The primal vision

Text is written by MYRTLE LANGLEY

IN AFRICA,THE AMERICANS, and Oceania perhaps 250 million people live in "primal" or "traditional" societies. For them, all of life is religious; nothing that they think or say or do takes place outside a spiritual world for help and blessing.

Those how live among Africa`s Rif Valley, on the plains of the Americas, or in the Pacific, associate God with the sun and sky, and organize their lesser gods to mirror their own societies.

The Maasai of East Africa worship ONE GOD linked with the sun, while the Yoruba people of Nigeria worship a High God who rules over many lesser gods.

Those living in rainforests, or in densely settled areas, worship the spirits or powers of nature and venerate (give great respect and honour to) their ancestors. Rituals to do with the spirits and powers are often complex; those to do with the High God tend to be simpler.

Rituals of life

RITUALS OF LIFE play a major role in primal societies. They are largely of two kinds: "rites of passage" and "rites of affliction".

Rites of passage take place at important moments of a person`s passage through life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, divorce, and death.

Rites of affliction arise at times of crises such as illness or disaster.

The rituals are usually divided into three stage: separation from the old, transition, and inclusion into the new. for example, young people at puberty may be separated from society (and, symbolically, from childhood), then instructed on how to be adult, and then incorporated back into society as full adult members of their communities.

In some societies, the rituals may be performed by priests, in others by ritual leaders, or shamans, or healers.