(iv)  Juju:  The word juju is French in origin and it means a little doll or toy. Category is required. It has no missionaries, or even the desire to propagate the religion, or to proselytise. Please enter language and then submit. The elders are the final authority and are trusted completely. But when the meaning is stretched further it means one who is neither a Christian, a Jew nor a Muslim. But in spite of all these differences, there are many basic similarities in the religious systems—everywhere there is the concept of God (called by different names); there is also the concept of divinities and/or spirits as well as beliefs in the ancestral cult. The Ewe-speaking people speak of Him as Nana Buluku (Ancient of Days), and this suggests His eternity. For example, P. A. Talbot in his Life in Southern Nigera devoted three chapters to Juju among the Ibibio people and discussed the various divinities among them. In what sense can we describe the people as old fashioned or describe their religion as simple? We must also point out that, to the Africans, the material has meaning only in terms of the spiritual. Every locality may and does have its own local deities, its own festivals, its own name or names for the Supreme Being, but in essence the pattern is the same. While we commend the effort of the foreign investigators for committing to writing their investigations about African Traditional Religion, we need to point out that a great number of them used misleading term in describing the people’s beliefs. and Eleda (the Creator) by the same people. In other words, animism is a part definition of every religion. The difference between that type of polytheism and the structure of African Traditional Religion is that in Africa the Supreme Being is not of the rank and file of the divinities. The various divinities that are represented are in fact technically representatives or servants of the Supreme Being. Alchemists eventually associated four triangular symbols to represent these elements. The Supreme Being is the connection between people and their environment. In South Africa the constitution protects freedom of religion. By meaning and connotation, this name signifies that the Supreme Being is unique, that His majesty is superlative, that He is unchanging and ever reliable. COSMOLOGY  . Notes to Admin required. Lightning and thunder are manifestations of the thunder god. and "What happens to us when we die?" [21] R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, 1923, pp.24ff. Folk religions are challenging to measure. Here we see that Bouquet is propounding a theory of many Supreme Beings in order to place the African God at a lower level than the Deity that he (Bouquet) met in Jesus Christ. Although traditional African religion recognises a Supreme God, followers do not worship him or her directly as they do not feel worthy enough. [22] E. G. Parrinder, African Traditional Religion, p.16. Whatever happens, the use of the word primitive by Western scholars is derogatory and, therefore, obnoxious. 2 E. B. Idowu, African Traditional Religion, S.C.M., 1973, p.87. [6] See John Oman, The Natural and the Supernatural, C.U.P., 1931, p.485. These are the societies whose religion reveal have a number of the basic features of all religions (Burnett 1995:57). Anthropologists and sociologists like to justify their use of the word on the ground that the culture is adjudged to be that which is original in the history of the human race. Parrinder made this mistake because in his West African Religion he claimed that the Supreme God or Creator is “sometimes above the gods, sometimes first among equals.”[25]. There is that noticeable “Africanness” in the whole pattern. Ancestor worship and belief is an extension of a belief in and respect for elders. Religion in most African societies also supports moral order. Each of them has a meaning beyond itself, and therefore is not an end in itself. The Supreme Being is given different names by different groups of people. [24] E. G. Parrinder, African Traditional Religion, p.24. 3. Prayers said during worship by Africans have been described as fetish prayers; the functionaries of a cult have been described as fetish priests; herbs prepared by African priests have been labelled fetish herbs, and not medical preparations, however efficacious such herbs may be; and taking an oath has been described as undergoing fetish. Every religion has some belief in the existence of the spirit. [28] E. B. Idowu, African Traditional Religion, p.106f. They did not know, and they never confessed their ignorance about, Africa and the Africans. This is not a “fossil” religion, a thing of the past or a dead religion. Like Eastern belief systems, the Dagara see the universe and life as circular rather than linear. The ultimacy, wherever you go in Africa, is accorded to God. Source: www.purdue.edu. [4] E. W. Smith, (ed. ", "Why are we here? The word idol is used to describe the object which is an emblem of that which is worshipped by the Africans. Prominent among such people were Andrew Lang, Archbishop N. Soderblom,[6]and Father Schmidt of Vienna. In Ghana, He is called Onyame, the Great and Shining One who is high and above all. It needs to be emphasized that the Supreme Being cannot be represented like the divinities. It creates a sense of security and order in the community. It is only a means to an end. Such revelations and declarations succeeded in changing the attitude of the Western world concerning the religious beliefs of the so-called pre-literate peoples of the world. The Yoruba, for example, never rank the Supreme Being, Olodimave with the divinities (orisa), neither do the Edo confuse Osanobuwa with the divinities (ebo). The symbol can be found throughout Ghana. Christianity and Islam make up the largest religions in contemporary Africa, and some sources say that less than 15% still follow traditional African religions. For example, the Iroko tree is not an ordinary tree; it is believed to be inhabited by a spirit; the Oshun River (in Western Nigeria) is believed to be more than an ordinary river because the spirit (Oshun) dwells in it and this makes the river efficacious in many respects, especially during barrenness. The purpose of this is to help to orient a person who would like to work in the context of Africa. One certainly cannot speak of "African religion" as if it was a single, coherent set of beliefs. They undergo strict training and learn many skills, including how to use herbs for healing and other, more mystical skills, like the finding of a hidden object without knowing where it is. Traditional African religion and culture is passed on from parents to children through stories. While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Today, the countries of Africa contain a wide variety of religious beliefs, and statistics on religious affiliation are difficult to come by. The anthropologists were much less inhibited by the dogmas of Christianity than the missionaries. But to say that the African Traditional Religion is animistic would not be correct. They cherish their tradition; they worship with sincerity because their worship is quite meaningful to them; they hold tenaciously to their covenant that binds them together. When Ludwig got to know that Edwin Smith was in Africa as a missionary he was surprised; and in his surprise he asked, “How can the untutored Africans comprehend God ? In order to administer the world, however, the Deity has brought into being divinities who are His ministers or functionaries. Africa is a massive continent with diverse religious traditions, to the extent that within the same tradition there have been variations. INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION. The best interpreter of African Religion is the African with a disciplined mind and the requisite technical tools. “In West Africa,” said Parrinder, “men believe in great pantheons of gods which are as diverse as the gods of the Greeks or the Hindus. TRADITION  . It is not the religion of one hero. The object may be a piece of wood or of iron or a stone. [23] See E. Tylor, Primitive Cultures, Vols. It is often combined with elements of Christianity and Islam. Through modern changes, the traditional religion cannot remain intact but it is by no means extinct. Everyone is free to follow whatever faith they want to, or not to follow one at all. 1999) To visit a new web site, "Frithjof Schuon Archive," dedicated to featured Studies contributor Frithjof Schuon, click here. The number of traditional elements in medieval alchemy varies from 4, 5, or 8. Among the missionaries could be mentioned T. B. Freeman, T. J. Bowen, R. H. Stone[10] and N. Baudin,[11]and of the explorers, R. F. Burton[12] and T. J. [23] Many writers still describe the African Traditional Religion as animistic. It is not written on paper but in peoples’ hearts, minds, oral history, rituals, shrines and religious functions. The Ibo call Him Chükwu, that is the Great Chi or the Great Source of life and of being. It is the spiritual that gives meaning and importance to the visible material object. This is a holistic or an organic view of the world, which is governed by the law... 2. “In very precise language” says Professor Mbiti “The Bacongo describe the self-existence of God when they say, that ‘He is made by no other, no one beyond Him is.”[26], We see, then, that the greatest emphasis is on the Supreme Being. Here again the writer made mention of the various ceremonies which accompany puberty and its significance in African traditional religion. This means attributing a living soul to inanimate objects and natural phenomena. A heathen, according to the New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary, is ‘a pagan; one who worships idols or does not acknowledge the true God; a rude, barbarous and irreligious person.’. Since it is a religion practised by living persons today, changes are to be expected. Traditional African Religion What is traditional African religion? Even Christianity sees “God as Spirit, and they that worship are to worship in spirit and truth”. The idea behind the use of such an expression is engendered by racial pride. Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. Traditional African religion is based on oral traditions, which means that the basic values and way of life are passed from elders to younger generation. (ii)  Savage:  The dictionary meaning is: ‘pertaining to the forest or wilderness; wild; uncultured; untamed violent; brutal; uncivilized; untaught; rude; barbarous; inhuman.’ In one word, savagery is the opposite of civilization. To fathom these changes, both instructors and students in comparative religion and theology must fully understand African Traditional Religion to comprehend the new forms of Christianity that emphasize prophecy, healing, well-being, and wealth. They started coining expressions like “a high god”, or “a Supreme God”. To please these unhappy ancestors, usually offerings of beer and meat are made. Here, while Parrinder was trying to discourage the use of the term animism in connection with the religion of Africa, he created another problem by suggesting the term polytheism. Even here, we should remark that not all of them took the trouble to make thorough investigations—some of them did their research part-time, e.g. [12] R. F. Burton, Abeokuta and the Cameroons Nits, Vol. We need to examine some of these words and bring out their connotations. The impression they had of it was that it was not worth knowing at all and they expected that the religion would soon perish. Divinatory ritual is the centrepiece of African religions, because it opens to all a channel of mediation with the gods. African Traditional Religion. presuppositions about life in a Traditional/Primal society. In another chapter, puberty rites were mentioned as another rites of passage. (3rd ed. This is part of democracy. The fifth element, which goes by a variety of names, is more rarefied than the four physical elements. www.studiesincomparativereligion.com. [15] P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, O.U.P., 1926. Some call it Spirit. The four elements of African Traditional religion are: Origin myth: The African traditional religion has several origin myths which depic view the full answer Previous question Next question COMPANY Whatever weaknesses and faults may be noticeable in the works of these foreign investigators and writers, Africans have to give credit to them for their ability to work under hard conditions and to express their thoughts in writings which the present generation of Africans can read, examine and improve upon. 2 Peoples and religions of South Africa. These traditions are not religious principles, but a cultural identity that is passed on through stories, myths and tales. ", "Why do bad things happen to good people?" How can divinities, however minor, be described as toys? 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. But Rattray corrected this wrong notion of the early investigators when he said: We see, then, that it would be quite wrong to describe the religion of Africa as fetishism. African Traditional Religion is not essentially idolatrous, but it has a tendency to become so if the cult and the symbols of the divinities are so emphasized as to exclude the Supreme Being. [5] See Idowu, African Traditional Religion, p.88. It is found in most religions. Africans are not so low in intelligence as to be incapable of distinguishing between an emblem or symbol of worship and a doll or toy. The three main religious traditions—African traditional religion, Christianity, and Islam—constitute the triple religious heritage of the African continent. For example, the Iroko tree is not an ordinary tree; it is believed to be inhabited by a spirit; the Oshun River (in Western Nigeria) is believed to be more than an ordinary river because the spirit (Oshun) dwells in it and this makes the river efficacious in many respects, especially during barrenness. Most ancestral spirits are generally good and kind. The word pagan is from the Latin word paganus meaning peasant, village or country district; it also means one who worships false gods; a heathen. The only negative actions taken by ancestral spirits is to cause minor illnesses to warn people that they have gotten onto the wrong path. But the monotheism may need some modification; hence Professor Bolaji Idowu has suggested diffused monotheism because “here we have a monotheism in which there exist other powers which derive from Deity such being and authority that they can be treated, for practical purposes, almost as ends in themselves”[27]. Please select a category and then submit. Every aspect of it cannot be described as original. 3 Leo Frobenius, The Voice of Africa, Vol. These traditional healers have to be called by ancestors. I and II. There may be an element of this in the day-to-day life of the Africans, but it is incorrect to describe it all as fetishism. 1, Hutchison, 1913, p.xll. These dimensions can all be used in the service of peacemaking. The first four are always found. As much as anything, Vodou is an ancestral religion meant to evoke the African homeland. What does fetish mean? During these events usually an offering is made to honour, please and thank the ancestors. This Ghanaian Adinkra symbol means \"except for God\" and symbolizes the supremacy of God. KEY WORDS: pregnancy, birth rites, naming rites, puberty rites, ritual [27] E. B. Idowu, Olodumare, Longmans, 1962, p.202f. Religious resources are contained in the four main elements of which religions consist. European and other foreign settlers brought most of these religions. The truth of the matter is that Africans hold the Supreme Being as a venerable majesty who has several servants (the divinities) under Him to carry out His desires. Africa Traditional Religious System as Basis of Understanding Christian Spiritual Warfare 1. London: Sheldon Press, 1974) ISBN 0-85969-014-8; Parinder, E. Geoffrey. It should be obvious from the dictionary meaning that this word cannot be appropriate in describing the religion of Africa or those who practise that religion. Most of them were Bantu -speaking people and were the ancestors of many South Africans, especially the Nguni groups like the Zulu and Xhosa. People have looked to religion to answer questions like "Where did the world come from? Please enter your comments and then submit. SYMBOLISM, The First English Journal on Traditional Studies. The noticeable fault among the missionaries was that they were particularly subjective, and they could not see anything good in African Traditional Religion. We need to explain the word ‘traditional’. Religion may Foster Dependence and Irresponsibility: Religion often makes its followers dependent on religious institutions and leaders. [20] E. G. Parrinder, African Traditional Religion, London, 1954. Most of the "traditional" groups of people living in South Africa arrived here from West and Central Africa about 1 500 years ago. Their descendants moved to present day South Afri… Farrow. Map: Bantu-speaking people moved into southern Africa from West and Central Africa and brought their religion and traditions with them. He is also called Olorun (the owner of Heaven). African Traditional Religion cannot easily be studied by non-Africans. [16] A. (Turner 1994a:129). Among other things it said: And similar to this was the dialogue that took place between Edwin Smith, who had gone out as a missionary to Africa, and Emil Ludwig, an eminent biographer. The effect of colonisation on Africa's traditional religion is seen in the views of colonialists that African traditional religious practices are fetish, barbaric, ritualistic and demonic. [7], Father Schmidt had earlier been working among the Pigmies of the Congo in Central Africa. Practice Afrocentric Meditation. The early Portuguese who came to Africa saw that the Africans used to wear charms and amulets and so they gave the name feitico to such things. The four elements of religion described above – the significance of gods and spirits, the power of holy rituals, the telling of sacred stories and belonging to faith communities – seem in their own ways to be a core aspect of the human condition in the twenty-first century. [19] S. F. Nadel, The Nupe Religion, London, 1954. We are not unconscious of the fact that Africa is a large continent with multitudes of nations who have complex cultures, innumerable languages and myriads of dialects. More than ten million Jews from all over the world observe the Sabbath every week and millions of Muslim pilgrims travel to Mecca in the Middle East every year. The symbols or emblems may fall into disuse or crumble or be replaced, but the spiritual entity represented never changes. Thus, strictly speaking, religion in its pristine form is no longer in existence. If, for example, a piece of wood representing Obatala (a Yoruba deity) is eaten by termites, the worshippers of Obatala will not feel that their god has been destroyed by the termites, because the piece of wood is only a symbol, serving as a visible or concrete embodiment of that which is symbolised. These divinities act like intermediaries between men and God. [26] For further details see John Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, S.P.C.K., 1970. Here we disagree with John Mbiti who chooses to speak of the religion in the plural “because there are about one thousand African peoples (tribes), and each has its own religious system …”[1]. Welcome to the summary lecture of African Traditional Religions. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. There are many different religions and some of them have been celebrating their faith, telling their stories and teaching their principles for thousands of years. The Arabs crossed into North Africa in the 7th century AD. Many writers used the word indiscriminately. Its study has to go hand-in-hand with the study of the people who practise the religion. Before we had foreign investigators to give the world an idea of what the religious beliefs of the Africans looked like, there were theorists who have never been in Africa but who regarded it as the “Dark Continent” where people had no idea of God and where the Devil in all his abysmal, grotesque and forbidden features, armed to the teeth and with horns complete, held sway. London, 1863. This tradition is practiced by the Yorubas and some other West African tribes that are thought to have migrated around the Western Coast of the continent. But experience shows that material representation often becomes a danger in religion when the worshippers make the emblems an end in themselves. London: Sheldon Press, 1976). (vii)  Idolatry:  Idol means false god; and so idolatry is the worshipping of false gods or that which is not real. Leo Frobenius refutes the statement made in the journal that he read in Berlin in 1891 (cited above) and said: In addition to these eminent men who have attempted a systematic study of African religion should be mentioned the most recent ones like S. F. Nagel who did pioneering work on the Nupe Religion[19] and E. G. Parrinder who has produced several works on African Traditional Religion.[20]. A believer's family still has influence over him or her even if they live far away. What has this to do with religion? Africa's Three Religions. These words are not correct in describing the indigenous religion of Africa because the people are religious and they do believe in the Supreme Being. This word means indigenous, that which is aboriginal or foundational, handed down from generation to generation, upheld and practised by Africans today. Mligo's book is a must-read.--Zorodzai Dube, University of South Africa --Wipf and Stock Publishers [2] E. B. Idowu, African Traditional Religion, S.C.M., 1973, p.87. The declared adherents of the indigenous religion are very conservative, resisting the influence of modernism heralded by the colonial era, including the introduction of Islam, Christianity, Western education and improved medical facilities. In this way, the difference between the material object and the reality represented by it becomes obscured. In traditional African religion the community is the most important part of someone's life. B. Ells, The Ewe/Yoruba Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, Chapman, 1894. Examples of folk religions include African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions. The most prominent were R. S. Rattray,[14] P. A. Talbot,[15] A. [9] C. Bouquet, Man and Deity, Heffer, Cambridge, 1933, p.106. This is a religion that is based mainly on oral transmission. The people follow many spiritual traditions and religious faiths. [1] J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Heineman, 1969, p.1. But after this rather formal beginning, the language changes to Creole and the African elements come to the fore, especially the ecstatic dancing and drumming. Similar social conflict is evident in the case of birth control measures including abortion, in the Catholic world. [5], But, as a contrast to these theorists, we have genuine seekers after truth who showed their doubts as to whether there could be any people anywhere in the world who were totally devoid of culture and religion, especially with particular reference to the knowledge of the living God. He is in a class by Himself. The continent of Africa has been home to hundreds of indigenous tribes speaking a wide variety of languages and believing a wide variety of different spiritual ideas. 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