The traditional African religions or traditional beliefs and practices of African people are a set of highly diverse beliefs that includes various ethnic religions. Traditionally, as now, the Kikuyu were monotheists, believing in a unique and omnipotent God whom they called Ngai. Diviner (also known as priest) are also sought for their wisdom as counselors in life and for their knowledge of herbal medicine. Reincarnation in African Traditional Religion By Andrew Rooke. West and Central African religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies or divinatory rites in which members of the community, overcome by force (or ashe, nyama, etc. Traditional African beliefs and cultural practices cannot be fully discussed without the subject of religion being highlighted. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. Gods were either self-created or evolved from spirits or ancestors which got worshiped by the people. "Kings, Magic & Medicine". Kenya is located in East Africa and borders Somalia to the northeast, Ethiopia to the north, Sudan to the northwest, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Ancestors can offer advice and bestow good fortune and honor to their living dependents, but they can also make demands, such as insisting that their shrines be properly maintained and propitiated. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs [39], For example, in the Serer religion, one of the most sacred stars in the cosmos is called Yoonir (the Star of Sirius). Ngai is the creator and giver of all things, ‘the Divider of the Universe and Lord of Nature’. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonising nature with the supernatural. In traditional African societies, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. All Rights Reserved. With a long farming tradition, the Serer high priests and priestesses (Saltigue) deliver yearly sermons at the Xoy Ceremony (divination ceremony) in Fatick before Yoonir’s phase in order to predict winter months and enable farmers to start planting. 3 Leo Frobenius, The Voice of Africa, Vol. Peavy, D., (2009). The Traditional Religions of Africa. Most African religions acknowledge the existence of a supreme deity who created the world and then, in most cases, retired from dealing with earthly affairs. INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION. Some of the African traditional religions are those of the Serer of Senegal, the Yoruba and Igbo of Nigeria, and the Akan of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. to tag the traditional religion of Africans and believe […] Some African religions adopted different views through the influence of Islam or even Hinduism.[36]. Universality must surely be one key we have to the verity of any doctrine. Rites of Passage – In the rites of passage, African traditional religions played a significant role. In many cases, Africans who have converted to other religions have still kept up their traditional customs and practices, combining them in a syncretic way. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. The quest for health and healing, which is basic to all cultures and people, is also a central need of the African population. It is the most popular for decoration and can often be seen printed on cloth or stamped on pottery.The rapid spread of Pentecostal Christianity and fundamentalist Islam has greatly affected the role of indigenous religion in African society. In many traditional African religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. It is impossible to generalize about concepts in African religions because they are ethno-religions, being determined by each ethnic group in the continent. Since Africa is a large continent with many ethnic groups and cultures, there is not one single technique of casting divination. Examples include social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, raising children appropriately, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy, and courageous. [15], Followers of traditional African religions are also found around the world. 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. For the Kikuyu, according to their primary supreme creator, Ngai, acting through the lesser deities, is believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one’s conscience. [25], Some researchers, including historical ethnolinguist Christopher Ehret, suggest that certain monotheistic concepts, such as the belief in a creator god or force (next to other gods, deities and spirits) are ancient and indigenous among peoples of the Niger-Congo ethnolinguistic family (of much of West Africa and Central Africa) and date to the beginning of their history, in a form substantially different from the monotheism found in Abrahamic religions. Traditional African religions are the traditions of the religious groups in Africa.After Christianity and Islam, they are the third-biggest religious group in Africa.These religions still stick to their traditions. African elders offering a bull as sacrifice to God. The possessed are referred to as “horsemen,” because they are … The purpose of this is to help to orient a person who would like to work in the context of Africa. [33] This includes also nature, elementary and animal spirits. He summarizes that traditional African religions are not only religions, but a worldview, a way of life. Traditional healers are common in most areas, and their practices include a religious element to varying degrees. Traditional Niger-Congo religion also included polytheistic and animistic elements. Thunder is interpreted to be the movement of God, and lightning is God’s weapon by means of which he clears the way when moving from one sacred place to another. These included marriage rituals which entered adulthood, birth and death. Religious persecution. ), are excited to the point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic or driving drumming or singing. There are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. Today, around 10 percent of the African population still practice some form of traditional religion. These figures represent peo-ple who primarily follow African traditional religion; however, Gods and Spirits. He gave birth to the human community, created the first Kikuyu communities, and provided them with all the resources necessary for life: land, rain, plants and animals. The practice of casting may be done with small objects, such as bones, cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood. Main article: Persecution … Some sacred or holy locations for traditional religions include Nri-Igbo, the Point of Sangomar, Yaboyabo, Fatick, Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin City, Ouidah, Nsukka, Kanem-Bornu, Igbo-Ukwu, and Tulwap Kipsigis, among others. The Kenyan scholar John Mbiti writes that a belief in the continuation of life after death for African peoples "does not constitute a hope for a future and better life. Some religious and non-religious scholars alike have always highlighted that of all the races in the world that God created the African is said to be the most notoriously religious. 1. Ngai, says one legend, made the mountain his resting place while on an inspection tour of earth. ), World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized here, "Ancient African Religion Finds Roots In America", "The Need to Re-Conceptualize African Traditional Religion", The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800, Black God: the Afroasiatic roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions, Sayings of the Ancient One - Wisdom from Ancient Africa, culture-exchange.blog/animism-modern-africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Traditional_African_religions&oldid=997452558, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with dead external links from October 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Manjonjo Healers of Chitungwiza of Zimbabwe, Information presented here was gleaned from, Chidester, David. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." Today, Christianity and Islam are religions practiced by the majority of people living in Africa. [23][24][20] San religion is generally non-theistic but a belief in a Spirit or Power of existence which can be tapped in a trance-dance; trance-healers. INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION. [32], Followers of traditional African religions pray to various spirits as well as to their ancestors. The symbol can be found throughout Ghana. The three main religious traditions—African traditional religion, Christianity, and Islam—constitute the triple religious heritage of the African continent. These secondary spirits serve as intermediaries between humans and the primary God, also referred to as the Supreme Deity. Traditional African religions embrace natural phenomena – ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought – and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Today, Christianity and Islam are religions practiced by the majority of people living in Africa. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic, and traditional medicine. The Semitic Abrahamic religion of Judaism is comparable to the latter world view. Introduction Africa today suffers from what Kiogora (1993) refers to as the ‘Phenomenon of religious … This pursuit for Africans has religious implications because, as it is widely known, the Africans are notoriously religious 1 and have a holistic worldview. European and other foreign settlers brought most of these religions. Virtue in traditional African religion is often connected with carrying out obligations of the communal aspect of life. Since Africa is a large continent with many ethnic groups and cultures, there is not one single technique of casting divination. African Traditional Religion is a thriving scholarly business, but a serious disconnect exists between contributions that celebrate a generalized African Traditional Religion and those that describe particular religions and aspects of religion on … There are common beliefs in Africa although the continent is a large with many different … The practice of casting may be done with small objects, such as bones, cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood. In some traditional African religions, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person or a community lives. God is also known as Mungu, Murungu, or Mulungu (a variant of a word meaning God, which is found as far south as the Zambesi of Zambia), and is sometimes given the title Mwathani or Mwathi (the greatest ruler), which comes from the word gwatha, meaning to rule or reign with authority. The historiography of African religions and religions in Africa presents a remarkable shift from the study of 'Africa as Object' to 'Africa as Subject', thus translating the subject from obscurity into the global community of the academic study of religion. S. Mbiti, John (1991). There are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_African_religions The country straddles the equator, covering a total of 224,961 square miles (582,600 square kilometers; roughly twice the size of the state of Nevada). The way a person or a community lives … ] Quran was written in the States along Gulf! 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