The Zulus are scared of lightning. If an animal or tree is unlucky to strike by lightning, it is considered the wishes of the spirits. This natural phenomenon is feared by the Zulu, it might be because of the spectacular storms that occur in the summer months in Zululand.
Any person, animal, or tree that is struck is considered to have been so because of the wishes of the spirits. Zulu people are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa.
The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa with an estimated 10–12 million people living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They originated from Nguni communities who took part in the Bantu migrations.
As the clans integrated together, the rulership of Shaka brought success to the Zulu nation due to his perfected military policies. The Zulu people take pride in their ceremonies such as the Umhlanga, or Reed Dance, and their various forms of beadwork.
The art and skill of beadwork take part in the identification of Zulu people and acts as a form of communication. The men and women both serve different purposes in society in order to function as a whole. Today the Zulu people predominantly believe in Christianity but have created a syncretic religion that is combined with Zulu’s prior belief systems.
Most Zulu people state their beliefs to be Christian. Some of the most common churches to which they belong are African Initiated Churches, especially the Zion Christian Church, Nazareth Baptist Church, and United African Apostolic Church, although membership of major European Churches, such as the Dutch Reformed, Anglican, and Catholic Churches are also common.
Nevertheless, many Zulus retain their traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in parallel with their Christianity. Traditional Zulu religion includes belief in a creator God (uNkulunkulu) who is above interacting in day-to-day human life.
Although this belief appears to have originated from efforts by early Christian missionaries to frame the idea of the Christian God in Zulu terms. Traditionally, the more strongly held Zulu belief was in ancestor spirits (amaThongo or amaDlozi), who had the power to intervene in people’s lives, for good or ill.
Any person killed by lightning will neither be mourned nor buried with a ceremony, cattle will not be eaten but buried and trees that have been felled by lightning will not be used for any purpose.
A Zulu man will go out to the cattle kraal before an impending storm, beat his shield, burn herbs and implore the spirits to protect the kraal. It is widely thought that lightning can be directed by the spirits.
