![]() It is neither the smoke-and-mirrors illusory-style magic of the western stage, nor the wizardry of fantasy genres created by the western world, but something intrinsic, concrete, and potentially dangerous. Magic, a neutral force, is held to be ever-present in the world and capable of either being used for good or diverted for evil. 1,5īut there are also other forces at play, the belief in which is also consistent throughout traditional West Africa, like magic … The names may vary: Oro (Yoruba), Nyama ( Mande), Tsav ( Tiv), Se ( Fon), but the force they refer to is one and the same, the primal energy of creation itself. 1,5īut West African religion moves far beyond simple fetishism or idolatry and into something one might call animism or pantheism: everything, including objects, plants, rocks, weather phenomena, and even human speech, has an intrinsic life force. Masks, containing the essence of the spiritual world, are not only ceremonially worn, but ritually stored and protected. Many groups, including the Yoruba, create carved figures to hold the soul of a deceased twin child, in order to care for and appease its spirit. Bambara hunters and healers wear talismans pinned or sown to their Bògòlanfini (mud cloth) tunics to ward against the spirits of the bush who would lead them astray. Pregnant women often wear charms to ensure a safe delivery of a healthy child. Sacrifices are made to invoke their power or to appease it, preventing the release of that same power. Rituals are performed to keep evil forces away from the family or society wherever charms are kept. These objects are held in veneration because of their power, and if not carefully handled, are feared for their volatility. One of the more visible forms that West African religion takes, consistent no matter the culture, is through its objects ― masks, statuettes, charms, amulets, and talismans― thought to contain magical powers, luck, blessings, or even individual souls. There is even a valid argument to be made for moving beyond the term “West African Religion” to a singular, broader “African Religion” (or “Africism” as proposed by Lugira), since the above unifying, core elements are present in traditional religions throughout the continent. So remarkably alike in their fundamental structure and essence, could these traditional, regional, belief systems be grouped, after all, under the all-inclusive term “West African Religion”? This question sparked debate when the singular term was first proposed, along with the inevitable follow-up question: should religion be plural? Perhaps it is appropriate that both Olodumareists and Chukwuists be unified under the singular, overarching name, “West African Religion”, just as both Catholics and Mormons, despite divergences, are placed within the brackets of “Christianity” and both Sunnis and Shias within those of “Islam”. Magic and other spiritual forces that influence the lives of humans.Ancestral spirits who watch over their descendants.Intermediate divinities or spirits who bridge the gap between God and man.A unique Supreme Being, distant, omniscient, omnipotent creator of the world.Yet, despite the various names different ethnic groups give to their individual pantheons of gods and regardless of the wildly divergent myths that accompany them from one region to another in West Africa, there are underlying, strikingly unifying, core similarities between all of the traditional religions, including the belief in: 1,2,5,6 Similarly, the Ewe religion could be called “Mawuism”, the Igbo religion “Chukwuism”, the Mende religion “Ngewoism”, etc. ![]() The Yoruba religion could conceivably be called “Olodumareism” after their Supreme God, Olodumare. What they do each embrace is a main God, the God of gods known by various appellations, which could, hypothetically, be used as a name for each religion as a whole. There would be no Christianity without Jesus Christ, no Muhammadanism (Islam) without Muhammad, no Buddhism without Buddha.Īlthough the traditional religions in West Africa have individuals and supernatural beings who contributed to the richness of their respective belief systems, each lack any identifiable founding figure. Religions are generally named after their founders, their gurus, their legendary figures who taught the core ideology. Only by giving a belief system a proper name can a comprehensive, complex theology and cosmology emerge, along with a more nuanced and thorough comprehension. The traditional belief systems, spirituality and faith of West African peoples has been described in more or less disparaging terms over the course of history, broad terms that fail to reflect the complexity and depth of these beliefs: “paganism”, “animism”, “ancestor-worship”, “idolatry”, “fetishism”, “heathenism”, etc.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |