MULLINGS
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n Friday evening, a group of Africans were telling stories to each other. The topic shifted to the relevance of words in one’s life. They discussed the power of words and the influence of words. That naturally led to a story telling. A young student from Congo had a remarkable tale: “In our village, when people want to use a forest area for cultivation, they don’t waste time cutting down the trees. On the other hand, they collect a big number of people, and all of them assemble at the forest on an appointed day. The group is a really big group, mind you. At a given signal from the leader, they start to collectively curse the forest. People bring up all kinds of curses from their cultural memory. After they have cursed the forest continuously in the morning, the crowd disperses and goes back home. In a matter of weeks, sometimes even days, the trees rot and fall to the ground. There is no natural explanation for the sudden decay of the trees. The farmers’ explanation is that that the trees have succumbed to the collective cursing and died. The farmers then clear the dead trees and they use that land for cultivation.”
This is apparently a true story. It is said to be one of the cultivation practices of that particular agricultural society in Africa. The story teller tied his tale to the biblical story where Jesus cursed the fig tree and the next morning it was found dead and rotten all the way down to the roots.The opposite of this phenomenon is the claim that flowers and plants thrive when their owners speak to them. Obviously this applies to good and loving words spoken over the plants, not curses. Science says carbon dioxide is released when people speak to their plants thus contributing to their welfare. I am sure science will also come up with a theory as to why curses affect plants adversely.
Words are not just words. They have the power to destroy and the power to create. Oral societies know this very well, and in our own society, elders would always say, “Udie menuo se liecie. Die urhü wayaho.” This concept of ‘urhü’ is culturally untranslatable. The closest meaning is probably being ‘hoisted by one’s own petard.’ To be hoisted by one’s own petard is to fall into one’s own trap. The phrase has been popularised by the Shakespearean play, “Hamlet” where Claudius, the evil king, kills the queen by mistake with poisoned wine meant for Hamlet.
To return to the topic at hand, the oral narrators that I interviewed were very preoccupied with the power inherent in the spoken word. They believed that a curse had great power to manifest itself. According to their practices, cultural adherence was all about living life in a moderate way. Anything in excess was not just frowned upon, it even warranted a taboo so that people would not bring anything upon themselves via their words or extreme actions.
That part of it is very good. It works to protect the adherents of culture. But there is another extreme in that participants of the culture are so reluctant to invite disaster by saying anything in excess. They withhold praise from their children and even if their children have excelled in some areas, they have a tendency to speak disparagingly of their children. It is a very unhealthy practice and what’s more, it is unscriptural. Children will thrive from honest praise just as plants thrive from good words spoken over them. If we subscribe to the view that words are powerful, we should watch how we speak.
I have heard many stories of people who could not live out the full span of their lives because of the self-defeating words they spoke upon their own lives. In keeping with this theory, here is a very relevant statement used by a motivational speaker: Your destiny is in your mouth. What you say can truly be what you get.
If words can change destiny, should we not exert caution over what we say? Our ancestors, like other indigenous cultures, had implicit faith in the power of the blessing and the power of the curse. If your words can destroy someone or something, they can do the opposite too. They can create and nurture and bring into existence that which does not yet exist.
I cannot think of a more beautiful thing for a community to do than to gather in groups and bless their villages and townships. I am sure that many good things would result from that common exercise. Speak peace and brotherhood over the town or village you live in.
Bless our cities with unity and tribal friendship and understanding. Let’s see what happens after a year of recreating our destinies with our words.
