Traditional African Beliefs example essay topic

Traditional African Religion Traditional African Religion Before one starts to outline the traditional religion in Africa, one must first explain the way Africa is as a whole. Without the knowledge of the past combined with knowledge of culture, one would have a very vague, if any, understanding of traditional religion. Out of all of the continents, Africa is the most central. It is told that the first man was found in Africa, so with this, many feel that Africa is the birthplace of human culture. Within this continent, there are many different lifestyles, which are lived.

Many blame the variety of lifestyles on western influence, but the truth is that different lifestyles began thousands of years before the west had influence on Africa. African's lifestyles revolve mostly around what is called " "triple heritage". Triple heritage consists of traditional African beliefs, Islam beliefs, and the beliefs of western cultures. Due to different heritages, the African people speak Swahili, Arabic, and English. Today, the people of Africa have little interest in what is going on outside of Africa. With three different heritages found in one area, it is rather easy to see why different lifestyles can be found.

One of the major differences within these cultures is the argument between being monotheistic or polytheistic. Monotheistic is the belief in one and only one god, while polytheistic is the belief of having multiple gods. For example, some people of Africa worship many aspects of nature believing that a god is in charge of every aspect of nature. Another difference is the role of women. Within traditional African beliefs, the women are full of diversity and very important to the men, while in other cultures, they may not have as much respect.

Even within the African beliefs you can find some tribes in which the woman do not receive the respect deserved. Another matter that must be understood is that of time. The concept of time is a key factor to the interpretation and understanding of African religion. The question of time is of little or no academic concern for the African people.

For them, time is merely a composition of events that have occurred, those that are taking place, and those which will occur. With this belief, time falls into three sub-categories. These include; potential time, actual time, and no time. Potential time is defined as what is certain to happen, or what falls within the rhythm of natural phenomena. Actual time is what is present and what is past. It moves " "backwards" " rather than " "forward" ", and people set their minds on what has taken place, not the future.

No time, in turn, is defined as what has not taken place or what has no likelihood of an immediate occurrence. According to traditional concepts, time is considered to be a two-dimensional phenomenon, with a long past, a present, and virtually no future. The linear concept of time is western thought, with an indefinite past, present, and future, is practically nonexistent to African thinking. The future is absent because the events that lie in it have not taken place, they have not been realized, and therefore, they cannot constitute time. The Africans use what is called a phenomenal calendar, rather than a calendar that is based on traditional time. Time is established by using events rather than time itself.

A day is also constructed this way. Time is not known, it is perceived. Nine o'clock is not nine o'clock; rather nine o'clock is when the cattle are milked. Time is referred to as the event in which is taking place during that part of the day. Understanding time is important in understanding the thoughts and beliefs of the African people.

Understanding ontology is important as well. As defined by Webster's ontology is " "a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being". Ontology is the way in which the Africans believe. Expressed ontologically, God is the origin and creator of all things.

A number of societies find God to be omniscient. Omniscient is the belief that God knows all, is simultaneously everywhere, and is the almighty. It is also the belief that though He is the almighty, he himself, is very forgiving. Due to Him being omniscient, God has the highest possible position of honor and respect.

Since God is the Supreme Being, he is the highest in regards to ontology. Under God falls the spirits, which are in turn followed by human beings. Under the human beings are animate beings, and the last rung belongs to that of inanimate beings / natural disasters. In regards to the hierarchal status, once again, God is on top. Second to God would be the divinities, followed by spirits. After spirits are the living dead.

The living dead is followed up by human beings, animate beings, and finally, inanimate beings. Animate beings consist of animals and plants, while inanimate beings consist of natural phenomenon. Divinities, spirits, and the living dead all dwell within the spirit world. After God are the divinities. Divinities consist of gods and goddesses. Divinities are thought to have been created by God, in the ontological category of the spirits.

Some of these divinities are national heroes, who have been elevated and defied, but this is rare, and when it does happen the heroes become associated with some function or form of nature. In fact, there are only two ways to become a god, one being created directly by God, and two, and deification. Deification is comparable to that of sainthood in Roman Catholicism. Some examples of divinities are: Orisanla-Looks over those with impairments, Orunmila-understands all languages, O gun-The God of War, Sango-The god of thunder lightening, Esu-The messenger between gods and human beings, Yemosa-The goddess of the river, and Oya-The goddess of the sea and the ocean. As for the spirits, there is no clear information what the African people say or think about their origin. Some of the spirits are said to have been created as a " "race" " by themselves.

These, just like human beings, have continued to reproduce and add to their numbers. Most people believe that spirits are what remain of human beings when they are physically dead. This then becomes the ultimate status of men, the point of change or development beyond which men cannot go apart from a few national heroes who have been deified. Spirits are the destiny of man, and beyond them is God. In societies that recognize divinities, spirits are farther away from God. Spirits do not appear to human beings as often as the living-dead, and when they are mentioned to be seen, it is mostly in folk stories.

Spirits act in malicious ways, as well as in a benevolent manner. People fear them more because they are strangers rather than because of what they actually do. They are said to have a shadowy formed body, though they may assume different shapes like human, animal, plant forms or inanimate objects. The departed of up to five generations are in a different category from that of ordinary spirits, these departed are known as the living-dead. The living-dead are in a state of personal immortality, and their process of dying is not yet complete. The living-dead is the closest links that the humans have with the spirit world.

The living-dead are said to be bilingual. This is said because these " "spirits" " can speak the language that they spoke while on the earth, but they can now speak the language of the spirits. It is not rare for the living-dead to return to their family, and symbolically, share meals with them. They become the guardians of the family's affairs, traditions, ethics, and activities.

Due to the fact that they are still " "people" ", the living-dead is the closest link between men and God. Even if the living-dead may not do miracles or extraordinary things to remedy the needs of man, men experience a sense of psychological relief when they pour out their hearts' troubles before their seniors who have a foot in both the real world and the spiritual world. Though many of the beliefs have to deal with God, spirits, and living-dead, the African people have many beliefs that affect the people still on earth. One process of life that is treated with respect is that of childbirth.

In African societies, childbirth is something that begins long before the child is actually born, and continues long thereafter. When a child is born, it is not only the concern of the parents, but of the community. The community must mold the child into what he will become. When the mother is with child, people within the community treat her as if she is a special person, so she receives special treatment. This special treatment starts before and continues after childbirth. Practices and ideas connected with the actual birth vary considerably.

Mostly, the birth will take place in the house of the expectant mother, or maybe, even in the house of her parents. There are few instances when the mother will give birth in a special house that is constructed just for that purpose. In many areas of Africa an elderly woman can act as a midwife, but a specialist usually does it. During birth, by rule, men are not allowed in the room. In some communities, certain measures are taken to rid the mother of her pain in the final hours of delivery. Some societies give the mother special herbs and medicines, while in other societies, the mother will walk up and down, or they will pound grain in a mortar.

While delivering, it is very common to find the women squatting instead of lying down. Births, as well as childhood, are a religious process in which the child is flooded with religious activities and attitudes starting long before he is even born. A child not only continues the physical line of life, being in some societies the reincarnate, but also becomes the focus of keeping the parents in the state of personal immortality. The physical aspect of birth and the ceremonies that might accompany pregnancy, birth and childhood, are regarded with religious experience and feeling-that another religious being has been born into a profoundly religious community as well as a religious world.

The rights of birth and childhood introduce the child to the community, but this is just the beginning. The child is a passive member of the community, and he has a long way to go. He must grow from childhood and enter adulthood both physically and mentally. This is also a change from being a passive member to becoming an active member of society. Most African people have rights and ceremonies to mark this change. The initiation rights have symbolic meanings in addition to the physical drama and impact.

The children are ritually introduced to the art of communal living. The rights also introduce the candidates to adult life. They are now allowed to share in full privileges and duties of the community. They have been entered into the state of responsibility, they inherit new rights, and new obligations set forth by the society in which they live. Initiation rights prepare the young children in matters of sex life, procreation, marriage, and family responsibilities. They are now allowed to shed blood for their country.

The initiation rights are also educational. The occasion often marks the beginning of the acquisition of knowledge that is not accessible to those who were not initiated. The initiated learn; to endure hardships, to live with one another, to learn and obey, they learn the secrets of relationships, and in some parts of Africa, the newly initiated join secret societies. All of the rights are important in ones life, but one right outweighs the others, this is the right of marriage. Marriage is a very complex affair with economic, social, and religious aspects.

These aspects are often so tightly overlapped that one may not be able to differentiate between them. For many African people, marriage is the focus of existence. It is the point in which all the members of a community meet. This includes the dead, the living, and those whom are not yet born. Marriage takes form in a duty that is set forth by society. If one does not wed, they are considered a rebel; therefore, society will not accept them.

Without procreation, marriage is not complete. Procreation is seen as a way to be immortal. If children are born to carry on the family name, and to remember their parents, then one cannot die. A person who has no descendants will become forever dead since his line of physical continuation is blocked if he does not marry and create children. If you do not marry and procreate, who will remember you when you die? With this said, it is easy to understand while marriage and procreation is looked at as if it is a duty.

When one has died, it is very important that there are people to remember him. After physical death the departed enters the spirit world as the living-dead. As long as the departed is remembered, he is not " "dead". Once the last person that remembers this person has died, that man has completed the death process. He has completed the path of personal immortality. As long as one is remembered, he is not dead.

The living are able to contact the living-dead while they are in the spirit world. Making contact is done by a medium. The main duty of a medium is to link human beings with the living-dead and the spirits. Through the medium, messages are passed between the two worlds. Mediums also work with other medicine men and diviners. Diviners, as the name implies, are concerned primarily with divination.

As a rule, this is done as part of a broader function, especially of a medical or even priestly nature. They are the agents that reveal the mysteries of human life. This is done through the use of mediums, oracles, being possessed, divination objects, common sense, intuitive knowledge, hypnotism, and other secret knowledge. There is other specialist in the village as well. These specialists include the medicine man, the rainmaker, the kings, queens and rulers. There are also priests, prophets and religious founders.

Duties of these people range from running a society, to making rain, even warding off evil spirits. All of these people have different duties, which are important to the community. All of these people, in one way or another, are needed for society to function. With the many different beliefs and functions of society, it is easy to understand why people have trouble understanding traditional religion. It has some western influence, but it is so different. The difference is why people have trouble understanding, but it is also the difference that makes this religion so interesting.