This is based on misconceptions that these religions are antithetical to modernity. the earlier idea was that African Traditional Religion was incompatible with monotheism. In most African cultures, history and beliefs have been explained and passed on through oral traditions and storytelling. They tend to propagate peaceful coexistence, and they promote good relations with members of other religious traditions that surround them. Myth: Slavery is a product of Western civilization. The most difficult task I face in characterizing African indigenous spiritual traditions is accounting for their diversity and complexity. There is a common saying in Africa Dont forget where you come from. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals . Ifa defines Yoruba humanity, providing responses to critical issues of its communities. To each his own. Religion also encompasses the human, cultural dimensions within faith traditions, such as how human agency shapes, influences, and complicates religious control. Africans who follow a traditional religion rely on no scriptures, canonical texts, or holy books to guide them. In his interview with the New York Times, the theologian said, The days are over when we will be carbon copies of European Christians, Europe and America westernized Christianity. 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. This unified the tribes in a way, making it seem as if they are all the same. For instance, the Asante people of Ghana see twins as sacred beings. Oct. 24, 2019. Mudimbe's . Static.COOKIE_BANNER_CAPABLE = true; Gradually, many Africans began to buy the narrative. nanseezy@gmail.com Teaching Assistant, Department of History University of Cape Coast, Ghana "The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward . The Trans-Atlantic slave trade led to the growth of African-inspired traditions in the Americas such as Candombl in Brazil, Santera in Cuba, or Vodun in Hati. To the outside world, however, far too much of . These can be found all over the Americas and Europe. Today as a minority tradition, indigenous African religions have suffered immensely from human rights abuses. 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. The traditional approach of indigenous African religions to gender is one of complementarity in which a confluenceof male and female forces must operate in harmony. Fact: Slavery is virtually a universal institution. With exception of those who take history classes, the majority of young Africans will fail to elaborately tell the story of their origin. Myth: Slavery in the non-Western world was a mild, benign, and non-economic institution. The more modern incarnation of this ancient African religionVoodooemerged as a unique blend of Catholic and African magical and religious rites. Gradually, there was a shift from ATR to Christianity. Similarly, there are others like Henry Louis Gates who has appropriated images of the Yoruba deity of Esu in his own work. Introduction. 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. 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. South Africa, Tunisia, and Kenya rank among the top countries with the best health care system in Africa. Space constraints permit me to cite only one example. The unending political banditry and fraudulent activities by some individuals are the foundation of this stereotype. .p-summary {display: none !important} Since growth and innovation come as a pair, it is impossible to say that African countries are growing without being innovative. His many publications include African Religions: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014); City of 201 Gods: Il-If in Time, Space, and the Imagination (University of California Press, 2011); and Kingship, Religion, and Rituals in a Nigerian Community: A Phenomenological Study of Ondo Yoruba Festivals (Almqvist & Wiksell, 1991), which has become a model for ethnographic research among Yoruba-speaking communities. The formation of African diasporic religions in the crucible of forced and voluntary migrations of Africans from the continent from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries led to the intermingling of African religions with Christianity and local cultures of the Transatlantic to form novel religious expressions. There are many female goddesses along with their male counterparts. Africa is a continent that is made up of 54 countries, 1.3 billion inhabitants, more than 3000 ethnic groups, and 2100 unique languages. When he heard that I came from Nigeria, he wanted to display his knowledge of Ocha tradition as a devotee of Oxhosi, God of Thunder in Afro-Brazilian heritage. 9 years ago. 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. those misconceptions and misrepresentations of the facts pre sented by Eurocent . Lets take the killing of twins as a case study. Whether it is being wrongly labelled voodoo, juju or witchcraft, indigenous African faith systems tend to be associated with darkness, animal and human sacrifices, violence and general backwardness. 3. This is a testament to the strong morals and principles of the African tradition. In fact, Africa is a vast continent encompassing both geographic variation and tremendous cultural diversity. However, since Africans are known for their excellent craftsmanship, these artifacts do tell the story of the ancient African empires. African countries are also top the list of the 2021 WHO health care index. Kofi Johnson Fayetteville State University kjohnson@uncfsu.edu. African religions are, therefore, a praxis, and this is where the focus of study should mostly be directed. 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. . As with myths the world over, African mythology includes multiple, often contradictory, versions of the same event. Myth 3: Africa Is Lacking Innovation. The term "African Traditional Religion" is used in two complementary senses. 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 . Now it is our turn to Africanize it.. 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. 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. In fact, we should not misunderstand the notoriety in some people's religious life, just like 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. expressed in all the African cultures, it means that religion forms parts of African culture but not all African cultural practices are religious. On the other hand, countries like South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls. 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. Bolaji Idowu, John Mbiti, Wande Abimbola, Benjamin Ray, Gabriel Setiloane, Laura Grillo, Aloysius Lugira, Kofi Asare Opoku, Emefie Ikenga-Metuh, Charles Long, and others attempted to imbue African traditions with the vitality, status, and identity that is now finally recognized. The battle between the African traditional religion and western civilization has been raging on for years. It is not unusual to see people living below the poverty line in nearly every country on earth. It is a well-known fact that religion continues to play a central and vital role in the lives of African people. The concerns for health, wealth, and procreation are very central to the core of African religions. They include assumptions, misconceptions, traditional or religious beliefs and beliefs about the . As scholars of the comparative study of religions in Africa, we must begin to rethink the study of African religion in the twenty-first century in order to avoid the continuous mis-assessment of the resilience of indigenous traditions. Colonization may seem to be over but for African traditional religion, it is not. Thus, many practitioners of African religion, particularly in the shrines of goddesses, are women, indicating the parity with which African religion treats gender and gender-related issues. Your email address will not be published. Header Photo:Traditional African Necklace Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Copyright 2016-2022, The Interfaith Observer | Site by FaithlabTIO is part of the Religica Theolab inside the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement (CEIE) at Seattle University, Donna Bollinger Tapped to Lead Religions for Peace-USA, Interfaith Themes in Sub-Saharan African Tales (for Kids), Interreligious Literacy and Why It Matters, Religious Literacy & the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Thou Shalt Not Hate: The Role of Religious Actors in Addressing Hate Speech, When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends, The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative: A Case Study of Religious Literacy, The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (and what Ive learned from them), Reimagining Interfaith: Taking Our Lead from Kids. If you take these reports at face value, you may start to believe that all Africans are poor. Temperature varies from one country to another depending on the climate type. 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. Fact: Slavery is older than the first human records. The expression is also used almost as a technical term for a particular reading of such beliefs and practices, one that purports . The story is the same in the political sphere. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. c. medicine men and women. Benin Is Getting Back 26 Of Its Looted Artifacts from The Colonial Era. But, the continent of Africa is far from poor. For Ivy Akumu '15, it sparked an interest in the history of Christianity and, by extension, of other religions. Traditional African religion is based on oral traditions, which means that the basic values and way of life are passed from elders to younger generation. My essay Om ptadran, an Africanist Griot: Toni Morrison and African Epistemology, Myths, and Literary Culture, in. 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. 7. Hence the misguided notion that Africans are corrupt. An Ifa song warns those embarking on the pilgrimage to be pure and those who possess witchcraft not to embark on the pilgrimage. Introduction: Some Standard Misconceptions There have been widespread misconceptions about the African Traditional Religion (hereinafter ATR). Some biblical cosmological narratives have parallels in African cosmogony, for example, when the Supreme Being summons the hosts of heaven and declares to them, Come let us make man in our own image. This same script appears in the creation of the Yoruba world, when Olodumare designates to the Orisa (deities), the job of creating the universe. The ability of the Black community to call on the spirits and ways of its ancestors is crucial to its continu Indigenous traditions continue to define the African personality. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. Before colonization, marriages were strictly traditional and depends on the customs, traditions, and believes of, Africa is a beautiful continent. As the late African historian Cheikh Anta Diop argued, matriarchy was embedded in the African way of life. Thank you for this interesting essay on African religion. 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. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. have recognized the important ways in which "African" and "religion" are western constructs involving both misconceptions and changing perceptions, especially concerning religion (Ray:2000). Required fields are marked *. 15. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL In response to this verse, Ifa defines its own pilgrimage tradition in the rituals of the climbing of Oke Itase (Ifa Hill), the home of Ifa, when the Araba of Ifa in quiet solitude leads the devotee to the top of the sacred temple of Ifa. John Mbiti divides spirit beings into two types, nature spirits and human spirits. The African tradition of female circumcision is the ritual of the rite of passage from girlhood into the realm of womanhood. Most Africans at home and in the diaspora have made a name for themselves and praised for their contributions to society. Myths, folklores proverbs therefore become the major sources of African philosophy (Jaja, 1995:28). The orthodox Easternize it. 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. It is also the most diversified continent in the world. Most are watered-down versions of what was truly a thriving civilization. This is an incorrect representation of the continent that is so vast and with diverse political, social and economic differences. 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. a. newly birthed babies. Religions such as Candombl, Vodun, Santeria, and the Caribbean and Orisa tradition historically came about from African transactions with the new world and the old Euro-Christian worldview. Foreign aid has been helpful to many small African countries that are struggling economically. Having tried to dispel some of the misconceptions . Let's begun by saying that ATR, refer to the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Africans. One reason that might account for the gap in African history is the unavailability of any written document. Initially, Christian missionaries and propagators of Islam assumed that indigenous religion would eventually fizzle out, while Islam and Christianity would dominate the African religious scene. More so, myths encode the traditional settings of the African and their belief system. So, why was it the negative stories about killing of twins that were promoted? Each ceremony denotes passage from one social status to another and is an opportunity to celebrate the initiates on their journey. For example, in my local language . Connecting With Your Ancestors (African Spirituality Beliefs and Practices) Monique Joiner Siedlak. The Mursi religion is classified as Animism. The colonial masters sold the idea that the long-held tradition and believes of the African people is savage, inferior, and primitive. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Get it as soon as Wednesday, Oct 26. Such scholars stereotyped African religionand African peoples themselvesas primitive social forms, part of a lower social order. Thank you. 4.8 out of 5 stars. One of my favorite Ifa narratives acknowledges to Yoruba Muslims that climbing Mount Arafat was the most significant act of the hajj. By civil religion, I have in mind not only institutional religion and the beliefs and practices as they relate to the sacred and transcendent, but also practices not always defined as religious, including the rites of passage offered by our various youth brigades, and also the values of communalism and national sacrifice. I suggest that, at the conceptual and theoretical levels, we begin to take this interpretive approach seriously. Indigenous traditions, however, did not capitulate to these forms, but, rather, creatively domesticated the new faiths, absorbing new rituals and tenets into their own belief systems and responding to the exogenous modernity in its wake. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. African Vibes is a one-stop global platform that connects the African diaspora to opportunities for growth, development, and social impact in Africa. When Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code was released, it generated both curiosity and criticism for its portrayal of Christianity. Unlike other world religions that have written scriptures, oral sources form the core of indigenous African religions. The Ndembu tribe of the Democratic Republic of Congo shared a similar belief. 2. African traditional religion (ATRs) and spirituality have always been surrounded by negativity. Copyright 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College. The terms 'traditional' and 'religion' (in its singular form) have each been targets of criticism. Therefore, this article will explore African spirituality, traditional religion, culture and the present way of life. Through their mixing, a new kind of religion emerged, forming the basis for what we have come to know as African diaspora religion. Voodoo is a religion that originates in Africa. 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. Courtesy Of Stevenson, Amsterdam/Cape Town/Johannesburg. Some African countries even adopted the language of their colonial masters as the Lingua Franca. Here are some 10 myths about Africa and Africans that are either an exaggeration of the fact or based on misguided information. To understand Africans, one must understand the African religion. As Jaco Beyers puts it, the African understanding of religion is an understanding of the connectedness of all things. 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? Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. 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. Africa is poor. Published. The idea that Africa is unsafe while statistics say otherwise shows how much misconception there is about Africa. African Religion is not Ancestor Worship. For one thing, a sizable number of African myths deal with events considered to have actually happened as narrated by the people themselves or as reformulated into symbolic expressions of historical events. Examples are mobile innovations such as Flutterwave, Sproxil, and Paystack. Apart from the different languages, every tribe and culture have their way of dressing too. Prior to colonization, there was scarcely any form of writing in the majority of African tribes and cultures. The African religion was condemned by the Early European scholars, travelers, investigators and missionaries. Such an approach should endeavor to provide not only an awareness of sociocultural contexts but also to narrate the historical dimensions of these traditions. The problem of Africa isnt wealth but the unequal distribution of wealth. These one-sided stories or reports are among the major roots of stereotypes and myths about Africa. Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions. In many African communities, ____________ are qualified to navigate the delicate moral and social balance between the good and evil forces exerted on the human realm. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals . Also, about 30 % of the earths remaining mineral resources are in Africa. On the other hand, the Yoruba people encountered Europeans in dialogue rather than monologue. 5. The reason for this is quite simply the misunderstanding of the relevance and foundation of the African tradition. 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. African leaders are also investing heavily in diversifying the economy. These are also stories about how the world was put into place by a divine power, usually a supreme god, but in collaboration with other lesser supernatural beings or deities, who act on his behalf or aid in the creative process.11 The mechanisms and techniques of creation vary from story to story and from one tradition to another. Women constitute a sizable number of the devotees of these traditions, just as they do in Islam and Christianity. 9. 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. . African religions do not rely on a single individual to be a religious leader, but rather depend on an entire community to make the religion work. 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. Giving opportunity to stereotypes like Africa are poor and Africa is corrupt. Women play a key role in the practice of these traditions, and the internal gender relations and dynamics are very profound. Earlier researchers and missionaries portrayed them often as primitive and barbaric and ridiculed them [I give many examples in my book: White Fathers in Colonial Central Africa - a Critical Examination of V.Y. Reclaim the Ancestral Traditions of African Religion! These traditions are not religious principles, but a cultural identity that is passed on through stories, myths and tales. Lilith Dorsey. Many economic forecasts predict the rapid growth in the African Market. 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. Courtesy of Stevenson, Amsterdam/Cape Town/Johannesburg. Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. It all depends on the time of the year. 11. Yes, poverty is an issue in Africa. Morocco and Algeria are typical examples of this misconception. 1 While, officially, statistics suggest that African . This lack of knowledge as well as understanding of essentials has led to burgeoning of myths on African . Little wonder John Mbiti, a famous African theologian said, Wherever the African is, there is his religion. Gender dynamics are important in African indigenous religions and in cultural systems, so much so that women goddesses and women-invented rituals are commonplace. African Traditional Religion is the traditional religion of the African people before the coming of Islam and Christianity. Esu was represented as a stone mound in the front yard of ancient Yoruba compounds. For this reason, in many parts of Africa, the communal aspects of such rituals have been retained, due to their salience, while the circumcision practice has been dispensed with altogether, due to the health risks associated with it; this is the case among the Maasai in Kenya and in Somali culture, both in Djibouti and Somalia. African religions, religious beliefs and practices of the peoples of Africa. Marriage customs in Africa vary from one tribe to another. This is far from the truth. Nature spirits are associated with objects seen in nature, such as mountains, the sun, or trees, or natural forces such as wind and rain. Narratives about the creation of the universe (cosmogony) and the nature and structure of the world (cosmology) provide a useful entry to understanding African religious life and worldviews. This statement isnt true. Her growing fascination led to an Emerson Foundation-funded research project this summer, titled "Demystifying African Religion." Religious contexts are shaped and determined by the identity of these religions. Myth #2. All Religions has truth hidden in them for those who objectively seek them through the path of the religion. The diviner, therefore, is also a counselor, psychologist, medicine man or woman, and the spiritual guardian of villages and towns. Ritual enables supernatural beings to bless individuals and the community with sustenance, prosperity, and fecundity.14 Rites of passage, such as initiation ceremonies, are rituals marking personal transitions recognized and celebrated by the community. Theres a globally shared perspective of Africa being full of diseases. Compared to most patriarchal traditions, where womens participation and roles are curtailed, African religions attitude toward gender inclusion is unique. Among its one billion inhabitants, more than 1,000 languages are spoken, and there is a massive variety of ethnic religions. Perhaps this is because the traditional African system was dependent on the oral form of communication. Acceptably, this was a cruel act of ignorance, but like many other stories about African countries, this story is often generalized. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, African countries are leading as well. 8. 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. However, some African nations have become addicted to these aids and seem unable to function without them. Truly opening my eyes on traditions, cultures and rituals that I did not know existed. It is a well-known fact that religion continues to play a central and vital role in the lives of African people. 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March 11, 2023lindsey stevenson daughter of mclean stevenson