There are two schools of thought on the use of the singular and the plural in describing the African indigenous religion(s). The first perception is that the religions have common features, religious philosophy and thought forms. The latter identifies Africa’s numerous cultures, different ethnic nationalities, and varying practices.
The indigenous people (the first inhabitants) of southern Africa can be categorised into two groups, the San hunter-gatherers and the traditional African farmers.
Whereas historians tend to emphasize the changing nature of cultures and religions, the conceptualisation of the term ‘indigenous’ refers to the native people of a given territory, and connotes a set, unchanging people. Historians, however, prefer to
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Women, too, could fadll into a trance, although it was more often the men. Shamans had a special status but they use their supernatural powers for ‘good’ and weren’t considered grander than others.
The San communicated their indigenous religion by word of mouth, since there were no sacred scriptures, in the form of (the aforementioned) songs, stories, ritual dances and rock paintings.
Over the last 2000 years, the existence of the San was challenged by the Khoikhoi herders who attracted some San to their group (the assimilated group being known as Khoisan), the Bantu-speaking farmers who were more powerful and accordingly, dominant over the San (however, some San shamans became employed by the Bantu as rain-makers) and the European colonists who decimated the San, leaving few behind.
The first African farmers are believed to have arrived in southern Africa in 300 CE whereas the ancestors of most of today’s Bantu speakers in southern Africa are said to have relocated from eastern Africa around the 10th century CE. Being the stronger of the two groups, they incorporated the earlier farmers into their
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An elderly patriarch was at the head of each homestead. The patriarch would have many wives who would each have her own hut, arranged in order of hierarchy. Large settlements were made up of clans (many homesteads together), which were ruled by a chief. The chief of chiefs, the ‘warrior king’, could and would conquer and unite clans, disrupt and displace other groups and rule dominantly, such as what occurred in the 19th century when a mighty Zulu empire was created under the Shaka.
Sotho-Tswana speakers’ settlements were larger than the Nguni speakers’ and the chief or king had his own homestead away from the homes of the ‘commoners’. The Sotho-Tswana speakers lived in thatched rondavels whereas the Zulu lived in beehive huts. The Sotho-Tswana king owned the cattle and the land.
As mentioned previously however, marriages between different group members, relocations and interaction in and between the different cultures resulted in intercultural exchanges. Cultural and religious identities were profoundly affected by the arrival of the Western colonists and
When the nation of Kongo “converted” to Christianity around the turn of the 16th century, the Catholicism that developed over the next century is best understood as primarily a superficial layer added onto Kongolese traditional religion. The kings of Kongo did not try to replace previous beliefs and practices with Christianity, nor did they simply mask their traditional religion, but rather they incorporated Christian doctrines, rituals, and some aspects of Portuguese Christian culture such as literacy and medicine, into the framework of the traditional Kongolese lifestyle. Three ways by which we can evaluate the Catholicism that developed in the kingdom of Kongo are through examining how the Kings’ personal religious beliefs and practices changed; how royal policy and sociopolitical infrastructure changed to resemble that of European Christian nations or remained the same; and how the religious beliefs and practices of the majority of common people in the nation changed.
Attempting to analytically appreciate the religious inclinations of the populaces of the Caribbean, it is undeniable that the region must be consumed as a whole. With interconnecting origins, environs, and social formations, it was interesting to consider the emergence of Caribbean religious affiliations collectively. Through the process of socialization, displaced persons culturally survived the misfortune of slavery and the pressures to dismantle their embryonic religious autonomist groupings. Under an anthropological scrutiny, the regrettable interrelations between colonial entities and slaves of their possession generated modern misconceptions of Caribbean religions and attributed to their current configuration. Spinning under the pressure
Five myths from throughout Africa will be mentioned throughout this essay. They are from the Boshongo, Mande, Shilluk, Egyptian, and Yoruba peoples. For a brief description of these myths please see the appendix. Please remember that these myths do not represent the beliefs and stories of all of Africa.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Shawn Mark. The Kingdom of God in Africa:: A Short History of Africa Christianity,(Grand Rapids: Baker
Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World (4th Edition). 4 ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2005.
Religion is big part of human life. Every area of the world has some kind of religion or belief system. Religion is defined as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” (“Religion” Def.2). With such a large amount of religions today, religion is widely variegated, usually with divisions in each one. Despite the large amount of religions, I will only be covering only three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Culture is what a particular society believes in and the way of life they lead. It is deeply defined by what a society believes in for example their traditions, customs and religion as well as other defining factors. “A people’s culture can be seen in the food they eat, the kind of clothes they wear, their music, dance, values (what is acceptable to them as a people) and to some extent, their perception of life. (Saka)”
Bureau of African Affairs. (2011). Background Note: South Africa. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2898.html
...iefs and practices. For example people were able to not believe or believe in God. The world looks less and less to religious rule and rituals for its morality or its meaning. For many individual religions is a mark of one’s cultural or ethnic identity.
Bottaro, Visser and Nigel Worden. 2009. In Search of History Grade 12. South Africa Oxford University Press.
Old South Africa is best described by Mark Uhlig, “The seeds of such violent conflict in South Africa were sown more than 300 years ago, with the first meetings of white settlers and indigenous black tribes in an unequal relationship that was destined one day to become unsustainable” (116).
Bohannan, Paul, and Philip Curtin. Africa & Africans . Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc. , 1995.
There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the after life is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion. Ancestors mediate between God and men. It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare. Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.