Ciiɗ (Serer religion)

Ciiɗ (variations: Ciiƭ, Ciid, or Cyid) is the Serer process of a spirit's (o laaw) incarnation or reincarnation found within the tenets of Serer religion (A fat Roog). In the Serer language, "Ciiɗ", in its literal definition is the reincarnated or the dead who seek to reincarnate or the pre-foetal spirit. This Ciiɗ has the capability to reincarnate and become a man. In A fat Roog (Serer religion/spirituality), only those human Pangool (ancestral spirits) who have reached Jaaniiw (the place where good souls go) are able to reincarnate. Upon the death of an individual, the acceptance of their souls by the ancestors ensures their souls can be guided into Jaaniiw and thereby able to reincarnate and get closer to Roog, the Supreme Deity and Creator in A fat Roog. If their soul is rejected by the ancestors, they become lost and wondering souls, and therefore unable to complete the process of reincarnation.

The notion of the incarnation or manifestation of the Serer Supreme Deity and Creator (Roog) is rejected in Serer religion. However, the reincarnation of the Pangool/soul is a well-held principle in Serer beliefs. The Pangool (singular. Fangool) are themselves holy, and have the ability to intercede between the world of the living and the Divine. In Serer religious doctrines, the respect for children, the veneration of the ancestors, the belief in resurrection and reincarnation and its corollary, an omnipresent morality of Good such as gentleness, fairness, courage, solidarity, honesty, etc., are highly held principles.

The Serer do not subscribe to the belief of the total destruction of the human being upon their death. Instead, the soul must be reincarnated – as for the Serer, "to be born is to die, just as to die is to be born differently" – depending on whether you have lived a good and righteous life on earth in your lifetime. Thus, the soul must return to its natural and purest form or essence for Ciiɗ to take effect and runs its full course, and that depends on one’s conduct and way of life during their lifetime, including whether they have acted in accordance with the Serer "Jom" philosophy–which is a code of etiquette and values encompassing religious, social, economic, political, and ecological conduct, cohesion and unity amongst the Serer people. In essence, this calls for a total unity and kinship amongst the Serer people which manifested in religious and cultural life. This unity can be felt in everyday Serer life such as in Serer dances, music (e.g., the Njuup), Ndut rite of passage, etc. Professor Issa Laye Thiaw writes that:

"[…] There is therefore no confusion between the ciid, pre-foetal breath, and sperm. According to tradition, the ciid gives the child the physical and moral characteristics of his parents, that is to say his personality. As for the ngoodaay or ndac sperm, it gives it only bones and flesh. These beliefs lead us to observe that traditional Seereer society was neither fanatic nor dogmatic. Its philosophy was based on causalism."

Professor Molefi Kete Asante posits that, as with many other Traditional African religions, death constitutes "another mode of existence, rather than an end of life" and life can be viewed as being "born out of death and that death is the prolongation of life."