The indigenous religious beliefs and practices of African peoples include various traditional
religions. While generalizations of these religions are difficult, due to the diversity
of African cultures, they do have some characteristics in common. Generally, they are oral rather
than scriptural, include belief in a supreme being, belief in spirits and other divinities,
veneration of ancestors, use of magic, and traditional medicine. The role of humanity
is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural.
While adherence to traditional religion in Africa is hard to estimate, due to syncretism
with Christianity and Islam, practitioners are estimated to number over 100 million,
or at least 10 percent of the population of the continent. African diasporic religions
are also practiced by descendants of Africans in the diaspora in the Americas such as Candomble,
Umbanda, Quimbanda in Brazil, Santeria in Cuba and the United States, Lucumi in the
Caribbean and Vodun in Haiti and the United States.
Terminology African traditional religion, African traditional
religions, Indigenous African religions are all common terms used to discuss the subject
of indigenous faiths found within Africa. Each term is debated among scholars. Some
challenge the word "traditional" and prefer "indigenous" since traditional can also include
traditional African Islam and Christianity, and are established traditions in African
societies. Some, such as Mbiti, contend that while using the singular "religion" a plural
understanding is needed. Others suggest that these thousands of "religions" are only differing
expressions of the same basic "religion." The argument posited is that a centralized
structure of rituals and beliefs run the entirety of the African continent. Some suggest this
is problematic as there is no "genetic" relationship between these plural beliefs to create ideological
homology, and the observed similarities can subjectively also be found outside of Africa.
Classification and statistics
Adherents.com 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, to an extent characteristic
of nations and many organized religions, not simply tribes.
Practitioners of traditional religions in Sub-Saharan Africa are distributed among 43
countries, and were estimated to number over 100 million, although the largest religions
in Africa are Christianity and Islam. Ceremonies
West African religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies
and/or divinatory rites in which members of the community, overcome by force, are excited
to the point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic or mantric drumming
and/or singing. One religious ceremony practiced in Gabon and Cameroon is the Okuyi, practiced
by several Bantu ethnic groups. In this state, depending upon the types of drumming or instrumental
rhythms played by respected musicians, participants embody a deity or ancestor, energy and/or
state of mind by performing distinct ritual movements or dances which 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. When this
trance-like state is witnessed and understood, culturally educated observers are privy to
a way of contemplating the pure or 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 or 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 which, when interpreted by a culturally educated initiate or diviner,
can provide insight into appropriate directions which the community might take in accomplishing
its goal. Deities
Followers of traditional African religions pray to various secondary deities as well
as to their ancestors. These divinities serve as intermediaries between humans and the primary
god. Most indigenous African societies believe in a single creator god. Some recognize a
dual or complementary twin Divinity such as Mawu-Lisa. For example, in one of the Yoruba
creation myths, Olodumare, the 'Supreme', is said to have created Obatala, as Arch-divinity,
who then created humans on earth. Olodumare then infused those human creations with life.
Each divinity has their own priest or priestess." Practices and rituals
There are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. Often,
the supreme god is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities and ancestral
spirits. The deities and spirits are honored through libation, sacrifice. The will of God
is sought by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, or divination. In many
traditional African religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. The
living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. Traditional African 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:
The environment and nature are infused in every aspect of traditional African religions
and culture. This is largely because cosmology and beliefs are intricately intertwined with
the natural phenomena and environment. All aspects of weather, thunder, lightning, rain,
day, moon, sun, stars, and so on may become amenable to control through the cosmology
of African people. Natural phenomena are responsible for providing people with their daily needs.
For example in the Serer religion, one of the most sacred stars in the cosmos is called
Yoonir the. With a long farming tradition, the Serer high priests and priestesses deliver
yearly sermons at the Xoy Ceremony in Fatick before Yoonir's phase in order to predict
winter months and enable farmers to start planting.
Divination
One of the most traditional methods of telling fortunes in Africa is called casting the bones.
Because Africa is a large continent with many tribes and cultures, there is not one single
technique. The practice of casting may be done with other small objects, such as cowrie
shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood. Some castings are done using
sacred divination plates made of wood or performed on the ground. They are classified in two
ways:: Casting marked bones, flat pieces of wood,
shells, or leather strips and numerically counting up how they fall – either according
to their markings or whether they do or do not touch one another – with mathematically
based readings delivered as memorized results based on the chosen criteria.
Casting a special set of symbolic bones or an array of selected symbolic articles, e.g.
a bird's wing bone to symbolize travel, a round stone to symbolize a pregnant womb,
and a bird's foot to symbolize feeling. In African society, many people seek out diviners
on a regular basis. There are generally no prohibitions against the practice. Those who
tell fortunes for a living are also sought for their wisdom as counselors in life and
for their knowledge of herbal medicine. Duality of person and divinities
Most indigenous African religions have a dualistic concept of the person. In the Igbo language,
for instance, a person is said to be composed of a body and a soul. The Yoruba language
includes a tripartite concept: in addition to body and soul, there is said to exist a
spirit or an ori, an independent entity which mediates or otherwise interacts between the
body and the soul. Some religious systems have a similar duality, with a specific devil-like
figure, who is believed to be the opposite of God.
Virtue and vice Virtue in traditional African religion is
often connected with carrying out obligations of the communal aspect of life. Examples include
social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, raising children appropriately,
providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy and courageous.
In some traditional African religions, 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 its 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.
In many cases, Africans who have converted to other religions have still kept up the
Traditional African customs and practices, combining them in a syncretic way.
Holy places and religious activities While there are man made holy places, very
often sacred space is located in nature. These are some of the important centers of
religious life: Nri-Igbo, the Point of Sangomar, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin City, Ouidah,
Nsukka, Akan, Kanem-Bornu, Mali, and Igbo-Ukwu. Mythology
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. 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 religions of
the Yoruba and Serer people. Religious persecution
Traditions by region This list is not exhaustive, and is limited
to a few well-known traditions. Central Africa
Bantu mythology Bushongo mythology
Lugbara mythology
Mbuti mythology Dinka religion
Lotuko mythology Kuku mythology
Horn of Africa Waaq
North Africa Traditional Berber religion, Algeria, Tunisia,
Libya) Ancient Egyptian religion
Southeast Africa Bantu mythology
Akamba mythology Masai mythology
Malagasy mythology Southern Africa
Bantu mythology Lozi mythology
Tumbuka mythology Zulu mythology
San religion West Africa
Akan religion Dahomey mythology
Efik mythology Odinani of the Igbo people
Serer religion Yoruba religion
West African Vodun (Ewe, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria Diaspora
Santeria Candomble
Haitian Vodun/Voodoo Umbanda
Quimbanda References
Information presented here was gleaned from World Eras Encyclopaedia, Volume 10, edited
by Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure, in particular pp. 275–314.
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Ehret, Christopher, The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800. Charlottesville: University
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Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400, page 159, University
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Scholarship. Kampala: East African Literature Bureau, 1970.
Princeton Online, History of Africa Wiredu, Kwasi Toward Decolonizing African
Philosophy And Religion in African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African
Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998 Further reading
Encyclopedia of African Religion, - Molefi Asante, Sage Publications, 1412936365
Julian Baldick. Black God: the Afroasiatic roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim
religions. Syracuse University Press:ISBN 0-8156-0522-6
West African Traditional Religion Kofi Asare Opoku | Publisher: FEP International Private
Limited, ASIN: B0000EE0IT John Mbiti African Religions and Philosophy
African Writers Series, Heinemann ISBN 0-435-89591-5 Wade Abimbola, ed. and trans. Ifa Divination
Poetry. Ulli Beier, ed. The Origins of Life and Death:
African Creation Myths. Herbert Cole, Mbari: Art and Life among the
Owerri Igbo. J. B. Danquah, The Akan Doctrine of God: A
Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion, second edition.
Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dietterlen, Le Mythe Cosmogonique.
Rems Nna Umeasigbu, The Way We Lived: Ibo Customs and Stories.
Sandra Barnes, Africa's Ogun: Old World and New.
Segun Gbadagesin, African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African
Realities. Judith Gleason, Oya, in Praise of an African
Goddess. Bolaji Idowu, God in Yoruba Belief
Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature and the African World.
E. Geoffrey Parinder, African Traditional Religion, Third ed.. ISBN 0-85969-014-8 pbk.
E. Geoffrey Parinder, "Traditional Religion", in his Africa's Three Religions, Second ed.,
p. [15-96]. S. Solagbade Popoola, Ikunle Abiyamo: It is
on Bent Knees that I gave Birth David Chidester, "Religions of South Africa"
pp. 17–19 Alisa LaGamma. Art and oracle: African art
and rituals of divination. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-933-8.
Notes
External links Afrika world.com A website with extensive
links and information about traditional African religions
Baba Alawoye.com Baba'Awo Awoyinfa Ifaloju, showcasing Ifa using web media 2.0