Portal:Traditional African religions

Welcome to the Traditional African religions portal

Introduction Local ceremony in Benin featuring a zangbeto The beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse, and include various ethnic religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and are passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, and include beliefs in spirits and higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme being, as well as the veneration of the dead, and use of magic and traditional African medicine. Most religions can be described as animistic with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural. Unlike Abrahamic religions, African traditional religions are not idealisations, and they seek to come to terms with reality as it is. They generally seek to explain the reality of personal experience by spiritual forces which underpin orderly group life, contrasted by those that threaten it. (Full article...) Selected article The Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with many deities believed to be present in, and in control of, the world. Rituals such as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, the rulers of Egypt, believed to possess a divine power by virtue of their position. They acted as intermediaries between their people and the gods, and were obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at, the order of the cosmos. The state dedicated enormous resources to Egyptian rituals and to the construction of the temples. Selected biography Molefi Kete Asante, (born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an African-American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies and communication studies. He is currently (as of 2019) professor in the Department of Africology at Temple University, where he founded the PhD program in African-American Studies. He is president of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies. Selected images An early-20th-century Igbo medicine man in Nigeria, West Africa. Credit: Ukabia For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African religions, African divination, Traditional African medicine and Igbo religion. Serer representation of the universe. The three worlds : the invisible world, the terrestrial world and the nocturnal world. Credit: Henry Gravrand - La civilisation sereer : Pangool For more about this picture, see Serer creation myth and Serer religion (A ƭat Roog). Traditional healer of South Africa performing a divination by reading the bones. Credit: User:FastilyClone (Fastily) For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African religions and African divination Vodun altar with several fetishes in Abomey, Benin (West Africa). Credit: Dominik Schwarz More about this picture on West African Vodun... The Senegambian stone circles (Wassu section) believed by archaeologists and historians to be built by the Serer people of the Senegambia region. The Senegambia stone circles are the largest concentration of stone circles seen anywhere in the world according to UNESCO. They are sacred burial grounds and a place of ritual offerings (kuur in Serer). Credit: Atamari For more about this picture, see Senegambian stone circles, Mummification and Cult of the Upright Stones in Serer religion, and Serer ancient history. An Igbo Ukwu bronze ceremonial vessel made around the 9th century AD. Credit: Ukabia More about this picture on Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu... An early 20th century Yoruba divination board. Credit: Tamsier For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African religions and African divination The Mbot mask. Symbol of the Serer peoples' Ndut initiation rite. Credit: Tamsier More about the Ndut rite of passage.... Bakongo masks from the Kongo Central. In traditional African religions, masks play an important part in many ritual ceremonies. Credit: Ndoto ya Afrika For more about this picture, see Practices and rituals in traditional African religions, Traditional African masks, African art and African sculpture. The star Yoonir, symbol of the Universe in Serer religion and Cosmogony. The peak of the star (top point) represents the Supreme Deity (Roog). The other four points represent the cardinal points of the Universe. The crossing of the lines ("bottom left" and "top right", and "top left" and "bottom right") pinpoints the axis of the Universe that all energies pass. The top point is "the point of departure and conclusion, the origin and the end". Among the Serers who cannot read or write the Latin alphabet, it is very common for them to sign official documents with the star of Yoonir, as the star also represents "good fortune and destiny". Yoonir also represents the Serer people and the Serer precolonial Kingdom of Sine. Credits: Sarang, AnonMoos, (and Yoonir file by Tamsier) For more about the pentagram in Serer spirituality, see Yoonir in Serer religion and Serer creation myth. Festivals There are several religious festivals found in the various Traditional African religions. Some of these are listed below next to their corresponding religion : Afro-Cuban religion : Plantes Dogon religion : Bulo — Sigi — Dama — Bado — Bago — Gogo Igbo religion : Ekpe festivals — New Yam Festival of the Igbo — The Iwa ji festival Jamaican Maroon religion : Kumina — Kromanti dance Jola : Kumpo — Niasse — Samay San religion : Healing dances Serer religion : Daqaar mboob — Diouck — Gamo — Jobai — Khanghere — Mindisse — Mbosseh (or mboosé) — Mboudaye — Ndut — Randou Rande — Raan (held at Tukar, see also Saltigue) — Sam Southieh — The consultation at Ngalagne — The massacre of Cadde — The royal struggle — The session struggle at Ndiaye-Ndiaye — The session struggle Jiloor (Jijaak) — Tobaski — Tourou Peithie — Xoy (main Xoy held at Fatick) Yoruba religion : Odun Egungun — The Yoruba calendar (the year in festivals) Did you know ...that the organizers of FESTIMA, a festival in Burkina Faso celebrating traditional African masks, estimate that 100,000 people attended in 2016? Selected quote “ The old attitude of missionaries was usually destructive; the indigenous religion was not studied, it was thought to have no divine revelations or inspiration, and little effort was made to use any part of it as a basis for fuller teaching. But it is not necessary to deny that the old religion both taught some truths and produced some spiritual values and living. ” Geoffrey Parrinder Source: Parrinder, Geoffrey [in] "African Theology in the 21st Century: The Contribution of the Pioneers, Volume 2" (Editor: Bénézet Bujo), p. 98-99, Paulines Publications Africa (2003), ISBN 9789966081575 Related portals All Africa-related portals WikiProjects Africa Religion Spirituality Topics For more Traditional African religion topics, see Category:Traditional African religions. 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