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.
Deities
Main article:
African deitiesMonotheism and
henotheism are widespread among the African traditional religions,[
citation needed] as is
polytheism. Many indigenous African societies worship a single God (
Chukwu,
Nyame,
Olodumare,
Ngai etc.), and some recognize a
dual or complementary twin God such as
Mawu-Lisa. This they do by paying obeisance to the God through lesser deities (
Ogoun,
Da, Agwu,
Esu, Mbari, etc.). Some societies also deify entities like the earth, the sun, the sea, lightning, or
Nature. Each deity has its own
priest or
priestess.[
citation needed] The Ndebele and Shona ethnic groups of Zimbabwe have a trinity - a fundamental family group - made up of God the Father, God the Mother, and God the Son. Among the Fon of West Africa and Benin, God, who is called "Vondu", is
androgynous, with both male and female traits.
The Ewe people of southern Ghana have a conception of the high God as a female-male partnership. Mawu who is female is often spoken of as gentle and forgiving. Lisa who is male renders judgment and punishes. Among the Ewe it is believed that when Lisa punishes, Mawu may grant forgiveness. Here we see the complementarity or "supplementarity" (Derrida's term) of male and female that characterizes many of the traditional African religions.
The only example in Africa of a female high
Goddess is among the Southern Nuba of Sudan, whose culture has matriarchal traits. The Nuba conceive of the creator Goddess as the "Great Mother" who gave birth to earth and to mankind. (Mbiti, J.S., Introduction to African Religion, Oxford, 1975, p. 53.)
Practices and rituals
Usually, all African traditional religions are considered to be similar by Western people, and are often described as not unlike traditional (pre-
Vedic, Vedic, and pre-
Abrahamic) religions in most cultures (e.g.,
Indian,
Greek, etc.). 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) and, in some cases,
trokosi. The will of God is sought by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, or
divination. In many African traditional religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. Like various other traditional religions, African traditional religions embrace natural phenomena - ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought - and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. These religions are also not static, not even within their consciousness of natural rhythms. They incorporate the ever-changing actual experience. For example, Sango, the Yoruba god of lightning, assumes responsibility for modern electrical processes. But, these characteristics are only true of some of the traditional African religions.
However, in truth, the commonalities of African religions are as follows:
Belief in a Supreme Being, or Creator, which is referred to by a myriad of names in various languages
No written scripture (holy texts are oral)
Correspondence with the higher being in times of great need (i.e. natural calamities, unexplained deaths)
Having a devout connection with their ancestors
Duality of self and gods
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 and vice
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.
Religious offices
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.
Priest
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.
Healer
Practice of medicine is an important part of indigenous religion. Priests 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.
Rainmaker
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).
Holy places and headquarters of religious activities
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.
Liturgy and rituals
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.
Individuality
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.
] Patronage
Some deities are perpetual patrons of specific trades and guilds. For example, in
Haitian Vodou,
Ogoun, the deity of metal, is patron of all professions that use metals as primary material of craft.
Libation
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
Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery
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.
Secret societies
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,
Mau Mau,
Ogboni,
Sangbeto, etc.
Possession
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.
[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 elaborates mythologies include the native religion of the Yoruba people, see
Yoruba mythology.
Characteristics of African Traditional Religion
As indicated above Africa is a vast continent; as a result one runs the risk of generalization. Yet there is a common thread that runs in indigenous values and experiences that show a kind of uniformity. It is that uniformity that we are going to explore in this survey. Religion in sub-Saharan Africa is made up of certain beliefs like any other religion. What are those beliefs?
African cosmological thought can be summarized as follows. In the first place, there is widespread belief in one God, who is known by various local names. He is a Supreme spirit, for this reason there are no images or visible representations of Him. He is recognized as the Creator of the world and all things there in. He is the source of all power. He is the keeper of life and death.
Next to God are the deities who derive their powers from God. In contrast to God, the deities or lesser deities may be treated with respect. They function in a way similar to angels in the Jewish and Christian cosmologies.
In the lower hierarchy are the ancestral spirits who are treated with reverence and awe. They are the souls of our forefathers who have walked in this world. Therefore, Africans believe that they are closer to God since they are dead. Thus the departed occupy an important position in African religion. In contrast that Africans serve their ancestor this is true. It is not worship as the west is made to believe. It can be seen as fellowship and hospitality. Paris says it well:
In African worldview there is no death in the sense of radical separation from either family or the tribal community. Rather, Africans believe that life is eternal and that its motion is not linear but cyclical … they are convinced that the temporal movement of human life is continuous cyclical process from the realm of the spirit to that history…. to speak of such process as death is a misnomer. Rather, departure from physical life marks a transition from the state of mortality to that of ancestral immortality. ( Paris:52)
Mbiti explains that the ancestors live on a realm of the sprit world, in a state of existence that he calls the “living dead”. According to Mbiti, that term connotes both continuity with and transition from temporal life. Interestingly enough, the “ancestor spirit” lives the same length of time as the time they were alive on earth. As Margaret Creel explains:
Ancestors retained their normal human passions and appetites, which had to be gratified in death as in life. Ancestors felt hungers and thirst. They became angry or happy depending on the behavior of their living “children.” The living dead were vindictive if neglected but propitious if shown respect. Just as filial loyalty prevents one from allowing a parent to go hungry, “so must food be offered to the ancestors. (See Paris:1995,52)
According to African traditional religion, ancestors serve as intermediaries between their families and the divinities. Awolalu says ancestors…”are the guardians of family affairs, traditions, ethics and activities….They are regarded as presiding spiritually over the welfare of the family.”(Awolalu : 1979, p.61)
In the African cosmological world, in addition to the ancestors, there are other spirits or mystical powers recognized and reckoned with for their ability to aid or harm man (Opku: 10).” Included in these agents are witchcraft, magic and sorcery. Witchcraft is used in a broad text in African religiosity to mean the harmful employment of mystical power in all its different manifestation (Mbiti, 202). As a result of this, whenever anything happens the blame is cast at the door step of witchcraft. As Awolalu defines it:
… a witch enables her to perform supernatural powers in consequence of forming a league with the devil or evil spirits, and through such an evil alliance and co-operation the possession of craft which enables her perform supernatural acts which, in most cases, are destructive (Awolalu, p. 80).
Idowu explains it better when he says:
Witches are human beings of very strong determined wills with diabolical Bent,.. (they) are the veritably wicked ones who derive sadistic satisfaction From bringing misfortune upon other people…. (See Awolalu, p. 80).
Finally, African traditional religion reveres nature. It does not mean that the African cosmological world worships sun, rocks and trees. As Opoku explains, “animals and plants are said to have played a crucial role in the survival of the forebears…. Thus, a sacred relationship is formed between these objects.” (Opoku,10). This sacred bond is not to be confused with worship as some Western critics have supposed.
Conclusion
In this essay the author explores some ways that African traditional religions have been misrepresented in Western literature. First, most African religions believe in the existence of one God. The difference between the Western and African idea of God may be understood as a difference of names due to languages. Another major point that obscures a true understanding and acceptance of African beliefs is the false Judeo-Christian-Islamic belief that Africans worship many gods and that they have no real sense of the concept of one God that created all existence. Africans are erroneously portrayed as worshiping many gods including trees, rocks, rivers, and inanimate objects. Western scholars have confused the words reverence with worship. Africans never pretend to worship anything but one God. Finally, Africans are described as having a polytheistic religion. In African cosmology it is supposed that sundry deities are worshipped. This is not true. The deities are perceived as intermediaries just as angels in the Judeo-Christian world. As Uka (1991) explains “The general belief about the divinities is that they are created by God to perform specific roles.” Their status is “mediatorial” meaning that deities are intermediaries between God and man, “a means to an end not and ends themselves. Their powers are limited to the performance of specific functions assigned to them by God. None of them enjoys unlimited powers ascribed to God.” (Uka, 1991:45). Thus, this essay serves as a call to a reappraise African traditional religion rather than relying on falsified interpretations of African religion that are being parroted by the news media and western scholars.
