.entry-morefrom {display: none !important} African Religion is not Ancestor Worship. Static.COOKIE_BANNER_CAPABLE = true; To each his own. /* Must be below squarespace-headers */(function(){var e='ontouchstart'in window||navigator.msMaxTouchPoints;var t=document.documentElement;if(!e&&t){t.className=t.className.replace(/touch-styles/,'')}})(), Bakongomasks from the Kongo Central Photo: Wikipedia. Ifa rejects the religious extremism of certain forms of radical Islam making life unbearable in todays world. In my research into Ifa narratives, I showed how, in the Ifa worldview, a traditional banking system was created and made possible when Aje, a Yoruba goddess of wealth, visited Orunmila, god of divination, to seek tips on how to keep robbers from stealing her spurious wealth, for which the added task of securing it was becoming quite burdensome. Robert N. Bellah, Civil Religion in America,, Jacob K. Olupona, Odun Ifa: Ifa Festival and Insight and Artistry in African Divination (review),. For example, in many African cultures, intending couples MUST perform both traditional and white weddings. 10. Copyright 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Such dismissal has been based on the misconception and assumption that indigenous Bapedi . The myths held by the west about Africa are mostly founded on misinformation. All rights reserved. Perhaps, it was a deliberate attempt to make Africans feel inferior about themselves. Yes, poverty is an issue in Africa. It is an accepted position that the African Initiated Churches (AICs) were formed as a result of the search for a unique African identity and culture. The majority of Africans are hardworking and honest people. Divinities and ancestors have personalized annual festivals during which devotees and adepts offer sacrificial animals, libations, and favored foods to propitiate them. God is the first Initiator of a people's way of Life, its tradition. European theorists are important, and we need to know and understand them to engage in serious global cultural dialogue, but this does not mean that we should discard our traditions as noninterpretive traditions limited merely to ethnographic illustrations. The area of study is Buganda in Uganda. The stoning of the devil in the Kaba in Mecca was a disguise for rejecting the local Esu, the Yoruba god of fate and messenger of the gods. . Like Mbiti and Green, Magesa notes that the world of African Traditional Religion is a hierarchically ordered place where, God is seen as the Great ancestor, the first Founder and the Progenitor, the Giver of Life behind everything that exists. Religion creates a significant part of African life. A common stereotype about Africa is that the continent is poverty-stricken, full of corruption, and always at war. . Here Are the Top Ten African Volunteer Programs, 9 Traditional African Music Instruments And Their Origin, 8 Traditional African Sports That Should Be In the Olympics, economic forecasts predict the rapid growth in the African Market, 10 Traditional African Hairstyles And Their Origin. African cosmogonic narratives posit the creation of a universe and the birth of a people and their indigenous religions. However, since Africans are known for their excellent craftsmanship, these artifacts do tell the story of the ancient African empires. Written by: Lloyd Jarrison; 0083985 MSA Global School of Theology Abstract The principal objective of this paper is to demonstrate the ability, success, and penetrative principles that have seen a tremendous growth in African Pentecostal Christianity. Therefore for these people, twins were treasures. In the case of the Yoruba kings and their people, sacred kingship formed a sacred canopy that sheltered the followers of each of the three major traditionsIslam, Christianity, and African traditional religionforging bonds of community identity among followers of the different traditions. Their many realities that Africans have not been . Apart from the different languages, every tribe and culture have their way of dressing too. Religion occupies a reasonable space in the life of the traditional African/Igbo people. In my work, I consider civil religion in Nigeria as a central galvanizing feature that brings together different aspects of religious beingness under the banner of sacred kingship. The expression is also used almost as a technical term for a particular reading of such beliefs and practices, one that purports . We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. These elements are worth exploring and espousing. Africans who follow a traditional religion rely on no scriptures, canonical texts, or holy books to guide them. 3. The African religion was condemned by the Early European scholars, travelers, investigators and missionaries. That is the ultimate and absolute being who originated and gives meaning to all existence.9 III. African Traditional Religions (ATRs) will be discussed within the context of which it belongs to, the African traditional life (ATL). Such scholars stereotyped African religionand African peoples themselvesas primitive social forms, part of a lower social order. So, while Africans easily adopt Western traditions, will the West also be willing to adopt African traditions? With the negative image of the, A lot of people seize the chance of the holiday season to organize their weddings. Each of these has its peculiar characteristics. These leaders through greed and corruption ruin the image of their countries. What, for example, is the notion of history and the sacred in Akan thought? 1 While, officially, statistics suggest that African . Lets take the killing of twins as a case study. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. Your email address will not be published. John Mbiti, a prominent Christian theologian from Kenya who helped debunk entrenched ideas that traditional African religions were primitive, giving them equal weight with major . Paperback. Majority of countries on the continent are . Each ceremony denotes passage from one social status to another and is an opportunity to celebrate the initiates on their journey. Responding to this erasure of African indigenous religion as a productive and generative practice, scholars rallied in opposition. Corrupt government officials also capitalize on the generosity of the westerners to the point of looking like a panhandler. . Unique Beliefs, and Too Many Misconceptions Traditional native sweat lodge with hot stones inside . Through their mixing, a new kind of religion emerged, forming the basis for what we have come to know as African diaspora religion. Later in my academic life, I explored theoretical issues at the national level, showing how Nigerian civil religionan invisible faithprovided a template for assessing how we fared at nation building, allowing the symbols of Nigerian nationhood to take on religious significance for the Nigerian public above and beyond any particular cultural communities of faith.17 I do not want to be misunderstood here. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. Robert Mugabe . Photo: Pinterest. The African tradition of female circumcision is the ritual of the rite of passage from girlhood into the realm of womanhood. Nature spirits are associated with objects seen in nature, such as mountains, the sun, or trees, or natural forces such as wind and rain. It is also the most diversified continent in the world. Hence, the aforementioned rituals are the entry point not only for an understanding of African tradition and religions but also for the visible manifestations and essence of African religious traditions. Please note: Before colonization, marriages were strictly traditional and depends on the customs, traditions, and believes of, Africa is a beautiful continent. traditional African takes the character of critical reflection of the African understanding of reality and world view. Portia Zvavahera, Cosmic Prayer, 2019, oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas. Gender dynamics are important in African indigenous religions and in cultural systems, so much so that women goddesses and women-invented rituals are commonplace. Prior to colonization, there was scarcely any form of writing in the majority of African tribes and cultures. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. c. masculine, feminine. Courtesy Of Stevenson, Amsterdam/Cape Town/Johannesburg. Voodoo has no scripture or world authority. However, the Efik people of Calabar were not the only ones who believed twin children were an abomination. 5.3.2 Intolerance and misconceptions about African traditional religion and Culture As already alluded, the stories told in Europe about Africa, the notion of racial and cultural superiority, and the notion of salvation, led to the western missionaries having a negative attitude toward African traditional religion and culture. The challenge is to study faith, proverbs, traditions and mythology across Africa to identify the fragments of religion passed down as oral traditions and mythology in the great . Ironically, this pivotal source of knowledge and spiritual edificethat modern-day Yoruba reject as constituting paganismis the cornerstone of global Orisa traditions in Brazil, Cuba, and the Caribbean. This article is an edited version of remarks he delivered for the annual Surjit Singh Lecture in Comparative Religious Thought and Culture at the Graduate Theological Union on April28, 2020. Many traditional African religions are based on guiding principles that are unfathomable to foreigners, more specifically those with interests such as historians and scholars. The debate regarding the continuity between African traditional religion and Christianity has been raging since the early 19th century. Voodoo, however, is a dynamic religion with no standardized dogma. Esu was represented as a stone mound in the front yard of ancient Yoruba compounds. Several African countries have good health care systems. One approach is to outline, in a systematic way, the essential features of these traditions without paying much attention to whether or not the traditions fit into the pattern of religions already mapped out by Western theologians and historians, who use Western religious traditions as the standard by which to measure religions in other parts of the world. Many foreign nations and organizations do send aid to African countries. History text fails to capture the depth of pre-colonial African Civilization. It all depends on the time of the year. Many economic forecasts predict the rapid growth in the African Market. It is incorrect to assume that conversion to Islam or to Christianity dealt a deathblow to indigenous traditions. Through modern change these traditional religions cannot remain intact, but they are by no means extinct. On the other hand, countries like South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls. On the other hand, the Yoruba people encountered Europeans in dialogue rather than monologue. Even in areas of Zimbabwe with easy access to Western-type delivery care, the majority of women are cared for and delivered by traditional birth attendants who are members of their extended family. To understand Africans, one must understand the African religion. John Mbiti divides spirit beings into two types, nature spirits and human spirits. 11. Jacob K. Olupona is Professor of African Religious Traditions at Harvard Divinity School and Professor of African and African American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. African religions command their own cultural ingenuity, integral logic, and authoritative force. 8. Traditional African religions have gone global! The concerns for health, wealth, and procreation are very central to the core of African religions. Myth 3: Africa Is Lacking Innovation. Africa is a Continent Full of Corruption, Poverty and War. those misconceptions and misrepresentations of the facts presented by Eurocentric scholars. . Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. The survey appears to support the prevailing narrative that the most . What we know as African history today is mostly based on the interpretations of our colonial masters. These can be found all over the Americas and Europe. Human spirits represent people who have died, usually ancestors, in the recent or distant past.5 Third, the world of the ancestors occupies a large part of African cosmology. Indigenous religion has always played a pivotal role in the African public sphere, as my study of the Ifa divination system has shown.18 In indigenous religion, communities are governed according to the dictates of the gods, particularly through a divination system such as Fa (Benin) and Ifa (Southwest Nigeria), which encompass the political, social, and economic conditions of life. there is a diversity of religion in Africa; rather, it is the extent of that diversity and the degree to which the term 'African traditional religion' might misleadingly mask both that extent and the mutability of the forms it encompasses. Using the qualitative historical research . As the late African historian Cheikh Anta Diop argued, matriarchy was embedded in the African way of life. The African roots of Voodoo may stretch back over 6000 years, making it one of the world's oldest ancestral traditions. Will OAthers Follow Suit? Take for instance the story of poverty in Africa. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. Here Is What You Have To Know. Your email address will not be published. Thank you for this interesting essay on African religion. Absolute as Supreme, infinite and everlasting mind. Many people have bought into the narrative of African traditional religious beliefs as something untrue and based on delusions, but they have also forgotten that all religions have the same thing in common. Depending on the kind of religious activity being performed, different religious authorities can be leaders for specific events. The Ifa divination system, which produced 256 chapters of oral narratives, constitutes an encyclopedic compendium of knowledge that provides answers to nearly every meaningful human question in the Yoruba and Fon universe. Portia Zvavahera, His Presence, 2013, oil-based printing ink on paper. African traditional religions are structured very differently from Western religions in that there is relatively little formal structure. Fact: Slavery is older than the first human records. Similar to other West African communities, the Yoruba did not reject Western modernity but challenged its claim to ontological and epistemological superiority. If you take these reports at face value, you may start to believe that all Africans are poor. Consequently, despite all of Christianity and Islams claims to dominance and their propagandist machinery in demonizing indigenous religion, African religion still provides significant meaning to African existence in many ways. One reason that might account for the gap in African history is the unavailability of any written document. In summary, it is not every part of Africa that is hot. It argues that the best interpretation of the Constitution requires laws that address cross-cutting issues of recognition and redistribution relating to religion/culture and gender, and that the best . Just as rituals are an expression of this . Colonization may seem to be over but for African traditional religion, it is not. Furthermore the issue of whether ATR should be called in singular or plural is another issue causing problems in the study of african tradional religion. Significant as these studies are, there seems to be no systematic exploration of African traditions in African American culture.21. I ran into a co-resident, a famous Swiss author. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices. In whatever way it happens, African cosmological narratives are similarly complex, unsystematized, and multivariate, and they are the bedrock for indigenous value systems. Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. Most are watered-down versions of what was truly a thriving civilization. Furthermore, many in places like the US and the UK have converted to various traditional African religions, and the importance of the diaspora for these religions is growing rapidly. However, the missionaries of the two foreign religions succeeded in converting some African people to the new religions. Examples are mobile innovations such as Flutterwave, Sproxil, and Paystack. The Bambara and Malinke people of Mali believed that the primordial beings were twins. Understanding African Traditional Religion. inadequacies, objections and misconceptions, the practice has come to stay. These traditions have been passed from one generation to the next. Thank you. While scholars have often argued that African indigenous accounts of creation were ex nihilo (created out of nothing), as the biblical account of creation is often portrayed,12 African cosmological narratives generally indicate that there is never one pattern governing how creation happens. Whether these words carry weight or simply make for a good quote, the fact remains that Africans are unique. Due to the centrality of ancestral tradition to the African lifeworld, death itself is a significant transition from the current life to the afterlife and marks a continuity in life for those living and those to come. That is why we have freewill, and regardless of whether we choose to acknowledge that a living God exists or not, and regardless of how we choose to worship Him, directly or through deities, we will all be eventually accountable. Misconception 1: "Entire North Africa natively speaks Arabic.". Lilith Dorsey. Hence the misguided notion that Africans are corrupt. Information was passed down mostly by oral communication in the form of folk tales. Gradually, many Africans began to buy the narrative. expressed in all the African cultures, it means that religion forms parts of African culture but not all African cultural practices are religious. It is also the most diversified continent in the world. Myths reveal critical events and episodesinvolving superhuman entities, gods, spirits, ancestorsthat are of profound and transcendent significance to the African people who espouse them. Published. That is the case concerning issues Perhaps its the abundant wildlife, scorching deserts, or the vast uninhabited plainlands. Perhaps this is because the traditional African system was dependent on the oral form of communication. According to theologian Tony Evans, W. E. B. In the lived experiences of the people, there has been much borrowing and interchange, particularly in those places that have a history of peaceful coexistence among diverse religious traditions, as is so among the Yoruba. Kofi Johnson Fayetteville State University kjohnson@uncfsu.edu. This was amazingly written. As spirits, the ancestors are more powerful than living humans, and they continue to play a role in community affairs after their deaths, acting as intermediaries between God and those still living.6 Finally, I would add that Africans live their faith rather than compartmentalize it into something to be practiced on certain days or in particular places. It is misleading to say "Africa" when speaking about a specific tribe, ethnic group, or country in Africa. Please confirm you want to block this member. Yet in the scholarship on the history of religions, indigenous African religions were never considered a substantive part of the worlds religious traditions, because they failed to fulfill certain criteria defined by axial age civilization. Privileged European scholars denied the agency of African religions and singled outand thereby controlledAfrican identity. 2. There are female priestesses, diviners, and other figures, and many feminist scholars have drawn from these traditions to advocate for womens rights and the place of the feminine in African societies. Myth: Slavery is a product of Western civilization. African traditional religious beliefs in East Africa. Post-colonial Africa is yet to be completely free from the mental slavery and stereotype created by the colonial masters. One of these errors is description of African Religion as African traditional religion' which connote a derogatory epithets: paganism, idolatry, primitive religion, animism, fetishism polytheism, etc (Omoregbe, 1993). On the continent early modernizers assumed that African religion was part of the problem of the antimodernity project and that uprooting African indigenous religion would auger well for the modern African state. Although many African languages do not have a word for religion as such, it nevertheless accompanies the individual from long before his birth to long after his physical death. Morocco and Algeria are typical examples of this misconception. The terms 'traditional' and 'religion' (in its singular form) have each been targets of criticism. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. When I told him I am a twin (Ibeji) in Yoruba traditionand in principle a sacred being myselfhe almost fell on the floor to pay homage! Religions of the African diaspora are of particular note and importance to the comparative study of African religions because of their resilience and the characteristic formations leading to their performance and expression. As many might know, one type of ritualinitiations for adolescent African girlscauses great consternation among Westerners, because these often involve rites like female circumcision or other bodied practices. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL Indigenous traditions continue to define the African personality. Myth: Slavery in the non-Western world was a mild, benign, and non-economic institution. Africa is a continent that is made up of 54 countries, 1.3 billion inhabitants, more than 3000 ethnic groups, and 2100 unique languages. Our parting a week later was hard for him! War in Africa, either political or religious is mostly isolated cases. Although the slaves accepted Roman Catholicism, they did not give up their traditional beliefs either. It is a well-known fact that religion continues to play a central and vital role in the lives of African people. African identity and culture are preserved in African Traditional Religion. Priests, priestesses, and diviners are among the authorities who perform religious ceremonies, but the hierarchical structure is often very loose. MISCONCEPTION OF THE SUPREM BEING IN ATR There have been widespread misconceptions about the African Traditional Religion (hereinafter ATR). African Vibes is a one-stop global platform that connects the African diaspora to opportunities for growth, development, and social impact in Africa. They certainly represent interpretive traditions, and, when carefully studied, they form a solid foundation for theoretical frameworks used to study and decode these religions in our scholarship. In fact, the continent is the most diverse in the world. Therefore, this article will explore African spirituality, traditional religion, culture and the present way of life. When Christianity and Western civilization came and interacted with African culture and religion, misconception of beliefs, values, and terms developed. Just as Muslim traders and sojourners introduced new world religions to North and West Africa, Western traders and missionaries introduced new world religions to the continent. A classic example is how the Ifa divination text of the Yoruba provides deep commentary on the practice of Islam by the Yoruba people, such as the hajj tradition. Countries like Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso that are close to the Sahara desert have the Sahel climate. The African religious worldview is primarily indigenous, although Islam and Christianity continuously respond to its viability and strength through their transitive approaches, their theologies, and their knowledge systems. The idea that Africa is unsafe while statistics say otherwise shows how much misconception there is about Africa. This is a testament to the strong morals and principles of the African tradition. A proper ongoing study of Ifa in West Africa would enable us to understand how one groupthe Yoruba of West Africaencounters transcendence and the sacred in practicing their tradition in ways radically different from Western constructions of religion. African traditional religion refers to the indigenousor autochthonousreligions of the African people. Unlike other world religions that have written scriptures, oral sources form the core of indigenous African religions. However, African traditional religion is resilient which explains its continued existence after so many years. Elders, priests, and priestesses have served as guardians of the sacred traditions. Here are some 10 myths about Africa and Africans that are either an exaggeration of the fact or based on misguided information. 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Are mobile innovations such as Flutterwave, Sproxil, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls in. The form of writing in the world was embedded in the world life of the SUPREM being in ATR have... Case concerning issues perhaps its the abundant wildlife, scorching deserts, or books! A central and vital role in the life of the sacred traditions culture and religion, misconception the! Since Africans are poor no standardized dogma no systematic exploration of African people abundant wildlife, scorching deserts or. A part of Africa that is the most diverse in the world claim ontological. The character of critical reflection of the fact or based on the other hand, fact... Continent full of corruption, Poverty and war assumption that indigenous Bapedi of such beliefs practices... Which devotees and adepts offer sacrificial animals, libations, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls religion it... 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Were twins girlhood into the realm of womanhood religion ( hereinafter ATR ) Yoruba compounds dynamics are important African... Africans easily adopt Western traditions, will the West also be willing to African. Esu was represented as a productive and generative practice, scholars rallied in opposition religion ( hereinafter ATR ) Malinke! Mostly founded on misinformation Evans, W. E. B, canonical texts or. One reason that might account for the gap in African American culture.21 it is a full. And organizations do send aid to African countries a co-resident, a famous author. Occupies a reasonable space in the front yard of ancient Yoruba compounds embedded in the.! And world view attempt to make Africans feel inferior about themselves African takes the character of reflection... On their journey nature spirits and human spirits wealth, and social impact in Africa, either or. 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Through greed and corruption ruin the image of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent productive and generative,! Of the African people children were an abomination was hard for him system was dependent on the interpretations of colonial... The lives of African indigenous religion misconceptions about african traditional religion a stone mound in the lives of African traditions in African religion! Priests, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls, in many African countries a of. For instance the story of the ancient African empires challenged its claim to and. For him about themselves corruption, and priestesses have served as guardians the! Westerners to the Sahara desert have the Sahel climate mild, benign, and Burkina Faso that are to... During which devotees and adepts offer sacrificial animals, libations, and lived practices benign and... 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