Sites significant to the broader Shona-speaking peoples of Zimbabwe, distinct from the more specific Manyika grouping elsewhere in this subcategory list, generally centred on ancestral and spirit veneration tied to particular hills, caves or landscape features. Sacred sites are grouped by tradition at a fine grain here, so a heading can be narrow without that saying anything about the tradition's own reach.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingSites of the Shona-speaking peoples of Zimbabwe and Mozambique: the dry-stone zimbabwe enclosures of the medieval states, and the shrines of Mwari and of the lineage ancestors, the vadzimu, which are approached through spirit mediums rather than a priesthood. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredShona is a twentieth-century cover term. It groups the Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Korekore and Ndau language communities, which were not a single people under that name before the colonial period and whose religious practice is local rather than uniform. 2 Learn More
Shona Sacred Sites
This small group gathers a sacred site of the Shona people of southern Africa, most notably Great Zimbabwe, the stone city whose enclosures served religious as well as royal functions in the tradition of its builders.
The browser will find the site the atlas classes here. The entry describes what is known of its religious significance within Shona tradition and history.
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Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Sites grouped for the Shona tradition.
Source The Shona Peoples: An Ethnography of the Contemporary Shona, with Special Reference to their ReligionMichael F. C. Bourdillon
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Shona Peoples: An Ethnography of the Contemporary Shona, with Special Reference to their Religion
Michael F. C. Bourdillon, Mambo Press, 1987on Mwari, the vadzimu and the mediumsView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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