The move from the cave, a ready made habitat, to a house, built artistically was a step in the direction towards civilization. The early African saw himself as being part of the universe and when he decided to build himself a house, he built it according to his concept of the universe. Those who think that the universe is round, build round houses and those who think it is rectangular, build rectangular houses; it is the same with those who think that the universe is oval in shape. Therefore, in the African setting, the house is the universe in miniature. At the same time, a house is the concretized form of the family; this may explain the fact that in many languages, the words ‘house ‘and ‘family’ are often interchangeable, i.e., my house can mean my family.
If you find homesteads with houses of different shapes, it means that two or more different ethnic groups merged into one. For Africans who build their houses using trees or poles, almost each pole has a meaning. The pillar at the center of the house is planted in the ground which is the domain of the ancestors. It taps blessings or even vital force from the ancestors and brings them in the house. It also represents their authority in the house and family.
Should a wife being beaten by the husband run and hold the pillar, the beating stops. Likewise, whoever enters the house is told to sit down, only the pillar should be upright, a symbol of authority. Children are taught not to play in the house; they should respect the invisible presence of the ancestors. When the husband goes to war, the wife or wives can offer sacrifices at the pillar for his safety. The pillar is therefore an altar. The pillar points upwards, all the sticks of the roof are centered at the pillar which seems to pierce the sky, bringing heavenly greetings into the house. In Luganda, fixing the roof of the house is rendered ‘kulasa kasolya’ literally meaning, ‘to shoot the roof ’. In fact, it is the whole roof which, thanks to the pillar, shoots the sky so that the blessings and the vital force from God may flood the house and family. There are Africans who use as many sticks as possible to make the wall of the house.
This is the wish to have as many children as possible. The house is a sacred entity and all the respect shown inside it is due to this fact. This sacredness is connected to the sacredness of life itself: normally, human beings are conceived, born and die in houses. Even the grave is considered to be an extension of the house; quite often, it is referred to as ‘the house of rest’. The house is a sign of identity. For those who travel for long distances, the clearest sign that they have crossed from one tribal land to another, is that the way of building houses has changed.
The house is a mother. It is the womb in which people spend the night only to be born anew the following day. This is why the day begins with an ablution; the morning bath or at least the washing of the face. This mother- character is shown in the care people take not to open the house unnecessarily. The mother should be clothed. For houses that have two doors, one at the front and the other at the back, it is a taboo to open both doors at once and no animal or bird should enter by one door and come out through the other; it is a bad omen. The same mother-character comes up during funerals. The body must be put inside the house. The journey to the graveyard begins from the house which is a womb from which the dead person is born for the other world and once it is taken out, it cannot be taken back even if it rains. It is rare to see Africans taking their dead from the mortuary right to the graveyard; the dead person should spend at least one day in the house. In Buganda, the prince who is to be crowned king must spend a night in a hut called Buganda, before the coronation.
He enters that house as a prince only to be born as a king, the following day. Unlike Europeans who spend long hours indoors especially during winter, Africans stay outdoors for most of the time. The house is mainly for sleeping, eating and some specifically, religious activities. These are activities which reinforce life; work and leisure usually take place outside the house. This may be the reason why very few Africans decorate the inside of their houses. The fact that the tribal way of building houses is slowly giving way to modern architecture indicates a change in culture. However, those who still build houses for sprits, divinities or ancestors will always go back to the traditional hut. It would be interesting to see if some elements of this reflection can influence the way we look at the House of God.
