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Importance of Birds to African Tribes

Birds are interwoven into the mythology and spirituality of early African tribes. Early Egyptian gods were zoomorphic; they had animal characteristics. The Egyptian god Horus is usually shown with hawk's head. The Egyptian goddess Nekhbet is depicted as a woman with the head of a vulture. Early African tribes worshiped these birdlike gods and honored their feathers as a means of sacred ritual.

  1. Bringers of Fertility

    • Early South African tribes believed that bird migrations that occurred throughout the year fertilized the land. The vulture was seen as the ultimate symbol of fertility. They believed where there was a vulture, safety and purity -- the elements necessary for life to begin -- would always be present.

    Symbols of Trancendence

    • Credo Mutwa, a South African Sangomas (witch doctor) asserts that birds are the souls of humans who have reached a high state of perfection. They represent the process of opening to a higher wisdom and knowledge. Mutwa stated that when you are reincarnated seven times on earth as a human or animal, you "reach the state of a bird." This is thought to be the state of ultimate earthly freedom; to be a creature that is of the air, land and water.

    Sacred Symbols

    • In African Tribes, many birds embody the qualities of God's. These birds are seen as symbols or signs of a sacred presence in nature: hamerkop, a symbol of vanity and human futility; ostrich, the bringer of visions and dreams; vulture, believed to be the original great earth mother, the ultimate symbol of fertility.

    Elements of Ritual

    • Although there is little documented evidence of the rituals of Early African tribes, it is known that modern voodoo ceremonies originated in these early African tribes. The voodoo religion honors the egg as a symbol for their god Danbala, who is worshiped along with the Catholic Saint Patrick. The egg is seen as the birthplace of the bird, and therefore honored and used to connect with the divine in ritual. Voodoo rituals use feathers in the same way that many other indigenous cultures used feathers in ritual: for delivering wishes to the appropriate gods and freeing space of negative energy.

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