Power in Contemporary Zimbabwe by Erasmus Masitera & Fortune Sibanda

Author:Erasmus Masitera & Fortune Sibanda [Masitera, Erasmus & Sibanda, Fortune]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351066471
Google: -ZnptAEACAAJ
Goodreads: 39822901
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-01-15T12:42:58+00:00

The botanic world and AICs

The majority of indigenous African white garment churches regard forests and mountains/hills as hierophanies. These supply AICs with venues for worshipping and fasting, and they are known as renje (wilderness), where believers seek spiritual rejuvenation. To vivify this idea, members of Mugodhi church have a song with these words: “Mwarihandisiirenjerinomusatimandiropafadza”, meaning “God I will not leave this wilderness till you bless me”. The Masowe followers mark trees with red, white and green cloth strips in areas which surround their places of worship and once one encounters such trees, he or she feels the sacredness conferred to these trees by the mere act of tying them. The same is true of St. Luke Jekenisheni Church, which floats flags of various colours printed with the sun, moon and star symbols around their worship places.

Mai Chaza, founder of Guta Ra Jehovah (GRJ), used to visit Chivhako and Chomuuya mountains to pray and fast as well as seeking spiritual strength. According to Konyana (2015), her final quest of becoming a faith healer was granted at Madzimbabwe (Great Zimbabwe Monuments), where she met Jesus. This is what is seen in 1Kings (19:8): Elijah seeking God’s intervention on Mount Horeb to blossom his spiritual source. It is against this backdrop that fauna and flora on mountains is full of sacrality. Mountains used by prophets for various prophetic activities are regarded as zvikomozvomweya (spiritual mountains) and they have been spared of deforestation: for example, Dukuhwe, Hwaka and Gombe mountains in Buhera, and Gondoi in Mashate area near Mogernster are regarded as the abode of Gods or ancestors. As such, certain human activities are considered taboo; therefore, cutting down of trees, hunting of animals and pollution by human waste are prohibited. In the event that the taboos are violated, the Shona people believe that this could attract natural calamities such as drought, floods, or thunderbolts to the nation as a whole, or misfortunes or even death on the part of an individual.

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