Portal:Traditional African religions

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Introduction Nkisi nkondi of the Bakongo. They are a subclass of nkisi, objects believed to be inhabited by spirits, common across the Congo Basin The beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse, and include various ethnic religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and are passed down from one generation to another through narratives, songs, and festivals. They include beliefs in spirits and higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme being, as well as the veneration of the dead, use of magic, and traditional African medicine. 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. (Full article...) Selected article The Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with many deities believed to be present in, and in control of, the world. Rituals such as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, the rulers of Egypt, believed to possess a divine power by virtue of their position. They acted as intermediaries between their people and the gods, and were obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at, the order of the cosmos. The state dedicated enormous resources to Egyptian rituals and to the construction of the temples. Selected images Vodun altar with several fetishes in Abomey, Benin (West Africa). Credit: Dominik Schwarz More about this picture on West African Vodun... The Mbot mask. Symbol of the Serer peoples' Ndut initiation rite. Credit: Tamsier More about the Ndut rite of passage.... An early-20th-century Igbo medicine man in Nigeria, West Africa. Credit: Ukabia For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African Religions, African divination, Traditional African medicine and Igbo religion. The Senegambian stone circles (Wassu section) believed by archaeologists and historians to be built by the Serer people of the Senegambia region. The Senegambia stone circles are the largest concentration of stone circles seen anywhere in the world according to UNESCO. They are sacred burial grounds and a place of ritual offerings (kuur in Serer). Credit: Atamari For more about this picture, see Senegambian stone circles, Mummification and Cult of the Upright Stones in Serer religion, and Serer ancient history. The star Yoonir, symbol of the Universe in Serer religion and Cosmogony. The peak of the star (top point) represents the Supreme Deity (Roog). The other four points represent the cardinal points of the Universe. The crossing of the lines ("bottom left" and "top right", and "top left" and "bottom right") pinpoints the axis of the Universe that all energies pass. The top point is "the point of departure and conclusion, the origin and the end". Among the Serers who cannot read or write the Latin alphabet, it is very common for them to sign official documents with the star of Yoonir, as the star also represents "good fortune and destiny". Yoonir also represents the Serer people and the Serer precolonial Kingdom of Sine. Credits: Sarang, AnonMoos, (and Yoonir file by Tamsier) For more about the pentagram in Serer spirituality, see Yoonir in Serer religion and Serer creation myth. Serer representation of the universe. The three worlds : the invisible world, the terrestrial world and the nocturnal world. Credit: Henry Gravrand - La civilisation sereer : Pangool For more about this picture, see Serer creation myth and Serer religion (A ƭat Roog). Bakongo masks from the Kongo Central. In traditional African religions, masks play an important part in many ritual ceremonies. Credit: Ndoto ya Afrika For more about this picture, see Practices and rituals in traditional African religions, Traditional African masks, African art and African sculpture. Traditional healer of South Africa performing a divination by reading the bones. Credit: User:FastilyClone (Fastily) For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African religions and African divination An early 20th century Yoruba divination board. Credit: Tamsier For more about this picture, see Divination in Traditional African religions and African divination An Igbo Ukwu bronze ceremonial vessel made around the 9th century AD. Credit: Ukabia More about this picture on Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu... The gods Osiris, Anubis and Horus, in order from left to right, painted inside the tomb of pharaoh Horemheb. Credit: A. Parrot For more about this picture, see Ancient Egyptian deities and Ancient Egyptian religion. Festivals There are several religious festivals found in the various Traditional African religions. Some of these are listed below next to their corresponding religion : Afro-Cuban religion : Plantes Dogon religion : Bulo — Sigi — Dama — Bado — Bago — Gogo Igbo religion : Ekpe festivals — New Yam Festival of the Igbo — The Iwa ji festival Jamaican Maroon religion : Kumina — Kromanti dance Jola : Kumpo — Niasse — Samay San religion : Healing dances Serer religion : Daqaar mboob — Diouck — Gamo — Jobai — Khanghere — Mindisse — Mbosseh (or mboosé) — Mboudaye — Ndut — Randou Rande — Raan (held at Tukar, see also Saltigue) — Sam Southieh — The consultation at Ngalagne — The massacre of Cadde — The royal struggle — The session struggle at Ndiaye-Ndiaye — The session struggle Jiloor (Jijaak) — Tobaski — Tourou Peithie — Xoy (main Xoy held at Fatick) Yoruba religion : Odun Egungun — The Yoruba calendar (the year in festivals) Selected biography Cheikh Anta Diop (29 December 1923 – 7 February 1986) was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. Though Diop is sometimes referred to as an Afrocentrist, he predates the concept and thus was not himself an Afrocentric scholar. However, Diopian thought, as it is called, is paradigmatic to Afrocentricity. His work was greatly controversial and throughout his career, Diop argued that there was a shared cultural continuity across African peoples that was more important than the varied development of different ethnic groups shown by differences among languages and cultures over time. Diop's work has posed important questions about the cultural bias inherent in scientific research. Cheikh Anta Diop University (formerly known as the University of Dakar), in Dakar, Senegal, is named after him. Selected quote “ It was the spirit . . . not merely African but universal, which was truly captured by modern Cubist artists. The fact that they collected African sculptures meant that these moderns lived with them sufficiently to absorb the sculptures’ radiance, and not merely to “borrow” forms. They did not divide the form from the content, any more than the human body can be separated from the mind. It was an “influence,” if one wishes to use this word; but an influence of the content which was fi rst digested in its essence by the artists, and then recreated by them. ” On the influence of African religion on art, Aloysius M. Lugira (2009), quoting Ladislas Segy (1975), Source: African Traditional Religion, Third Edition, 2009 by Aloysius M. Lugira, quoting Ladislas Segy, "African Sculpture Speak",Da Capo Press (1975), p. 118, ISBN 9780306800184 Did you know ...that the organizers of FESTIMA, a festival in Burkina Faso celebrating traditional African masks, estimate that 100,000 people attended in 2016? Related portals All Africa-related portals Topics For more Traditional African religion topics, see Category:Traditional African religions. Categories Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories Traditional African religions African art African shamanism African witchcraft Akan religion Ancient Egyptian religion African deities Dogon religion Films about traditional African religions Jola religion Kongo religion African mythology Names of God in African traditional religions Sacred sites in traditional African religions Serer religion Traditional African religions portal West African Vodun Yoruba religion Traditional African religions stubs WikiProjects Africa Religion Spirituality Things you can do Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikiversity Free learning tools Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus Discover Wikipedia using portals List of all portals The arts portal Biography portal Current events portal Geography portal History portal Mathematics portal Science portal Society portal Technology portal Random portal WikiProject Portals