RELIGION, RITUAL AND AFRICAN TRADITION

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Contents

PREFACE.....................................................................................viiACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................................xvIntroduction................................................................................1Identifying God.............................................................................3Definitions and parameters..................................................................7The Supernatural............................................................................10Vodoun......................................................................................14Islam and Africa............................................................................15Spiritualism, healing, and the human experience.............................................19Symbols of religious experience.............................................................24Religious symbiosis and communication.......................................................33Ancestor veneration, kinship, and ritual....................................................35Limits of religious behavior: the spiritual realm...........................................39Ritual in marriage..........................................................................40Ritual in festivals and death rites.........................................................42Ritual in public worship and community fellowship...........................................44Notions about witchcraft....................................................................46Activities and powers of witchcraft.........................................................48Witch hunters or witch doctors?.............................................................50Identifying witches.........................................................................51What is magic?..............................................................................54Magic and ritual............................................................................57Religion as real life.......................................................................60Community focus.............................................................................61Searching for alternatives..................................................................63Religion and society........................................................................65Personification of collective desire........................................................66A QUICK REFERENCE TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTED AFRICAN ETHNIC GROUPS.....................69REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READING............................................................119INDEX.......................................................................................129

Chapter One

Introduction

Religion is as old as mankind and is found wherever organized communities exist. Religious emotion is among the most intense and profound that has been experienced. The development of that emotion is, in a very real sense, one aspect of the history of humanity that has been internalized more than any other. Many writers are convinced that it is the only area through which cultural traditions can be carried spatially and temporally. This would be an erroneous view of the African continent. This introductory chapter aims to review some of the known African traditional religious concepts and beliefs and to demonstrate their many roles in the general shaping of traditional life among different African societies and carrying these intense emotions to levels that have encouraged the development of social structures for their survival.

The beginnings of all societies relate to their environmental settings and human resources. Humans have lived, for several millions of years, in a world of peril and uncertainty and have been compelled to seek security. The most familiar way to achieve this has been by the control of nature. However, this move had to be undertaken against the backdrop of the conditions and limitations of their existence. Even with several millennia of experiences and knowledge of the experience, humans have been unable to cope with all aspects of the challenges of life. Although throughout the ages, particularly before the days of modern science, humans managed to somehow control several of the factors of the environment, there have been wide gaps in their knowledge and capabilities. As life became hazardous, humans began to develop awareness of a power that could not be physically perceived and, therefore, first conceived as an invisible power but one which played and still plays a crucial role in their life and survival. Consequently, humans, for brief periods of time, suspended the task of adjusting to the world via material means and resorted to spiritual (non-material) methods. This power is not only believed in (as, for example, in modern times, one believes in electricity), but human beings became aware of this power because of a feeling of being in the presence of some indefinable, impersonal, all-pervading entity. This experience in essence might have been the first indicator of religion-the attitude of individuals in a community concerning the powers that they conceive of as the ultimate control over their destinies or interests. This attitude probably manifested a practical relationship with that which was believed in as "supernatural." But because such experiences developed into group consciousness, they probably crystallized in definable religious concepts about the supernatural. Humans had to devise some practical ways of dealing with things that were unknown, mysterious, and potentially dangerous. The most obvious examples were birth and death. Humans might know that any of these would come, but dealing with it was another matter. It was, probably, in view of these two contrasting situations that some anthropologists think that human societies belong to two worlds. One of them is the mundane and the practical, in which humans think and know what is going on and why. The other is the world of the strange, the unseen, and the unpredictable, or what has been referred to as the "supernatural."

In the context of African tradition, the two worlds flow together. It is considered that any opposition or disharmony between them is rooted in human ways of thinking and general behavior. It has been observed that African traditional institutions, such as chieftaincy, festivals, ritual, and other rites, attempt to maintain a continuous link between the two worlds. Many anthropologists have demanded that in order to appreciate these two worlds, active effort should be made to cope with both aspects of the belief. Differences in the approaches to religious concepts also vary mainly because of differences in experience. Interpretations should also take the particular society's traditional concepts and values into consideration. Inability to understand African religious thoughts and actions has also been worsened by erroneous presentations in early colonial writing, religious and other discrimination, colonialism, and imperialistic strategies of domination.

Identifying God

God is acknowledged by African societies as the creator and maker of the universe. This concept of God is not unique to Africa. According to the Yoruba of Nigeria, for example, when God decided to make a home for mankind, he sent down from heaven a powerful, overwhelming spirit to create the earth. Referred to as Orishanla, this spirit is said to have done the work in four days and used the fifth day for worshiping and rest, hence the Yoruba five-day week. God then began to people the world with human beings, beginning from Yoruba land in Nigeria. The first place created, according to Yoruba tradition, is today referred to as Ile-Ife, which is considered as the Garden of Eden in the Christian sense. This belief still carries a considerable weight among the Yoruba. The traditions do not explain how various features have changed into what they are today. But it is assumed that the varied traditions of the world changed because people moved into different parts of the world and established new cultural practices. The Akan of Ghana call God Odomankoma. God is also referred to as Oboadee, Obo nkwa, Kwasi-Asi a adaa awisi, that is "the Sunday-born, bisexual, masculine-feminine child of Sunday" and Obo owuo no, owuo bekumu no; owui no, nkwa benyanee no, Nti ote ase daa, i.e. "He created things; when he had created things, he created life; when he had created death, death killed him; when he had died, life came into him; he therefore, forever lives." This description was recorded among the Takyiman in Bono/Ahafo, Ghana in the thirties by Kofi Antuban. God has several names in Ghana that indicate that he is all-powerful, everlasting, and a grandfather. These examples from Ghana illustrate the feelings and recognition of the supreme and fatherly nature of God:

Ethnic Group Local Name English Interpretation

Adangme (Dangme) Maa-Kyaakye Grandfather Akan Nana Tweduampong God the Great One; Grandfather Avatime Maan-Okatsi Grandfather Dagomba Naawuni Grandfather, Great God Dagomba Naawuni Grandfather, Great God Ewe Grandfather, Great God Frafra Naayine Great God Ga Ataa Naa Nyomo Grandfather, Grandmother God Gonja Eboone-Nyame Grandfather Krachi Nana Wuruboare Grandfather, owner of the universe Lelemi (Buem) Atubruku-Nnaana Grandfather Kusaasi Naawu Grandfather, God Mamprusi Nawuni-Mba My/Our father Nchumuru Nana Wuruboare Grandfather, Great God Tallensi Nayyiwun Grand Father or Kok-Mbagaa Waale Nawuni Ndaana My owner or My Lord

All these names imply God as the creator of the universe. The various descriptions of God as the supernatural, as the creator, maker of the universe, powerful, and a kind grandfather, among others, indicate a clear awareness in African tradition of the existence of a super being somewhere who wields unbeatable power and control. This is an awareness of God Almighty, the same phenomenon to whom Christians, Moslems, and others refer in their religions. The Akan of Ghana represent the overwhelming authority of Nyame with the symbol referred to as Gye Nyame (Fig. 1), interpreted as "No one is supreme except God." Gye Nyame is the most popular and most commonly used traditional symbol in Ghana and refers to the omnipotence and immortality of God as the maker and controller of all times and circumstances of human life. It is also often interpreted as conveying to others a message that says, "I fear no one but God," and confirms the endemic belief in the great omnipotent or omnipresent God. Gye Nyame also symbolizes the panorama of creation, which in the mind of the traditional people began from the unknown past; no one lives who saw its beginning and no one lives who will see its end, except God. It is summarized as signifying God's omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. The Gye Nyame symbol has been artistically rendered in different ways, although they represent the same ideas and philosophy.

In Cameroon, there exists one of the most ancient African religions in the sub-region. Like others in Africa, it centers on the power of a supreme being called Nyambe, or is this the Nyame of the Akan of Ghana? The supreme being is also referred to as Zamba, who, in Cameroonian mythology, was the one who created all things and engendered man. Zamba is considered to be both male female. Man is described generally as an ambivalent being, material and immaterial at the same time. A human being is also considered to have a physical and mental destiny, which determines how he will fare during his lifetime and even after his death. Destiny in Cameroon religious concept also determines his survivor's attitude towards him. The creator Zamba always acts upon his creation (men) by means of a fluid. This fluid is considered an aggregate of psychic material forces whose movement in creation gives rise to important events. The fluid lives in Nyambe (Zamba). Further, it is accepted in Cameroon traditional religion that by means of a number of rites and cultural practices, humans can acquire the fluid from Nyambe or Zamba, or through the medium of some object for use under various circumstances and for divination, curing the sick and even hunting down those who undertake devilish acts. Acquisition and use of this fluid also becomes a justification for initiation rites, incantations, and the faith in what one scholar has referred to as "strong elements of nature." The strength of a particular family or lineage in a Cameroonian social system is directly linked to this religious concept. In the northern regions of Cameroon, the area between the Nigerian border and the banks of the Legone River are the Kirdi, who have been referred to as "masters of ritual." A similar religious concept prevails among them, although the rituals that accompany them are not the same as those that take place in southern Cameroon. Ancestor veneration dominates their life; in fact, there is more ancestral veneration among them than among many known African groups. Every dance or every festival is religious and serves to improve the relations with the dead and to ensure that the acquisition of the special fluid from Nyambe (Zamba) is easily and genuinely achieved.

The Ngangela of Angola, in their sand graphs, provide an illustration of the same concept of God's creation and ability to keep in touch with his creation. The symbol Ku-Tanga (creation) (Fig.2) represents the creation cycle of God and shows God with his creative agents: the sun on the left, the moon on the right, both with open arms. Along the middle is the Nkoua, which is the umbilical cord extending down with the lifeline to the bottom. Humans receive this life through the continuous presence of these attributes of creation. The symbol, in short, emphasizes the overwhelming authority of God. The Ngangela symbol represents the same concept of the Cameroonian fluid from Nyambe or Zamba. The symbol, Ku-Tanga consists of two figures, one representing heaven and the other the earth, intertwined into one. The dots in the figure are supposed to represent God's attributes, such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and goodness. Obviously this is a depiction of the same qualities that many ethnic groups attribute to the creator of the universe.

The Kung of the Kalahari Desert believe in the one great God, who lives in the eastern sky, where the sun rises, and the lesser gods, who live in the western sky where the sun sets. The greater God is considered the creator of all things. He created and named himself and then created the lesser gods and a wife for each of them. The wives bore them children, who were all named by the great God. The great God then created the earth and the water holes, the sky and the rain, the sun and wind, as well as the things that grow on the earth and the animals, with their stripes and colors, and he gave those names. He then created a woman first and then a man. He commanded the men, women, and all animals to obtain breath, which gave them life. According to the Kung, God had initially intended humans to be taken after their death to the place where he lives in the eastern sky and where there was a certain tree that had no name. There, he would hang their spirits, make a medicine smoke in a pot beneath them, and turn them into the spirits of the dead, gauwasi, which, together with other heavenly beings, would live forever in the sky. This made them immortal. But humans lost the chance because they did not live up to expectations-they broke the law.

According to the Kung, the great God gave men bows, arrows and poison, and digging sticks, and taught them how to shoot animals for food. A Kung, under normal circumstances, will not say the names of his gods because he fears this might displease the gods and draw their attention. The great God is known to have seven names, which he shares with the lesser gods. In their belief, however, the Kung consider neither the great God nor the lesser gods to be all evil or all good. Both are considered capable of being pleased or displeased with man and of sending favors or misfortunes. The lesser gods are subordinate to the great God and carry out his orders and are intermediaries, although they are separate beings, more directly interacting with humans. They may even sometimes disobey the great God, like children disobey their parents.

Definitions and parameters

In addition to the supreme being, Africans also believe in spirits of the dead, the sanctity of sex, and spiritual power over human life sustained through constellation of trees, rocks, rivers, and mountains, much in the same way as the ancient Greeks and Romans. Communication with the supreme being may be done through any of these means. As noted earlier, among some Cameroonian groups, Zamba, the supreme being (God) controls the universe by a fluid. This fluid can be obtained by the ability of an individual's ancestral spirits to control forces on behalf of Zamba. Two important issues arising out of this connection with the supremebeing include ancestor veneration and the presence of lesser gods or spirits, which many writers have referred to in the literature as fetishes. Basic concepts in African traditional religions are not different from those of other religions. The Christian concept of the supreme being is not much different. Through their revelation of the true doctrine of God and incarnation, the Christian churches present mankind with a consistent and professed rational theology. This is the revelation of the mystery of faith, which points to God immanent in his children. In this sense, the origins of human beings, for example, are considered as having come through an instant creation rather than growing out of matter. Catholicism, in particular, claims that God's existence can be demonstrated by reason, the existence of a personal God as a truth, but based on inferential belief. Genesis Chapter 1 of the Christian Bible mentions God as the creator of the universe. In Genesis 1:27 it is said, "So God created man in his own image." This same God is the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, in Matthew 22:32, Mark 12:266, Luke 30:27, and Acts of the Apostles 7:32. In Proverbs 26:10, we read of a "Great God that forms all things." These refer to the same God referred to by African societies. In 2 Chronicles 28:23, we read of "a sacrifice to the god of Damascus." Early and modern Christian churches recognized the existence of some lesser gods or spiritual beings different from the supreme one. Greek and Roman ancient history confirms this. Like the oracle of Delphi, these so-called deities also wielded some acceptable spiritual powers or acted as mediators or intermediaries. It is thus clear that societies, traditional and non-traditional, recognize an almighty supreme being and other intermediary spiritual beings or entities. The differences are in the approach towards dealing with or worship of the supreme being and also whether a particular approach is done directly or indirectly. Many traditional African groups worship through ancestral spirits and may also have certain common intermediaries and ritual in localized areas or regions. Similarly, Christians worship directly or through saints using mystical facilities and ritual, just as non-Christian traditions worship God directly or through ancestors and socio-cultural institutions. (Continues...)

Excerpted from RELIGION, RITUAL AND AFRICAN TRADITIONby E. KOFI AGORSAH Copyright © 2010 by E. Kofi Agorsah. Excerpted by permission.
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