Symbols and Rituals of Marriage: A Plea for Inculturation

Abstract

Celebrating life goes hand in hand with symbols and rituals that give meaning to the celebrants and the community. Marriage being a strongly cultural institution cannot skip from these symbolic ritual requirements that give life to Africans. This reflection focuses on symbols and rituals of traditional African marriage that have been hijacked by the Christian celebration. It deals with inculturation, pleading for the recognition of African symbols and rituals in the Christian celebration that has been for long disallowed by the Church. It shows the important roles the customary symbols and rituals play in an African marriage and how the different stages of marriage resolve ahead some Church deficit that married people undergo such as the step of knowledge of the two spouses and divorce