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