where one’s family came from. This allows it to more easily be amended and influenced by other religious ideas, religious wisdom, and by modern development. There is not one African indigenous religion (AIR); rather, there are many, and they diverge widely. Traditional/Indigenous African religions are the traditional beliefs and practices of African people including the various traditional religions and customs. Read: Religious fundamentalism and the erasure of African cultures, religions and traditions. Due to the pluralistic nature of African-traditional religions, African spirituality has always been able to adapt to change and allow itself to absorb the wisdom and views of other religions. Modernity has not put a total stop to the influence of Indigenous African spirituality. Quiet rituals of the family contrast with exuberant public celebrations when new adults re-enter the village after an arduous initiation; intricate ritual attention to the all-important crops may include tense rites to procure much needed rains. You do not currently have access to this article, Access to the full content requires a subscription. “African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane.”, The essence of indigenous African religions and the reason for its accommodating nature is that. Although Africans who still wholly practice African indigenous religions are only about 10 percent of the African population, there are many professed Christians and Muslims who participate in one form of indigenous religious rituals and practices or another (see syncretism). Accompanied by spirits of all kinds, both good and bad, harmful and nurturing, existence is full of ambivalence. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. 3. Belonging to specific local ethnic groups, they are deeply embedded in and informed by the various ecologies of foragers, pastoralists, and horticulturalists—as they are also by the social structures of these societies: they “dwell” in their cultures. When asked, these people very often identify themselves as Christians or Muslims or Buddhists, though they continue to practice indigenous beliefs. Diviners for example have access to an extensive literary corpus and verbal trove of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. 1. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, African Studies Centre, Leiden University, Early States and State Formation in Africa, Historical Preservation and Cultural Heritage, Variation, Embeddedness, and Imagistic Religiosity, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.661. Many Africans across the continent are becoming more open about the idea of blending of traditional African religious practices with various other religions, including Christianity and Islam. 5. Given our current impending ecological crisis, indigenous African religions have a great deal to offer both African countries and the world at large on how human beings can best live within and interact with the environment. “African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane.” Jacob Olupona, professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School. where one’s family came from. Indigenous African spirituality had been increasingly falling out of favour and practice. Ultimately Indigenous African Religious beliefs and practices will always be relevant as they provide our societies with moral values, which guide the relationships between people in the community and instruct our relationships with the environment, spiritual realm and physical wellness. The range of rituals is wide and all-encompassing. There is not one African indigenous religion (AIR); rather, there are many, and they diverge widely. They present a worldview that has collectively sustained, enriched, and given meaning to a continent and numerous other societies for centuries through its epistemology, metaphysics, history, and practices. As a group, AIRs are quite different from the scriptural religions the world is more familiar with, since what is central to AIRs is neither belief nor faith, but ritual. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous religions of the African people. They are like indigenous African religions in that they are preoccupied with healing. Women play a key role in the practice of these traditions, and the internal gender relations and dynamics are very profound. Exemplifying an “imagistic” form of religiosity, these religions have no sacred books or writings and are learned by doing, by participation and experience, rather than by instruction and teaching. While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by one’s ethnic identity i.e. Various channels are open for communication with the invisible world, from prayer to trance, and from dreams to revelations, but throughout it is divination in its manifold forms that offers a window on the deeper layers of reality. These stories do not so much explain the world as they entertainingly teach about the deep humanity that AIRs share and cherish. Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. The possessed are referred to as “horsemen,” because they are … As a group, AIRs are quite different from the scriptural religions the world is more familiar with, since what is central to AIRs is neither belief nor faith, but ritual. Exemplifying an “imagistic” form of religiosity, these religions have no sacred books or writings and are learned by doing, by participation … These are religions of the living, not so much preparing for afterlife as geared toward meeting the challenges of everyday life, illness and misfortune, mourning and comforting—but also toward feasting, life, fertility, and togetherness, even in death. In AIRs, the dead and the living are close, either as ancestors or as other representatives of the other world. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic, and traditional medicine. 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