ukubuyisa, noun

Origin:
IsiZuluShow more IsiZulu, literally ‘to call back’; to retrieve.
Among Zulus: a traditional ceremony performed a year after a death, to call back the departed spirit and integrate it into the community of ancestral guardian spirits.
1955 E.A. Ritter Shaka Zulu 57A platoon of warriors guarded the grave.., and day and night this watch was kept for many moons, until the ukubuyisa (bringing back the spirit) ceremony had been performed.
1974 C.T. Binns Warrior People 75A deeply-ingrained custom amongst the Zulus, and one of the strongest pillars of their belief down to the present day, is the ukuBuyisa ceremony, or the Bringing Back of the Spirit of their Ancestor into the kraal of his descendants or, under modern conditions, into the home of his family where henceforward he would reside as its guardian angel.
1981 M. Kunene Anthem of Decades p.xixThe emphasis of the Zulu belief is on the continuity of life. After death, the spirit has to outgrow its period of infancy. At the end of a year, it is integrated into the community of all the guardian spirits (ukubuyisa — The feast of return).
1988 I. Darby in Laband & Haswell Pietermaritzburg 1838–1988 166By means of the ancestors, community was maintained. The ceremony of imbeleko which followed the birth of a child gave it personhood and identity. Likewise after death ukubuyisa ensured that the deceased was accepted by the ancestors.
1990 J. Knappert Aquarian Guide to Afr. Mythology 40The Zulu used to institute a special ceremony called ukubuyisa ‘to bring back’, hoping to induce the spirit of a venerated chief or a helpful and dependable father to take up his residence in his own village again, about a year after his death.
a traditional ceremony performed a year after a death, to call back the departed spirit and integrate it into the community of ancestral guardian spirits.
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