African religious traditions and ritual practices have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries; thus, practitioners experience history in every religious ritual that is performed. These religions have evolved and spread slowly for millennia; stories about gods, spirits, and ancestors have passed from one generation to another in oral mythology. Traditional African religions are based on the universal animi. Even Christian and Islam practices carry similarities and long-rooted traditions unique to African tribal religions. Today, the continent's various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent several traditional African religions. The influence of Islam and Christianity is also discussed. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here. The large numbers of Africans living in North, Central, and South America introduced enduring forms of African religious culture through music, dance, festivals, and martial arts. Eating habits and diet differ vastly among regions of Africa. Nevertheless, traditional beliefs and practices continue to play significant roles in society. To the observer of religious practices, rituals are more visible than mythic narratives, but rituals often relate to myths by conveying and reinforcing the meanings and values that communities hold sacred. The volume consists of collected papers from Taubes Minerva Center for Religious Anthropology conferences examining (1) the role of sacrifice in religious experience from a comparative perspective and (2) alternatives to sacrifice. Beliefs and practices of ancestor worship vary according to the local culture and religious traditions. There is a continuing belief about the sacredness of lizards and chameleons in Zulu culture. These are rituals performed to cement the bond of unity among a community or to celebrate the achievements of individual members of the group. Although the Supreme God is a creator god, the work of creating the universe, especially when such acts entail physical labor, is often delegated to subordinates who act according to the Supreme God's instructions. Common animal motifs are the chameleon, centipede, butterfly, lizard, snake, tortoise, and fish. Specific deities are ordained by the Supreme God as custodians of rectitude. In Christian or Islamic communities, religious beliefs are also sometimes characterized with syncretism with the beliefs and practices of traditional religions. Various African cultures have developed intricate sets of ethical customs, rules, and taboos. Course: Essentials of African Traditional Relgions, Lecture: Introduction to African Traditional Religion. Stephen W. Angell A number of the traditions talk about judgment, through which evil deeds are punished and good deeds are rewarded. That is, a belief in a single god in which there exist other powers which get diffused out in to subordinates who serve that one god. Various herbs and plants contain special powers that are useful for religious purposes. Generally speaking, early observers of African religious practices all too quickly took appearance for reality, and symbol for the symbolized, and means for the end. This is because Africans assume that respecting elders is a way of acknowledging the wealth of their experiences, their contributions to community growth, and that they are close to the world of the ancestors. Often Moral Imagination in Kaguru Modes of Thought. The gospel of Christianity is underpinned by the doctrine that espouses that Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, conceived immaculately by the Virgin Mary, was sent to Earth by God to save humanity from sin. Beginning in the late twentieth century hundreds of African Americans embraced Yoruba traditions by founding the Kingdom of Oyotunji African Village near the city of Sheldon, South Carolina. "I highly recommend Voodoo and African Traditional Religion to anyone who wishes to learn the sacred stories and practices associated with the religions of our Ancestors."-Denise Alvarado, author of The Magic of Marie Laveau and Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans "Lilith Dorsey incorporates history, instruction, and practical guidance for anyone . Numerous scholars in diverse fields of interest carry out studies of African religions. Every religion of course has important rites of passage. Nehanda, considered an incarnation of an oracle spirit, was eventually hanged by colonial authorities in 1898. From the 1500s to the 1900s the transatlantic slave trade took African religions to the Americas and the Caribbean. But we also want to balance that out as E. Bolaji Idowu has said, “There is a common African-ness about the total culture and religious beliefs and practices of Africa.” So from that point of view, it can be spoken of in the singular. In our society, we want to portray the idea that even important people, even powerful people are very approachable. ." This popular introduction has been revised and updated to include a section on African proverbs, new photographs, and a fully expanded reading list. But certainly there’s no single codified system of beliefs and practices. Thirdly and finally (and these are just some general observations about the different cosmologies), Africans believe that the world was created in a spiritual harmony or equilibrium between all the forms of creation and the sources of power. Moyo, A. If offended, however, she can exhibit extremely violent reactions. Berber, Karin. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. For instance, Yoruba devotees of an orisa (deity) wear red and white marks on their foreheads. It is described as the product of thinking and experience of African forefathers and mothers of former generations. Traditional African religions. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. Individuals who have died, usually ancestors in particular lineages, are the human spirits. A priest can be a diviner, a king can be a seer, and a prophet can be a priest and a diviner. Any crime is considered to defile the land and thus to offend Alà; violations include incest, adultery, larceny, birthing abnormal children, hostility, kidnaping, and murder. African Traditional Religion has grown out of the African soil. Many offer sacrifices or make verbal demands on the behalf of believers. They observe certain taboos, such as abstinence from sex, or they make pilgrimages to sacred forests, rivers, and mountains in honor of the deities. Because the spirits inhabit the natural world, no practical distinction exists between the natural and the supernatural world. In some cultures the pair's kinship bond may signify the unity of divine energy. Other festivals celebrate victory at war, the coronation of kings or chiefs, and changes in leadership. For example, pregnant women often wear charms around their necks, believing it’s power will ensure a safe delivery of their baby. This occurred especially in Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and other locations where African populations were extensive. Theoretical Explorations in African Religion. ——. First of all, unlike Christian cosmological thinking, African systems do not recognize a fundamental distinction or clear demarcation between the visible world and the invisible world. Nigosian (1994: 4) defined religion in general as "an invention or creation of the human mind for regulating all human activity, and this creative activity is a human necessity that satisfies the spiritual desires and needs inherent in human nature". Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Found insideThis book presents a unique multidisciplinary exploration of African traditions in the study of religion in Africa and the new African diaspora. Then there are priests and holy persons, who are intermediaries between the seen (the living) and the unseen worlds. The emphasis on Christian studies that had long dominated the religious studies field was replaced by an emphasis Islamic studies and African traditional religions. Now let me explain what a cosmology is, as opposed to traditional examination of a world religion. Ancestors maintain a strong moral authority over the living; the elders speak for the ancestors when they intervene in and resolve conflicts. These three scholars established the idea of the centrality of a Supreme God surrounded by myriad lesser gods. . To learn about divine will and directives, an Ifa diviner (babalawo) uses 16 specially selected palm nuts or a divining chain (opele) made of 8 half palm nuts tied into a chain. Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa. Quotes []. . And so in many African societies your genetic descent is very important, and your clan’s relationship to other members of the clan is very important. New York: Crossroad, 2000. Found insideThis comprehensive reference volume covers every country in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering reliable demographic information and original interpretative essays by indigenous scholars and practitioners. However this has a lot of problems. Introduction to African Religion. Much social ritual takes place at shrines, temples, and altars. They were people that were caricatured as involved in superstition and animism and ancestor worship and so forth, and so there was a sense that it was not really worthy of study such as the higher religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. Mawu-Lisa once gathered their children together to distribute what they owned among them. The traditional African religions (or traditional beliefs and practices of African people) are a set of highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions. These objects emphasize that the body, conceived in the earth, returns to the earth. Devotees attach great importance to animals because, at any moment, an animal may be preparing to deliver a message to humans from anywhere in the spirit world. So at this time we’re going to examine a particular example of this in the Yoruba religious cosmology in African religion. Its various indigenous spiritual systems, usually called African traditional religions, are many. In addition to having medicinal uses, the herbs carry symbolic properties and qualities that make them appropriate for religious uses. The spirit takes hold of the diviner and speaks in spirit voices, which are interpreted by the diviner's assistants. FOUNDED: 200,000–100,000 b.c.e.RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 1.3 percent. Idowu, with J.O. For the African, the universe is filled with various levels and sources of power and energy. Some religious rituals involve the devotees offering the gods and ancestors sacrificial animals, libations of water or alcohol, or small amounts of favored food. Seasonal festivals commemorate annual events such as field preparation, planting, harvesting, hunting and fishing periods, and the New Year. Scarification or tattoo is a permanent mode of cultural adornment signifying identification with beliefs; motifs are often based on abstract designs, leaf forms, and totemic flora and fauna. Ancestor veneration is more than a simple 'ritualization of filial piety'. African Traditional Religion Baha'i Faith Buddhism Catholicism & Orthodox Christianity Confucianism Daoism Hinduism Islam Judaism Native American Religions Protestantism Shinto Sikhism Zoroastrianism by Aloysius M. Lugira Series Editors: Joanne O'Brien and Martin Palmer Over the years African traditional religions have increased and diminished in regional importance according to social and political changes. African traditional religions Part 2 - The nature of God. Proper burial entails a performance of elaborate funeral ceremonies by all members of the deceased's descendants. After the recitation the client tells the diviner if any of the verses is relevant to the crisis. Penny S. Bernard. As generation after generation of Africans come under the influence of foreign religions or embrace the foreign religions, one or two things happen: they either cut away completely from the old… Now I want to stop right there and say that in the early missionary encounters with Africa, many of the missionaries did not believe that the Africans worshipped a supreme being, and so they came back and said they were polytheistic, that is, they believe in many gods rather than monotheistic belief in one god. The Yoruba hold that children born soon after the death of grandparents or parents are reincarnated (if they are of the same sex as the deceased). We even talk about the incarnation, where God transcends this wall of separation in the seen world and the unseen world, and he steps into our human history. Traditional African religions are . By the 1700s Islam had diversified and grown popular. Now I just mention in passing that this has been beautifully written about by Paul Hiebert, who wrote in his article, and later placed in his book on anthropological reflections on missionary issues *[sic. In principle, an individual's spirit can reside on Earth in another body three times, after which the cycle is complete; that individual may appear a fourth time as a fierce totemic animal, perhaps a leopard. The religion of the Lupupan people of Congo (Kinshasa) illustrates how this belief is sustained in most African communities. The third level in African Traditional Religion is the earthly tier, which is the functionaries who are responsible for maintaining the harmony, balance, and order in the African traditional system. From greatest to least significance, African traditional religions begin the hierarchy with a being or god who remains supreme. And this allows us to look at it as a structure, and then the particulars can be filled in based on where you are and what you’re looking at. By the 1900s Christianity was firmly entrenched in most of Africa. At this time two main schools of thought prevailed. African Religions, AFRICAN RELIGIONS ••• This entry presents a brief, general picture of Africa's traditional religious heritage, focusing on the major beliefs because… Pan-africanism , Pan-Africanism is an internationalist philosophy that is based on the idea that Africans and people of African descent share a common bond. Somé, Malidoma P. The Healing Wisdom of Africa. Even Christians, if someone is sick, we go to the doctor; we don’t think about casting demons out of people. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982. These deities consume no other foods, except perhaps kola nuts, a standard ritual ingredient in many African cultures. Such myths of conflict often provide humanity with unwritten guidelines for establishing institutions of morality, ethics, and behavior. The Winye of Burkina Faso center their creation myth on female and male twins, whom the Supreme God sent as primordial parents to establish human life in the created world. Today, Set Free’s indigenous team of pastor partners and drill crews experience many traditional religious beliefs and practices in the villages they visit. AFRICAN RELIGIONS Since its first publication, this book has become acknowledged as the standard work in the field of study, and it is essential reading for anyone concerned with African religion, history, philosophy, anthropology or general African studies. African religions had established a tradition of incorporating elements of theology and ritual from cultures other than that of the devotee. Sacrificial rituals and festivals in which food is shared reinforce the communal bond between the participants, the ancestors, God, and the lesser deities. And so there’s a little more flexibility regarding the role of beliefs and how that functions with the larger structure of African religion. In some cases kings, queens, and other nobility are buried in temples. In the African context, this is not the case. With autonomy came a revitalized study of religions, which recognized the religious pluralism of independent countries. Naming West African Religion. It was overtaken in the region by Islam in the seventh century—frequently by military incursion, commercial trading, and the nonviolent missionary efforts of merchants. And then that shades down once again into various functionaries – mediators, priests, and so forth, herbalists, that mediate this power. In most African communities a deceased person must be properly buried to become an ancestor. African religions rely on no single individual as a religious leader but instead depend upon an entire community to do religious work. African arts and religious meaning overlap in visual symbols, music, dance, proverbs, riddles, names of people and places, myths, legends, beliefs, and customs. In Nigeria they call the supreme being Olodumare, and Olodumare represents the supreme being at the highest tier. East Africa comprises the modern states of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Nevertheless, throughout the twentieth century her spirit, speaking through other spirit mediums, continued to work closely with the freedom fighters in the struggle for independence. In Ifa divination a client consults a diviner (babalawo), who throws a divining chain (opele) made of nuts on a mat and then recites the message of the Ifa deity who appears. The purpose of this is to help to orient a person who would like to work in the context of Africa. "How Man Makes God in West Africa: Yoruba Attitudes toward the Orisa." African Traditional Religion. African religions rely on the memory of oral stories. Representing iron and metal, the most powerful pair maintained jurisdiction over the manufacture of iron implements such as knives, hoes, arrows, and, beginning in the twentieth century, guns and automobiles. So that’s the first big difference between the African world-view and world-views that we are familiar with. Western religious cultures regard many aspects of African religions—such as witchcraft, ritual killing of animals, The wheel contains everything found on Earth. This is because, for them, Christianity lacks the breadth to signify all their religious feelings, values, and beliefs. About 10 per cent of the African population is still practicing some form of traditional religion today. The fact that myths have endured for generations gives them their authority. Spirits may be divided into human spirits and nature spirits. He was trying to find a way to capture the one and the many in the African context. A fundamental difference between Christianity and Traditional African Religions with respect to Blood sacrifice is that. In many instances the Kaguru ancestors are approached communally. The early African scholarship of J.B. Danquah (1895–1965) from Ghana and J. Olumide Lucas (from Nigeria) in the first part of the twentieth century produced interesting studies of African indigenous religion. Offerings may be done for purification, for protection from adverse forces, and for divination. The second fundamental difference between the African and the western world-views is that fundamental to the African world-view is the belief in the hierarchy of power and being. Nakedness is common in traditional African cultures. Several other African cosmologies are also characterized by an emphasis on primordial disorder, conflict, or chaos. There are certain things which you should not do that are considered to be taboo – that would create chaos in the society. They always involve larger groups of people or entire communities. The pantheon of deities is often given a collective name; for the Yoruba of Nigeria it is orisa, and for the Baganda of Uganda it is balubaale. This is another real difference between African society and western culture. ——. Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices Side by side with their high levels of commitment to Christianity and Islam, many people in the countries surveyed retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. There is great variation in the traditions and rituals surrounding death. Many African myths deal with events that devotees consider as authentic and "real" or as symbolic expressions of historical events. Despite this, certain kinds of clothes, accessories, and permanent or temporary bodily accoutrements distinguish devotees from others. It seemed to be that Africans worshipped innumerable mystical forces, ghosts, ancestors, divinities of various kinds, and yet they seemed also to have occasional references to a supreme god. The traditional African religions or traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions. Devotees of African traditional religions often perform rituals to induce rain; such rituals feature dancing, singing, and chanting. London: Edinburgh House, 1966. The oldest man of the family or community is often a priest, because he is the closest to the dead and has lived the longest life. African Traditional Religion appears to be a self-sufficient system, both from a theological point of view, in that it provides answers to questions of ultimate reality and meaning, at least to its adherents; and from the point of view of morality, in that it provides the moral rules, norms, and instruction in virtues by which human beings can . 1,2%. In African cosmological narratives creation is always portrayed as a complex process, whether the universe is said to have evolved from preexisting matter or from divine thought. But nevertheless, we want to distance ourselves from a number of the terms that have been used. Practitioners of African traditional religions have been victims of conversion and intolerance. Isis was the ancient Egyptian Goddess of: Rivers. Turner, Victor W. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. In the sky dwells Olodumare, the High God, a number of associated deities (the Orishas), and the ancestors. "African Traditional Religions In other cases the Supreme Being instructs lesser deities on how to create by providing them with materials to undertake Found insideThis book will be of interest to students and scholars of African studies, eschatology, religious studies, and the philosophy of religion. In traditional African cultures festivals are scheduled to occur during major rites of passage, including birth, circumcision, coming-of-age initiation, marriage, and death. But certainly traditionally, in the Christian world-view in the west, we did not have this kind of open frontier approach that you find in Africa between the visible and the invisible world, where spirits and deities and God all interact in a very dynamic way. Initiation ceremonies occur most commonly during puberty. The matrilineal agricultural people of central Zambia require that males offer sacrifices to the ancestors on the right side of a doorway, while females offer sacrifices on the left. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. The Yoruba purport that such children normally show the traits and characteristics of the deceased. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. All African tribal religions believe that ancestral spirits watch over those still on earth and even their descendants. A head priest is chosen by his predecessor; otherwise, village elders or a chief's council make this decision. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, 1990. If we want to ask a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage, we go directly to the father. And what he points out is that the enlightenment world-view in the west created what he calls the “excluded middle”, in a sense that we had a scientific world-view that accepted all of the things of the sense-world. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. So what we are trying to do in this case is to acknowledge the fact that we do have people, and most traditional communities in Africa have resident experts who are experts in divination, in rituals, and the performance of magic. According the mythology, these twin gods took command of vital functions in developing the Fon economy: cultivating land for agriculture, building roads and paths, manufacturing tools, and improving weapons of war, farming, and hunting. The Yoruban [religion] divides the cosmos into Orun, the sky, and Aiye, the earth. They retain membership in their family, community, clan, and kin groups. Òsun Grove in Òsogbo, Nigeria, is a good example of an environmental landmark that has been moved into the realm of the sacred. There are similar motifs in the cosmological narratives of both cultures, though the Fon narratives are more complex than the Yoruba's. As a young boy he had been kidnaped by a French Jesuit missionary; he was initiated when he returned to his village at age 20. Some structures are built for specific religious purposes, to protect the faithful from inclement weather, or to protect religious objects from the elements. At times rulers have been described as gods or as endowed with God's divinity. That other West African cultures have similar creation myths and ensuing social traditions is evidence of influence between cultures. 79,8%. b. African Traditional Religion (ATR): African traditional religion is the belief system that has been handed down from one generation to another. While other traditional African societies may possess fewer elaborate details of reincarnation, several of them hold the view that ancestors are born into their lineage. Male initiates leave the village, and while they are still in the presence of family and friends, they remove their clothing. Before, during, and after initiation ceremonies, the community offers many prayers and sacrifices to God; they ask for blessings and good luck for the youths undergoing the arduous process. The Nioniosse "rose up" from the underworld, and the Foulse descended from the sky. In contemporary Africa the persistence of sacred practices is a source of conflict between devotees of African religions and outsiders. The Manyika of Zimbabwe bestow ancestor status only on males, and the status is not necessarily associated with fatherhood; a childless Manyika adult male who dies may become an ancestor if a nephew includes him in his own ancestor cult. To promote the welfare of communities, societies have established taboos and consequences for breaking them. So all of African religion involves in some way rituals designed either to maintain this harmony or in some cases to restore this harmony back to their society. Abimbola, Wande. 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