Exploring the Indigenous Religions and Spiritual Practices of West Africa

In Summary:

• West African religions generally support the existence of a Supreme Being who cannot be communicated with directly and therefore requires intermediaries
• West African religions generally ascribe great importance and power to ancestors as they are believed to look after their descendants from beyond
• Indigenous religions in West Africa are very integrated into the cultural framework, so that culture and religion can hardly be separated

Deep Dive

In precolonial Africa, indigenous religions were deeply intertwined with the cultural fabric of various people groups, informing all aspects of life from marriage and health to politics and economics. Among the Akan people of present-day Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Togo, for example, the Akan Religion was part and parcel of their cultural identity, just as the Yoruba Religion did with the Yoruba people of present day Nigeria. These religions were not seen as separate entities and thus bore the same names as the tribes themselves. Although the majority of Africans have adopted Islam or Christianity, a steadfast minority, roughly 10%, have refused to be swayed  by these imported religions. Additionally, many Africans blend traditional beliefs with these imported religions, creating unique religions such as the Candomble religion among Afro-Brazilians.

In this article, we will be discussing the doctrines and practices found in the purest forms of some West African religions.

Bambara Religion

The Bambara are a population of ~1.5 million people who currently live in the Republic of Mali. They believe in one God, Bemba or Ngala, who is the creator of all things and exists as a quaternity. This quaternity includes Bemba himself, Mousso Koroni Koundye, Faro and Nodmadyiri—the latter three corresponding to the elements of air, fire, water and earth. According to their creation story, Bemba was called Koni before the world existed. Koni existed in the void and was simultaneously the void itself. When he created the universe, he then became known as Bemba. Bemba cannot be perceived by humans through their natural senses. Instead, his existence is manifested as a force, usually in the form of a whirlwind, thought or vibration.

According to the Bambara religion, only people who lead exemplary lives and die in a natural way, after having reached old age, can become ancestors. There must be a generation between the living and the dead before the celebratory rites of ancestor worship can be performed. During these rites, foodstuff like kola nuts are first offered to appease the ancestor. Then sorgo beer is offered to excite the ancestor and make him have a favourable disposition towards the living. Blood, usually obtained from sacrificed livestock, is also offered to represent the communion of the living and the dead.

The founding ancestor is held in much higher esteem amongst all the ancestors. His pre-eminence is seen in the cult of the dasiri, a group of spiritual places, chosen by the founding ancestor when he created the village. There are two kinds of dasiri, a fixed one such as a tree or rock, and a mobile one which can be embodied in an animal (except birds). Offerings are made to the ancestors through the dasiri whenever a community member faces difficulties, or a noteworthy household event takes place. Sacrificial animals are always white, denoting calmness and peace.

The Bambara have six initiatory societies: the N’domo, Komo, Nama, Kono, Tyiwara and Kore. These societies all have recurring festivals and give their members a holistic intellectual, moral and religious education. The N’domo, which is for non-circumcised children, teaches the origin and destiny of humankind. After their initiation into the N’domo, Bambara boys are circumcised for two reasons. The first is to make them less feminine and more inclined to seek the opposite sex in marriage, and the second is to introduce the boys’ spirits to knowledge.

Once this is achieved, they can then seek entry into the Komo society, where the mysteries of knowledge will be revealed to them. Here, knowledge is not a mere concept, but an entity which descends on man when he acquires it. This entity is represented by a dance mask made of hyena hide which is worn on the head like a helmet.

The Nama society teaches its members about the union of the spirit and body, of male and female, and of good and evil. The Kono society further explores the union between thought and body, a union which is believed to birth the conscience. The Tyiwara society teaches its members about agriculture and work in the fields.

Finally, the Kore society teaches its members knowledge about man’s spiritualisation and divinisation. Becoming a part of this society represents the final step to salvation in Bambara religion, salvation being the ability to return to earth by being reborn within one’s lineage. These reincarnations continue as long as the cult and memory of the individual is kept. In this way, the Bambara believe immortality can be achieved. Unlike Abrahamic religions like Christianity or Islam, the Bambara religion does not support the idea of man resting with the Supreme Being eternally. Instead, the Bambara believe that the dead experience brief contacts with God between each reincarnation, until the reincarnations within the clan end.  

Akan Religion

Akan peoples number about 5-6 million and mostly speak Twi, and are spread across southern Ghana and eastern Cote d’Ivoire. The Ashanti or Asante or Ghana are a sub-group of the Akan, and the capital city of the Ashanti is Kumasi. The Akan people have an intimate relationship with their Supreme Being, whom they call Nyame. Almost every morning, elders pour libations and offer prayers to Nyame (often also Asase Yaa) to thank him for his benevolence and to appeal for continued prosperity.

The Akan explain the separation between Nyame and mankind in the following way: Nyame got annoyed by the noise made by an Ashanti woman who was pounding fufu in a wooden mortar and consequently withdrew far away from humanity. Another version of the myth says that Ashanti’s extremely long fufu-pounding sticks reached all the way into the sky and hit Nyame, so that he moved farther and farther away.

Nyame is said to be all-powerful and all-knowing, the creator of the world and the giver of rain and sunshine. He was born on Saturday while goddess Asase Yaa was born on Thursday. The ancestors and deities are the ones who then mediate between God and humans. The ancestors also watch over and support their lineage; those of a chiefly lineage watch over and protect both the royal lineage and the entire town.

In the past, Ashanti homes would typically have a small shrine dedicated to Nyame. This shrine was represented by a small pot placed in the fork of what they called God’s tree (Nyame dua). They would also typically have shrines comprising black stools blackened with blood and kept within the family compound. Such shrines act as temporary resting places for the ancestral spirits of a particular matrilineage when they are summoned during rituals.

The Akan believe that each human being is made of three main elements: blood (mogya) which is determined from the matrilineal clan, character from the patrilineage and soul (kra). The latter comes from God and determines one’s formal destiny (nkrabea).

The kra is set free to return to the land of the ancestors after death, though it can leave temporarily during sleep or serious illness. The kra is usually thought of as protective of its possessor; when someone escapes death, they may give thanks to their kra to express gratitude for their purification and secure further prosperity. In this appreciation rite, the person is accompanied by a child who shares the same kra day; people born on the same day of the week are believed to have the same kra. There is an annual celebration widely called Apo which comprises rituals such as purification of the sins accumulated over the past year, anointment of the shrines of the deities and ancestral black stools, and the renewal of the power of the king.

The Akan have two major kinds of deities: abosom, the kind that is large and personalised, and asuman, the kind that is small and not personalised—personalised in this case means that they assist humans directly. Abosom, numbering hundreds, are said to be God’s children or messengers and are identified with lakes, rocks and other natural objects. They are believed to cure illness and social problems and act as witnesses to the veracity of an event, but are also very dangerous to relate with. They are usually not restricted to any place but may occasionally be found in shrines. Ritual specialists who own a deity are called osofo or obosomfo.

There are also mediums, called okomfo, who become possessed by an abosom and are thus believed to be married to the deity. Asuman, on the other hand, are human-made objects in which divine power resides. Generally, asuman are believed to be messengers for abosom and are appealed to for everyday problems.

Igbo Religion

The Igbo are one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, with a population of over 35 million. Although an overwhelming majority of them practice Christianity, there is still a sizeable number of followers of the native Igbo religion. The religion posits the existence of three types of supernatural beings: God, the spirits and the ancestors.

Ndigbo (meaning Igbo people) believe that there is only one Supreme Being, known most popularly as Chukwu or Chineke throughout Igboland. Chukwu is said to have created the world and to sustain it from above.  He is a powerful, magnanimous God who provides people with wealth, rain and children. Chukwu does not intervene in the everyday affairs of men, but instead leaves such matters to be handled by spirits (called alusi) and ancestors.

Alusi are powerful beings who inhabit the three dimensions of space, sky, earth and the ancestral world.  Sky deities manifest through lightning, thunder, sun and moon while nature spirits live in hills, rocks, caves, trees and farms. The guardian spirit of the earth or earth mother is Ani/Ala. Additionally, there is a spirit associated with each day of the Igbo four-day week: Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo.

Patron spirits serve as the guardians for different professions, which traditionally included hunting, farming, fishing and so on. Chi are human spirits which are charged with determining the destiny of an individual. They are personalised , which in this case means each person has their own corresponding chi. Spirit forces are believed to make medicine potent for healing, strength, protection or harm.

Ancestral spirits live in the spirit world but are involved in the lives of their progeny in the land of the living, providing their descendants with blessings and protection. During festivals, they visit the human world in the form of masquerades. Masquerades are people dressed in unique often colourful costumes from head to toe, whom are believed to be possessed by the ancestral spirits during such festivals. Just like in Bambara religion, there are requirements for becoming an ancestor. For the Igbo, only people who have lived honest lives, did not die from strange diseases and had full burial rites can become ancestors.

The spirits of evil people, called akalogolu, appear on lonely farm roads to frighten people. Ogbanje, one of the most nefarious categories of spirits, manifest as children who die and return to the marine world after only a short time of being with their human families. The torment is in the fact that after giving their parents immense joy, they develop unusual illnesses and die suddenly. Such children are taken to divining healers (dibia afa) who make sacrificies to marine spirits and use facial scarification to discourage the child’s return to the world of the living. When an ogbanje child returns, such facial scarring may then be used to identify them.

Benevolent spirits, on the other hand, may be worshipped in shrines and at religious festivals. Major ancestors are honoured with statues at family shrines. Sacrifices are also an integral part of Igbo religion. Sacrifices may be offered to ancestors and spirts for the atonement of sins, protection thanksgiving and to ask for divine assistance. In special cases, sacrifices may even be offered directly to Chukwu in the form of white chickens.

 Regardless of whatever one might deem the correct path to spirituality, there is still value in studying West African religions as they offer loaded insights into the culture and ethos of the region’s ethnic groups. While the spread of Abrahamic religions has come with some benefits, one cannot deny how much damage it has done to our perceptions of the religions that have defined African life since the beginning of mankind.