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The phenomenology of religion, which is sometimes known as the comparative study of religions, is a qualitative research method originally pioneered by philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) (Werts, 2006). Husserl’s was concerned with discovering meaning and essences in knowledge. Phenomenology describes the structure and experience evident in consciousness (Wertz, 2006). Husserl rejects the view that objects of the external world exist as independent entities and he also reject the notion that information about the objects is reliable. He argues that people can only be certain about how objects appear and present themselves to consciousness.

The word ‘phenomenon’ is derived from the Greek word ‘phaenesthai’, which means to show up, to flare up or to appear. The word is a construct of the word ‘phaino’ meaning to bring to light. Philosophically the word ‘phenomena’ is used to describe the real appearance of things as they are. In this context the phenomena to be described is the Varemba circumcision and initiation ritual itself exactly as it is presented, without adding or subtracting from that which is given or presented. The phenomenological method originated from within the Western circles as a reaction to the perception that human behaviour can be controlled by scientific methods. The

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goal of phenomenology is to return to the concrete and pure object. According to Kensit (2000), the researcher should allow the data to emerge by capturing rich descriptions and their setting;

that is to capture lived experiences through thick descriptions so that one gets close to the phenomena (Kensit, 2000). The premise of phenomenology is that all human beings are in the process of making sense out of the world they are living in. According to Giorgi (1985), phenomenology explores and describes the phenomena as individuals experience it. The idea is that the researcher should experience the phenomena objectively by paying attention to the descriptions made by people close to the phenomena as they explain and envision the world they are living in. The notion is to understand the world in their own terms free from any preconceived ideas of the researcher. Phenomenology achieves this by studying conscious experiences, which range from perception, memory, imagination, thought, emotion, and social activity as they are viewed from the subjective first person point of view. Subjecting conscious experiences to investigation lies at the heart of all phenomenological enquiry (Fischer, 2006).

The key aspect of the phenomenological method is to “describe”, the researcher is urged to describe the phenomenon accurately and faithfully free from preconceived frameworks (Cox, 1996). By using phenomenology, this research is interested in understanding how people interpret their own ritual experiences and grasp meanings they ascribe to these experiences. This method is the most appropriate as it helps in comprehending lived experiences. Phenomenology encourages researchers to prevent value judgments and premature decisions from entering into the research as this might distort the meaning of the phenomenon. This is an attempt to practice what Husserl called phenomenological reduction or ‘epoche’ which means putting all of one’s assumptions and preconceived ideas about the subject into abeyance. Bracketing is a way of encouraging scholars to refrain from evaluating religious traditions (Chitando, 2005). Academic theories about the natural function, purpose and meaning must be suspended (bracketed) (Cox, 1996). Stewart and Mickunas (1990) argue that phenomenology rejects the quantitative methods of science as inadequate to treat the nature of consciousness because it is not perceived as an object like other objects in nature and there are conscious phenomena, which cannot be dealt with in science.

Phenomenology also has empathy as one of the tenets, where the researcher is urged to enter into the experiences of the believers and approach reality from their point of view. Empathy implies

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getting into the shoes of the believer and viewing the world from his vantage point. Primacy in this case is given to the believer’s point of view. The researcher should observe what the believer observes and see what the believer sees. Phenomenology may be regarded as an attitude, which prompts one to see and understand something that is hidden in the phenomenon at his disposal.

4.2.2.1 Rationale of Using Phenomenology of Religion

The rationale for using the phenomenological approach in this study is to determine the meanings of experiences as they have been acquired and described by the people under investigation. Those who have experienced the initiation ritual among the Varemba people have shared their lived experiences and the meanings they construct from it. Human beings attempt to make sense of all their lived experiences. Through the phenomenological approach, the researcher strived to understand the ritual of circumcision in the same manner it has been understood by the participants.

In this research, the Varemba people were given priority to describe and explain their experiences and their view of the world about the ritual of circumcision. Phenomenology helped the researcher to understand the concept of the initiation ritual among the Varemba people in the context of plurality as a unique phenomenon that is irreducible. The researcher was urged not to raise questions of truth or falsity, considering that there is a plethora of these rituals in other religions and societies. The attitude maintained was, as stated by Scheler (1973:137-138) that of letting the phenomenon showing itself as itself.

The phenomenological method is exclusively descriptive in nature which Cox (1996) refers to as, describing relationships and processes. Its credence is the intuitive experiences, which can be analysed in the pure generality of their essence and not as experiences empirically perceived as real facts (Hurrsel, 2000). Phenomenology helps to describe the ritual in terms of their essential concepts and governing formulae of concepts that make them known in intuition.

4.2.2.2 The Strength and Limitations of the Phenomenology of Religion

Applied in the study of the Varemba circumcision and initiation ritual in African traditional religion, the phenomenological method in the study of religion has created significant opportunities that are important in developing an emphatic understanding of the rich complexity

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of religious phenomena. Certain aspects of phenomenology may be utilised profitably in this research; the emphasis on description, with the attendant caveats worthy of emulation. The avoidance of reducing religion is a goal to strive for since all too often when examining other religious phenomena, we are prone to limit our explanations to one field of study or to over- generalise our explanations. The ability to bracket questions of truth for the sake of understanding the phenomena at hand is helpful, as long as there is an ultimate drive beyond bracketing towards the evaluation of the Varemba initiation ritual in the light of HIV and AIDS.

The phenomenology of religion offers invaluable insights into interaction between religion and, HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, worthy of emulation is its comparative component, which helps to find areas of agreements and disagreements arising from cultural beliefs and values of the Karanga people’s religion, HIV and AIDS. Phenomenology does justice to the inner meaning of religion to its adherents (Chitando, 1998).

Although valuable to this research, phenomenology has come under attack from scholars in Western Europe and North America (Chitando, 1998). The reason for these attacks is fundamental principles are flawed because of being a theology in disguise and ecumenical in approach (Wiebe, 1999:4; Fitzgerald, 2000:20). It is alleged to perpetuate the fault it claims to fight in the study of religion, for example, that of reductionism. However, phenomenology has gained ascendancy in the study of African traditional religion because it has proved useful in studying religion in the pluralistic world without questioning its veracity with emphasis on the believers’ experiences (Chitando, 1998). The method is also applauded for eliminating most problems associated with studying religion and the elimination of most forms of injustice from the inner meaning of religion.

Cresswell (1994) points out that phenomenology relies on other methods of data collection such as participant observation, discussion and interviews. The main idea is to obtain the rich experiences under study and the meaning attributed to those experiences as perceived by the respondents. This means that phenomenology is differs from empirical research, which is deductive, and often starts with a hypothesis and from that basis attempts to accept or refute the phenomena being studied. Phenomenology is different in that it is inductive and discovery oriented. According to Groenewald (1994) and Moustakas (1994), the slogan “back to the things

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themselves” summarises the phenomenological enquiry that has as its goal the return to the original and concrete things.

Phenomenology is linked to other disciplines described in socio-scientific methods for example, sociology, psychology, and history. The nature of religion is that it is not one thing, but a network of different things that are viewed differently, by different people. Phenomenology therefore should have interplay with other methods used in this research. In the study of ritual, phenomenology submits to the material from history, from which it derives and classifies its data. All religious data is historical and no phenomenon can be understood outside the context of its history. The phenomenologist needs to know the social, cultural and historical contexts upon which religious phenomena may appear. History attempts to uncover precisely what occurred and how the facts came to be, but does not provide a deeper understanding of what happened or the sense of the religious phenomena, this deeper understanding is derived from phenomenology.

Phenomenology endeavours to make the implicit explicit. When a phenomenologist fails to understand the work before him, his work ceases, but when a historian fails to understand, he can still continue cataloguing and recording for the sake of others. Phenomenology therefore relies on the work of other disciplines, though it should be careful to intercept such work from infiltrating and influencing the study. Through sociology, phenomenology understands the interaction of people in groups and discerns how these groups influence human behaviour and other social institutions. When phenomenology describes processes and relationships as summarised by Cox (1996), it will be like sociology studying and describing different groups in society, how they function and change. The group formations evident in the Varemba initiation ritual provides groundwork for both phenomenology and sociology. Sociology provides the phenomenologist with a living context of his data and thereby prevents him from abstract interpretations of the phenomena. Phenomenology works with other methods as co-workers since all of them are an attempt towards obtaining the essence of the phenomena of the Varemba ritual of circumcision and initiation.

If phenomenology is used as intended, it may prove to be a useful tool in understanding the bewildering variety of religious experiences endemic in the Varemba initiation ritual and will promote insight into the thinking of the religious believer and his experiences. Phenomenology, according to Chitando (2005), could be useful in recovering lost African identity and culture that

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was often denigrated and ignored by western scholars. Phenomenology requires that African religions be respected and not viewed as barbaric and superstitious, but as a worthy and enduring heritage that could be useful even in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

4.3 Population

All the respondents interviewed were drawn from the Mwenezi District in Masvingo Province under the following chiefs: Chief Neshuro, who controls the area from Neshuro Township to Chizumba through Rutenga; Chief Chitanga controls the area in-between the catchment of Lundi River and Bubi through Mufula; Chief Negari’s area stretches from Matande to Matibi Mission;

Chief Maranda’s area stretches from Dine to Nikita Mangena Secondary School and Chief Mazetese controls the area from Mazetese to Sovhelele. The district largely comprises the Karanga and components of Shangani speaking people who migrated from the South Eastern provinces of Zimbabwe, Tsonga in Mozambique, around the 1930’s. Most people residing in Mwenezi district are Varemba who migrated from areas like Great Zimbabwe, Chivi and Mberengwa in the late 1960’s.

Whilst this research focuses primarily on the Varemba circumcision and initiation ritual, it is important to note that Shangani people will sometimes join the Varemba during the initiation ceremonies, since they perform rituals that are similar. This explains why some terms used in this research in explaining the Varemba ritual are also common among the Shangani people.

The age range of the respondents selected for this study is between seven and eighty two years.

The age range caters for the seven to fifteen year age groups upon which circumcision takes place among the Varemba people. The age range also considers the fifteen to twenty-nine year- old people who have a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. All other age groups that fall in this range were necessary in order to harness valuable and rich information from the people who had undergone the circumcision and initiation ritual; this includes the ritual leaders, chiefs, headmen and village heads.