African religions, religious beliefs and practices of the peoples of Africa. On the other hand, the Yoruba people encountered Europeans in dialogue rather than monologue. Having tried to dispel some of the misconceptions . For example, James George Frazer (18541941) and Edward B. Tylor (18321917) classified indigenous religious practices of natives not as universally religious or generative of religious cultures but as forms of primitive religion or magic arising from the lower of three stages of human progress. Voodoo is a religion that originates in Africa. However, the Efik people of Calabar were not the only ones who believed twin children were an abomination. The debate regarding the continuity between African traditional religion and Christianity has been raging since the early 19th century. Fact: One-third of Moroccans and one-quarter of Algerians do not speak Arabic as their first language. Most of these aids go into building infrastructures like schools and hospitals. As with myths the world over, African mythology includes multiple, often contradictory, versions of the same event. The culture believes and traditions of the people of Africa is vast and should not be oversimplified in a stereotypical way. They are known as upstanding citizens and have been entrusted with sensitive positions in society. Indigenous traditions continue to define the African personality. b. certain clan outsiders. 2. Despite the plethora of denominations and sects, African religions continue to be viewed as single entities,3 and their (our) religions are perhaps the least understood facet of African life. 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. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. There are many female goddesses along with their male counterparts. Unlike the Christian community, recited stories of creation are not performed by a single God, who ordered, by fiat, the creation of the universe with mere spoken words. Long before the arrival of Christianity and Islam, Africans practiced African traditional religion (ATR). We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. To the outside world, however, far too much of . Such an approach should endeavor to provide not only an awareness of sociocultural contexts but also to narrate the historical dimensions of these traditions. What we know as African history today is mostly based on the interpretations of our colonial masters. One reason that might account for the gap in African history is the unavailability of any written document. Religion occupies a reasonable space in the life of the traditional African/Igbo people. Foreign aid has been helpful to many small African countries that are struggling economically. In this way, the visible and invisible are in tandem, leading practitioners to speak about all objects, whether animate or inanimate, as potentially sacred on some level. 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. Introduction. Many foreign nations and organizations do send aid to African countries. More so, myths encode the traditional settings of the African and their belief system. The much-cited dictum by the doyen of African religious studies, the recently deceased John Mbiti, that Africans are notoriously religious still holds true (though I prefer to use the word deeply).1 While, officially, statistics suggest that African Christians and Muslims constitute about 80 percent of the total population, and African indigenous religion constitutes about 20 percent, these statistics do not reflect the truth of the African situation. During the colonial era, most of these traditional believes became a target of the colonial religion. In this postcolonial period, it has come to be established that there is what we may call . . These oral sources are intricately interwoven into arts, political and social structure, and material culture. Thank you for this interesting essay on African religion. 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. 10. They believe in Significant as these studies are, there seems to be no systematic exploration of African traditions in African American culture.21. Gradually, there was a shift from ATR to Christianity. Religion creates a significant part of African life. When addressing religion in Africa, scholars often speak of a triple heritage, that is the triple legacy of indigenous religion, Islam, and Christianity that are often found side by side in many African societies. In summary, it is not every part of Africa that is hot. This view wasnt held in many other tribes in Nigeria. 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. Myths, folklores proverbs therefore become the major sources of African philosophy (Jaja, 1995:28). Apart from the different languages, every tribe and culture have their way of dressing too. 15. Before colonization, marriages were strictly traditional and depends on the customs, traditions, and believes of, Africa is a beautiful continent. Copyright 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Truly opening my eyes on traditions, cultures and rituals that I did not know existed. During the era of Western religious and cultural encounters in Yorubaland, some children were named Oguntoyibo, signifying Ogun (god of war and iron) is as powerful as the European god. Some children received names such as Ifatoyinbo, Ifa is as powerful as the white mans god. Such names and concepts illustrate the force and creative resistance of indigenous thought and its ability to engage Western modernity in rigorous debate. The most difficult task I face in characterizing African indigenous spiritual traditions is accounting for their diversity and complexity. There are key developmental projects in some African countries that would not be possible without Foreign aids. 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. Thus, I have argued that religion should be examined not only as a sacred phenomenon, but also as a cultural and human reality, all the while remembering the importance of integrating the sociopolitical dimensions of religiosity into any examination of an African state. Another misbelief about Africa is that all Africans are the same. Little wonder John Mbiti, a famous African theologian said, Wherever the African is, there is his religion. 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. In my view, these common misconceptions are due to ill representation of the African culture. This is the popular assumption amongst many African theologians of which Maluleke (1994) is one example. Unique Beliefs, and Too Many Misconceptions Traditional native sweat lodge with hot stones inside . Most importantly, the rite itself should not be condemned together with circumcision or female genital mutilation. 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). 3. Regardless of where they find themselves, most Africans will always hold onto some form of their tradition, culture, and religion. Marriage customs in Africa vary from one tribe to another. Will OAthers Follow Suit? Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. African identity and culture are preserved in African Traditional Religion. 8. These 11 Traditional African Clothing Will Help You Identify Ethnic Groups At A Glance, 10 Facts And Myths About African Traditional Religion - African Vibes, 10 Prominent Ways Africans Showcase Their Culture, 10 Traditional African Dances That Showcase Africa’s Rich Culture, more than 3000 ethnic groups, and 2100 unique languages, the most diversified continent in the world, 30 % of the earths remaining mineral resources, Thinking Of Volunteering? 9 years ago. A 1685 law, for instance, prohibited the practice of African religions, and required all masters to Christianize their slaves within eight days of their arrival in Haiti. African Cosmology. No. Second, spirit beings occupy the next tier in the cosmology and constitute a pantheon of deities who often assist the supreme God in performing different functions. Even the word religion, used in reference to these traditions, is in itself problematic for many Africans, because it suggests that religion is separate from other aspects of ones culture, society, and environment. The African tradition of female circumcision is the ritual of the rite of passage from girlhood into the realm of womanhood. 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. The stories of violence, kidnapping, religious and political war in Africa are so common. African traditional religious beliefs in East Africa. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism.There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs. The story of Mary Slessor and the killing of twins is popular. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. However, the so-called white wedding is Western culture. Priests, priestesses, and diviners are among the authorities who perform religious ceremonies, but the hierarchical structure is often very loose. The Bambara and Malinke people of Mali believed that the primordial beings were twins. The west, by trying to learn more about the African tradition will avoid the bias and ignorance of being misinformed. This was amazingly written. Slowly, they projected ATR as barbaric and dehumanizing. .pagination {display: none !important} With the negative image of the, A lot of people seize the chance of the holiday season to organize their weddings. Please follow our Commentary Guidelines when engaging in discussion on this site. It is also the most diversified continent in the world. It should be noted that any attempt to generalize about the nature of "African religions" risks wrongly implying that there is homogeneity among all African cultures. Depending on the kind of religious activity being performed, different religious authorities can be leaders for specific events. It is incorrect to assume that conversion to Islam or to Christianity dealt a deathblow to indigenous traditions. While those who identify as practitioners of traditional African religions are often in the minority, many who identify as Muslims or Christians are involved in traditional religions to one degree or another. Even within a single ethnic group or clan, there are often highly contested and even opposing stories or viewpoints when it comes to creation accounts, thus allowing for flexibility and hermeneutic creativity. 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. But this was not an African thing. 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. As in the Muslim pilgrimage, it is a solemn journey to the hilltop. Elders, priests, and priestesses have served as guardians of the sacred traditions. Once again, this is far from the truth. Examples are mobile innovations such as Flutterwave, Sproxil, and Paystack. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. This is based on misconceptions that these religions are antithetical to . By Jacob K. Olupona. Igbo religion is traditional according to Mbiti (1970), in the sense that it is rooted in their culture.It is received by oral authority by one generation and transmitted by the same process to subsequent generations and, thus, has effect of being widely diffused among its adherents and of deeply coloring their consciousness. In fact, the continent is the most diverse in the world. Here Is What You Have To Know. African religions are, therefore, a praxis, and this is where the focus of study should mostly be directed. Africa is a Continent Full of Corruption, Poverty and War. The cosmological structure, however, is much more defined and precise. African spirituality more generallyand Nigerian spirituality in particularis shaped by how individuals in their daily existence make sense of their interactions with religious experience. Robert N. Bellah, Civil Religion in America,, Jacob K. Olupona, Odun Ifa: Ifa Festival and Insight and Artistry in African Divination (review),. .title-desc-wrapper .view-post {display: none !important} Not the one we saw, very clear and good article easy to understand. Although it is difficult to generalize about African traditional cosmology and worldviews, a common denominator among them is a three-tiered model in which the human world exists sandwiched between the sky and the earth (including the underworld)a schema that is not unique to Africa but is found in many of the worlds religious systems as well. On the other hand, we now know from research and archival sources that, by their very nature, sources and records of missionaries, colonial administrators, and indigenous elites, which were preserved by colonial administrations, were equally susceptible to distortion and perforation, having been written from the angle of an invented modernity that the colonizer considered superior to the worldviews of local peoples. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. The traditional religions of Africa are human in the deepest sense, because they focus on people and their everyday problems. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. Through a profound process of orality, Ifa as an interpretive tradition espouses an epistemology, metaphysics, morality, and a set of ethical principles and political ideology. To understand Africans, one must understand the African religion. These narratives come to us in the form of myths. Unlike its popular usage, in scholarly language myths are sacred stories believed to be true by those who hold on to them. Ritual practices are central to the performance of African religion. Her growing fascination led to an Emerson Foundation-funded research project this summer, titled "Demystifying African Religion." Again, this isnt true. With exception of those who take history classes, the majority of young Africans will fail to elaborately tell the story of their origin. Each has a life force but no concrete physical form. African countries like Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya are among the fastest-growing economies in the world. African leaders are also investing heavily in diversifying the economy. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. /* 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. African Vibes is a one-stop global platform that connects the African diaspora to opportunities for growth, development, and social impact in Africa. d. politics, everyday life. Indigenous Bapedi music and oral tradition have been dismissed as myth, superstition and primitive stories. A common stereotype about Africa is that the continent is poverty-stricken, full of corruption, and always at war. South Africa, as a member state of the World Health Organisation, has been set on the path of institutionalising African traditional medicine. Abstract. 2,269. Thus, it is easy to see why it seems that Africa needs help. African Traditional Religion: A Definition (1973), Omosade Awolalu in Yoruba Belief and Sacrificial Rites and John Mbiti in The Concept of God in Africa (1970) are a few examples of postcolonial scholars of religion who have resisted and denounced colonial idea that Africans do not know God. The diversity of Native American religions could fill whole libraries with descriptions of belief, tales of lore, definitions, explanations, and insights into spiritual practices and ceremonies. Traditional African religion has common themes such as a Creator or High God, positive ancestor influences as well as tricksters, and an afterlife with spirit worlds. Please confirm you want to block this member. The colonial masters sold the idea that the long-held tradition and believes of the African people is savage, inferior, and primitive. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Perhaps, it was a deliberate attempt to make Africans feel inferior about themselves. Portia Zvavahera, Cosmic Prayer, 2019, oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas. Jul 26, 2007 #1. When I was in Israel a few years ago, I stayed in a modest bed-and-breakfast inn near the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Africa is given the image of a place that is hot and sunny all year round. I suggest that, at the conceptual and theoretical levels, we begin to take this interpretive approach seriously. Among its one billion inhabitants, more than 1,000 languages are spoken, and there is a massive variety of ethnic religions. 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. In modern-day Christianity, Pentecostalism has become a major force to reckon with, indicating a sharp growth by adapting to local [] Such dismissal has been based on the misconception and assumption that indigenous Bapedi . . Especially if you have never been to Africa. Some African countries even adopted the language of their colonial masters as the Lingua Franca. This lack of knowledge as well as understanding of essentials has led to burgeoning of myths on African . Temperature varies from one country to another depending on the climate type. There are abundant natural resources scattered across the 54 countries of Africa. This article analyses the legal processes of recognising customary and religious (Muslim) marriages in South Africa's constitutional democracy. African religions command their own cultural ingenuity, integral logic, and authoritative force. About | Commentary Guidelines | Harvard University Privacy | Accessibility | Digital Accessibility | Trademark Notice | Reporting Copyright Infringements . 14. Because of this, rituals were done to prevent the birth of twins which the people believed to be an anomaly. Mary Slessor is accredited to ending this savage act in ancient Calabar, Nigeria. Take for instance the story of poverty in Africa. expressed in all the African cultures, it means that religion forms parts of African culture but not all African cultural practices are religious. For many Africans, religion is a way of life that can never be separated from the public sphere, but instead informs everything in traditional African society, including politics, art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. Many centuries ago, Ifa must have envisaged the possibility of Boko Harams Islamic extremist movement ravaging Nigeria today. For Ivy Akumu '15, it sparked an interest in the history of Christianity and, by extension, of other religions. Another crucial aspect to consider in the comparative study of African religions is the reality of the transfer of these religions across the Atlantic through the Middle Passage and transnational migration and cultural exchange. 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. Women are revered in African traditions as essential to the cosmic balance of the world. Based on sacred narratives, these traditions espoused their unique worldviews, defining cosmologies, ritual practices, sociopolitical frameworks, and ethical standards, as well as social and personal identity. Fact: Slavery is virtually a universal institution. Also, poverty is mostly concentrated among few nations in Africa or within few regions of each Nation. The range of African indigenous beliefs and practices has been referred to as African traditional religions in an effort to encompass the breadth and depth of the religious traditions on the continent.2 The diversity of the traditions themselves is tremendous, making it next to impossible for all of them to be captured in a single presentation. Our parting a week later was hard for him! Myth: Slavery is a product of capitalism. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals . Finally, it suggested that Afrocentric terminologiesis . Misconception 1: "Entire North Africa natively speaks Arabic.". Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. 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. 1. 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. . At the same time, forms of orature such as the Ifa tradition amongst the Yoruba, can form important sources for understanding the tenants and worldview of these religions that can serve as analogs to scriptures such as the Bible or the Quran. Absolute as Supreme, infinite and everlasting mind. But Ifa divination predates Western modernity. Du Bois argued . Catholic moral theologian Laurenti Magesa argues that, unlike clothes, which one can wear and take off, for Africans, religion is like skin that cannot be so easily abandoned.7 Mbiti also captures this unique aspect in the following passage: Because traditional religions permeate all the departments of life, there is no formal distinction between the sacred and the secular, between the religious and non-religious, between the spiritual and the material areas of life. . Most Africans at home and in the diaspora have made a name for themselves and praised for their contributions to society. African religions have also become a major attraction for those in the diaspora who travel to Africa on pilgrimages because of the global reach of these traditions. Photo: Pinterest. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. The terms 'traditional' and 'religion' (in its singular form) have each been targets of criticism. Benin Is Getting Back 26 Of Its Looted Artifacts from The Colonial Era. Majority of countries on the continent are . Female circumcision is a hotly contested practice condemned by many global organizations and lumped together under the category of female genital mutilation. Few have much clarity or knowledge on what is actually involved. Similarly, indigenous religion, worldviews, and rituals such as rites of passage and other religious performances are permeated by other religions, culture, and society in general. Reclaim the Ancestral Traditions of African Religion! Myth #2. 5. 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. Your email address will not be published. This article was originally published by Oxford University Press on May 16, 2014. 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