African traditional women and male priests, Togo, West Africa, 2006.

African indigenous religion refers to cultural, religious or spiritual manifestations specific to the continent of Africa and Africans. There is some controversy as to whether racism negatively impacts the practice and academic discussions about traditional African religion. The debate stems from the fact that although European religions are practiced by people of all ethnicities, many theologians and scholars try to exclude dialog concerning other cultures/ethnicities who practice African traditional religion. And since many African Religions are older than existing Western religions, some African scholars argue that ignoring this fact is not only inaccurate, but inherently racist. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

African indigenous beliefs and practices are sometimes referred to as animism by western anthropologists, a term sometimes considered non-descriptive and prejorative. Africans use terms that refer to the ancestral names of their specific religious traditions i.e., Vodou, Akhan, Palo Mayombe, Mmami Wata, etc.,. Many of these traditions date back hundreds (if not thousands) of years, and are considered by their adherents to be of the same cosmologcial, ritual and theological complexity as the so-called major Western and Eastern religious spiritual systems. For example, although African traditionalists almost always acknowledge the existence of a high God or Goddess who created the universe, they perceive this God as distant. In real practice, African traditional religion is not unlike traditional religions in most cultures (e.g., Indian, Greek, or Roman): God is worshipped through consultation or communion with lesser deities and ancestral spirits. The deities and spirits are honoured through libation, sacrifice (of animals, vegetables, or precious metals) and, in some cases, trokosi. The will of God is sought by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, or divination. Animism is a belief system that does not accept the separation of body and soul, of spirit from matter. ... Voodoo redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Palo Monte. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a god. Many cultures have goddesses. ... Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Libation scene, Greek red figure cup, c. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ritual servitude. ... This article is about the religious practice of divination. ...

In the religion there is an awareness of the cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. It embraces such natural phenomena as ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. African traditional religion is not static, not even within its consciousness of natural rhythms. It incorporates the ever changing actual experience, as, for example, Sango, god of Lightning assuming responsibility for modern electrical processes.

In the proceeding article, some general themes common to many African religions will be discussed, although it must be remembered that African religions are by no means homogeneous, which isn't surprising, considering humans, as a species of African origin, probably had religion in Africa longer than in elsewhere.

Deities

Many indigenous African societies worship one God (Chukwu Nyame, Olodumare, etc.), and some recognize a dual or complementary twin God such as Mawu-Lisa. This they do by paying obeissance to the God through lesser deities (Ogoun, Da,Agwu, Esu, Mbari, Da, etc.). Some societies also deify entities like the earth, the sun, the sea, lightening, or Nature. Each deity has its own priest or priestess. Chukwu is the god of the Igbo, the supreme deity in traditional Igbo mythology. ... The Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa believed in a supreme being called Nyame, whose sons were lesser gods. ... In Yoruba mythology, Oloddumare is a creative force that drove the establishment of existence and the entire universe. ... Ogum In Haitian Vodun and Yoruba mythology, Ogoun (or Ogun, Ogum, Ogou) is a loa and orisha, who presides over fire, iron, hunting, politics and war. ... Look up da in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Esu is an alternate spelling for the Yoruban god Eshu ESU is also an abbreviation for: East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania The English-Speaking Union Electrostatic unit, an alternate name for the statcoulomb Electrical Safety Upgrade Elite Strike Unit Emergency Service Unit Enormous State University Electrosurgical Unit, an alternate name... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ... . ... Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ...

Duality of self and gods

Most indigenous African religions have dualistic conceptions of the person. In Igbo language a person is said to be composed of body and soul. In Yoruba language, however, there seem to be tripartite conceptions: in addition to body and soul, there is said to exist "spirit" or ori, an independent entity that mediates or otherwise interacts between the body and the soul. The term dualism is the state of being dual, or having a twofold division. ... Igbo is a language spoken in Nigeria by around 18 million people (1999 WA), the Igbo, especially in the southeastern region once identified as Biafra. ... With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual, and contrasts with soul, personality and behavior. ... The soul, acording to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self-aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. ... Yoruba (native name ede Yorùbá, the Yoruba language) is a dialect continuum of West Africa with over 22 million speakers. ... This article discusses the number three. ... The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (breath). // The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath (compare spiritus asper), but also soul, courage, vigor, ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow). In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα), pneuma (Hebrew (רוח) ruah), as... Ori may refer to: Ori is one of the Dwarves named in Norse Mythology (Völuspá 10–16 contains a list of dwarves) List of Middle-earth Dwarves#Ori, a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkiens fictional universe of Middle-earth. ...

Some religious systems have a specific devil-like figure (for example, Ekwensu) who is believed to be the opposite of God. This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ...

Virtue and vice

Virtue in African traditional religion is often connected with the communal aspect of life. Examples includes such social behaviors as respect for parents and elders, appropriately raising children, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy and courageous.

In some ATRs, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person or a community lives. For the Kikuyu, according to Mbiti, God, acting through the lesser deities, is believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one's "conscience." But so could the Devil and the messengers. In indigenous African religions, such as the Azande religion, a person is said to have a good or bad conscience depending on whether he does the bidding of the God or the Devil. The Azande (plural, Zande in singular) are a tribe of north central Africa. ...

Religious offices

African traditional religion does not have a named and known founder, nor a sacred scripture. It is very ancient and oral.

Priest

In some societies, these are intermediaries between individuals or whole communities and specific deities. Variously called Dibia, Babalawo, etc., the priest is usually presider at the altar of a particular deity. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Iyanifa. ...

Healer

Practice of medicine is an important part of indigenous religion. Priests are reputed to have professional knowledge of illness (pathology), surgery, and pharmacology (roots, barks, leaves and herbs). Some of them are also reputed to diagnose and treat mental and psychological problems.

Rainmaker

They are believed to be capable of bringing about or stopping rain, by manipulating the environment meteorologically (e.g., by burning particular kinds of woods or otherwise attempting to influence movement of clouds). Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo with a polar low visible at the top of the image. ...

Holy places and headquarters of religious activities

While there are human made places (altars, shrines, temples, tombs), very often sacred space is located in nature (trees, groves, rocks, hills, mountains, caves, etc.).

These are some of the important centers of religious life: Nri-Igbo, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin, Uida, Nsukka, Akan, Kanem-Bornu, Mali, and Igbo-Ukwu. Nri, in Nigeria, was a center of learning, religion, and commerce in pre-colonial West Africa and beyond. ... A bronze cast depicting the head of an Ooni, or king, from 1100s-1200s Ife. ... Oyo (Ọyọ in Yoruba orthography, pronounced ) is the name for a Yoruba city in modern-day Nigeria and also the loose empire which that city controlled in the 17th and 18th centuries. ... Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ... An old town in the Republic of Benin, West Africa. ... Nsukka is a town in South-East Nigeria in Enugu state, a former centre of the palm oil trade. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Liturgy and rituals

Rituals often occur according to the life cycle of the year. There are herding and hunting rituals as well as those marking the rhythm of agriculture and of human life. There are craft rituals, such as in smithing. There are rituals on building new homes, on the assumption of leadership, etc.

Individuality

Each deity has an its own rituals, including choice objects of sacrifice; preference for male or female priest-officer; time of day, week, month, or year to make required sacrifice; or specific costumes for priest and supplicant on ritual occasions.

Patronage

Some deities are perpetual patrons of specific trades and guilds. For example, in Haitian Vodou, Ogoun, the deity of metal, is patron of all professions that use metals as primary material of craft. Voodoo redirects here. ... Ogum In Haitian Vodun and Yoruba mythology, Ogoun (or Ogun, Ogum, Ogou) is a loa and orisha, who presides over fire, iron, hunting, politics and war. ...

Libation

The living honour ancestors by pouring a libation (paying homage) by giving them first "taste" of drink before the living consume it.

Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery

These are important, different but related, parts of beliefs about interactions between the natural and the supernatural, seen and unseen, worlds. Magicians, witches, and sorcerers are said to have the skills to bring about or manipulate the relations between the two worlds. Abuse of this ability is widely condemned. John Dee and Edward Kelley evoking a spirit: Elizabethans who claimed magical knowledge A magician is a person skilled in the mysterious and hidden art of magic, which can be described as either the act of entertaining with tricks that are in apparent violation of natural law, such as those... This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ... A sorcerer or sorceress ( Old French sorcier, fem. ...

Secret societies

They are important part of indigenous religion. Among traditional secret societies are hunting societies whose members are taught not only the physical methods, but also respect for the spiritual aspect of the hunt and use of honourable magical means to obtain important co-operation from the animal hunted.

Members are supposed to have been initiated into, and thus have access to, occultic powers hidden to non-members. Well known secret societies are Egbo, Nsibidi, Mau Mau, etc. Nsibidi is a traditional system of writing (alphabets) indigenous to West Africa. ... The Mau Mau Uprising was an insurgency by Kenyan rebels against the British colonial administration from 1952 to 1960. ...

Possession

Some spirits and deities are believed to "mount" some of their priests during special rituals. The possessed goes into a trance-like state, sometimes accompanied by speaking in "tongues" (i.e., uttering messages from the spirit that need to be interpreted to the audience). Possession is usually induced by drumming and dancing. Spiritual possession is a concept of many religions and tales, where it is believed that a demon, or disincarnate being, may take temporary control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behaviour. ... Drumming may refer to: the act of playing the drums or other percussion instruments Drumming, a musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1971 for percussion ensemble This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ...

Mythology

Many indigenous religions have elaborate stories that explain how the world was created, how culture and civilization came about, or what happens when a person dies. Other mythologies are meant to explain or enforce social conventions on issues relating to age, gender, class, or religious rituals. Myths are popular methods of education: they communicate religious knowledge and morality while amusing or frightening those who hear or read them. Mythologies is the title of a book by Roland Barthes (ISBN 0374521506), published in 1957. ... For other uses, see Myth. ...

Sources

• Information presented here was gleaned from World Eras Encyclopaedia, Volume 10, edited by Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure (New York: Thomson-Gale, 2003), in particular: E.C. Eze "Religion and Philosophy," pp. 275-314.

Further reading

• Mbiti, John [1969] (1990). African Religions and Philosophy. African Writers Series, Heinemann. ISBN 0-435-89591-5. 
• Wade Abimbola, ed. and trans. Ifa Divination Poerty (New York: NOK, 1977).
• Ulli Beier, ed. The Origins of Life and Death: African Creation Myths (London: Heinemann, 1966).
• Herbert Cole, Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri Igbo (Bloomington: Indiana University press, 1982).
• J. B. Danquah, The Akan Doctrine of God: A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion, second edition (London: Cass, 1968).
• Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dietterlen, Le Mythe Cosmogonique (Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie, 1965).
• Rems Nna Umeasigbu, The Way We Lived: Ibo Customs and Stories (London: Heinemann, 1969).
• Sandra Barnes, Africa's Ogun: Old World and New (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989).
• Segun Gbadagesin, African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Conteporary African Realities (New York: Peter Lang, 1999).
• Judith Gleason, Oya, in Praise of an African Goddess (Harper Collins, 1992).
• Bolaji Idowu, God in Yoruba Belief (Plainview: Original Publications, rev. and enlarged ed., 1995)
• Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature and the African World (Cambridge University Press, 1976).