learnteach: (Default)
learnteach ([personal profile] learnteach) wrote2006-06-04 10:15 pm

Sasha and Zamani

Is this a made up thing? It's a useful concept.


According to societies in Eastern and Central Africa, the deceased are divided into two categories: Sasha and Zamani: "The recently departed whose time overlapped with people still here are the Sasha, the living dead. They are not wholly dead, for they live on in the memories of the living…when the last person knowing an ancestor dies, that ancestor leaves the Sahsa for the Zamani, the dead. As generalized ancestors, the Zamani are not forgotten but revered."

[identity profile] noressa.livejournal.com 2006-06-06 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm, trying to search on Kiswahili and either Sasha or Zamani bring up a bunch of swahili web pages. >.< One book is coming up, though- Lies My Teacher Told Me that might have more info, but I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for at this point...

[identity profile] noressa.livejournal.com 2006-06-06 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Did find this site, though, seperately, which was interesting. :)
http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/kultt/vk/alembi/theconst.pdf