Zanele Mavuso

Zanele Mavuso came to New Zealand from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) on the African continent nearly 18 years ago.

The country has its own King who rules with the chiefs. She states: “In my Eswatini culture we don’t do anything to celebrate the moon, but some people do ceremonies depending on the moon, whether it’s full or not. One of the most important traditional ceremonies is one where the King and his men get involved in and they call it a prayer for the nation. It is a very serious solemn activity, and young children don’t normally participate.”

Christian churches had a great influence in Eswatini and before independence were responsible for much of the education and health services, particularly in rural areas. Today, many of the traditional beliefs and practices of the rest of the population are combined with a religious approach to life. Zanele loves studying and enriching her knowledge. She grew up reading the Bible, so decided to base her approach to how different cultures regard the moon on “Wisdom literature based on Hebraic Writings” so the information is from the Holy Bible.

There are many references to the moon in the Bible and Zanele highlighted mention of the moon from the creation story to St Paul’s admonition about how Christians should behave. The moon was made as one of the lights on the fourth day of creation. The purpose of the moon was: To serve as signs to mark days, seasons and years. It was to rule over the night and shine- Genesis 1:14-18. It was established to be a sign of permanence, Psalms 72:5

Zanele mentions “The Hebrew word for month (hodesh) literally means new moon.

New Moon Festivals marked the dedication of each new month in the year to God with burnt offering of animals without defect (called sacrifices) and trumpets blown. The people would have family feasts and they would suspend labour and trade. The Bible also admonishes believers to not just focus on the temporal but on the spiritual as well, “Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or regarding a religious festival, a New Moon Celebration or a Sabbath day These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. – Colossians 2:16-17

Even in countries as diverse as Eswatini, China, Vietnam and New Zealand, the Moon holds an important place in our lives.