes that, the ngozi . . . represent evil and ill-will not dealt with in this life.
He continues: It would seem that the Shona subscribe to the idea that the evils which people do live
after them and return as ngozi to harm and claim vengeance. Bourdillon (270) describes the ngozi:
An angry spirit is terrifying. Such a spirit attacks suddenly and very harshly. It usually
attacks an individual through his family causing a succession of deaths or death followed
by serious illness in other members of the family. And an angry spirit is not easily
appeased. . . . The Shona believe that an angry spirit can also cause serious quarrels
within a family, loss of property and wealth, or any devastating misfortune. In practice,
the tensions and fears following death believed to be caused by such a spirit, and the
difficulty in appeasing it do on occasion lead to the break up of a family group.
However, Bourdillon (273) notes that, If the avenging spirit is a family spirit, it may become a
friendly spirit elder once it has been appeased.
Based on the outline we have given of Shona traditional beliefs about the spirits, we can
identify their primary functions, which explain their importance to all of Shona life. The midzimu,
mhondoro and magombwe spirits: 1) Provide care, protection and help in the vicissitudes of life, i.e.
sickness, misfortune, drought, etc.; 2) Provide instruction and direction for making important
choices and decisions which affect the future of the individual, the family or the whole tribe; and
3) Serve as mediators between their living descendants and Mwari, the High God, to induce him to
action in favor of the people as a whole. Clearly, no version of Christianity which fails to fulfill all
these functions can ever hope to become the life-faith of the Shona people.

B.

The High God

Just as do most of the peoples of Africa, the Shona believe in a high god, whom they call

Mwari. (Bourdillon: 1976:320; Thorpe, 1991:54; Zvarevashe, 2001:294). The Shona understanding
of Mwari contrasts markedly with the Christian understanding of God at several key points. It would
be difficult to give a better explanation of the general beliefs of the traditional Shona regarding the
high god than the one offered by Bourdillon (320-324), so I quote him at considerable length:
He is known by many names including: Nyadenga or Dedza (Lord of the Sky),
Musikavanhu (Maker of the peoples), Chikara (One inspiring awe), Dzivaguru (The great

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pool), Chirazamauva (The one who provides for the good and bad), Mutangakugara (One
who existed at the beginning) and Mwari (a personal name). Mwari is now the most
common name for the high god, spread by Christian missionaries from the cult in
southern Shona country and explicitly associated by many with Christianity. The Shona
rarely speak about the high god and in most of Shona country no attempt is made to
communicate with him or to influence his actions either by imprecation or ritual. The
high god is, however, believed to be some personal being above and more powerful than
the lion spirits [mhondoro]; even such spirits as Chaminuka are ultimately subject to the
high god.
Traditional beliefs are unclear about the nature of the high god and his relevance
to the origins of the world. People believe that he is in some way ultimately responsible
for all that happens. He knows everything and sees everything, and is ultimately
responsible for the weather, the fertility of the land, the wild forests, character traits of
men, and so on. . . . Mwari is not a man and nobody has ever seen him.
Although Mwari is known by different names, he is believed to be the God of all
men. . . . He is considered to have made the white people as well as the black. . . .
Mwari is believed to be too remote to be concerned even with the spirit elders of
a family, but the Shona believe that the more important lion spirits can communicate
with him. . . . It is thought that a powerful lion spirit on good terms with his people
should normally be able to persuade Mwari to allow rain to fall on his chiefdom. Also,
senior lion spirits are believed to be able to call support for themselves from the high
god. . . .
Three types of events are especially attributed to the high god. The first comprises
events with an effect more widespread than the territorial domain of even the most
powerful lion spirits. . . .
Secondly, those events are attributed to the high god which are in the natural order
of things in the sense that they are expected and do not require further explanation in
terms of a personal agent. Thus occasionally, when no evil influence is suspected, the
death of a very old person may be said to have been caused only by Mwari, and the same
is sometimes said of mild illnesses when no diviner is consulted.
Thirdly, thunder and especially lightning are usually understood to come from the
high god. These reveal occasional and unusual power coming from the heavens which
is terrifying, unpredictable and inexplicable in terms of the ordinary events of life. . . .
Since the Shona lack a systematic theology, their ideas about their spirits are
expressed primarily through the activities in which the spirits are concerned. Since
regular rituals normally concern only the more intimate and local spirits, Shona ideas
about the high god naturally tend to be somewhat nebulous. For most Shona, belief in the
high god is operative only on the rare occasions that other beliefs are inadequate. . . .
Certain of the greater lion spirits merge and are confused with the concept of the
high god. . . . In some areas, Dzivaguru, the high god, is said to have a home in Korekore
country, clearly associating the high god with the famous lion spirit; but others use
Dzivaguru as a praise-name for the high god with no reference to the Korekore-Tavara
lion spirit cult. . . . And the distinction is often obscure between the high god and
Chaminuka, who is clearly the most important spirit to many Shona peoples.
Among the Karanga, however, in the south of Shona country and probably under
the influence of neighbouring Venda peoples, there is an organized cult of Mwari, the
high god. . . . Mwari is the name of the lion spirit of an ancient ancestor in the more

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central Wedza district it is possible that the southern cult of Mwari originated
historically from this lion spirit cult. But the Mwari of the southern cult is identified with
the high god, and it was from early contact with this use of the name that Christian
missionaries spread it throughout Shona country as the name for the high god of all.
Fr. Zvivarashe, a Shona Jesuit, is adamant that the Shona have always believed in one High
God, who must be considered the same being as the Christian God, Yahweh. He writes (1980:294):
In Shona religion God is known as Mwari, (the Supreme Being). . . . Mwari is the creator
of midzimu who in Shona religion function as Mwaris messengers. . . . He is The
Spirit that has created everything. It is He who controls and upholds everything. He is not
a spirit alongside other spirits. He is The Spirit that is categorically unique. He has no
equals. He is so great, so sacred, so holy, etc. that he cannot be seen by mortal men.
Hence he can only be approached effectively through the ancestral spirits who are near
him in the spirit-world.

C.

Religious Specialists
In Shona traditional religion, there are three types of religious specialists we must consider.
1.

Masvikiro Spirit Mediums

Bourdillon (1973:16) writes: Common to most Shona peoples (the Manyika being the most
notable exception) is the belief in, and the practice of spirit mediumship where the spirit is supposed
to take possession of and speak through a human hosts. The Shona believe that the midzimu,
mhondoro, magombwe and mashavi spirits all seek a living host they can inhabit or possess, and
through whom they can subsequently manifest themselves when they wish to do so. The person so
chosen is called a svikiro (pl. masvikiro), a spirit host or medium. Bourdillon (17) states that spirit
mediumship operates at various levels from that of family spirits to that of the famous tribal spirits
whose cults stretch far beyond the boundaries of any chiefdom.
The primary function served by the various spirit mediums is to serve as a channel of
communication between the spirit realm and the realm of ordinary human existence. This
communication is in a real sense a dialogue, as the living communicate their needs and requests to
the spirits through the agency of the spirit medium, and the spirits in turn communicate their will to
the living through the mediums, as well as acting on behalf of their descendants or tribe by healing

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sickness, sending rain, granting fertility to wives and livestock, and protecting them from the evil
powers of the witches. Thorpe (58) gives one example: Very often midzimu spirits wish to
communicate directly with their offspring, to which end they select a member of the family as their
mouthpiece. Bourdillon (1973:17) describes the process by which a person becomes a spirit host:
The usual sign by which a person knows he is to become a medium is a long and
troublesome illness, often accompanied by some mental disorder. This is divined to be
a request by a spirit for the patient to become its host. People commonly believe that
once a spirit has chosen its host, it will have its way however reluctant the host. After
divination, the host eventually undergoes an initiation ceremony at the hands of a senior
medium. The initiation may involve a certain amount of instruction from the senior
medium, and it may involve tests of validity of the new host by questions on the life and
relations of the spirit. But for most hosts the initiation is little more than a seance under
the guidance of a senior medium and consecration to the spirit by ritual cutting of hair.
The mhondoro of a deceased chief is said to possess a medium through whom he continues to
make his wishes known regarding the affairs of the chiefdom and its people. Thorpe (58) explains:
When a spirit medium is chosen by an mhondoro tribal ancestral spirit, the person thus
chosen is treated as the mhondoro himself and addressed accordingly. It is understandable that he thereby gains considerable status in society and is called upon to give
guidance in the selection of a new chief when necessary. He also figures prominently in
rain ceremonies, since the mhondoro as the ultimate owner of the nyika can give or
withhold rain. Requests to the mhondoro ancestral founder are not made by the
mhondoro host, however, but by the head of the clan.
The great magombwe spirits like Chaminuka and Dzivaguru also have their mediums, who are
senior to all other mediums, and through whom people ask the magombwe for rain and good crops.
In times of great calamity or severe extremity the chiefs may ask the magombwe to intercede with
Mwari himself on behalf of their people.
The mashavi stranger spirits also seek hosts to possess. Bucher indicates that, It appears that
from their early days Shona have accredited stranger spirits with the power to bring luck to hunters.
Thus Bullock writes that a shavi can alight on a hunting dog or even a gun and confer success while
it abides there. (Bucher, 89) Bourdillon (1976:283) says that, In most areas, such traditional arts
as hunting, playing the mbira (a dominant Shona musical instrument), divining and healing are
attributed to possession by appropriate mashave. Thorpe (57) notes that, People possessed by

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mashavi spirits often unite to form cults according to the skills with which they are endowed.
The mashavi do not always grant their hosts special powers or helpful abilities. In fact,
Bourdillon (282) comments that in fact, Most [mashavi] are said to want only to dance. Gelfand
(1959:162) points out that, While alien spirits usually bestow good qualities, . . . there is a shave
the mazirikazi shave which causes the medium to become a witch when she is possessed.
2.

Manganga Diviner-Healers

In the day-to-day life, the most important religious specialist for the Shona is the nganga
(pl. manganga).9 The word nganga has traditionally been translated witch doctor because one of
the ngangas primary functions is to determine when witchcraft has been the cause of an illness or
misfortune, and to ferret out the witch. However, the role of the nganga in Shona society is much
broader than that. A nganga typically engages in: Healing of organic illnesses through the use of
herbal medicines; divining which of several alternatives is the best choice, using rectangular block
of wood similar to dice called hakata, or cowrie shells or bones, all of which are cast on the ground,
and the resultant patterns interpreted; determining which spirits are causing the sickness or trouble
plaguing a family; and battling against angry ngozi spirits and preparing countermeasures against the
attacks of witchcraft. Gelfand (1959:99) translates nganga healer and diviner, while Bucher (113)
employs the compound diviner-healer.
Bourdillon (1976:189) explains that:
There are two types of nanga in Shona society. Some are believed to operate under the
direction of healing spirits and with the aid of their power. Others simply use the skill
they have learnt from their tuition by experts. It is possible to acquire the title of nanga
simply by learning the art of herbalism during a period of apprenticeship with a senior
herbalist. . . . Although such a nanga may acquire a regular clientele, he can never
acquire the reputation and income of someone reputed to be able to cope with more
serious spiritual troubles. To deal with the spirit world requires the help of a specialist
healing spirit.
The essential qualification for being recognized as a powerful spirit-led nganga is evidence that
a person has, in fact, been chosen to be the spirit-medium of a helping-healing spirit which consents
to possess him/her when called on for help. Bourdillon (189) explains:

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Often this is the spirit of a deceased close relative (usually a parent or grandparent) who
was a nanga during life and wishes to continue his (or her) work through a living
descendent. Frequently, the healing spirit is a wandering shave spirit which may pick on
any person . . . A nanga who practises through the help of a family spirit elder is likely
to be regarded as more powerful than the host of a wandering shave spirit.
Thorpe (59) describes the process by which a person becomes a spirit-led nganga:
The first signs of calling to practise as a nganga are similar to those of spirit possession
generally, although the person concerned often has healing dreams in which he or she (a
nganga may be either male or female) is instructed, for example, on where to dig for
particular herbal remedies. Often this calling runs in families, since it is usually the
ancestral spirit of a former healer who seeks a host so as to continue its activities. It may,
however, also happen to someone who does not have a nganga ancestor, especially if it
is a shavi healing spirit seeking a living host.
Once the illness has been diagnosed by a practising nganga as having been caused
by a healing spirit, and the spirit has been accepted by the person and the family, the
individual undergoes training with a practising nganga. Occasionally a person does not
have . . . a call to become a healer, but simply undergoes training. These instances are not
common, however, as the gift of healing is understood to be a spiritual one which must
be passed on to living hosts. Upon completion of the training period, a feast is held by
the family of the novice nganga and the healer then sets up practice.
3.

Muroyi The Witch or Sorcerer

The Shona, like all traditional peoples of Africa, have a strong belief in, and fear of, witchcraft
or sorcery in Shona, uroyi. The last of the Shona traditional religious specialist we need to
consider is the muroyi (pl. varoyi) or witch or sorcerer, who employs the powers of uroyi to cause
illness, misfortune or even to kill other people. Bucher (105) states that the most powerful and
therefore the most feared of witches are those believed to be possessed by a shavi ro uroyi or
alien witchcraft spirit who gives them ultra-human powers to do evil. The stereotypical witch
is a woman who roams about in the night committing weird and horrible deeds. While a witch is
especially likely to take vengeance by using his/her powers to harm someone towards whom they
bear a grudge, Bourdillon (201) notes that often they have no other reason for harming or killing
than the pleasure of doing evil. He notes that the most horrible characteristic of the varoyi is their
predilection for eating human flesh. (202)
Bourdillon (199) reports that the Shona quite frequently view sickness and misfortune as due

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 19

to witchcraft. Witchcraft can explain all types of misfortune from minor ailments to conflict with
an employer or losing ones job, and many Shona believe that death is always due to witchcraft. But
it is important to note that Shonas belief that witchcraft is the cause of an illness or misfortune does
not necessarily mean they are ignorant of the role of natural causes in the misfortunes of life.
Bourdillon (199) explains:
Often when witchcraft is believed to be operative, it acts in conjunction with evident
natural causes. Thus should a man be killed in a drunken brawl, the natural cause of
death is obvious and nobody denies it: but the Shona would want to know what made the
aggressor kill his victim on that occasion . . . If a man loses his employment after a
quarrel with his employer, he can still ask what jealous witch created the
misunderstanding and the rift between himself and his employer. And even when a very
old man dies, some claim that the only explanation of why he died precisely at the time
he did is that a witch killed him (though others accept that he may have died simply
because he was tired).
Natural causes can answer the question of how something happens. But there is the
further question of why, why to this particular person and why at this time and place.
Europeans are likely to speak of chance or perhaps of divine providence, but the Shona
find a more ready answer in terms of witchcraft. So the Shona belief in witchcraft deals
with a realm beyond the more natural series of events; it neither conflicts with empirical
evidence nor is it essentially irrational. (Emphasis added)
As in the case of the nganga, a muroyi may be male or female, though the tendency is to
suspect women more often than men. Thorpe (58-59) draws a clear distinction between the two:
The nganga has an abundance of power which should de directed towards the good of the
community, while the muroyi usurps power for destructive purposes. The muroyi is the
antisocial individual who causes division within society. The purpose of the nganga, on
the other hand, is to unite and maintain solidarity in the community.
Nevertheless, he notes, since the power at issue is supernatural, both the nganga and the muroyi
are feared. Besides, not all nganga achieve the goal of spreading well-being. A nganga, in one way
or another, may be diverted to pursue selfish ends and thus be suspected of witchcraft. (59)

D.

The Vicissitudes of Life

With the Shona belief in the role of the midzimu (spirits) and their masvikiro (mediums), and

the powers of the manganga (diviner-healers) and the malevolent varoyi (witches) all firmly in mind,

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we have the elements necessary to understand how traditional Shona religionists view and deal with
sickness, misfortune, and the general hardship that is so much a part of their everyday lives.
Conditions in traditional Shona villages are difficult at best. Food is often scarce. Obtaining
water is a perennial problem, and the sources are often contaminated. Malaria, dysentery,
tuberculosis, measles, and a variety of water- and food-borne parasitic diseases, are a constant threat.
Misfortune takes many forms: Droughts occur every few years; plagues of grasshoppers are a regular
occurrence; field rats often eat a significant portion of the family corn crop; and a troop of baboons
or a single elephant can lay waste an entire field in a matter of minutes. Little children fall into the
cooking fire and are horribly burned. Thatch-roofed houses are struck by lightening and consumed
in flames. Mud-brick walls, soaked with heavy rains, collapse inward, often crushing someone
inside. Lions and leopards kill cattle and goats; crocodiles snatch away unwary bathers.
Before sickness and misfortune occur, the Shona seek the care and protection of their midzimu
spirit elders. When sickness or other misfortunes do strike, the Shona try to ascertain their cause, and
take remedial action which they hope will prove effective. We will look at the way traditional Shona
religionists undertake these steps.
1.

Asking for Care and Protection

The first and simplest way to deal with sickness or misfortune is to try to avoid them by
seeking the protection of ones familys or clans vadzimu or spirit elders. Thorpe (57) writes of
them: Generally the midzimu are understood to be protective spirits responsible for the welfare of
the family (midzimu yapamusha) or of the tribe (mhondoro spirits). To ask for their aid, the family
will consult the known medium of the appropriate spirit with their request, and perform whatever
rituals the medium indicates will please the spirit.
In order to request help from the midzimu, a family must maintain good relations with them.
This is done by remembering and honoring them on a regular basis. Bucher (68-69) explains:
[F]ormal rituals in honour of the ancestral spirits involving a large attendance are directed towards
the familys agnatic spirits. These should also always be remembered at any purely social gathering,

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the senior agnatic representative spilling some beer for them onto the ground and sometimes adding
a pinch of tobacco as well. This is the expected ideal, but Bucher admits that, In practice, however,
many Shona families engage in what might be termed a wait-and-see-game, putting off the
performance of rituals and neglecting to make token offerings to their ancestral spirits, until positive
proof that their ancestral spirits feel neglected is established through divination. (69)
While the Shona most often seek help and protection from their vadzimu, who are very real
spirit-persons to them, they also employ a variety of medicines or charms imbued with nonpersonal spiritual power, which have been prepared by a nganga and are believed to be effective in
preventing many types of illness or misfortune. Charms may be carried or worn on the person in
order to promote success in hunting or some other endeavor, or to protect one on a long journey.
Medicines may be hidden in the bedclothes to help a woman conceive. Or a small, mysterious
bundle from the nganga may be buried in the ground outside or inside the house to ward off
wandering shavi and angry ngozi. In traditional families, young children especially are almost always
seen wearing a necklace or bracelet made of a bit of string, perhaps with a bead or two, which the
mother obtained from a nganga to protect the childs health.
2.

Ascertaining Causes and Applying Remedies

As we have noted above, the Shona have a well-developed folk natural science, (Hiebert,
1999:49) and are fully aware of a variety of natural causes which may produce desirable and/or
undesirable effects. To begin with, Thorpe (59) declares that, The Shona recognise that many
illnesses have ordinary causes and these are treated by home remedies or, nowadays, taken to
Western doctors. Ordinary people are familiar with folk remedies for basic illnesses, and the
competent nganga has a wide arsenal of herbal medicines at his or her disposal.
However, according to traditional Shona beliefs, sickness, misfortune or plain bad luck are
generally attributed to spiritual causes. Those things which seem to have no human explanation are
understood as having an invisible cause. (Thorpe, 59) One of the spiritual causes of illness can be
a failure to show proper respect for the spirits of ones ancestors, particularly of ones father: Beer

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 22

should occasionally be brewed for the spirit of ones father simply to honour him. If this is omitted
for a long time, the Shona believe that he may ask for beer by causing illness in his descendants.
(Bourdillon, 45) Often the remedy the nganga prescribes for illness is a social one. When a ritual
has been overlooked, it must be performed; if living members of the family have been neglected,
they must be cared for. Wrongs must be set right. (Thorpe, 61)
In other cases, as we have seen, the nganga may determine that an illness is due to a spirit
elders or shavi spirits requesting to make the afflicted person his host. In these cases, the remedy
is usually to acquiesce, with the dubious result that the illness is exchanged for repeated bouts of
spirit possession. These episodes do, however, cause consternation and awe in those who witness
them, which serves to bestow fame and a sort of prestige on the spirit-host. This might be understood
as compensation for the perturbation a such a person suffers.
When any severe or prolonged illness occurs which does not respond to other treatments, or
when grave misfortune strikes, such as a house fire or other accident, people will consult the nganga
for him/her to divine the cause. These more serious cases may be determined to be due to the attack
of an angry or avenging ngozi. In this case, the nganga must call on his/her spirit-helper to possess
him or her, and then do battle with the ngozi to exorcise it from the afflicted person or drive it out
of the area. To succeed, the ngangas helper-spirit must be more powerful than the angry ngozi.
In other cases of misfortune, serious illness or sudden and/or violent death, people will again
consult the nganga, but they will likely already be convinced of the cause: Witchcraft! Again, as in
the previous case, whether the nganga is able to help or heal depends on whether his/her helper-spirit
is more powerful than the shavi ro uroyi of the witch.
If a nganga diagnoses witchcraft as the cause of an illness or death, the immediate next step
is to divine who is the witch. This leads to bitter accusations and recriminations, as often the accused
person is a member of the sufferers own family. Bucher (109) states that it is hard to conceive of
any other type of accusation which can so readily embitter social relations and increase
social tension. Such allegations frequently lead to assault, resulting in serious bodily
harm or death; sometimes they have caused the accused to commit suicide; often they

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result from marriage difficulties and provide the alibi for a desired divorce; at the very
least, they always lead to the witchs being avoided, while more often the accused is
forced to leave the community for good.
In all of the above cases where people suffering illness or misfortune go to the nganga for help,
there is no guarantee that the ngangas treatment will result in restoration or healing. In some cases,
a person afflicted with a deadly disease such as AIDS will consult one nganga after another in a vain
attempt to stave off impending death. And regardless of whether a nganga is successful in treating
a particular illness, the payments can be exceedingly high, impoverishing the sufferers family.
Surely there must be a better way to find protection, direction and help in times of trouble than
the desperate dependence on spirit-elders, mysterious medicines and shavi-possessed nganga! It is
this better way that forms the last section of this paper.

III. CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL SHONA BELIEFS

Now that we have examined the main aspects of Shona traditional religion we are ready to
suggest how faith in Jesus Christ, and a real experience of the power and presence of his Holy Spirit
can provide the Shona with a viable, that is, a livable, alternative to their traditional religious beliefs.

A.

Take Traditional Shona Religious Beliefs Seriously

The first thing I believe we must do is take traditional Shona religious beliefs seriously.

Bucher (14-15) says it well when he writes:

Generations of . . . missionaries have looked down upon the bulk of religious notions
held by the Shona and other African peoples, regarding them as naive superstitions . . .
[But] the Shona belief in the existence of spirits is not simply superstition, in the sense
in which this term is understood in present-day Western societies. Rather it represents
a complete system of religious assumptions, a veritable weltanschauung, which is
intended to answer mans most existential questions.
If the Church is ever to take deep roots among the Shona people and in their
culture, her missionaries whether they are Whites or Blacks have to take the existence
of this all-embracing traditional Shona religion seriously. It is true that in fulfilling her
task, given to her by Christ, the Church has to absorb whatever good is found to be sown
in the hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples.
However, it is also her task to echo Christs call to repentance through all generations.

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Genuine metanoia of a people and its culture will only come about as a result of the
confrontation between that which people were told in the past and Christs but now I
tell you.
This confrontation can only take place if on the part of the Church the existence of
these African cosmologies as fully-fledged religious systems is taken seriously. Only
then is it possible to appreciate to the full their importance in the life of individual
African.
Whatever we ourselves may believe about the ontological reality of the Shona spirits, we must
keep in mind that for the Shona at least, they are very real. If we are to minister to the Shona people,
we will have to begin by taking seriously their beliefs and worldview.

B.

Spiritual Power An Indispensable Ingredient

If we take seriously Shona spiritual beliefs and practices, we will come face to face with the

issue of spiritual power. This is an indispensable ingredient in any religion which hopes to satisfy
the Shona peoples felt needs for protection and security.
Charles and Marguerite Kraft highlight the urgent need for missionaries and other ministers
to learn how to receive from God and employ spiritual power. They assert: [I]n the Bible [we] see
a God of miracles, One who stands up to Satan and defeats him. (2) The worldview of the people
in Jesus time differed greatly in some respects from the Shona worldview. But they also had one very
important thing in common: The desire to see power at work in practical ways. The Krafts write:
First century Jews . . . looked for power demonstrations . . . Knowing this, Jesus provided
power proof. . . . Jesus presented a whole Gospel. This involved good news concerning
salvation from sin. But it also involved good news concernings Gods ability and
willingness to release people from present problems. Prominent among these problems
are the need for physical and emotional healing plus the need to be released from
demons. Much of the world is still looking for a God who is concerned about all of these
needs, a God who keeps Jesus promise to set captives completely free (Lk 4:18). (2)
The Krafts indict Western missionary Christianity as, sub-biblical. . . strong on the need for
a commitment to Christ for salvation. . . weak, however, in the area of greatest concern to peoples
like these the ability to deal with the evil powers that are continually pummeling them with
misfortune, disease, infertility and other ills. (1). As a result of this, [T]he majority of . . . the

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peoples of the world who have been converted to such powerless Christianity continue to make use
of their traditional power sources. (1)
Nowhere in the world has this last statement been truer than in Africa. From my own eleven
years in Mozambique, as well as from consultations with many African colleagues, I have come to
believe that the number-one problem with our methods of evangelism and discipling in Africa is that
we have proven unable to satisfy the peoples valid desire for real, practical spiritual power to meet
the needs they formerly met through the practices of traditional religion. As a result we have
produced literally millions of split-level Christians (Hiebert, 1999:15) who come to church every
Sunday and then go the nganga every Thursday10 night! Bucher (15) believes that missionaries must
admit that most of their African converts have a foot in both camps: they have been baptized and go
to Church, while they also cling tenaciously to essential points of the faith of their forebears.
To avoid producing any more split-level Shona Christians with a foot in both camps, and
to help those already living this way to come to a more satisfying and less hypocritical practice
of their Christian faith, I suggest that we must demonstrate to traditional Shonas that through faith
in Jesus Christ and the fulness of his Holy Spirit, Christians have all the power we need to deal with
the evil powers that would try to harm us and dominate us through fear and even possession.

C.

Shona Needs and Christian Answers

As we said at the beginning of this paper, I believe Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit, can fulfill

all the functions of midzimu, mhondoro and magombwe, meet the felt needs of traditional Shona
people, and do so in a more existentially satisfying way than the spirits can.
1.

The Need for Care and Protection

As we have seen, the first, most basic need the Shona people feel is for someone powerful
enough to care for and protect them. To meet this need, missionaries, evangelists and ordinary
Shona believers must both proclaim and demonstrate that Jesus has the power and authority to
protect them in all situations.

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Firstly, we must proclaim Jesus power based on the witness of the Holy Scriptures. Jesus said,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18). In Luke 9:1-2 we
read, When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out
all demons and to cure diseases. . . In John 13:3, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things
under his power. In Romans 1:4 Paul writes of the one who, through the Spirit of holiness was
declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
And in Philippians 3:20-21 he speaks of a Savior from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has
power that enables him to bring everything under his control. (All emphasis added.)
For the Shona, perhaps the most important power they require of Jesus is that he be able to
protect them from the attacks of witchcraft, angry ngozi spirits, and the threat of being forced against
their will to become the host of some shavi spirit. Scripture gives us numerous examples of Jesus
power over spirits of all kinds. An notable demonstration of Jesus power over demons is the case
of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1-20, where Jesus drove out a whole legion of powerful
demons. Other references to Jesus defeating evil spirits include: Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 1:32-34,
39; 7:24-30; Luke 4:33-37; 9:37-43. Jesus also demonstrated his power over sickness, performing
many healings in which the illness or debility is directly attributed to demonic activity: Matthew
12:22-23; Mark 9:17-29; Luke 6:18-19; 13:10-17.
A word of caution is in order: We must make clear to newly-converted and non-Christian
Shona people that Jesus exorcizing and healing ministry is different in essential kind from that of
the manganga. In Matthew 12:22-29, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the
power of Beelzebub, the prince of Demons. This would make Jesus ministry equivalent to that of
the manganga. However, Jesus not only repudiates the charge, but turns it around and identifies the
exorcisms of the Pharisees disciples as Satans work instead!
Furthermore Jesus, as God, cares about us and understands our needs, even better than do the
Shona spirit elders. Hebrews 4:15 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 27

are. In Luke 12:30 Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about the things they need in this life
because, your Father knows that you need them. Peter tells us, Cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
Finally, we see that Jesus followers the Apostles, and the seventy-two, for example also
share Jesus power to cast out demons and heal. In Luke 10:17-20 we read:
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in
your name. He replied, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you
authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the
enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but
rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Accounts of the Apostles working miracles, casting out demons and healing include: Mark 6:7-13;
Acts 3:1-10; 5:12-16; 8:4-8; 14:8-10; 16:16-18; 19:11-12; 20:7-12. This last incident is not just a
healing, but records Pauls actually raising the young man from the dead!
Now, we come to the second phase of assuring Shona traditional religionists that Jesus can
meet their needs for care and protection: We must demonstrate Jesus power in a ministry of healing,
and deliverance, according to the gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to each missionary, evangelist,
pastor or lay believer. I have never, to my knowledge, exercised the gift of healing, but I know
personally African pastors who have. And numerous times I have led the group of church elders as
we laid hands on a person possessed by an evil spirit (whether shavi or ngozi I cannot say) and cast
the spirit out in Jesus name. We must not shy away from confrontations with Satan and the powers
of evil, or from peoples need for healing. We must take the authority Jesus has given us and use it
to demonstrate that Jesus has power over than the spirits that attack and afflict the Shona.
2.

The Need for Orientation in Decision-Making

At times we all feel the need for guidance which goes beyond the help of even the wisest
human counselor. Traditional Shona seek this guidance from their spirit elders. As an alternative,
we must again proclaim and demonstrate that God in Christ provides us with the guidance we need.
James 1:5 is the premier proclamation passage in this regard: If any of you lacks wisdom,

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 28

he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
In John 16:13 Jesus promises his disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. In Luke
12:11-12 Jesus advises his disciples: When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and
authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy
Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. The promise this last passage is valid also
for those who may be confronted by members of their family or the local community, or by the
nganga, to explain why they no longer participate in the ceremonies requesting aid from the vadzimu.
Furthermore, the Scriptures teach us that the Holy Spirit may give Jesus disciples a message
of knowledge, (1 Corinthians 12:8) the gift of prophecy and the ability of distinguishing between
spirits (v. 10). In Acts 11:8, Agabus accurately predicted a famine through the Spirits inspiration.
In Acts 27:34 Paul correctly assured his traveling companions that none of them would die in the
storm and shipwreck which stranded them on the island of Malta. All of these passages proclaim that
Jesus through his Holy Spirit can provide us with the guidance we need for daily living.
But again, after we have shared these passages with traditional Shona believers and
unbelievers, we must also demonstrate the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, discerning of spirits and
even prophecy, according as the Holy Spirit chooses to give them to us. I have never prophesied, but
I have often received supernatural help to discern that someone I was dealing with was evil, or was
lying, or was otherwise motivated by Satan. I believe missionaries, evangelists, pastors, and lay
Christians must submit ourselves wholly to the Spirit, believe that he will give us these gifts, and
then exercise them in faith when he does. In this way Shona traditional religionists will see that in
Christ they have a guide more reliable than the mudzimu of their dead grandfather or the mhondoro
of a dead chief.
3.

The Need for a Mediator with God

The Scripture also speaks to the Shonas felt need for a mediator who can present their
petitions to Mwari. Paul writes: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men the testimony given in its proper

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 29

time. (1 Timothy 2:5-7) And he assures the Romans that, In the same way, the Spirit helps us in
our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)
Ephesians 2:18 says that through Christ we have access to the Father by one Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:18) Hebrews 4:16 assures us that through Jesus, our high priest, we can approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need. And Jesus declares, I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my
name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your
joy will be complete. (John 16:23-24)
For those of us who already know first-hand Jesus love, grace and help in our lives, the
Scripture passages I have cited form a litany of assurance, confirming what we already know from
our own experience. But for pre-Christian Shona, Scripture quotations by themselves will carry little
weight. Rather, the most powerful and convincing testimony will be that of committed, singlelevel Shona Christians who have experienced Gods power, protection and help in their daily lives.
The testimony of victorious believers in Christ to Gods existential faithfulness is the most
attractive and convincing witness possible to those who practice Shona traditional religion. When
their fellow Shona, members of their community and of their own family, testify of Jesus power to
protect, guide and give us access to God the Father, and then demonstrate this reality in their lives,
Shona people will turn to Jesus in faith and find that all their needs are met in Him.

CONCLUSION
As I finish this paper, I am painfully aware that we have barely scratched the surface of all that
Shona traditional religious beliefs and practices mean to those who follow them as a way of life.
Many other issues could be explored, such as the way the Christian concept of God differs from
traditional Shona beliefs about Mwari, or the question of Christian substitutes for the social

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 30

functions of Shona ancestor veneration (preserving family history, promoting family cohesiveness,
maintaining community discipline, etc.) However, I have been able to show some of the ways
Christianity can be truly Good News to traditional Shona people as they find in Jesus the One who
has more power than all the midzimu, mhondoro, magombwe, mashavi, ngozi, masvikiro, manganga
and varoyi in the world.

Troutman / Why Has This Happened . . . / p. 31

MAP
THE SHONA-SPEAKING PEOPLES AND NEIGHBORING GROUPS

Copyright 1980 by the Oxford University Press

Troutman / Research Topic and Bibliography / p. 32

REFERENCES CITED
Bourdillon, Michael F.C.
1973
Traditional Religion in Shona Society. In Christianity South of the Zambezi.
Edited by Anthony J. Dachs. Salisbury, Rhodesia: Mambo Press
1976

The Shona Peoples. Gwelo, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.

Bucher, Hubert
1980
Spirits and Powers: An Analysis of Shona Cosmology. Cape Town: Oxford
University Press.
Central Intelligence Agency
2004
The World Factbook. Accessed December
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zi.html.

13,

2004

at

Gelfand, Michael
1959
Shona Ritual With Special Reference to the Chaminuka Cult. Johannesburg: Juta
& Company, Limited.
1962.

Shona Religion With Special Reference to the Makorekore. Johannesburg: Juta

& Company, Limited.

Hiebert, Paul G., R. Daniel Shaw, Tite Tinou

1999
Understanding Folk Religion. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books.
Kraft, Charles and Marguerite
1993
The Power of God for People Who Ride Two Horses. The Kingdom and the
Power. Ventura, California: Regal.
Newitt, Maylan D. D.
1999
"Zimbabwe." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Redmond, Washington:
Microsoft Corporation.
Thorpe, S. A.
1991

African Traditional Religions An Introduction. Pretoria: University of South

Africa.

Zvarevashe, Ignatius M.
1980
Shona (Bantu) Traditional Religion in Afer, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 294-303.

Troutman / Research Topic and Bibliography / p. 33

NOTES
1.

The designation Bantu derives from the fact that all the languages of this grouping use some form
of the root -ntu- to designate being, so that the resulting word for human (or personal) being is
something like muntu (sing.) / bantu (pl.) in Shona munhu / vanhu. The Bantu language group
includes such well-known languages as Shona, Zulu, and Swahili.

2.

The Summer Institute of Linguistics Ethnologue is considered by many to be the authoritative source
for information regarding the classification and derivation of the worlds more than 6800 languages.

3.

These are: Kalanga (Zimbabwe, Botswana); Manyika (Zimbabwe, Mozambique); Nambya

(Zimbabwe); Ndau (Zimbabwe, Mozambique); Shona (Zimbabwe, Zambia) Tawara (Mozambique) and
Tewe (Mozambique). (S.I.L. Ethnologue).

4.

Matabeleland was the territory of the Ndebele in the south and west of present-day Zimbabwe, while
Mashonaland was the territory of the Shona, in the north and east.

5.

Present-day Harare.

6.

However, some authors, such as Michael Gelfand (1959:13ff; 1962:51ff) use the word tribe
interchangeably with the word clan to describe the people descended from and/or governed by a
particular chief. This usage of the word tribe may appear in some direct quotations in this paper, and
should not be allowed to confuse the reader.

7.

Many Shona nouns have a double plural. In the case of mudzimu, the plural may be either vadzimu. or
midzimu. Midzimu begins with the plural prefix mi- which is applied to many classes of things, and so
refers to the spirits in a general way; while vadzimu, begins with the plural prefix va- which is used
to denote persons, and so indicates that the spirits are persons whom we respect.

8.

Also spelled shave / mashave.

9.

Also spelled nanga and nganga. The word begins with the nasal ng as though you were to say
English sing a but without the si-. No words in English begin with this sound. The final ng is like
that in English finger.

10.

For the Shona there is no special spiritual significance to any particular weekday as far as I know. I just
picked a day at random.