(GENERAL KNOWLEDGE)
The founders of African traditional religion are the African ancestors. These are the men and women who have lived and died, handing over the religion to their descendants. Generally, to be an ancestor in African worldview, the person must have lived a good moral life, and thus must have respected the taboos of the community also the person must leave behind a male offspring or offspring's. The traditional cosmology expresses belief in a supreme being, the supreme being is usually thought of as remote from daily religious life and is, therefore, not directly worshipped. There are also the lesser gods that take "residency" in streams, rivers, trees, and mountains. These gods are generally perceived as intermediaries between the supreme being and society. Ancestors and numerous other spirits are also recognized as part of the cosmological order. The spirit world is considered to be as real as the world of the living. They also communicate with the supernatural through sacred narrative (mythic), rituals, experiments (emotional) and materials. Adherents of traditional religions in Africa are distributed among 43 countries and are estimated to number over 100 million. Although most Africans today are adherents of Christianity or Islam, African people often combine the practice of their traditional beliefs with the practice of Abrahamic religions. he two Abrahamic religions are widespread across Africa, though mostly concentrated in different areas. They have replaced indigenous African religions but are often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems. Abrahamic religious beliefs, especially monotheistic elements, such as the belief in a single creator god, was introduced into traditionally polytheistic African religions rather early.
(BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND, RITUALS)
(Traditional shrine; place of worship) (Traditionalist pouring libation)
The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnics religion. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator or force, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead , use of magic and traditional African Medicine. Also Traditional African religions generally hold the beliefs of life after death (a spirit world or realms, in which spirits, but also gods reside), with some also having a concept of reincarnation, in which deceased humans may reincarnate into their family lineage (blood lineage), if they want to, or have something to do. 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. There are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. The deities and spirits are honored through libation or sacrifice (of animals, vegetables, cooked food, flowers, semi-precious stones and precious metals). The will of the gods or spirits is sought by the believer also through consultation of divinities or divination (Since Africa is a large continent with many ethnic groups and cultures, there is not one single technique of casting divination. The practice of casting may be done with small objects, such as bones, cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood). The environment and nature are infused in every aspect of traditional African religions and culture. This is largely because cosmology and beliefs are intricately intertwined with the natural phenomena and environment. All aspects of weather, thunder, lightning, rain, day, moon, sun, stars, and so on may become amenable to control through the cosmology of African people. Natural phenomena are responsible for providing people with their daily needs.
SACRED PLACES
Holy Place of worship is called sacred place. Some sacred or holy locations for African traditional religions include Nri-Igbo in Nigeria, Nsukka in Nigeria, Point of Sangomar in Senegal, Kanem-Bornu in Niger and many more.
(LIFE CYCLE OF RITE OF PASSAGE)
A rite is a fundamental act (or set of rituals) performed according to prescribed social rules and customs. Each of these rites are a key component that are a part of traditional African religion or culture. The five rites are birth, adulthood, marriage, eldership, and ancestor-ship.
Rite of Birth - The Rite of Birth is the first of the major African initiation rites and it involves initiating the infant into the world through a ritual and naming ceremony.
Rite of Adulthood - The Rite of Adulthood is the second major initiation rite and it is nowadays the most popular among the set of rites. Most people today assume that “rites of passage” only refers to initiation into adulthood, and they are often not aware that adulthood rites are only one set of rites within a larger system of rites. Adulthood rites are usually done at the onset puberty age (around 12-13 years of age in many cultures) and they are to ensure the shaping of productive, community-oriented responsible adults. There is nothing automatic about youth being productive members of society, nor is there anything particularly difficult about transitioning from a child to an adult. On the other hand, African societies systematically initiate boys and girls. They often take the young initiates out of the community, and away from the concerns of everyday life, to teach them all the ways of adulthood: including the rules and taboos of the society; moral instruction and social responsibility; and further clarification of his/her mission or calling in life.
Rite of Marriage - The Rite of Marriage is the third major initiation rite and it represents not only the joining of two families, but also the joining of the two missions of the new couple. In other words, the marriage rites are performed for not only the coming together of male and females to procreate and perpetuate life and the coming together of families, it is also an institution that helps both the husband and wife to best fulfill their mission and objectives in life.
Rite of Eldership - The Rite of Eldership is the fourth major initiation rite and it is an important component of the initiation system, because it is the elders who represent tradition and the wisdom of the past. In African tradition, there is a fundamental distinction that has to be made between an “elder” and “older” person. An older person has simply lived a longer life than most of people, but it not considered one who deserves high praise and respect. This is because the older person’s life has not been a positive example for the community. An older person could be a thief or drunkard, an evil person, or could be someone who never married and had children, and thus these examples would certainly prevent a person from being considered a respected elder. An elder, on the other hand, is someone who is given the highest status in African culture because s(he) has lived a life of purpose, and there is nothing more respected than living a purposeful life. The life of an elder is centered in the best tradition of the community, and is someone who has gone through all of the previous three rites, and is a living model for the other groups in the society to emulate. An elder is given the highest status and along with new infants because these two groups represent the closest links to the wisdom of the spirit world.
Rite of Ancestor-ship - The last of the five major rites is the Rite of Ancestor-ship, which concerns passing over into the spirit world. This final initiation rite is an extension of the elder/older distinction because the status that a person has in life is the same status that they bring with them when they pass on. There is virtually no African society that believes that when a person dies this ends all ties and communication with the living. Rather, African philosophy from one culture to another agrees that the spirit of the deceased is still with the living community, and that a distinction must be made in the status of the various spirits, as there are distinctions made in the status of the living.
(rite of birth) (Rite of Adulthood; Bragoro/Dipo) (Rite of Marriage)
(rite of Eldership) (rite of ancestor-ship)
(SYMBOLS)
In the traditional African belief system, Africans draw from their various artistic traditions as sources of inspiration. The Adinkra symbols representing the omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and immortality of Nyame (the Akan sky god). Yoonir is a religious symbolism in the traditional faith of the Serer people. These symbols symbolize life, unity, peace, prosperity, joy, sorrow, bad omen, festivals, rituals etc. Symbols are used as a very powerful instrument for indoctrination to maintain order in African societies in general.
(Adinkra Symbols) (Yoonir Symbols)
Conclusion
Traditional Religion is very broad, I was born and raised in Ghana which traditional religion is popular and it was the first and only religion before colonization so I have been to some of their festival and I have also witness them performing rituals. But in all I have learnt a lot about this religion, their beliefs and many more. I realized it is very difficult to equate African traditional religion to Christ's message and trans-pose the African idiom. Also the religion is important to it members because it provide strong linkages between the life of humans and the world of the ancestors. Humans are thus able to maintain constant and symbiotic relations with their ancestors who are understood to be intimately concerned and involved in their descendants' everyday affairs. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices.
FURTHER READINGS
15 Facts on African Traditional Religion
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