Garifuna theology of the afterlife has its own structure that explains matters within a framework dictated by our culture. When we die, our life force (Uwani) merges back into the Universe and returns to its source, which is God. Our physical body merges back with the Earth and returns to its source, which is dust. Setting the double spirit (Áfurugu) free to travel to Seiri; that imaginary line where the sea meets the sky in the distance, and where the souls of our ancestors end up, after they have been washed purified in prayerful ceremony. Setting the Afurugu free is the ultimate goal of every ancestral ceremonial offering.
Most people neither sense nor are affected by the energy produced by the ancestral spirits. They cannot perceive the whisperings of the ancestors asking for help, or offering to help us. But with Garifuna people, such is not the case, for we can hear the whispers and understand the dreams. This is why we protect our spiritual traditions, keep re-building Dabuyaba, and will not stop offering Mali, Dugu, Chugu, and Adugahani.
Our Ancestors are the spirits of those who produced and introduced the genetic material for us to be here.
