The culture of Africa encompasses and includes all cultures which were ever in the continent of Africa.

The main split is between North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is in turn divided into a great

number of ethnic and tribal cultures. The main ethno-linguistic divisions are Afro-Asiatic (North Africa,

Chad, Horn of Africa), Niger-Congo (mostly Bantu) in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Nilo-Saharan in parts

of the Sahara and the Sahel and parts of Eastern Africa, and Khoisan (indigenous minorities of Southern

Africa.

The notion of a "Pan-African" culture was discussed in seriousness during the 1960s and 1970s in the

context of the Négritude movement, but has fallen out of fashion in African studies. The wide distribution

of Bantu peoples across Sub-Saharan Africa, encompassing parts ofWestern Africa, Eastern

Africa, Central Africa as well as Southern Africa is a result of the Bantu expansions of the 1st millennium

AD. The wide use of Swahili as a lingua franca further establishes the Bantu peoples as a nearly "Pan-

African" cultural influence.

Africa has a rich tradition of arts and crafts. African arts and crafts find expression in a variety

of woodcarvings, brass and leather art works. African arts and crafts also

include sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and religious headgear and dress.

African culture has always placed emphasis on personal appearance and jewelry has remained an

important personal accessory. Many pieces of such jewellery are made of cowry shells and similar

materials. Similarly, masks are made with elaborate designs and are important part of African culture.

Masks are used in various ceremonies depicting ancestors and spirits, mythological characters and

deities.

In most of traditional art and craft of Africa, certain themes significant to African culture recur, including a

couple, a woman with a child, a male with a weapon or animal, and an outsider or a stranger. Couples

may represent ancestors, community founder, married couple or twins. The couple theme rarely exhibit

intimacy of men and women. The mother with the child or children reveals intense desire of the African

women to have children. The theme is also representative of mother mars and the people as her children.

The man with the weapon or animal theme symbolizes honor and power. A stranger may be from some

other tribe or someone from a different country, and more distorted portrayal of the stranger indicates

proportionately greater gap from the stranger.

ARTS"African arts" redirects here. For the journal African Arts, see African Arts (journal).

A bronze ceremonial vessel made around the 9th century, one of the bronzes found atIgbo Ukwu.

African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. Though many casual observers tend to

generalize "traditional" African art, the continent is full of people, societies, and civilizations, each with a

unique visual special culture. The definition also includes the art of theAfrican Diasporas, such as the art

of African Americans. Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the

totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.[1]

Emphasis on the human figure: The human figure has always been the primary subject matter for

most African art, and this emphasis even influenced certain European traditions. For example, in the

fifteenth century Portugal traded with the Sapi culture near the Ivory Coast in West Africa, who

created elaborate ivory saltcellars that were hybrids of African and European designs, most notably in

the addition of the human figure (the human figure typically did not appear in Portuguese saltcellars).

The human figure may symbolize the living or the dead, may reference chiefs, dancers, or various

trades such as drummers or hunters, or even may be an anthropomorphic representation of a god or

have other votive function. Another common theme is the inter-morphosis of human and animal.

Ife bronze casting of a King, dated around 12th Century.

Yoruba bronze head sculpture, Ife, Nigeria c. 12th century A.D.

Visual abstraction: African artworks tend to favor visual abstraction over naturalistic

representation. This is because many African artworks generalize stylistic norms.[2] Ancient Egyptian

art, also usually thought of as naturalistically depictive, makes use of highly abstracted and

regimented visual canons, especially in painting, as well as the use of different colors to represent the

qualities and characteristics of an individual being depicted.[3]

Emphasis on sculpture: African artists tend to favor three-dimensional artworks over two-

dimensional works. Even many African paintings or cloth works were meant to be experienced three-

dimensionally. House paintings are often seen as a continuous design wrapped around a house,

forcing the viewer to walk around the work to experience it fully; while decorated cloths are worn as

decorative or ceremonial garments, transforming the wearer into a living sculpture. Distinct from the

static form of traditional Western sculpture African art displays animation, a readiness to move.[4]

Makonde carving c.1974

Emphasis on performance art: An extension of the utilitarianism and three-dimensionality of

traditional African art is the fact that much of it is crafted for use in performance contexts, rather than

in static ones. For example, masks and costumes very often are used in communal, ceremonial

contexts, where they are "danced." Most societies in Africa have names for their masks, but this

single name incorporates not only the sculpture, but also the meanings of the mask, the dance

associated with it, and the spirits that reside within. In African thought, the three cannot be

differentiated.

Nonlinear scaling: Often a small part of an African design will look similar to a larger part, such as

the diamonds at different scales in the Kasai pattern at right. Louis Senghor, Senegal’s first president,

referred to this as "dynamic symmetry." William Fagg, the British art historian, compared it to the

logarithmic mapping of natural growth by biologist D’Arcy Thompson. More recently it has been

described in terms of fractal geometry.[5]

African art has a long and surprisingly controversial history. Up until recently, the designation "African" was usually only bestowed on the arts of "Black Africa", the peoples living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The non-black peoples of North Africa, the people of the Horn of Africa, as well as the art of ancient Egypt, generally were not included under the rubric of African art. Recently, however, there has been a movement among African art historians and other scholars to include the visual culture of these areas, since all the cultures that produced them, in fact, are located within the geographic boundaries of the African continent. The notion is that by including all African cultures and their visual culture in African art, laypersons will gain a greater understanding of the continent's cultural diversity. Since there was often a confluence of traditional African, Islamic and Mediterranean cultures, scholars have found that drawing distinct divisions between Muslim areas, ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean and indigenous black African societies makes little sense. Finally, the arts of the people of the African diaspora, prevalent in Brazil, the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, have also begun to be included in the study of African art.

The origins of African art lie long before recorded history. African rock art in

the Sahara in Niger preserves 6000-year-old carvings.[6] The earliest known sculptures are from the Nok

culture of Nigeria, made around 500 BC. Along with sub-Saharan Africa, the cultural arts of the western

tribes, ancient Egyptian paintings and artifacts, and indigenous southern crafts also contributed greatly to

African art. Often depicting the abundance of surrounding nature, the art was often abstract

interpretations of animals, plant life, or natural designs and shapes.

More complex methods of producing art were developed in sub-Saharan Africa around the 10th century,

some of the most notable advancements include the bronzework of Igbo Ukwu and the terracottas and

metalworks of Ile Ife Bronze and brass castings, often ornamented with ivory and precious stones,

became highly prestigious in much of West Africa, sometimes being limited to the work of court artisans

and identified with royalty, as with the Benin Bronzes.

African traditional religion

Religious traditions of Africa

Most traditional African religions have, for most of their existence, been orally/spiritually (rather than

scripturally) transmitted or practiced.[1]Thus, linguistic experts such as Christopher Ehret [2] and Placide

Tempels have applied their knowledge of languages towards reconstructing the original core beliefs of the

followers of these traditions. The four linguistic phylums spoken in Africa are: Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-

Saharan, Niger-Congo, and Khoi-San.[2]

Afro-Asiatic (Afrasan) religious tradition

[edit]General description

According to linguist Christopher Ehret, traditional religion among Afro-Asiatic-speaking peoples was

originally henotheistic in nature.[3] In this sense, each clan gave allegiance to the community's own god

while still accepting that other gods exist.[3] Each Afrasan clan community was headed by a hereditary

ritual leader.[4] With regard to major groupings of the Erythraite peoples and the Cushites, Ehret refers to

this ritual priest as the '*wap'er'. The '*wap'er' carried out the traditional spiritual rites for each group, but

was by no means a political chief or accorded significant political authority.[4] Rather, the role of the clan

*wap'er was to preside over the community rituals directed toward that deity and to act for the community

as the intercessor and interpreter of the deity.[4] Ehret states that in the founding Afro-Asiatic spiritual

tradition, evil was seen as being caused by petty or demonic 'spirits' that dwelled among humans.[3]

[edit]Egyptian religion

Ancient Egyptian religion developed as a branch of the Afro-Asiatic religious tradition with some

influences from the Sudanic religion. The ancestors of the Egyptians, who came from the direction of the

beginning of the Nile in Kenya[citation needed] well before 10.000 BC and spoke an Afro-Asiatic language

directly ancestral to ancient Egyptian brought with them the belief in Clan deities. When the clan territories

were later merged into Egypt, these clan deities were merged into a pantheon of a new polytheistic

religion. A contribution came from the Sudanic inhabitants of what became the southernmost province of

Egypt, [Ta-Seti]. The concept of a sacral King and the sending of servants into the grave alongside the

King, a custom only stopped during the 3rd dynasty, are of Sudanic origin (see below section on Sudanic

religion).[5] The Sun god as creation god and the divine law [Maat] connected to the sun god and justifying

the rule of the King also show Sudanic influence.

[edit]Cushitic religion

According to Ehret, the religious beliefs of the proto-Cushites were a mixture of two distinct religious

traditions. Probably as early as the seventh millennium BCE, the Cushites in parts of eastern Africa

blended their traditional Afro-Asiatic religion with aspects of the religious tradition of their Sudanic

neighbours. Specifically, they exchanged their belief in a clan deity with the Sudanic concept of "Divinity",

expanding the use of the old Cushitic root for "sky" (waak'a) to also extend to "Divinity". However, they

retained their older institution of a clan priest-chief (or *wap'er), with the *wap'er's religious duties now re-

directed toward Divinity. The Cushites also retained the old Afrasan practice of ascribing unfortunate

occurrences to maleficent spirits, but also sometimes viewed evil as Divine retribution.[6]

[edit]Omotic religion

Among the Omotic peoples of southwestern Ethiopia (whom Ehret and many other linguists consider to

be Afrasan-speaking) Afrasan henotheism has been preserved relatively unchanged.[3]

[edit]Nilo-Saharan religious traditions I - Koman religious tradition

[edit]General description

Ehret characterizes Nilo-Saharan proto-religion as follows:

The early Nilo-Saharan communities, it is thought, held to a nontheistic belief system, similar to that

known among a few modern-day Nilo-Saharan peoples, such as the Uduk, whose languages belong to

the Koman branch of that family. In this religion spiritual power and spiritual danger do not reside in a

deity but are expressed by an animating force. In the modern Uduk language, this force is called 'arum'. It

is a force, concentrating in their livers, that makes us and animals alive; it is also the source of our anger,

our fears, and our affections. Human beings restrain the 'arum' within themselves through their receptive

consciousness, called by the Uduk 'kashira', which is understood to reside in the stomachs. In the

modern-day Uduk version of this belief system, there also exists disembodied 'arum.' the residue of lives,

animal and human, that have been lived in the past. The 'arum' of people properly buried is reconstituted

safely in communities underground. But there are also wandering 'arum', the residuum of people lost in

the wild and never properly buried, and of animals killed by hunters. This animating force in its

disembodied aspect, when not dealt with through ritual and religious observances, can be the source of

danger and harm to people. Its effects, in other words, explain the problem of evil.[7]

[edit]Uduk religion

A contemporary example of a religion belonging to the Koman tradition is the religion of the Uduk.

[edit]Koman religion among the Central Luo

In his book "African Religions and Western Scholarship", Okot P'Bitek describes the belief system of the

central Luo,[8] extensively cited by Wiredu.[9] Although the Luo belong to the Sudanic peoples who

generally belong to the monotheistic Sudanic religion (see below), the belief system described here is

nontheistic and seems to belong to the Koman tradition.

Ehret states in [10] That the ancestors of the Luo, a people called the Jii, migrated into an area previously

inhabited by Koman speaking peoples from the late second millennium BCE and gradually assimilated

the earlier Koman population. This can be concluded from the linguistic evidence like the presence of

many words of Koman origin in the Luo language. Obviously, the Koman people who where assimilated

into the Jii society retained their older religion and did not adopt the Sudanic religion of the Jii.

[edit]Nilo-Saharan religious traditions II - Sudanic religious tradition

[edit]General description

According to Ehret, there was a marked change in the religion of one part of Nilo-Saharan peoples to

what he calls the Sudanic Religion.

The Northern Sudanians developed religious ideas strikingly different from the nontheistic beliefs we

attributed (in chapter 2) to their ancestors in the earlier Middle Nile Tradition. Their Sudanic religion, as

we will term it here, was monotheistic. At the core of the belief system was a single Divinity, or God.

Divinity was identified metaphorically with the sky, and the power of Divinity was often symolized by

lightning. There was no other category of spirits or deities. (...) The sudanic belief viewed evil as a Divine

judgment or retribution for the wrong that a person, or a person's forebears, had done in life. The

ancestors passed after death into some kind of vaguely conceived afterlife, but they had no functional role

in religious observances or rituals.[11]

In part of the Sudanic peoples, a tradition of sacral kingship or chiefship developed in which the position

of the king was justified by a divine law given by Divinity. This aspect of the Sudanic religion entailed the

sending of servants into the afterlife along with the deceased chief. This aspect of Sudanic civilization had

a strong influence on Egypt. The roots of the later Egyptian "divine" kingship lay in this Sudanic

innovation.[12]

According to Ehret, the Sudanic religion also began having a strong influence on the original Afrasan

religion of the Cushites after the seventh millennium BC.[6]

[edit]Maasai religion

A contemporary example for a variety of the Sudanic religious tradition is the monotheistic religion of

the Maasai.

[edit]Meroitic religion

The religion of ancient Meroe is a variety of the Sudanic religion with some Egyptian influence.[13]

[edit]Niger-Congo religious tradition

[edit]General description

Ehret's analysis of the original Niger-Congo spiritual tradition indicates that it centered around 'spirit' as

manifested in various aspects of nature, deities and/or ancestors.[14] This is evident in the following quote:

Niger-Congo religion recognized a series of levels of spirit. At the apex of the system, but of little direct

consequence in everyday religion, there was God as a distant figure, who was the First Cause or

Creator...A second kind of spirit dwelled within a particular territory and was believed able to influence

events there...But the really crucial spirits for religious observance and ritual belonged to a third category.

These were the ancestors.[14]

The oldest term for the Niger-Congo creation god that can be reconstructed is "*Nyambe" (cognate with

the Akan word Nyame). This can be derived from a verbal root "*-amb-" meaning to begin.[15][16]

Evil in this tradition, Ehret states, originated with "witchcraft" executed upon targeted people by other

individuals.[17] Tempels supports Ehret's analysis in his assertions (which are also based upon linguistic

analysis) that the unifying ideological characteristic of the Bantulanguage subgroup of Niger-Congo, is the

concept of 'force'. This 'force', he asserts, is identical to 'spirit,' 'being,' and/or 'existence' such that it

comprises all human-perceived reality.

An intra-cultural analyzis of the Akan version of the Niger-Congo religion can be found in.[18] Wiredu's

analyzis shows that the Niger-Congo religion is monotheistic, a view supported by Ehret.[19] Both the

ancestral spirits and the local spirits are part of the created world and do not have the status of gods.

The concept of 'force' or 'spirit' is also iterated by Karade [20] and Doumbia and Doumbia [21] in reference to

the Sudanic (i.e. areas west ofCameroon and south of the Sahara) Niger-Congo peoples. Karade holds

that, in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria, 'force' is called 'ashe'. He asserts that the task of a Yoruba

practitioner is to contemplate and/or ceremonially embody the various deities and/or ancestral energies in

ways analogous to how chakras are contemplated in kundalini yoga.[22] In other words, the deities

represent energies, attitudes, or potential ways to approach life. The goal is to elevate awareness while

either in or contemplating any of these states of mind such that one can transmute negative or wasteful

aspects of their energy into conduct and mindsets that serve as wholesome, virtuous examples for

oneself and the greater community. Doumbia and Doumbia [21] echo this sentiment for the Mande tradition

of Senegal, Mali, and many other regions of westernmost Africa.[23] Here however, the 'force' concept is

represented by the term 'nyama' rather than 'ashe'.[21]

Divination also tends to play a major role in the process of transmuting negative or confused

feelings/thoughts into more ordered and productive ones.[24][25] Specifically, this process serves as a way

to provide frames of reference such that those who are uncertain as to how to begin an undertaking

and/or solve a problem can get their bearings and open a dialectic with their highest selves concerning

their options on their paths.

[edit]Akan religion

The Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast believe in a supreme god who takes on various names

depending upon the region of worship. Akan mythology claims that at one time the god interacted with

man, but that after being continually struck by the pestle of an old woman pounding fufu,a traditional

Ghanaian food, he moved far up into the sky. There are no priests that serve him directly, and people

believe that they may make direct contact with him. There are also numerous spirits(abosom), who

receive their power from the supreme god and are most often connected to the world as it appears in its

natural state. These include ocean and riverine spirits and various local deities. Priests serve individual

spirits and act as mediators between the gods and mankind. Nearly everyone participates in daily prayer,

which includes the pouring of libations as an offering to both the ancestors who are buried in the land and

to the spirits who are everywhere. The earth is seen as a female deity and is directly connected to fertility

and fecundity. The religion of the Akan, as described by Wiredu, is an example for a contemporary

manifestation of the Niger-Congo religion.

[edit]Odinani

Main article: Odinani

Odinani encompasses the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Igbo. It is

a panentheistic faith. In Odinani, there is one supreme God called Chukwu (Igbo: Great spirit) who was

before all things and heads over smaller deities called Alusi. There are different Alusi for different

purposes, the most important of them is Ala the earth goddess. A traditional herbalist/priest among the

Igbo is calledDibia.[26]

[edit]Niger-Congo ceremonies

Niger-Congo religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies and/or divinatory

rites in which members of the community, overcome by 'force' (or 'ashe', 'nyama', etc.), are excited to the

point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic/mantric drumming and/or singing. In this

state, depending upon the types of drumming or instrumental rhythms played by respected musicians

(each of which is unique to a given deity/ancestor), participants embody a deity/ancestor, energy and/or

state of mind by performing distinct ritual movements/dances that further enhance their elevated

consciousness, or, in Eastern terms, excite the kundalini to a specific level of awareness and/or

circulate chi in a specific way within the body.[22] When this trance-like state is witnessed and understood,

culturally educated observers are privy to a way of contemplating the pure/symbolic embodiment of a

particular mindset or frame of reference. This builds skills at separating the feelings elicited by this

mindset from their situational manifestations in daily life. Such separation and subsequent contemplation

of the nature and sources of pure energy/feelings serves to help participants manage and accept them

when they arise in mundane contexts. This facilitates better control and transformation of these energies

into positive, culturally appropriate behavior, thought, and speech. Further, this practice can also give rise

to those in these trances uttering words that, when interpreted by a culturally educated initiate/diviner, can

provide insight into appropriate directions that the community (or individual) might take in accomplishing

its goals.

[edit]Khoisan religious tradition

[edit]General description

In reference to Khoisan spirituality, Ehret asserts that:

The Khoisan, like the earliest Nilo-Saharans, adhered to a nontheistic religious outlook. Their beliefs

recognized the existence of an impersonal condition of spirit, a force that existed outside human beings

as well as in some animals. In the thought of the particular Khoisan peoples who have lived in southern

Africa since 5,000 BCE, this force could be tapped by means of the trance-dance and used to heal

sickness and to relieve social and individual stress and conflict. In this procedure, a person recognized for

special religious talents, a kind of shaman whom we may call a trance-healer, dances until he or she goes

into a state of trance, which might last for many hours. The trance healers were not full-time specialists...

If no trance dance was being performed, and that means the great majority of the time, the healer held no

special position and engaged in the usual pursuits like anyone else.[27]

[edit]Typological classification

Of the five religious traditions of Africa, two (Koman and Khoisan) are nontheistic.

One of the traditions (Afrasan) is henotheistic, which means that people worship only one (clan) deity

although they don't deny the existence of other deities belonging to other clans.

Two of the religious traditions (Sudanic and Niger-Congo) are monotheistic. The sudanic religion spread

to the Cushites and was there mixed with concepts from the Afrasan religion, leading to another

monotheistic religion.[citation needed] . A Sudanic (especially Nubian) influence on Akhenaten is possible but

speculative.[28]

Polytheism has developed twice independently and in very different ways. In the case of ancient Egypt, it

developed by merging the henotheistic clan gods of several Afrasan clans, together with the Sudanic

creator god, into a pantheon.

The term "Animism" originally developed to describe African religions and still used a lot in official

statistics and by journalists, does not fit any of them.[citation needed]

[edit]Classification and statistics

Adherents.com (as of 2007) lists "African Traditional & Diasporic" as a "major religious group", estimating

some 100 million adherents. They justify this combined listing of traditional African and African diasporic

religions, and the separation from the generic "primal-indigenous" category by pointing out that

the "primal-indigenous" religions are primarily tribal and composed of pre-colonization peoples. While

there is certainly overlap between this category and non-African primal-indigenous religious adherents,

there are reasons for separating the two, best illustrated by focusing specifically on Yoruba, which is

probably the largest African traditional religious/tribal complex. Yoruba was the religion of the vast Yoruba

nation states which existed before European colonialism and its practitioners today; certainly those in the

Caribbean, South America and the U.S.; are integrated into a technological, industrial society, yet still

proclaim affiliation to this African-based religious system. Cohesive rituals, beliefs and organization were

spread throughout the world of Yoruba (and other major African religious/tribal groups such as Fon), to an

extent characteristic of nations and many organized religions, not simply tribes. (Major Religions Ranked

by Size)

Practitioners of traditional religions in sub-Saharan Africa are distributed among 43 countries, and are

estimated to number about 70 million, or 12% of African population, while the largest religions in

Africa are Christianity and Islam, accounting for 45% and 40%, respectively. As everywhere, adherence

to an organized religion does not preclude a residue of folk religion in which traditions predating

Christianization or Islamisation survive.

[edit]Deities

Main article: African deities

Followers of traditional African religions pray to various secondary deities (Ogoun, Da, Agwu, Esu, Mbari,

etc.) as well as to their ancestors. These secondary gods serve as intermediaries between humans and

the creator god. Most indigenous African societies believe in a single creator god

(Chukwu, Nyame, Olodumare, Ngai etc.). Some recognize a dual or complementary twin god such as

Mawu-Lisa. For example, in one of the Yoruba creation myth, Olodumare, the supreme god, is said to

have created Obatala, a secondary deity, who then created humans on earth. Olodumare then infused

those human creations with life. Some societies also deify entities like the earth, the sun, the sea,

lightning, or Nature. Each deity has its own priest or priestess.[citation needed]

[edit]Practices and rituals

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (March 2008)

Usually, all African traditional religions are considered to be similar by Western people, and are often

described as not unlike traditional (pre-Vedic, Vedic, and pre-Abrahamic) religions in most cultures

(e.g., Indian, Greek, etc.). Often, God is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities

and ancestral spirits. The deities and spirits are honored through libation, sacrifice (of animals,

vegetables, or precious metals) and, in some cases, trokosi. The will of God is sought by the believer also

through consultation of oracular deities, ordivination. In many African traditional religions, there is a belief

in a cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. Like various other

traditional religions, African traditional religions embrace natural phenomena - ebb and tide, waxing and

waning moon, rain and drought - and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. These religions are also not

static, not even within their consciousness of natural rhythms. They incorporate the ever-changing actual

experience. For example, Sango, the Yoruba god of lightning, assumes responsibility for modern

electrical processes. However, in truth, the commonalities of African religions are as follows:

Belief in a Supreme Being, or Creator, which is referred to by a myriad of names in various

languages

No written scripture (holy texts are oral)

Correspondence with the higher being in times of great need (i.e. natural calamities, unexplained

deaths)

Having a devout connection with their ancestors

[edit]Divination

Further information: Divination

One of the most traditional methods of telling fortunes in Africa is called casting (or throwing) the bones.

Because Africa is a large continent with many tribes and cultures, there is not one single technique. Not

all of the "bones" are actually bones, small objects may include cowrieshells, stones, strips of leather, or

flat pieces of wood. In general, most casting or throwing methods are performed on the ground (often

within a circle) and they fall into one of two categories:

Casting marked bones, flat pieces of wood, shells, or leather strips and numerically counting up

how they fall—either according to their markings or whether they do or do not touch one another—

with mathematically-based readings delivered as memorized results based on the chosen criteria.

Casting a special set of symbolic bones or an array of selected symbolic articles—as, for

instance, using a bird's wing bone to symbolize travel, a round stone to symbolize a pregnant womb,

and a bird foot to symbolize feeling.

In African society, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. There are no prohibitions against the

practice. Those who tell fortunes for a living are also sought out for their wisdom as counselors and for

their knowledge of herbal medicine.

[edit]Duality of self and gods

Most indigenous African religions have a dualistic concept of the person. In the Igbo language, a person

is said to be composed of a bodyand a soul. In the Yoruba language, however, there seems to be

a tripartite concept: in addition to body and soul, there is said to exist a "spirit" or an ori, an independent

entity that mediates or otherwise interacts between the body and the soul.

Some religious systems have a specific devil-like figure (for example, Ekwensu) who is believed to be the

opposite of god.

[edit]Virtue and vice

Virtue in African traditional religion is often connected with the communal aspect of life. Examples include

social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, appropriately raising children, providing

hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy and courageous.

In some ATRs, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person

or a community lives. For the Kikuyu, according to Mbiti, God, acting through the lesser deities, is

believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one's "conscience." But so could

the Devil and the messengers. In indigenous African religions, such as the Azande religion, a person is

said to have a good or bad conscience depending on whether he does the bidding of the God or the

Devil.

[edit]Religious offices

African indigenous religions, like most indigenous religions, do not have a named and known founder, nor

a sacred scripture. Often, such religions are oral traditions.

[edit]Priest

In some societies, there are intermediaries between individuals or whole communities and specific deities.

Variously called Dibia, Babalawo, etc., the priest usually presides at the altar of a particular deity.

[edit]Healer

Practice of medicine is an important part of indigenous religion. Priests are reputed to have professional

knowledge of illness (pathology), surgery, and pharmacology (roots, barks, leaves and herbs). Some of

them are also reputed to diagnose and treat mental and psychological problems.

The role of a traditional healer is broader in some respects than that of a contemporary medical doctor.

The healer advises in all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, spiritual, moral, and legal

matters. He also understands the significance of ancestral spirits and the reality of witches.

[edit]Rainmaker

They are believed to be capable of bringing about or stopping rain, by manipulating the

environment meteorologically (e.g., by burning particular kinds of woods or otherwise attempting to

influence movement of clouds).

[edit]Holy places and headquarters of religious activities

While there are human made places (altars, shrines, temples, tombs), very often sacred space is located

in nature (trees, groves, rocks, hills, mountains, caves, etc.).

These are some of the important centers of religious life: Nri-Igbo, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin

City, Ouidah, Nsukka, Akan, Kanem-Bornu,Mali, and Igbo-Ukwu.

[edit]Liturgy and rituals

Rituals often occur according to the life cycle of the year. There are herding and hunting rituals as well as

those marking the rhythm of agriculture and of human life. There are craft rituals, such as in smithing.

There are rituals on building new homes, on the assumption of leadership, etc.

[edit]Individuality

Each deity has an its own rituals, including choice objects of sacrifice; preference for male or female

priest-officer; time of day, week, month, or year to make required sacrifice; or specific costumes for priest

and supplicant on ritual occasions.

[edit]Patronage

Some deities are perpetual patrons of specific trades and guilds. For example, in Haitian

Vodou, Ogoun (Ogun among the Yorubas of Nigeria), the deity of metal, is patron of all professions that

use metals as primary material of craft.

[edit]Libation

The living often honor ancestors by pouring a libation (paying homage), and thus giving them the first

"taste" of a drink before the living consume it.

[edit]Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery

These are important, different but related, parts of beliefs about interactions between the natural and the

supernatural, seen and unseen, worlds. Magicians, witches, shamans and sorcerers are said to have the

skills to bring about or manipulate the relations between the two worlds. Abuse of this ability is widely

condemned. Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery are parts of many indigenous religions.

[edit]Secret societies

They are important part of indigenous religion. Among traditional secret societies are hunting societies

whose members are taught not only the physical methods, but also respect for the spiritual aspect of the

hunt and use of honorable magical means to obtain important co-operation from the animal hunted.

Members are supposed to have been initiated into, and thus have access to, occultic powers hidden to

non-members. Well known secret societies are Egbo, Nsibidi, Ngbe, Mau Mau, Ogboni, Sangbeto, etc.

[edit]Possession

Some spirits and deities are believed to "mount" some of their priests during special rituals.

The possessed goes into a trance-like state, sometimes accompanied by speaking in "tongues" (i.e.,

uttering messages from the spirit that need to be interpreted to the audience). Possession is usually

induced by drumming and dancing.

[edit]Mythology

Many indigenous religions, like most religions, have elaborate stories that explain how the world was

created, how culture and civilization came about, or what happens when a person dies, (e.g. Kalunga

Line). Other mythologies are meant to explain or enforce social conventions on issues relating to age,

gender, class, or religious rituals. Myths are popular methods of education: they communicate religious

knowledge and morality while amusing or frightening those who hear or read them. Examples of religions

with elaborate mythologies include the native religion of the Yoruba people, see Yoruba mythology.

[edit]Religious persecution

Adherents of African traditional religions had been persecuted, e.g. practitioners of the Bwiti religion by

Christian missionaries and French colonial authorities, as well as some members of the

present Gabon government.[29]

All information above from wikipedia