The traditional religions indigenous to Africa have, for most of their existence, been orally rather than scripturally transmitted.[1] They are generally associated with animism. Most have ethno-based creations stories. While generalizations are difficult due to the diversity of African based religions they do share some common features: a belief in a supreme deity above a host of lesser gods or semi-divine figures; a belief in the power and intercession of ancestral spirits; the idea of sacrifice or libation, to ensure divine protection and generosity; the need to undergo rites of passage to move from the different stages of life (childhood to adulthood, from life to death).[2][3][4] The role of humanity is generally seen as a harmonizing relationship between nature and the super-natural forces.[4]
In many parts of Africa harsh distinctions are blurred as aspects of Islam and Christianity co-exist and syncretize with elements of indigenous spirituality.[5][6][7] While a source of debate, some have argued that Islam is also a traditional African religion, while not indigenous, because of its coexistence in Africa and absorption into African culture.[8][9][10][11] Adherence to African religions has seen a decline since the coming of both Islam and Christianity to the continent. Only Benin has a majority adherence to African religions.
Christopher Ehret postulates five ethno-linguistic religious traditions of Africa. Of these, two (Koman and Khoisan) are nontheistic, as for example among the Uduk people. One, Afro-Asiatic, is henotheistic; that is, the people worship only one national or tribal deity, though they recognize the deities of other peoples. Two, Sudanic and Niger–Congo, are monotheistic, as for example among the Maasai and the Ewe.[12]
Adherents.com (as of 2007) lists "African Traditional & Diasporic" as a "major religious group", estimating some 100 million adherents. They justify this combined listing of traditional African and African diasporic religions, and the separation from the generic "primal-indigenous" category by pointing out that
the "primal-indigenous" religions are primarily tribal and composed of pre-colonization peoples. While there is certainly overlap between this category and non-African primal-indigenous religious adherents, there are reasons for separating the two, best illustrated by focusing specifically on Yoruba, which is probably the largest African traditional religious/tribal complex. Yoruba was the religion of the vast Yoruba nation states which existed before European colonialism and its practitioners today; certainly those in the Caribbean, South America and the U.S.; are integrated into a technological, industrial society, yet still proclaim affiliation to this African-based religious system. Cohesive rituals, beliefs and organization were spread throughout the world of Yoruba (and other major African religious/tribal groups such as Fon), to an extent characteristic of nations and many organized religions, not simply tribes. (Major Religions Ranked by Size)
Practitioners of traditional religions in sub-Saharan Africa are distributed among 43 countries, and are estimated to number about 70 million, or 12% of African population, while the largest religions in Africa are Christianity and Islam, accounting for 45% and 40%, respectively. As everywhere, adherence to an organized religion does not preclude a residue of folk religion in which traditions predating Christianization or Islamisation survive.
The work of both Karade [13] and Doumbia [14] support the stance that the concept of 'force' or 'spirit' is a shared underlying theme among the spiritual traditions of the "Sudanic" cultures (i.e. those west of Cameroon and south of the Sahara). Karade asserts that in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria, 'force' is called 'ashe'. He further posits that the task of a Yoruba practitioner is to contemplate and/or ceremonially embody the various deities and/or ancestral energies/profundities in ways analogous to how chakras are contemplated in kundalini yoga.[15] In other words, the deities represent energies, attitudes, or potential ways to approach life. The goal is to elevate awareness while either in or contemplating any of these states of mind such that one can transmute negative or wasteful aspects of their energy into conduct and mindsets that serve as virtuous examples for oneself and the greater community. Doumbia and Doumbia [14] echo this sentiment for the Mande tradition of Senegal, Mali, and many other regions of westernmost Africa.[16] Here however, the 'force' concept is represented by the term 'nyama' rather than 'ashe'.[14]
Divination also tends to play a major role in the process of transmuting negative or confused feelings/thoughts into more ordered and productive ones.[17][18] Specifically, this process serves as a way to provide frames of reference such that those who are uncertain as to how to begin an undertaking and/or solve a problem can get their bearings and open a dialectic with their highest selves concerning their options on their paths.
The Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast believe in a supreme god who takes on various names depending upon the region of worship. Akan mythology claims that at one time the god interacted with man, but that after being continually struck by the pestle of an old woman pounding fufu, a traditional Ghanaian food, he moved far up into the sky.[19] There are no priests that serve him directly, and people believe that they may make direct contact with him. There are also numerous spirits(abosom), who receive their power from the supreme god and are most often connected to the world as it appears in its natural state. These include ocean and riverine spirits and various local deities. Priests serve individual spirits and act as mediators between the gods and mankind. Nearly everyone participates in daily prayer, which includes the pouring of libations as an offering to both the ancestors who are buried in the land and to the spirits who are everywhere. The earth is seen as a female deity and is directly connected to fertility and fecundity.[20]
Odinani encompasses the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Igbo. It is a panentheistic faith. In Odinani, there is one supreme God called Chukwu (Igbo: Great spirit) who was before all things and heads over smaller deities called Alusi. There are different Alusi for different purposes, the most important of them is Ala the earth goddess. A traditional herbalist/priest among the Igbo is called Dibia.[21]
The Serer people of Senegal and The Gambia believe in a universal Supreme Deity called "Rog" also termed "Rog Sene" (Rog The Immensity). Their elaborate religious traditions deals with various dimensions of life and death, cosmology, astronomy, symbolism, poems, ancient chants etc.[22][23] Lesser Gods and Goddesses include the Goddess "Mendis" (Goddess of the River); the God "Thiorak" or "Tulrakh" (God of Wealth) and The God Taahkarr or "Takhar" (God of Justice or Vengeance).[24]
West African religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies and/or divinatory rites in which members of the community, overcome by 'force' (or 'ashe', 'nyama', etc.), are excited to the point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic/mantric drumming and/or singing. In this state, depending upon the types of drumming or instrumental rhythms played by respected musicians (each of which is unique to a given deity/ancestor), participants embody a deity/ancestor, energy and/or state of mind by performing distinct ritual movements/dances that further enhance their elevated consciousness, or, in Eastern terms, excite the kundalini to a specific level of awareness and/or circulate chi in a specific way within the body.[15] When this trance-like state is witnessed and understood, culturally educated observers are privy to a way of contemplating the pure/symbolic embodiment of a particular mindset or frame of reference. This builds skills at separating the feelings elicited by this mindset from their situational manifestations in daily life. Such separation and subsequent contemplation of the nature and sources of pure energy/feelings serves to help participants manage and accept them when they arise in mundane contexts. This facilitates better control and transformation of these energies into positive, culturally appropriate behavior, thought, and speech. Further, this practice can also give rise to those in these trances uttering words that, when interpreted by a culturally educated initiate/diviner, can provide insight into appropriate directions that the community (or individual) might take in accomplishing its goal.[25]
Followers of traditional African religions pray to various secondary deities (Ogoun, Da, Agwu, Esu, Mbari, Thiorak, etc.) as well as to their ancestors. These secondary gods serve as intermediaries between humans and the creator god. Most indigenous African societies believe in a single creator god (Chukwu, Nyame, Olodumare, Ngai, Rog etc.).[26] Some recognize a dual or complementary twin god such as Mawu-Lisa. For example, in one of the Yoruba creation myth, Olodumare, the supreme god, is said to have created Obatala, a secondary deity, who then created humans on earth. Olodumare then infused those human creations with life. "Some societies also deify entities like the earth, the sun, the sea, lightning, or Nature. Each deity has its own priest or priestess."[27]
There are more similarities than differences in all African traditional religions.[28] Often, God is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities and ancestral spirits. The deities and spirits are honored through libation, sacrifice (of animals, vegetables, or precious metals). The will of God is sought by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, or divination.[29] In many African traditional religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. African traditional religions embrace natural phenomena - ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought - and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. According to Gottlieb and Mbiti:
For example in the Serer religion, one of the most sacred star in the cosmos is called "Yoonir" the (Star of Sirius).[31] With a long farming tradition, the Serer High Priests and Priestesses (Saltigue) deliver yearly sermons at the "Xoy" Ceremony (divination ceremony) in Fatick before Yoonir's phase in order to predict winter months and enable farmers to start planting.[32]
One of the most traditional methods of telling fortunes in Africa is called casting (or throwing) the bones. Because Africa is a large continent with many tribes and cultures, there is not one single technique. Not all of the "bones" are actually bones, small objects may include cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood. Some castings are done using sacred divination plates made of wood[33] or performed on the ground (often within a circle) and they fall into one of two categories:
In African society, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. There are no prohibitions against the practice. Those who tell fortunes for a living are also sought out for their wisdom as counselors and for their knowledge of herbal medicine.
Most indigenous African religions have a dualistic concept of the person. In the Igbo language, a person is said to be composed of a body and a soul. In the Yoruba language, however, there seems to be a tripartite concept: in addition to body and soul, there is said to exist a "spirit" or an ori, an independent entity that mediates or otherwise interacts between the body and the soul.
Some religious systems have a specific devil-like figure (for example, Ekwensu) who is believed to be the opposite of god.
Virtue in African traditional religion is often connected with the communal aspect of life. Examples include social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, appropriately raising children, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy and courageous.
In some ATRs, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person or a community lives. For the Kikuyu, according to Mbiti, God, acting through the lesser deities, is believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one's "conscience." But so could the Devil and the messengers. In indigenous African religions, such as the Azande religion, a person is said to have a good or bad conscience depending on whether he does the bidding of the God or the Devil.
African indigenous religions, like most indigenous religions, do not have a named and known founder, nor a sacred scripture. Often, such religions are oral traditions.
In some societies, there are intermediaries between individuals or whole communities and specific deities. Variously called Dibia, Babalawo, etc., the priest usually presides at the altar of a particular deity.
Practice of medicine is an important part of indigenous religion. Healers are reputed to have professional knowledge of illness (pathology), surgery, and pharmacology (roots, barks, leaves and herbs). Some of them are also reputed to diagnose and treat mental and psychological problems.
The role of a traditional healer is broader in some respects than that of a contemporary medical doctor. The healer advises in all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, spiritual, moral, and legal matters. He also understands the significance of ancestral spirits and the reality of witches.
They are believed to be capable of bringing about or stopping rain, by manipulating the environment meteorologically (e.g., by burning particular kinds of woods or otherwise attempting to influence movement of clouds).
While there are human made places (altars, shrines, temples, tombs), very often sacred space is located in nature (trees, groves, rocks, hills, mountains, caves, etc.).
These are some of the important centers of religious life: Nri-Igbo, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin City, Ouidah, Nsukka, Akan, Kanem-Bornu, Mali, and Igbo-Ukwu.
Rituals often occur according to the life cycle of the year. There are herding and hunting rituals as well as those marking the rhythm of agriculture and of human life. There are craft rituals, such as in smithing. There are rituals on building new homes, on the assumption of leadership, etc.
Each deity has an its own rituals, including choice objects of sacrifice; preference for male or female priest-officer; time of day, week, month, or year to make required sacrifice; or specific costumes for priest and supplicant on ritual occasions.
Some deities are perpetual patrons of specific trades and guilds. For example, in Haitian Vodou, Ogoun (Ogun among the Yorubas of Nigeria), the deity of metal, is patron of all professions that use metals as primary material of craft.
The living often honor ancestors by pouring a libation (paying homage), and thus giving them the first "taste" of a drink before the living consume it.
These are important, different but related, parts of beliefs about interactions between the natural and the supernatural, seen and unseen, worlds. Magicians, witches, shamans and sorcerers are said to have the skills to bring about or manipulate the relations between the two worlds. Abuse of this ability is widely condemned. Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery are parts of many indigenous religions..
They are important part of indigenous religion. Among traditional secret societies are hunting societies whose members are taught not only the physical methods, but also respect for the spiritual aspect of the hunt and use of honorable magical means to obtain important co-operation from the animal hunted.
Members are supposed to have been initiated into, and thus have access to, occultic powers hidden to non-members. Well known secret societies are Egbo, Nsibidi, Ngbe, Mau Mau, Ogboni, Sangbeto, etc.
Some spirits and deities are believed to "mount" some of their priests during special rituals. The possessed goes into a trance-like state, sometimes accompanied by speaking in "tongues" (i.e., uttering messages from the spirit that need to be interpreted to the audience). Possession is usually induced by drumming and dancing.
Many indigenous religions, like most religions, have elaborate stories that explain how the world was created, how culture and civilization came about, or what happens when a person dies, (e.g. Kalunga Line). Other mythologies are meant to explain or enforce social conventions on issues relating to age, gender, class, or religious rituals. Myths are popular methods of education: they communicate religious knowledge and morality while amusing or frightening those who hear or read them. Examples of religions with elaborate mythologies include the native religion of the Yoruba people, see Yoruba mythology.
Adherents of African traditional religions had been persecuted, e.g. practitioners of the Bwiti religion by Christian missionaries and French colonial authorities, as well as some members of the present Gabon government.[35]
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