Abstract
There is no consensus among scholars of myth as to how the central concept of their field should be defined. What is a ‘myth’ and how does it differ from a ‘belief’? Moreover, scholars have argued for a homological relationship between myth and ritual. Semantically, the word ‘myth’ has a connotation of disbelief in ‘superstition’, and the word ‘belief’ should be substituted when talking about religious practices. Likewise, the word ‘ritual’ may be substituted with ‘ceremonial’, which has connotations that are more positive. Earlier publications that associate ancestral veneration with the words ‘myth’ or ‘superstition’ display a judgemental view of the beliefs of other cultures. In this article, the author attempts, via recourse to the use of the word ‘myth’, to describe and interpret traditional and cultural belief systems among the Bapedi people of Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is argued that myth should not be reduced to ritual nor ritual to myth. Belief and ritual, in Bapedi religion and belief systems, complete and complement each other, thus allowing the harmonious unison of meta and paralinguistic elements in religiocultural discourse. The focus of this study is to explore and document these links within the context of the Bapedi culture.
Highlights
Myths1 and oral history are integral elements of Bapedi culture
The present study has revealed that the belief in African culture and values, African spirituality, ancestors, witchcraft and myth is crucial to Bapedi religious and cultural life
This study has shown how Bapedi people utilise their natural environmental resources for their spirituality in various ways
Summary
Myths and oral history are integral elements of Bapedi culture. The ancestral beliefs of the people are associated with myths, traditional and cultural beliefs, taboos and rituals. They are based on the experiences of ancestors and play a prominent role in the Bapedi understanding of reality. Bapedi people use ancestral beliefs to preserve their cultural heritage and identity and to transmit the valued moral education of Bapedi society across generations through origin stories, explanatory stories and didactic stories. In Bapedi culture, ancestral beliefs contain and express Bapedi culture and history. Jaja (2014) endorses these views and states that: In Bapedi culture, ancestral beliefs contain and express Bapedi culture and history. Jaja (2014) endorses these views and states that:
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