The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume and wizards who, though still alive, are believed to be able to leave their bodies and inhabit lower animals in order to harm other persons.13 These are wicked and malevolent beings and are never credited with any good Perhaps the most dearly loved spiritual beings in TAR are the ancestors…who are effectively members of the family and clan; now living in a state that permits them to enjoy some special relationship with God, the divinities and the good spirits They are also believed to have some power over the evil spirits and are therefore able to protect the living members of their respective families from harm To qualify to be an ancestor, it is not enough just to be dead An ancestor is one who died after having lived a life judged to be fully realized and morally upright, an integral life The ancestors are so dear to the heart of Africans and so central in their traditional religious practices, that some outsiders have mistakenly described TAR simply as “ancestorworship.”14 Christ Not applicable (except possibly in comparison to the Ndebele and Shona ethnic groups of Zimbabwe See God or Gods) Basic Doctrine Indigenous religions of Africa not fall within the category of religions generally referred to as “universal or missionary religions.” They are, rather, classed within the family of traditional or of the world They have no founders, reformers, or prophets and are handed on much in the same form from one generation to the next People simply assimilate whatever religious ideas and practices are held or observed by their families and communities for generations The religious traditions differ one from another largely on account of differences in language, ecosystem and overall historical circumstances of the groups But they possess a lot of similar essential characteristics The vision of reality as a whole which they engender is very similar indeed…Traditional Africans perceive life as an integral whole with the sacred flowing into all facets, underpinning and investing every worthwhile event with meaning and significance…