I was told that if the child was introduced to their new family’s ancestors from the start, they would be able to assist the child in connecting with his or her ancestors (ubigile – announcing a child
I was told that if the child was introduced to their new family’s ancestors from the start, they would be able to assist the child in connecting with his or her ancestors (ubigile – announcing a child to the ancestors).
In each instance, it appeared that consultation and honesty were the only way to resolve issues with one’s ancestors.
Conversely, suffering would only be meted out in instances of dishonesty and concealment.
Ancestors are alive when you remember them. Some people think that it is just about slaughtering and feeding them blood, but it is not just about this. The ancestors are not happy with so much blood at the moment, they are looking into our fridges lately and seeing that we have dead meat in them, it is too much. Child abandonment is something about now, when you cut yourself off, and not only from your family, but from your soul. Blood and family is important. When we break the family, we break blood relatives, common lineage, heritage. When you look at what’s going on now, we have lost Ubuntu, it is just a brand, an idea, an abstract practice. You need to be realistic, I can’t say I can help the individual child. The African people need to understand what being African is about….
Ancestors are alive when you remember them. Some people think that it is just about slaughtering and feeding them blood, but it is not just about this. The ancestors are not happy with so much blood at the moment, they are looking into our fridges lately and seeing that we have dead meat in them, it is too much. Child abandonment is something about now, when you cut yourself off, and not only from your family, but from your soul. Blood and family is important. When we break the family, we break blood relatives, common lineage, heritage. When you look at what’s going on now, we have lost Ubuntu, it is just a brand, an idea, an abstract practice. You need to be realistic, I can’t say I can help the individual child. The African people need to understand what being African is about….
We can’t try to sort out the branches when the roots are a mess
