African Religions and the Natural World

The African continent is suffering the effects of climate change. Some parts of Africa are experiencing increasing droughts, while coastal areas face damaging flooding. Africa is one of the areas that will suffer most from climate change, but has produced far less damaging carbon dioxide than other parts of the world.

African indigenous religions frequently designate elements of the natural world as sacred, and many creation narratives explain the ideal relationship between the earth and humanity. The earth is frequently depicted as female and, as we saw in Dogon mythic narratives, humans are sometimes instructed to maintain the earth through activities like farming, which can be construed as a religious activity that maintains the high god’s creation: earth. Jacob Olupona, a prominent scholar of African religions, has written about the significance of water in many African religions.^² Throughout the continent, African rivers are regarded as sacred. As you read earlier in this chapter, the early twentieth-century religious leader Kinjiketele and his followers bathed in the sacred waters of the Rufiji River in Tanzania in hopes of securing protection from the colonizers’ bullets. In Yoruba religion, the large bodies of water in Nigeria, including the Atlantic Ocean, are depicted as goddesses. Water is the source of wealth and fertility, and Aje, the goddess of wealth and banking, is believed to derive her wealth from the ocean. In numerous African cultures, a religious expert known as a rainmaker has authority over rituals designed to promote and enhance rainfall, and shrines may be built to honor rain deities. Among the Chewa people of Malawi, a priestess known as a “spirit wife” is responsible for calling the rain and for maintaining the natural world around here.

In Yoruba religion, the concept of purity is connected to ideas about humanity’s responsibility to live in balance with the natural environment—particularly women’s responsibility. By maintaining the cleanliness and purity of the home and family, Yoruba women are also responsible for maintaining the natural environment and the cycle of seasons and fertility.³⁹

Self Assessment 3.3

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African Religions in the Twenty-First Century

Today, approximately 10 percent of the population of Africa practices only indigenous religions. The challenges of colonialism and expanding world religions in the last few centuries have vastly increased the number of Africans following such large-scale religions as Islam and Christianity. Although the majority of Africans today profess one of these two faiths, their prevalence has certainly not eradicated indigenous African religions. As we have seen in this chapter, people throughout Africa have incorporated beliefs and practices from indigenous religions into large-scale religions. As a result, Islam and Christianity have taken on distinctly African forms and have essentially become indigenous African religions. We have learned that African religions tend to focus on the present, and much African religious practice looks for ways to improve one’s immediate circumstances. These concerns have remained meaningful to many people in Africa, even when they become followers of salvation-oriented religions such as Christianity and Islam.—

Furthermore, religions such as Santeria and Vodou, which are derived from African traditions, are flourishing in much of the Americas. Through increasing migration and mobility, practitioners of these religions make them significant and relevant in diverse cultural contexts and introduce others to their teachings and practices.

In this chapter, we learned that the religious landscape of the African continent is incredibly diverse. We identified some common elements of indigenous African religions, such as teachings about the importance of gods and other supernatural beings and the interrelationship between the spirit and human worlds. Many African religions are anthropocentric in orientation and emphasize a pragmatic orientation toward improving life in this world. Religious practice often focuses on this goal, and many rituals and ceremonies emphasize maintaining positive communication with spirit beings. Throughout the continent, practitioners of indigenous religions faced the spread of Islam and Christianity and the devastation of the colonial era. Today, most Africans identify as Muslims or Christians. However, indigenous practices and beliefs persist. We can assume that African religions will continue to change and adapt to wider social environments both in Africa and in the African diaspora. Although their forms and modes of practice will change from one generation to the next, this development only continues processes of change that are common to all religions. African religions are not relics of the past; rather, they are meaningful living traditions that will continue to thrive in the future.

SEEKING ANSWERS

What Is Ultimate Reality?

Most African traditions understand the world to have been created by a High God. The natural world, the supernatural world, and the social world of human beings are not separate and distinct realms but are often considered to be interlinked. Most African religions are anthropocentric, or human-centered; they teach that God created humans and that creation and the universe revolve around humanity.

How Should We Live in This World?

Many African religions emphasize the importance of caring for and respecting the living and deceased members of one’s family, the necessity of maintaining beneficial relationships with the beings of the spirit world, and the importance of harmony with the natural world. Because most African religions do not focus on reward or punishment in the afterlife, religious practice does not normally center on preparing for an afterlife. Instead, rituals and ceremonies focus on improving life in this world.

What Is Our Ultimate Purpose?

Most African religions do not tend to focus on salvation or the goal of transcending the human condition but, rather, seek to emulate an idealized past in this life. However, many traditions hold that after death, people may transition to a spiritual state and may continue to interact with living humans. There are some exceptions to this. The Dogon and the Yoruba, for example, conceive of the possibility of a grand afterlife.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

For Review

1. What is the relationship between humanity and gods in African religions? Give specific examples from religions.

2. Describe the spirits of the dead. What role do they have in the lives of the living in particular religions? How are the beliefs about the dead reflected in religious practice?

3. What are the three main ways African religions communicate with the supernatural? Describe each.

4. What influence have African religions had on American religions? How did this happen?

For Further Reflection

1. Do you see any similarities between the religions of Africa and the religions of Native America? How do conceptions of the supernatural differ? Do they share similarities?

2.

Chapter 3 Self-Quiz

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Chapter 3 Flashcards

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SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Amadiume, Ifi. Male Daughters and Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society. London: Zed Books, 1987. Readable ethnographic account of gender, economics, and religion in an Igbo community in Nigeria.

Abimbola, Wande. lfa:An Exposition oflfa Literary Corpus. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press, 1976. Scholarly look at Yoruba religious texts and beliefs.

Bongmba, Elias Kifon. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to African Religions. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Extensive resource with interdisciplinary readings on numerous aspects of African religions and religion in Africa.

Evans-Pritchard, Edward E. Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. Classic anthropological account of beliefs about witchcraft and magic among the Azande people of southern Sudan.

Griaule, Marcel. Conversations with Ogotemmeli. London: Oxford University Press, 1965. A firsthand description of Dogon cosmology based on conversations between an anthropologist and a Dogon elder.

Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion. 2nd ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2015. Useful introduction to African belief systems and religions.

McCarthy Brown, Karen. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. Engrossing ethnographic account of a modern-day Vodou priestess.

Olupona, Jacob K. African Religions: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Olupona, Jacob K., and Rowland O. Abiodun. Ifa Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016. Interdisciplinary look at Ifa divination as expressive culture.

Ray, Benjamin C. African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Introduction to African religions aimed at students and focusing on religious practice.

Click here for more suggested readings, weblinks, and other media for this chapter.

ONLINE RESOURCES

National Museum of African Art

africa.si.edu

The National Museum of African Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution, offers abundant useful resources for African religion and material culture.

African Voices

mnh.si.edu/africanvoices

The Smithsonian’s “African Voices” site explores the diversity of African cultures and their connections to the global world.

Click here for web links to sacred texts.

LIST OF KEY TERMS

Am ma

bori

Candomble dama divination

/fa

Kinjiketele

Maji Mali medium

moran

Qdu

orisha

Qshun pantheons rites of passage

Santeria

Vodou witchcraft zar