It has been suggested that African Traditional Religion be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

African religions are distinct to African ethnic groups. In certain respects the term is awkward as traditional African religions have a wide cultural variety that makes virtually any overall statement a sweeping generalization, but the majority of African religions do share some commonalities. There is no universal aspect found in all African religions. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...

Not all people of African descent are known to follow these gods, however. Many tribes in Africa have been converted to Islam and the Nation of Islam group tries to convert Africans to Islam(Islam, it should be noted, is not an African religion). There is also a substantial Christian population and in the South this is often larger than the Muslim population. The Gospels would seem to indicate Jesus did spend part of his childhood in Africa so whether it is a non-native religion is sometimes debated. Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ...

Animism

Main article: Animism

They are deemed to follow animism. Many of these religions teach a belief in a single supreme god and many lesser gods. At times these gods have a totem. Animals are worshipped as the earthly representative of certain gods. Each lesser god is given a specific function and power to be able to control a particular area of the worshipper's life. Although they place one God above a host of lesser gods or semi-divine figures that High God maybe relatively uninvolved in life. As in animism nature is full of spirits. The idea of animal sacrifice is widespread to ensure divine protection and generosity. Also to gratify or placate spirits and the forces of nature. In religion, the term Animism is used in a number of ways. ... In religion, the term Animism is used in a number of ways. ... A totem is any natural or supernatural object, being or animal which has personal symbolic meaning to an individual and to whose phenomena and energy one feels closely associated with during ones life. ...

The ancestors

Main article: Ancestor veneration

Many of the people in Africa share a belief in ancestral spirits. These ancestors can be honored and good figures who have a kindly role as spirits. Still in certain cases the ancestors can be mischievous or outright destructive. In Southern Africa they placed emphasis on exorcism and this had some role elsewhere as well. Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ...

Spiritual Harming and Healing

Humans as well are sometimes deemed to have the power to heal or harm. This power can involve aspects we would deem non-spiritual. For example people who use herb lore to heal or poison to harm. (Or sometimes both to different people.) However at times these involve purely spiritual notions. Certain people are deemed to have strong connection to the spirits. They can use this for benefit or for harm. Among various traditional African religions twisted sorcerers or witches are to this day feared. Although it should be mentioned "witch", in many cultures, is a blanket term which actually does include those who actually commit poisonings or torture. Although it should be stated this is sometimes not the case and false allegations of witchcraft have at times damaged the image of traditional African faiths.

Rituals

There are often rites of passage to move from childhood to adulthood, and from the land of the living to the land of the dead.

Intermixture with other religions

Some of these religions have been syncretized with Folk Catholicism in the Western Hemisphere, or with Islam in Africa itself. This emphasis on lesser gods in syncretized Christianity can be seen in aspects of the Celestial Church of Christ's view of angels and in Islam some of the African Sufi reverence for saints or views of angels may have adopted African elements. Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ... Folk catholicism are varieties of catholicism deviating from official Roman Catholic Church doctrine. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ) is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the Quran. ... Celestial Church of Christ is an African Intiated Christian group originating with Samuel Bilehou Oschoffa from 1947-1950. ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is an ethereal being found in many religions, whose duties are to assist and serve God. ...

Syncretic religions based on African religions include Voodoo, Santeria, Candomble, Umbanda, Macumba, Quimbanda, Abacua, Palo Mayombe, Palo Monte, etc. In the Americas African derived religions are generally derived from the traditional religions of West Africa and the Congo. This is due to the Atlantic coast of Africa being the main source of the Atlantic slave trade. A large sequined Voodoo drapo or flag by the artist George Valris The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou, Voudou, or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based spiritist-animist religious tradition. ... Lukumí or Regla de Ocha, most widely known as Santeria, is a set of related religious systems that fuse Catholic beliefs with traditional Yorùbá beliefs. ... Iya Nass - Terreiro da Casa Branca Candombl is an Afro-American religion practised chiefly in Brazil but also in adjacent countries. ... Originating in Brazil in the early 20th century, Umbanda is a religion that blends Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritualism and Afro-Brazilian traditions. ... Macumba is an African word (Bantu) meaning a musical instrument and it was the name used for all Bantu religious practices mainly in Rio de Janeiro Afro-Brazilian . ... Quimbanda is an Afro-American traditional religion found in Brazil, mostly in urban areas (Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Maranhão, Pernambuco). ... Abacuá describes a group of afro-cuban people of the carabalí as well as their style of music and their percussion instruments. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Palo Monte. ... Palo Monte, or Regla de Palo Monte, is one of the main currents in Cuban popular religion. ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... The Atlantic slave trade was the purchase and transport of black Africans into bondage and servitude in the New World. ...

The Lord's Resistance Army of Acholiland in northern Uganda combined the Catholic use of rosaries and making communion with the Islamic practice of praying towards Mecca. In addition, he retained local spiritist beliefs regarding jogi; personal spirits. The conflict forces many civilians to live in internally displaced person (IDP) camps. ... Categories: Stub | Uganda ... Our Lady of Lourdes - Mary appearing at Lourdes with Rosary Beads The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, crown of roses), an important and traditional devotion of the Catholic Church consisting of a set of prayer beads and a system of set prayers. ... The Eucharist or Communion or The Lords Supper, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus instruction, recorded in the New Testament[1], to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. ... CITY OF TRASH ... Spiritism is a philosophical doctrine established in France in the mid 19th Century by the French educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, under the pseudonym Allan Kardec. ...

External links

• BBC
• Afrikaworld.net
• Text of "Atoms and Ancestors", considered a classic study
• Stanford Page

http://www.scn.org/rdi/kw-gods.htm