Offerings: A dying culture?

The story of giving sacrifices is not new in Malawi. It is a tradition that comes from the biblical story about Abraham who wanted to offer his son as a sacrifice to God.

Today, many societies in the world offer sacrifices for favours. In Malawi, the story of sacrifices sounds fresh if discussed with reference to Nsanje because of the historical sacrifice shrines in the district.

The popular shrine is the Khulubvi. Others are Nkhadzi, Mtsakana Konde Dzimbiri and Chifunda Lunda shrines.

Historical facts indicate that people used to go to the shrines and offer their property to get favours from the spirits. This was after being hit by drought and the spirits would give them rain in return.

Despite offerings being one of the main practices that have been around for a long time, the practice is fading in some parts of the country.

Traditional Authority (T/A) Malemia of Nsanje grew up appreciating the practice and is also watching it fading.

“We used to offer sacrifices for favours and the spirits would answer us. The offerings were given in times of drought and through belief, people were getting the rain,” said the chief.

He adds that the practice is still alive in some parts of Nsanje, particularly in areas surrounding Khulubvi where the story of Mbona was popular.

According to T/A Phambala’s representative, Hensley Maliyaudzu, the tradition has been practised in Ntcheu although it is fading.

“Sacrifices have been solutions to our problems, but with time, they are fading. We used to go to the mountains and offer sacrifices but now most people are not doing it,” he said.

But why is the practice fading?

Malemia believes education, religion, ancestors and chiefs are key factors in killing the practice.

He said the coming in of science education has civilised people in a way that they do not purely trust in spirits as the final solution to their problems. He said there has been an in-depth understanding of nature and this has influenced the people’s mind.

He said mushrooming of Christianity and Islam has proved that the final solution in everything is God and people can directly talk to God through prayers and get blessings.

The chief also said many people who led the practice are gone and due to lack of people to promote the practice, people are forgetting it.

“There are many issues, but the major one is clash of beliefs. What we believed in the past and what we have learnt today are different. I am a chief who believes in tradition and Bible. I am a pastor and when I look at some of the attachments to the ancestral beliefs and the Christian teaching, I get confused more especially because traditions sound inferior to Bible teachings,” said the chief.

However, he said while it is inevitable to lose the traditions, he believes preserving some of the shrines such as Khulubvi is important to the history of the country.

Maliyaudzu believes civilisation is killing the practice of sacrificing.

He said the generation of today is exposed to more literature and in-depth research and this is influencing society to think differently and ignore values they feel do not make complete sense to their understanding.

He added that due to this, some people are adopting other styles of offering such as partying with friends or donating funds or property to the needy.