Double blessing or trouble? Here’s how African communities handle twins

Photo: Wiki CC

Xhosa, South Africa

In South Africa’s Xhosa community, twins are considered to have such a deep connection that when one dies, a specific ritual has to be carried out or else the other would follow soon.

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In this ritual, the surviving twin must get into the casket before the sibling is buried. For the Xhosa, this is a way of ensuring the connection between the twins is sustained even in the afterlife.

The Xhosa are not the only South African community to view twins this way. The Zulu consider twins as one person and when one of the twins died, no animal is sacrificed during the funeral. They believe that death is only complete when both twins died. In this sense, the spirit of the sacrificed animal cannot follow the first twin and has to wait until both are dead to complete its journey.