Afro-American religion
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Afro-American religions are a number of related religions that developed in the Americas among African slaves and their descendants in various countries of the Caribbean Islands and Latin America, as well as parts of the southern United States.
These religions usually involve ancestor veneration and/or a pantheon of divine spirits, such as the loas of Haitian Voodoo, or the orishas of Santería. Similar divine spirits are also found in the Central and West African traditions from which they derive — the orishas of Yoruba cultures, the nkisi of Bantu (Kongo) traditions, and the vodou of Dahomey (Benin), Togo, southern Ghana, and Burkina Faso. In addition to mixing these various but related African traditions, many Afro-American religions incorporate elements of Christian, indigenous American, Kardecist, Spiritualist and even Islamic traditions. This mixing of traditions is known as religious syncretism.
| Afro-American Religions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Developed in* | Ancestral Roots | Also practiced in | Remarks |
| Candomblé | Brazil | Yoruban orishas | Some elements of Dahomey vodou(deities) and Kongo nkisiAlso called Batuque |
|
| Umbanda | Brazil | Yoruban orishas | Uruguay | Indigenous elements added (Preto Velho, Cabolho) |
| Quimbanda | Brazil | Yoruban orishas | Veneration of ancestral spirits called Exus and Pomba Giras |
|
| Santería | Cuba | Yoruban orishas | USA, Mexico | Catholicism Syncretism |
| Regla de Arará | Cuba | Dahomey vodou | ||
| Regla de Palo | Cuba | Kongo nkisi | Puerto Rico | Also called Palo Mayombe, Regla de Congo, Palo Monte |
| Vodou | Haiti, Brazil | Dahomey mythology | Cuba,Dominican Republic,USA | |
| Obeah | Jamaica | Dahomey vodou | Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Kumina | Jamaica | Kongo | ||
| Spiritual Baptist | Trinidad and Tobago | Yoruban orishas | Jamaica, USA | Protestantism Syncretism |
| Hudu | USA as "Hoodoo" | Dahomey Vodou | Mostly in southern USA not a religion but a traditional folk magic of Africa. |
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* "Developed in" as indicated in the chart does not refer to the religions' indigenous origins within continental Africa. It refers only to their development in the New World.
Some syncretic religious movements in Brazil have elements of these African religions, but are predominantly rooted in other spiritual traditions. These include Santo Daime, Catimbo, Jurema, União do Vegetal and Vale do Amanhecer. In addition to these, a number of religions have also been developed primarily by African-diaspora communities in the Americas, but do not derive directly from traditions brought across from Africa, and are not included in the term "Afro-American religion". These include new religious movements such as Kemetic Reconstructionism, Rastafarianism and Nation of Islam.
Other closely related regional faiths include:
- Xangô de Recife[1] and Xangô do Nordeste in Brazil
- Tambor de Mina in Brazil
- Candomblé Ketu in Bahia, Brazil
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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|---|---|---|
| Religions | Candomblé • Hoodoo • Kumina • Obeah • Palo • Quimbanda • Santería (Lukumí) • Spiritual Baptist • Umbanda • Vodou |  |
| Deities | Babalu Aye • Eshu • Iansan • Mami Wata • Obàtálá • Ogoun • Ọlọrun • Orunmila • Ọṣun • Shango • Yemaja | |
| Roots | Ifá, Oriṣa (Yorùbá) • Lwa (Dahomey) • Nkisi (Kongo) • Catholicism (Portugal, Spain) | |
