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. According to theologian Tony Evans, W. E. B. The myths held by the west about Africa are mostly founded on misinformation. Hence to call African traditional religion ancestral worship would cause problems in the study of ATR. 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. 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. 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. Reclaim the Ancestral Traditions of African Religion! Misconception 1: "Entire North Africa natively speaks Arabic.". Having tried to dispel some of the misconceptions . Several African countries have good health care systems. The culture believes and traditions of the people of Africa is vast and should not be oversimplified in a stereotypical way. 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. They often dictate when the community honors a particular divinity or observes particular taboos. 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. That is the ultimate and absolute being who originated and gives meaning to all existence.9 III. Religion also encompasses the human, cultural dimensions within faith traditions, such as how human agency shapes, influences, and complicates religious control. Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions. The traditional religions of Africa are human in the deepest sense, because they focus on people and their everyday problems. Africa is not homogenous. Understanding African Traditional Religion. 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 . Traditional African religions have gone global! 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. 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. In my view, these common misconceptions are due to ill representation of the African culture. John Mbiti, chap. 2,269. c. masculine, feminine. Each of these has its peculiar characteristics. 15. the earlier idea was that African Traditional Religion was incompatible with monotheism. 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. Africa is often seen as a poor Country and one that cant do without the help of the western world. 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. have recognized the important ways in which "African" and "religion" are western constructs involving both misconceptions and changing perceptions, especially concerning religion (Ray:2000). . Today as a minority tradition, indigenous African religions have suffered immensely from human rights abuses. c. medicine men and women. 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. . This is an incorrect representation of the continent that is so vast and with diverse political, social and economic differences. I did ancestry and, This is the genuine list of best African president. 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. Another generalization about Africa is that they are all corrupt. The more modern incarnation of this ancient African religionVoodooemerged as a unique blend of Catholic and African magical and religious rites. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Gender dynamics are important in African indigenous religions and in cultural systems, so much so that women goddesses and women-invented rituals are commonplace. 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. Portia Zvavahera, His Presence, 2013, oil-based printing ink on paper. 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. /* 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. One could argue that colonization began with mental slavery. 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. The problem is, this number is often collated for the whole of Africa, instead of each country of Africa. As a lived religion, African tradition deploys through its ritual processesparticularly rites of passage, calendrical rituals, and divinatory practicestangible material and nonmaterial phenomena to regulate life events and occurrences, in order to ensure communal well-being. To the outside world, however, far too much of . Priests, priestesses, and diviners are among the authorities who perform religious ceremonies, but the hierarchical structure is often very loose. 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. On the other hand, countries like South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia sometimes experience snowfalls. Gradually, there was a shift from ATR to Christianity. These leaders through greed and corruption ruin the image of their countries. 2. I suggest that, at the conceptual and theoretical levels, we begin to take this interpretive approach seriously. Yes, poverty is an issue in Africa. This creates fear and panic resulting in misleading assumptions about 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. About | Commentary Guidelines | Harvard University Privacy | Accessibility | Digital Accessibility | Trademark Notice | Reporting Copyright Infringements 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. 9. 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. This inaccurate assessment of African belief even affects the definition of African religion. 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. Depending on the kind of religious activity being performed, different religious authorities can be leaders for specific events. All rights reserved. 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. African dance occupies central place in cultures throughout the African continent, embodying energy and a graceful beauty flowing with rhythm. 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 survey appears to support the prevailing narrative that the most . Check Out Marriage Customs From 10 African Tribes, 15 Tribes With Surprising Bridal Traditions In Africa, 12 Surprising African Countries That Allow Dual Citizenship By Marriage, Can Foreigners Buy Land In Ghana? Religious contexts are shaped and determined by the identity of these religions. African American women are turning more and more to goddess religions and Orisa practices, as they find African religion offering them greater religious autonomy than other Western religions. Gradually, many Africans began to buy the narrative. 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. With exception of those who take history classes, the majority of young Africans will fail to elaborately tell the story of their origin. 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. However, western culture has blurred to an extent the lines between African tribes. Why is this important to our understanding of African indigenous religions? Introduction. 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. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. 7, The Spirits, in his, One must resist the structuralist temptation that views myths as static, unchanging, and simply the productions of a peoples imagination about the cosmic order. Every tribe and culture have their beliefs and way of life. 14. Will OAthers Follow Suit? 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. Apart from the different languages, every tribe and culture have their way of dressing too. There are abundant natural resources scattered across the 54 countries of Africa. For example, in many African cultures, intending couples MUST perform both traditional and white weddings. Apart from a few instances in West Africa, where women actually ruled as kings, the designation queen was not often used in isolation from the position itself (which was defined in male terms). Please follow our Commentary Guidelines when engaging in discussion on this site. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. As in the Muslim pilgrimage, it is a solemn journey to the hilltop. Not the one we saw, very clear and good article easy to understand. 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. Mursi girl in Ethiopia. Indigenous African religions contain a great deal of wisdom and insight on how human beings can best live within and interact with the environment. 2. In the Americas and the Caribbean, it is thought to be a combination of various African, Catholic and Native American traditions. 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. A primary goal of parenting is to transmit values, beliefs and ideas around lifestyles based on cultural knowledge of the adult tasks and competencies needed for appropriate functioning in society (Gershoff, 2002; Harrison, Wilson, Pine, Chon & Buriel, 1990). 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. Benin Is Getting Back 26 Of Its Looted Artifacts from The Colonial Era. 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. 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! He clarifies that there is a close relationship between all things with one reality, and no distinction between physical and spiritual, adding that meaning in life is derived from unity. 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. Because of this, rituals were done to prevent the birth of twins which the people believed to be an anomaly. Africa is the second-largest continent in the world. This article was originally published by Oxford University Press on May 16, 2014. Mudimbe's . The colonial masters sold the idea that the long-held tradition and believes of the African people is savage, inferior, and primitive. And why should our work in critical theory not begin from indigenous hermeneutics before we invoke Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, or Jrgen Habermas as platforms for interpreting our own worldview and society? The orthodox Easternize it. The idea that Africa is unsafe while statistics say otherwise shows how much misconception there is about Africa. Du Bois argued . 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. Another misbelief about Africa is that all Africans are the same. Your email address will not be published. When Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code was released, it generated both curiosity and criticism for its portrayal of Christianity. The Mursi religion is classified as Animism. Many foreigners who come to Africa become fascinated by ancestral spirits and spirits in general, as if the mystique of African religions is the only aspect of African spirituality that can hold scholarly interest.4 There are several common features of African indigenous religions that suggest similar origins and allow African religions to be treated as a single religious tradition, just as Christianity and Islam are. 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Rather, institutional religion continues to grow in relevance and in the national imagination, whether its invocations are part of conversations concerning nation building, Maitatsine and Boko Haram violence, the secularism debate, the Sharia debate, the question of Islamic banking, or the role of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The African religion was condemned by the Early European scholars, travelers, investigators and missionaries. However, African indigenous religion has not only succeeded in domesticating Islam and Christianity; in many instances, it has absorbed aspects of these two other traditions into its cosmology and narrative accounts and practices. Most are watered-down versions of what was truly a thriving civilization. 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. Africa is given the image of a place that is hot and sunny all year round. 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. 9 years ago. Absolute as Supreme, infinite and everlasting mind. Published. 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 cosmological structure, however, is much more defined and precise. It is the foundation on which the morals of pre-colonial Africa were built. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Paperback. 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. 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. Photo: Pinterest. It is incorrect to assume that conversion to Islam or to Christianity dealt a deathblow to indigenous traditions. Compared to most patriarchal traditions, where womens participation and roles are curtailed, African religions attitude toward gender inclusion is unique. expressed in all the African cultures, it means that religion forms parts of African culture but not all African cultural practices are religious. Africans are eager to learn new skills and embrace new technologies. Africa has 4 main climate zones. Foreign aid has been helpful to many small African countries that are struggling economically. 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. African religions command their own cultural ingenuity, integral logic, and authoritative force. Mary Slessor is accredited to ending this savage act in ancient Calabar, Nigeria. The terms 'traditional' and 'religion' (in its singular form) have each been targets of criticism. It is misleading to say "Africa" when speaking about a specific tribe, ethnic group, or country in Africa. Required fields are marked *. 1. In African traditional religions guidance is provided through myths, which are handed down orally. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the practice, it is important to note that not all female initiations involve circumcision, and that the rituals associated with initiation are crucial to ensuring that an individuals social position is affirmed by both family and community. Advocating for civil religion in a religiously pluralistic society does not require the erasure of conventional religious traditions. When I was in Israel a few years ago, I stayed in a modest bed-and-breakfast inn near the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. An Ifa song warns those embarking on the pilgrimage to be pure and those who possess witchcraft not to embark on the pilgrimage. Manage Settings 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. Prior to colonization, there was scarcely any form of writing in the majority of African tribes and cultures. Indigenous African religions are not based on conversion like Islam and Christianity. There are many female goddesses along with their male counterparts. Post-colonial Africa is yet to be completely free from the mental slavery and stereotype created by the colonial masters. Elders, priests, and priestesses have served as guardians of the sacred traditions. What is fascinating about this odu (Ifa text) is that it supports a key and cardinal principle of Ifa traditionthat we seek counsel first, before we perform divination (Imoram la nda ki a to da Ifa). It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. As with myths the world over, African mythology includes multiple, often contradictory, versions of the same event. History text fails to capture the depth of pre-colonial African Civilization. The oral nature of these traditions allows for a great deal of adaptability and variation within and between indigenous African religions. As oral narratives, myths are passed from one generation to another and represented and reinterpreted by each generation, who then make the events revealed in the myths relevant and meaningful to their present situation.9. 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. Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. Using the qualitative historical research . Indeed indigenous African religions have provided the blueprint for robust conversations and thinking about community relations, interfaith dialogue, civil society, and civil religion. There are key developmental projects in some African countries that would not be possible without Foreign aids. Ifa rejects the religious extremism of certain forms of radical Islam making life unbearable in todays world. The Ndembu tribe of the Democratic Republic of Congo shared a similar belief. 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. 3. They include assumptions, misconceptions, traditional or religious beliefs and beliefs about the . Responding to this erasure of African indigenous religion as a productive and generative practice, scholars rallied in opposition. John Mbiti divides spirit beings into two types, nature spirits and human spirits. There is a general misconception that the entire people of North Africa speak Arabic. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, African countries are leading as well. All Religions has truth hidden in them for those who objectively seek them through the path of the religion. 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. Corrupt government officials also capitalize on the generosity of the westerners to the point of looking like a panhandler. They held the view that twins were a symbol of excessive fertility which is a characteristic of animals. The misconception about African religion Man generally is given to misconception especially in the midst of conflicting ideas or contending issues. When Christianity and Western civilization came and interacted with African culture and religion, misconception of beliefs, values, and terms developed. Africa is host to the highest number of religious countries in the world, according to a recent Gallop poll. African Vibes is a one-stop global platform that connects the African diaspora to opportunities for growth, development, and social impact in Africa. These elements are worth exploring and espousing. Among its one billion inhabitants, more than 1,000 languages are spoken, and there is a massive variety of ethnic religions. My earlier scholarship was propelled by the insight that the ideology and rituals of Yoruba sacred kingship are what define Yoruba civil religion and, indeed, the center of Yoruba identity.15 Sociologist Robert Bellah understands civil religion as the sacred principle and central ethic that unites a people, without which societies cannot function.16 Civil religion incorporates common myths, history, values, and symbols that relate to a societys sense of collective identity. Gives meaning to all existence.9 III elders, priests, and priestesses have served guardians! 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