The making and prevention of rain amongst the Pedi tribe of South Africa: A pastoral response

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The making and prevention of rain amongst the Pedi tribe of South Africa: A pastoral response
 
Creator Semenya, David K.
 
Subject Practical Theology Pedi; rain making; rain prevention; Moroka [rain making traditional doctor]; magical horn; clay pots; gourds and rituals
Description This article attempted to respond pastorally to the rainmaking and rain prevention rituals which are practised among the Pedi tribes – also called the Northern-Sotho speaking nation of South Africa. The rituals of rainmaking and rain prevention have been practised among the Pedi for a long time – these rituals are in fact still being practised in some of the villages in and around the Limpopo Province. The rituals are practised in time of drought and also during activities such as weddings or traditional gatherings, this is normally called molato. When the village is experiencing drought, community members, upon instruction from the chief of the village, stage a rain ritual and the moroka [rain making traditional doctor] would take the lead in performing such rituals. Families would also perform rain prevention rituals when a gathering or a wedding is being organised to ensure that the rain does not disturb the gathering and everything goes as planned. Thus the purpose of rainfall rituals is to influence the weather conditions in order to cause rain or drought either for good or for destruction. The mentioned rituals and selected scriptural passages were discussed. This article presented the biblical view of rain and conclusion principles were formulated to understand the Bible’s perspective on the mentioned rituals. These conclusions were used for the formulation of practical guidelines.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Unit for Reformed Theology, North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus)
Date 2013-02-11
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v69i1.1175
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 69, No 1 (2013); 5 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/1175/3248 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/1175/3249 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/1175/3250 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/1175/3247
 
Coverage — — African Studies
Rights Copyright (c) 2013 David K. Semenya https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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