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AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITYThe Loss of African TraditionalReligion In Contemporary Africaby Rev. Peter E. Adotey AddoThe desecration of Africa in the past by the Western Europeanpowers seriously and adversely affected the traditional cultures ofthe indigenous African people to the extent that many traditionalbeliefs, social values, customs, and rituals were either totallydestroyed or ignored. In most cases they were considered to benothing more than pagan values and superstitions that played nopart in traditional African culture. Culture after all is the way of lifedeveloped by people as they cope with survival. True culture thenmust include the traditional beliefs and spiritualism. Theintroduction of European Christianity and values separated theindigenous Africans from their traditional ancient spiritual roots aswell as their traditional identity as a spiritual people. This shortpaper is to introduce the reader to an introduction to TraditionalAfrican Religion.Traditional African religion is centered on the existence of oneSupreme High God. However, the Europeans who spreadChristianity in Africa never understood or properly appreciated theAfrican's own conception of the Great Creator. They saw nosimilarity between the God they preached and the African's ownbelief in the One Supreme God and creator who was, king,Omnipotent, Omniscient, the Great Judge, Compassionate, Holyand Invisible, Immortal and Transcendent. The traditional Africanbelief is that the Great One brought the divinities into being. Hetherefore is the maker and everything in heaven and on earth owestheir origin to Him alone. He is the Great king above all Kings andcan not be compared in majesty. He is above all majesties anddivinities. He dwells everywhere. Thus He is omnipotent becauseHe is able to do all things and nothing can be done nor created apartfrom Him. He is behind all achievements. He alone can speak andaccomplish his words. Therefore there is no room for failure. He isAbsolute, all wise Omniscient, all seeing, and all Knowing. Heknows all things and so no secrets are hid from Him. If there is rainit is God who wills it and if the fish do not run it is by His will.This Great Creator is the final Judge of all things, but he is able tobe compassionate and merciful. He can look kindly and mostmercifully on the suffering of men and women and is able tosmooth the rough roads through his divine priests and the spirits ofthe ancestors. The God of the African Traditional Religion is also aHoly God both ritually and ethically. He is complete and absolutesince He is never involved in any wrong or immorality.Traditionally Africans believe that since God's holiness blinds Hetherefore can not be approached by mere mortals. He is a spirit andthus must be approached by spirits invisible to mere humans.How is this God to be approached then? He is to be approached________________________Managing Editor: Nakato LewisPUBLISHER: KIWANUKA LEWISPublished monthly and freely by BHSN for the African TraditionalHerbal Research ClinicThe traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural historydirectly and indirectly only through his chosen priests.Libations or prayers are the only supplications acceptable. Andthey are made by his chosen priests in traditional rituals andceremonies at appropriate times and places. The priest becomesthe keeper of the welfare of the people and subsequently isentrusted with the sacred rituals of worship. The Africantherefore does not need to prove the existence of God toanyone. God is self existing and needs no proof. His existenceis self-evident and even children are taught from birth that theGreat One exists. There is a Ga Language proverb that says,"No one points out the Great One to a child."This God then is given regular and direct worship at regularintervals and the calendar is kept by dedicated priests.However, there is continuous indirect worship on a daily basisthrough the divinities and ancestors at all times during the dayby each family and individual. The ritual altars in the Africanvillages are the indigenous peoples' way of reaching out andpraising the Great Creator. To the Africans they are theboundary between heaven and earth, between life and death,between the ordinary and the world of the spirit. The constantpouring of drink, food and sacrificial animal blood makes themsacred and no one would dare abuse them. Some altars aresimple; especially the ones in homes, but some communitiesand villages have communal altars for the entire village asvehicles for channeling the positive forces from the Great oneand the ancestors to the whole community.Through oral traditions these cultural values are kept andtransmitted from generation to generation. In summary: In theprivate and public life of the African, religious rites, beliefs,and rituals are considered an integral part of life. Life then isnever complete unless it is seen always in its entirety. Religiousbeliefs are found in everyday life and no distinction is madebetween the sacred and the secular. The sacred and the secularare merged in the total persona of the individual African. Life isnot divided into compartments or divisions. Thus there are nospecial times for worship, for everyday and every hour isworship time. There are no creeds written down becausethrough the traditions of the Elders all creeds and functions arecarried in the individual's heart. Each individual by his verynature and life style is a living creed from the time one risesuntil one retires at night. An understanding of the basic natureof the African religious tradition surely illuminates the meaningof spirituality in contemporary Africa.☻☻☻☻☻☻-3-Traditional African Clinic – July/August 2007