African Religion Class Notes PDF

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Ada Cheng Class Notes

African Religion Ephirim-Donker

Tuesday, January 24th’ ● Major Rivers in Africa ○ Nile River ■ Longest river in the world ■ 4,053 miles long and 120 miles wide ■ Starts at the equator ■ Blue nile and white nile ● Meet in the city of Khartoum ● Flows in the Mediterranean ■ Hapi-- god of annual flooding ● The flood deposited fertile soil on river banks ● Gift to people of Egypt ○ Congo River ■ 2nd longest river in Africa ■ Begins in Katanga ■ Enters Atlantic ocean ■ 3,000 miles long ○ Naija River ■ 2,200 miles long ■ Begins in Guinea, ends at the Atlantic ocean ○ Zambezi ■ 2,500 miles long ■ Serves as a boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe ○ Orange river ■ Flows through South Africa ■ 1,300 miles long ○ Limpopo River ■ Flows toward Indian ocean ■ 1,750 miles long ● Major Lakes in Africa ○ Lake Victoria-Nyanza ■ 2nd largest freshwater later ■ Source of the Nile ■ 127,000 square miles ■ Lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda, bordering Kenya ○ Lake Chad ■ West Africa ■ Shallow, 10 feet deep ■ 7,000-20,000 square feet, dependent on season

Ada Cheng Class Notes

African Religion Ephirim-Donker

■ Surrounds Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria ● Major Mountains ○ Kilimanjaro: “Mountain of the Moon” ■ “Kibo", "Mawenzi", and "Shira"- volcanic cones ■ Highest mountain in Africa ■ Only place with snow in Africa ■ Translates to Spring water ■ Tanzania, two peaks ○ Mount Kenya ■ 17,000 feet ■ Second highest mountain in Africa ■ Located in Kenya ○ Atlas Mountains ■ Northern Africa ■ 1500 miles long ■ Runs through Morocco ■ 6,500 feet highest point ○ Drakensberg ■ Located in South Africa ■ 600 miles long, 10,100 feet high ■ Border between Lesotho and the Eastern Cape and the border between Lesotho and KwaZulu-Na tal Province ● Major Deserts ○ Sahara Desert ■ 3.5 million square miles ■ As big of the U.S. ■ Largest hot desert in the world ■ Comprises of North Africa ■ Buried Africa’s history ■ Spreading south, planting trees to try and stop spread of Sahara ○ Sahel Desert ■ West Africa → East Africa ■ Savannah grassland ○ Kalahari Desert ■ Covering much of Botswana, parts of Namibia and regions of South Africa ■ Southern Africa ■ Has world’s largest diamonds ■ Oldest desert in the world

Ada Cheng Class Notes

African Religion Ephirim-Donker

● Religion ○ Battle of the Pyramids, 1798 ○ Sacred Book of the East,  Max Muller, 1879 ■ “How did religion start?” ■ Source of religion is language ● Impact on Europeans ○ Primitive Culture, E.B. Tyler ■ Source of religion is not language, but animism ● Nature is full of spirits ○ Golden Book,  James Frazer ■ Maintains that first step toward religion was magic ■ Religion = magic ■ Maintains that second step that humans were able to control energy/magic ■ Science will be able to control the environment ■ Conclusion: science hasn’t replaced religion ○ Origin of God, W. Schmidt  ■ Diffusion of elements ■ Began notion of “hi God” ● Single monotheistic gods ○ Bantu Philosophy, F.O.R. Tempels  ■ Virgin missionary, studied Bantu people ■ Vital force, Bantu people believed in vital force in nature ■ Incapable of philosophical discourse yet capable of philosophical ideas ■ God is: ● Ancestral spirits ● Human ● Animal ● Plants ● Clifford Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures ○ Religion is a system of symbols ○ Symbols exercise profound effect on human beings  to the extent that we behave irrationally ○ Symbols = origin of things/have meaning ■ Sacred to particular group ● EA Wallis Budge, From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt ○ Studied Ancient Egyptians ○ Defined African religion as the worship of the souls of the dead ■ Ancestor worship = worship of the dead ○ Ba = soul (Egyptian), Ka = receive offerings, and go in and out of earth

Ada Cheng Class Notes

African Religion Ephirim-Donker

○ Ritual preparation of corpses, burial of the dead, honoring the dead in exchange for blessings, influencing factor of dead on living ● Conceptions of God. Why Religion? - Northeastern Africa ○ Shabaka Stone, (in British museum) 1716 - 701 BCE ■ Kashfa, Piankhi, Pi, Piye, Shabaka, Tarhalea ● Conquered ancient Egypt; 25th Dynasty ■ Shabaka found stone ● Revealed the conceptions of God in Africa ● Stone talks about how Ptah and how world came into being ○ Nature of God ○ God was a spirit, self-created, self-existent, no beginning ● God is a mind of the universe ● Produced every material thing on Earth and in Heaven ● Gods and Goddesses were the source of this mind ● God is alone, ONE God ● Light emanates from this heart ○ Horus acted as a heart of God ○ Thoth acted as eyes of God = wisdom ● 8 Principles of God According to Ancient Egyptians ● West Africa ○ William Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of New Guinea ■ On ship of slaves ■ Believed in one true God whom they attribute the creation in the world of all things ■ Monotheistic ○ West Africans believed in one created God ○ Africans have multiple images of God ■ These Gods serve between God and men ○ God is “invisible” ■ By reason, God is invisible because it would be absurd to make any representation of someone who we have never seen ■ No human have ever seen God ○ Igbo ■ God is called Chukwu; has four actions■ There are five aspects of Chukwu: ● Chukwu - the first force and existence of all beings. ● Anyanwu - symbolic meaning of the sun. The sun reveals everything so Chukwu is the source of knowledge and the author of all knowledge.

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African Religion Ephirim-Donker

● Agbala - the fertility of Earth, its people, and its spiritual world full of sub-deities. ● Chi - a sub-deity functioning as a personal, spiritual guide. ● Okike - creator of laws that govern the visible and invisible ○ Odo Ye Wu = Love is death ■ If you love enough, you die ○ Odumankoma = God is forever, death is forever ■ Death is ticking to human beings ■ Without death, there is no religion, no one to worship ■ Sacrifice = LOVE ○ God is sunsum, spirit; unseen ■ We can never see any deity, in its natural form as a human being God has 7 Attributes/Souls 1. Asi - Sunday 2. Adao - Monday 3. Abena - Tuesday 4. Ako - Wednesday 5. Awo - Thursday 6. Afi - Friday 7. Amun - Saturday ○ They are all female deities; represent 7 things of the week ○ Governs each day on the day of week ○ Being born on that day, they assume characteristics of that day Coyede Nyame =   God and God alone ○ God is one ○ Has power ○ Agya = “father,” God; no wife Every soul has two identities ○ Female and male nature Oye Teh = God is Beautiful Rattray ○ Believes that God is a sky God ○ Studied Asante people ■ Largest of Akan people ■ Fought several wars with British ○ Studied language of Asante ○ God has delegated his every authority to his lieutenants (abosom ) ○ God has no priests/priestess or temples; NOT WORSHIPPED DIRECTLY Akan Creation Story

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African Religion Ephirim-Donker

○ Africans have always believed the world was round ○ Spiritual world existed long before physical ■ “Unseen” world has always been there ○ Physical world is a reflection of the spiritual world ○ The spiritual world is the real world ○ We are blind to the spiritual world ■ The sun made us blind, from the moment we are born ■ Makes us lose connection ○ Akan celebrates end of sun cycle ■ Afinhyra Pa ○ Sun- Darkness was created first ○ Moon- God created rocks; rep of God “Old woman and children was on Earth first” - head of family’ fair to all children = Abrewannanimma ○ 7 constellations ○ Abusua: mother and her children ■ Basic unit of Akan family ○ Fufu = preparation of food ○ Woman ordered children to bring mortars to God ○ Moon separated from Earth ■ Akan worshipped moon ■ Moon = nana ■ Crescent moon with star = moon’s wife ● Crown has moon and star 7 Bloodlines every Akan belongs to 3 Fundamental Rights 1. Citizenship- we belong because of our mother 2. Share your mother’s political system ■ Descent through mother 3. Inheritance- mother has right over your possessions The Dinka- North African People The Yoruba: Nigeria; holy city is Ife ○ God is Olodumare ○ God is the creator is everything ■ Creates life, by his authority and power ■ He created bree-bree ■ On purpose, gentle, slowly ○ First human beings lived in Ife ■ Oduwwa- first settled there

Ada Cheng Class Notes

African Religion Ephirim-Donker

● Sent children to rule in Oyo ■ Odudwwa sent his children to rule in parts of Ife ○ King/Elephant was chosen by non-royal group; Oyo-mesi ○ Oyo-mesi = made of aristocrats ■ Acts as a council ■ Basharun = prime minister ● Authority to dispose king and can reject king and and cause him to commit suicide with best friend ■ Checks and balances; controlled by Ogbani ○ Eldest son never gets to rule because he must commit suicide once father dies ■ King must not travel alone; people are sacrificed ■ “Fire” never travels alone ○ Ogbani larger group made of merchants ■ Disposal of king originates here ○ Sangu- Fourth king; power of lightning ■ Large following ■ Worship kings/gods ■ Committed suicide ● Yoruba: people in southwestern Nigeria ○ Olodumare was created ○ God created world in 4 days; rest of 5th day ■ Equivalent to 4 work days ○ God = Olodumare, Olorun, Odumare, Eleda, Eleemi ■ Owner of life and spirit; origin of life ■ Source of all things that we know of ○ Ille * Ife - scared city of Yoruba people ■ Orun = spiritual ■ Aye = living; world of ethics; material world ○ God was sent to plant four trees, accompanied by orunilla ■ Orunmilla - god of wisdom ■ Four trees ● Palm trees ○ First human beings were made in heaven and brought down by leader, Oreluers ■ Told Oris Nlo to create human beings ■ God gave him life [source of life] ■ Oris Nlo hid, God made him fall asleep and gave inanimate bodies life ■ Oris Nlo was mad and created more human beings ● Helped finish the world ● Ase = god has given everyone a life force of nature

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African Religion Ephirim-Donker

○ Power, authority, energy Esulegaba: messenger of the gods Odu: 16 palm nuts and throws in order to divide system ○ Each has a statement/messages ○ 16 shells represent entire Yoruba Devivation = communication with Gods ○ Meant to find solutions to problems (5) ○ Goals: ■ Promote healing ● Illness caused by spirits; sometimes illness is spiritual, not physical ● Fixed with medicine ● If not physical, you need help spiritual help from the Gods ■ Strengthen body and mind ● If the body is clean, then mind is also sound; mind free; body free ● Lots of negative energy out there ○ Taking a bath cleanse negative energy ■ Live spiritual life ■ Meant to find solutions ■ Protection against witchcraft/spiritual forces ● How to honor gods/goddesses ● How to pay/offerings Ori = your head ○ Spiritual head ○ Destiny ○ Destiny knows everything ○ Every human being is responsible for their own destiny Goals in life: (5) ○ Live until old age ○ Live in peace ○ Prosperity; achieve ethically ○ Produce; have children; add community ○ Good reputation How to achieve a good life: (3) ○ Wisdom ○ Knowledge ○ Understanding...