In African belief systems, the line between the supernatural and the natural are blurred. Traditional affined Africans found ways to keep their beliefs alive while integrating their own Gods around the teachings of Christianity or Islam.
Africa, as a continent, is home to a wide range of ethnic groups, religions, and cultural practices, yet there are also some fundamental commonalities among the many countries and its peoples. It is now generally agreed that all human forebears, not only Africans, originated there. Also, colonialism made an effort to populate and impact significantly in Africa as the continent became increasingly important to the global population.
It is reasonable to conclude that the African Gods, belief systems, myths, and traditions were tainted by a mixture of foreign and indigenous elements via a combination of dissemination and coercion. Nonetheless, in many cases, Africans preserved at least some of their religious beliefs and practices. Africanization refers to the process through which African traditions and values are infused with and absorbed into other cultures.
Identicalities in Different Locations and Times
Faiths in Africa, the world's second-largest continent, are as diverse as the various countries that call it home. Many spiritual ties unite the continent. One is that there is faith in a one, all-powerful deity, or God , who rules over everything in the cosmos and on Earth and in the skies. This African deity is not only the most powerful, but also the ruler of many other Gods and spirits in the afterlife. The second is the practice of honoring one's forefathers and mothers, sometimes known as ancestor veneration. The logical extension of the belief in ancestors is the afterlife, which is held by most Africans. Along with this respect comes the practice of sacrificing an animal after a death in order to smooth the way for the soul into the afterlife.
Birth, coming of age, and death are all marked by rituals in most African societies. Male circumcision, ceremonies, and the transmission of tribal knowledge and secrets are all part of an isolated period of initiation that occurs around puberty. The presence of awe and terror of witchcraft is ingrained in traditional African folklore. Prophets, spiritualists, traditional healers, and shamans may all be referred to as "witchdoctors" by the general public, although they are far different from actual practitioners of witchcraft, sorcery, and black magic.
Most African nations have also succeeded in "Africanizing" the global faiths that were imported from outside the continent. First, we must examine the traditions from which various African gods, belief systems, and tales emerged, as well as the credibility of the materials we are using to learn about them.
A Historical Perspective
The totality of African God's history was passed down via oral traditions until quite recently. African oral literature is more like an energetic performance than a book, making it impossible to adequately reproduce the oral literary tradition in a written environment. It's more effective when seen than read. Its significance, complexity, and clarity are lost without the support of music, body language, dance, and facial emotions.
There are no ancient African literature to help us save for oral transmission and ceremonial activities, which were often practiced in secret after conversion to Christianity and Islam. When innumerable kingdoms and generations had crumbled to dust, history books were written by foreigners, particularly fiery religious outsiders. Due to their superiority complex and pride in their own "civilized" faiths and accomplishments, they spread African practices and beliefs that were seen as barbaric, savage, primitive, and sinfully superstitious.
Since they didn't include any interviews with the persons they were covering, this was the viewpoint that got out to the public. The history of Africa is similar to that of many pre-colonial societies, including those of the ancient Americas.
In the past Africans didn't need to document their beliefs on paper because every community had skilled storytellers to pass their wisdom on orally. In the same way that ancient Jews did, these people carefully preserved and passed down their knowledge and beliefs from generation to generation, all the way up to the advent of the outside world. Like ancient priests and scribes in other societies, storytellers were tasked with faithfully imparting history and legacy.
The Varied Means of Oral Transmission
The weakness of this oral tradition was that when clans split apart, they took with them just fragments of the collective memory. For example, the ancient Nguni people of Southern Africa believe that their forefathers traveled from the "north" and lived near large lakes, but the specifics of this migration have now been forgotten. When they dispersed to the south in waves, each of the tribes kept distinct pieces of their collective past.
Origin myths grew shorter and more focused on recent history as communities dispersed and migrated southward. In light of these novel situations, it's hardly surprising that African mythology and folklore gradually become more pragmatic over time. Animals were often used as symbols for deities and other concepts in African religion, philosophy, and mythology, and as a means of imparting moral precepts. Others have seen parallels between these and the stories of Aesop. Furthermore, tales were used to explain the beginnings of things and the reasons why things are the way they are in the natural world.
Ethics and social graces were imparted by the elders of a large family. There is a universal value in all African civilizations for honoring one's elders. In their individual homes and the larger community, elders served as guides, teachers, and thinkers. There were councils of elders in place to provide counsel to chiefs and monarchs.
Other scholars disagree strongly with this assessment, seeing parallels between it with the desire of contemporary people, particularly those in the African diaspora, to create old traditions out of information and ideas that date only back a century or so. But, the fact of the matter is that we do not know how ancient certain rituals and religious beliefs in African deities and mythology really are. While telling a tale, storytellers follow the script they were given, but they also make adjustments to fit the time period and the audience's level of knowledge and interest. African myths, stories, and gods cannot have their precise historical and demographic roots traced due to this process and the constant emergence of new dialects.
Myths and Legends in Danger Today
Like the aboriginal peoples of the Americas and Australia, ancient Africans valued and respected the natural world around them. Foreign commerce and colonization offered many benefits, including new technologies, ideas, and religious teachings. Nevertheless, it also brought devastation at the hands of fortune seekers and industrialisation.
We must not kid ourselves into thinking that no Africans ever helped bring about devastation, contributed to the slavery of other Africans, or pounced on opportunities to profit from the exploitation of their own natural riches. Yet, a sizable portion of the continent's inhabitants guarded and preserved their ancient ways of thinking and living.
The disappearance of historic artifacts and artefacts used as cues during religious rites in Africa is a contributing factor to the decline of traditional practices and beliefs. Nowadays, however, younger people also seem to have less regard for the experience and insight of their elders.
Nowadays, most people don't live in big, traditional households where children would learn from their elders. The elders were the most natural and gentle instructors, imparting knowledge to the younger generations about the environment, religion, morals, history, and tribal customs. On the other hand, it made it possible for the elderly to continue contributing to society even as they became frailer, so long as they had the love and support of their loved ones.
Conclusion
"Africa" Besides from being home to a wide variety of unique creatures and insects, the verdant continent of Africa is also populated by a wide range of ethnicities, many of whom have preserved their own fascinating traditions from the past. This means that practically every civilization in Africa has some kind of African mythology. Everything in their religion has some kind of bearing on the human condition and on the way people live their lives. Despite this, there is no universally held belief in a supreme deity amongst the African people. African faiths are so diverse that they may be divided into an infinite number of subgroups.
