Imikhuba yemihlatshelo
Imikhuba yemihlatshelo Participants also expressed the view that that sacrificial rituals were important spiritual practices that allow help to be summoned from the ancestors in overcoming bad luck or bad experiences. “Zulus believe that there is no such thing as chance and that misfortunes are believed to be due to some external agency that brought it on.” This suggests that the ancestral spirits have to be appeased through rituals during times of crisis. The comments below capture these sentiments:
People slaughter to ward off bad luck. Slaughtering of cows is done to ask for forgiveness as well.
Seeking help from the ancestors for healing means engaging in sacrificial prayer.
Sacrificial prayer within the context of African spirituality entails the slaughtering of goats and cows and serves as a medium of communicating with the ancestors during the offering, which may involve washing the individual with the blood of the animals sacrificed, is a practice of cleansing that is believed to heal a person and rid the individual of the bad luck or relieve them of a traumatic experience.Imikhuba yemihlatshelo.