Zulu and Nguni Religion

The ancestral religion of the Zulu and related Nguni peoples, centred on the amadlozi.

c. 1000 CE → · Southern Africa · African & Diaspora

Among the Zulu and other Nguni-speaking peoples the ancestors, amadlozi, are the main link to the divine, honoured with offerings and consulted through diviners. Unkulunkulu, the first being, sent the chameleon with the message of eternal life, which arrived too late. Many people combine these practices with Christianity today.

Key figures

• Unkulunkulu, the first being
• Amadlozi, the ancestors
• Izangoma, diviners

Texts

• Oral tradition
• Praise poetry

Beliefs

• Ancestors protect and guide the family
• Illness and misfortune can have spiritual causes
• The world came from the reeds at the beginning

Rituals

• Sacrifice of cattle to the ancestors
• Divination by izangoma
• Rites of passage

Grew from

• Animism & Shamanism

Connections in the atlas

• Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa
• The Bantu expansion
• Tokoloshe
• The Bantu-speaking peoples
• How Death Came Into the World
• Isaiah Shembe