‘Rains Come from the Gods!’: Anthropocene and the History of Rainmaking Rituals in Zimbabwe with Reference to Mberengwa district, c. 1890–2000

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the history of rainmaking rituals in Zimbabwe from 1890 to 2000. Beyond Africans’ relationship with nature, the history of rainmaking rituals shows how religion was a powerful political tool used by the chieftaincy to influence and control the subjects. The paper argues that the rainmaking institution was a powerful tool to try and control nature through propitiating ancestors and ultimately worked in favour of the chieftaincy to control their subjects. The perceived control of rainfall through rainmaking rituals benefitted not only the chieftaincy but the greater part of the community by providing reassurance and a sense of comfort. The rainmaking institution, and the rituals, show the way Africans related with nature. The culture–nature relationship is revealed in the places where rain rituals took place, the ingredients used, and the belief that nature was the provider. Over a long durée, different political hierarchies at various levels, from clan to chieftaincy, have utilised the rainmaking institution to monitor and control their subjects. In the process, societies developed a sophisticated view of nature and observed various prohibitions.