In his book African Religions and Philosophy, Kenyan-born philosopher John Samuel Mbiti describes the East and Central African concepts of sasha, those ancestors who remain alive in human memory, and zamani, the vast ocean of time into which everything is eventually absorbed. In this sense, we are all moving toward the past. Author David Eagleman suggests another way of thinking about the passage of time. He identifies three deaths: When the body ceases to function, when it is buried, and that moment in the future when one’s name is spoken for the last time. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Sasha and Zamani, and Three Deaths”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, good morning.
This is Dennis Corcoran calling from New Smyrna Beach in Florida.
Hi, Dennis.
Welcome to the show.
Hi, Dennis.
I’m calling for the question about a word I can’t remember. It signifies the interval between the end of something like somebody’s life or an event and the death of the last person who has a meaningful memory of that something. What is that word?
Let’s recap that. So it’s a word for an event that happens, the interval between an event that happens and when the last person dies who remembers it. Is that right?
Yes, that’s correct.
And you saw this or heard this someplace?
I read it in a magazine article that I can’t remember and can’t find.
Okay.
Did you read it a long time ago or recently?
Last summer.
You know, the only thing that I can think of that’s even vaguely related to this is an East and Central African concept known as Sasha and Zamani. Would it have to do with that, I wonder?
No. The word I remember sounded vaguely Latin.
Vaguely Latin. Okay.
It’s not like a memento mori, right, reminding of you that death is coming for us all. It’s nothing like that, is it?
Yes. Yes, it’s in that vein.
Okay.
Oh, I don’t know what that would be. The only thing that I can think of that’s even vaguely related to that is this African concept of Sasha, which is the spirits or ancestors that are kept alive in the thoughts and hearts of people who remember them. And then Zamani, which is where our ancestors recede when they’re no longer remembered by the living.
So, for example, if the last person who can recall an ancestor passes away, then that ancestor also passes into the realm of Zamani. It’s something that the philosopher John Samuel Mbiti called the ocean of time into which everything is absorbed. And it’s this different kind of perception of time where the past is actually something that we’re approaching rather than moving away from.
It’s a really beautiful concept, but, of course, it’s not Latinate like you’re suggesting.
No, but what you describe is exactly what I had in mind.
Oh, well, there you go.
The other thing that might relate to this, although, again, it’s not a Latin word, and I’ve seen this expressed in a lot of different ways by a lot of different thinkers and writers and so forth. But there’s a guy named David Eagleman. He talked about three deaths. The first about the body dying, the second is when we’re buried, and the third is when we’re forgotten.
So I could see calling what you’re talking about the third death, when that last person goes who remembers a thing or an event, a person, a place.
Yeah, that works.
Very interesting.
I wish I could come up with that word for you, but I can’t. But I like Martha’s description of the African tradition.
Yeah, you want to spell those for us, Martha?
Yeah, Sasha is spelled S-A-S-H-A, and Zamani is Z-A-M-A-N-I. And there’s a lot more about this in John Samuel Mbiti’s book. He was Kenyan-born, and he wrote a book in 1969 called African Religions and Philosophy. And I think it’s such a gorgeous concept to think about time that way.
It’s not linear the way the Western thought puts it typically, right?
Right, right.
That as you age, you are advancing towards the past.
Yes, toward the great vault where collective human history exists.
And his last name is M-B-I-T-I, right?
So I hope that helps, Dennis.
It certainly does.
And we’ll look around for a Latin term for it, too. Maybe there’s some Latin about the third death or something. And we have a lot of well-read readers. If they read the same thing you did, we’re sure to get emails about it.
All right?
Okay.
Thank you so much. This has been very interesting.
Thank you.
Take care now.
Take care, Dennis.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Well, maybe you know the word for the interval of time between the date of an event and the death of the last person who remembered it. Give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send it to us in email. That address is words@waywordradio.org, or hit us up on Twitter. Our handle is Wayword.
