The Meaning, Spiritual Foundation, and Mythology of African Sacred Landscapes: The Case of Sacred Forests among the Bena of Njombe, Tanzania
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Date
2023
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Journal of Religion in Africa
Abstract
In various cultures around the world, past and present, many natural and cultural sites
are deemed sacred. What are sacred landscapes? What are the spiritual foundations
for their formation? How are they formed? How are they protected? The answers to
these questions help frame a discussion of sacred landscapes within the context of
their meaning, origin, and management processes as lived experiences of specific societies. In Tanzania, the linkages between biodiversity and the worldview of a society
have partly been acknowledged but remain unexplored. This paper applies a mixed
research approach to studying sacred forests among the Bena community of Njombe
in Tanzania. Rather than looking exclusively at the sacred forests in themselves as
places, the paper underscores the linkage of human-nature-spirituality as key in
explaining the history of sacred forests. It establishes that, among the Bena, the sacredness of a place was founded on the relationship between the visible and the invisible worlds – relations that led to the formation of various mystical-religious homelands’ sacred places that are protected through mythologies.
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Keywords
sacred landscape – forest – folklore – Bena – Njombe – Tanzania
Citation
Mgaya, E.S. (2023). ‘Sacred landscape: Meaning, spiritual foundation and mythology in Africa: the case of sacred forest among the Bena of Njombe in Tanzania’. Journal of Religion in Africa, 53 (2), 1-28 .