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© 2023 Dr Margaret Sheppard

The Traditional Tswana view of the Supernatural Universe

In traditional Tswana religion there is a strong belief in Badimo - the ancestors - as the underpinners of the society.They are  the guardians. of tribal morality. Badimo   are believed to punish or reward their descendants as necessary. Therefore ancestral activity features in traditional beliefs about the causality of successes and problems (the latter includes ill-health).

Apart from Ancestors the traditional Tswana Supernatural Universe included a belief in Modimo - the Supreme Being, the Creator, the Controller of Destiny and the Rain, who could inflict punishment by sending thunder and lightning, drought and death. However it was  not believed that Modimo was involved in, or concerned with, the daily activities of human beings. There is no organized cult to worship Modimo, but instead, as is typical of these societies, the emphasis is on the Ancestors

The Ancestors of commoners are believed to be active in the life of their living descendants who placate, thank and supplicate them  They are contacted through the senior living male descendant. Royal Ancestors can be appealed to (or thanked as necessary) for national happenings, for example, drought, famine, disease, good harvests etc. They are contacted via their senior living descendant - the Chief.

Therefore it can be seen that the Tswana concept of Modimo is, a residual category for the explanation of otherwise inexplicable events. However, a Tswana proverb should be noted : "Modimo ga se mmolai" (Modimo is not a murderer).

It can be seen from the diagram that there is a circular conception of the Tswana universe which is paralleled in life by the way a Tswana settlement develops. The village is in the centre - the Chief residing in the centre of this. The dikgotla of commoners are arranged in a circular mode around Kgosing (the Chief’s kgotla). Surrounding the village are the Lands, and surrounding these are the cattleposts. These parts include the domesticated area of the Tswana universe.

Each family’s homestead, Cattlepost and Lands are protected by their domestic ancestors. The overall area is protected by the chief’s ancestors. In these areas the main dangers are believed to emanate from the Metlhala (footprints) left by people suffering from maoto a molelo - those believed to be ritually hot. Beyond the domesticated areas of the Tswana Universe is the bush. This is conceptualised as a wild, undomesticated area. Here live diphologolo (the wild animals), and ditlhare (the wild trees, plants and tubers) grow. This is a neutral area. On the one hand it is the area that provides food when there is a shortage in times of drought or famine, i.e. where the wild food plants are gathered and the wild animals are hunted; but on the other hand these same wild animals and plants can also provide the main constituents of the medicines of the traditional doctors'  healing medicines, or those of boloi (sorcerers). These ingredients are not believed to be innately good or evil but are neutral and only become powerful to cure or harm according to the intentions of their users.

Traditionally this area was believed to be potentially dangerous, here those denied burial were left, for example, Baloi (Sorcerers). Initiation took place here. Therefore ghostly spirits were believed to inhabit this area. Cairn graves could be found for those who had been denied burial in the capital. Hunters and travellers passing these would salute the cairns with the words “Dumela sefikantswe” ("Greetings cairn”) and then throw a few stones. They feared that if they neglected this practice, they would be punished by those spirits with bad luck. An unsuccessful hunter would choose a large shady tree, then mark out the circular area of its shadow. He would then sweep this circle clear of leaves and litter and there invoke his Ancestors to help him be more successful. If he was subsequently successful he would return and leave a portion of the carcase for the Ancestors. In creating such an area, he was demonstrating that in order to contact his domestic Ancestors he should first domesticate the bush in order to approach them.

Beyond the bush was the far distance where lived the Supreme Being, Modimo. - A cosmological continuum from the domesticated area of the settlement controlled by the personalized spiritual beings (Ancestors), through the undomesticated bush controlled by ill-defined and dangerous spirits, to the far distance inhabited by the ill-defined and impersonal Modimo.

It is into this conception of traditional religious philosophy that Tswana medicine may be seen to fit. The primary emphasis of this traditional religion is, like other African religions - to promote potent force or alternatively  "vital force". Such religious beliefs have a this-worldly emphasis - the primary aim of this religion is to provide adequate explanations and ritual techniques to cope with the demands and irregularities of everyday life.

Traditional Tswana Classification of the Tswana Universe