The story of Mary Slessor and the killing of twins is popular. It is a well-known fact that religion continues to play a central and vital role in the lives of African people. Mursi girl in Ethiopia. First, there is a supreme being who created the universe and every living and nonliving thing to be found within the universe. Mostly, the temperatures of these zones vary between the extremes (Either very hot or very cold). Continue with Recommended Cookies. Given our current impending ecological crisis, indigenous African religions have a great deal to offer both African countries and the world at large. Similarly, although ancestors dwell inside the earth, their activities also interject into human life, which is why they are referred to as the living dead.13 African cosmologies, therefore, portray the universe as a fluid, active, and impressionable space, with agents from each realm bearing the capabilities of traveling from one realm to another at will. 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 . 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. These oral sources are intricately interwoven into arts, political and social structure, and material culture. Truly opening my eyes on traditions, cultures and rituals that I did not know existed. Also, poverty is mostly concentrated among few nations in Africa or within few regions of each Nation. There are quite a number of revival groups and movements whose main aim is to ensure that the tenants and practice of African indigenous religion that are threatened survive. It is misleading to say "Africa" when speaking about a specific tribe, ethnic group, or country in Africa. They tend to propagate peaceful coexistence, and they promote good relations with members of other religious traditions that surround them. 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. the earlier idea was that African Traditional Religion was incompatible with monotheism. Most of these aids go into building infrastructures like schools and hospitals. 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. Religion occupies a reasonable space in the life of the traditional African/Igbo people. I did ancestry and, This is the genuine list of best African president. An Ifa song warns those embarking on the pilgrimage to be pure and those who possess witchcraft not to embark on the pilgrimage. 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. One could argue that colonization began with mental slavery. Having tried to dispel some of the misconceptions . Please note: Africa is often seen as a poor Country and one that cant do without the help of the western world. Investors are moving to take advantage of the African market. Myth: Slavery is a product of Western civilization. Another false impression often given about African religions is that women do not play any central or leadership roles in the performance of African religious traditions. Why is this important to our understanding of African indigenous religions? African traditional religion refers to the indigenousor autochthonousreligions of the African people. The African tradition of female circumcision is the ritual of the rite of passage from girlhood into the realm of womanhood. Each has a life force but no concrete physical form. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. African Religion is not Ancestor Worship. This misconception has, in some scholars, matured into prejudice and resilient skepticism about the African's ability to grasp the concept of God. They often dictate when the community honors a particular divinity or observes particular taboos. That is the case concerning issues . South Africa, Tunisia, and Kenya rank among the top countries with the best health care system in Africa. 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. 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. 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. 14. The battle between the African traditional religion and western civilization has been raging on for years. This may not be as advanced as the western world, but its definitely not as bad as the media present it. Every tribe and culture have their beliefs and way of life. .title-desc-wrapper .view-post {display: none !important} The reason for this is quite simply the misunderstanding of the relevance and foundation of the African tradition. This corrective scholarship and critical intervention helped to redefine African worldviews and spirituality and, as such, showed how African religion is pivotal to the individual and communal existence of the people. 3. 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 expression is also used almost as a technical term for a particular reading of such beliefs and practices, one that purports . Inasmuch as androcentric authority is more prominent within social structures and systems and patriarchy is more pronounced in the social order, women are considered the cornerstone of the African family system.19 The African mother is a vibrant life force, central to African religious understandings of the interrelatedness between the human and the divine, as she embodies the production and sustaining of life. In modern-day Christianity, Pentecostalism has become a major force to reckon with, indicating a sharp growth by adapting to local [] African traditional religion (ATRs) and spirituality have always been surrounded by negativity. The term "African Traditional Religion" is used in two complementary senses. This was amazingly written. 6. Many economic forecasts predict the rapid growth in the African Market. Introduction: Some Standard Misconceptions There have been widespread misconceptions about the African Traditional Religion (hereinafter ATR). 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. Lets take the killing of twins as a case study. 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. See Luc De Heusch, What Shall We Do with the Drunken King?,. African traditional medicine (ATM) has been used by African populations for the treatment of diseases long before the advent of orthodox medicine and continues to carry a part of the burden of health for the majority of the population. There are many female goddesses along with their male counterparts. That is why they have developed institutions for healing, for commerce, and for the general well-being of their own practitioners and adherents of other religions as well. What, for example, is the notion of history and the sacred in Akan thought? In certain contexts and communities we have many documented instances of the central role of goddesses as founders of traditions, builders of kingdoms, and saviors and defenders of cities and civilizationsfor example, Moremi in Yorubaland, Nzinga in Angola, and Osun in West Africa. African religions command their own cultural ingenuity, integral logic, and authoritative force. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL It is misleading to say Africa when speaking about a specific tribe, ethnic group, or country in Africa. Indigenous African religions contain a great deal of wisdom and insight on how human beings can best live within and interact with the environment. 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. The first encounters are fascinating. 9 years ago. Compared to most patriarchal traditions, where womens participation and roles are curtailed, African religions attitude toward gender inclusion is unique. Another generalization about Africa is that they are all corrupt. Our parting a week later was hard for him! Absolute as Supreme, infinite and everlasting mind. religions are considered: African Traditional Religions (ATRs) especially that which is found in sub-Saharan Africa, and Christianity, sometimes referred to under the umbrella of faith-based communities. Every life stage is important in African religions, from birth and naming, to betrothal/marriage, elderhood, and eventually death. 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! Will OAthers Follow Suit? However, the missionaries of the two foreign religions succeeded in converting some African people to the new religions. However, western culture has blurred to an extent the lines between African tribes. 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. 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. . 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. Colonization may seem to be over but for African traditional religion, it is not. The reason is partly that they want a time when, Your email address will not be published. /* 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. Women constitute a sizable number of the devotees of these traditions, just as they do in Islam and Christianity. Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. South Africa, as a member state of the World Health Organisation, has been set on the path of institutionalising African traditional medicine. The culture believes and traditions of the people of Africa is vast and should not be oversimplified in a stereotypical way. The unending political banditry and fraudulent activities by some individuals are the foundation of this stereotype. But, the bad eggs seem to get more attention. Ifas religious thought systemfriendlier to Islam than to Christianitynot only predates Islam but also engages Islam in serious conversation. Divinities and ancestors have personalized annual festivals during which devotees and adepts offer sacrificial animals, libations, and favored foods to propitiate them. Gradually, many Africans began to buy the narrative. 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. We must be careful not to give the impression that African religious lives are compartmentalized into what is often called the triple heritage (Islam, Christianity, and African traditional religion). Myth: Slavery is a product of capitalism. African spirituality more generallyand Nigerian spirituality in particularis shaped by how individuals in their daily existence make sense of their interactions with religious experience. Elders, priests, and priestesses have served as guardians of the sacred traditions. One of the more fascinating conversations that has emerged in the debate about African indigenous traditions is about the central role of women as bearers and transmitters of the traditions, and also the negotiation of gender dynamics. Hence to call African traditional religion ancestral worship would cause problems in the study of ATR. In many African countries a range of beliefs and attitudes underpin these alternative explanations. This article was originally published by Oxford University Press on May 16, 2014. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. 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