All Topics  
Afro-American religion

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Afro-American religion
 
 
  Topics Afro-American religion Topic Home

Afro-American religions (also African diasporic religions) are a number of related religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s that developed in the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 among Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n slaves
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
 and their descendants in various countries of the Caribbean Islands and Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, as well as parts of the southern United States
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
. They derive from African traditional religions, especially of West
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
 and Central Africa
Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
, showing similarities to the Yoruba religion in particular.

e religions usually involve ancestor veneration and/or a pantheon
Pantheon (gods)

A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a pantheon of gods and the development of monotheism....
 of divine spirits, such as the loa
Loa

The Loa are the spirits of the Haitian Vodou religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Myst?res and the Invisibles....
s of Haitian Vodou, or the orisha
Orisha

An Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba mythology spiritual or religion . This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in several varieties which include Anago, Adefunmi, Candombl?, Lucum?, and the Orisa religion of Trinidad, as well as some aspects o...
s of Santería
Santería

Santer?a is a Syncretism of Caribbean origin. Also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. From Spanish meaning "one who 'has', 'makes' or 'works' the spirit"....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Afro-American religion'
Start a new discussion about 'Afro-American religion'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Afro-American religions (also African diasporic religions) are a number of related religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s that developed in the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 among Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n slaves
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
 and their descendants in various countries of the Caribbean Islands and Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, as well as parts of the southern United States
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
. They derive from African traditional religions, especially of West
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
 and Central Africa
Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
, showing similarities to the Yoruba religion in particular.

Characteristics

These religions usually involve ancestor veneration and/or a pantheon
Pantheon (gods)

A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a pantheon of gods and the development of monotheism....
 of divine spirits, such as the loa
Loa

The Loa are the spirits of the Haitian Vodou religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Myst?res and the Invisibles....
s of Haitian Vodou, or the orisha
Orisha

An Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba mythology spiritual or religion . This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in several varieties which include Anago, Adefunmi, Candombl?, Lucum?, and the Orisa religion of Trinidad, as well as some aspects o...
s of Santería
Santería

Santer?a is a Syncretism of Caribbean origin. Also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. From Spanish meaning "one who 'has', 'makes' or 'works' the spirit"....
. Similar divine spirits are also found in the Central and West African traditions from which they derive — the orishas of Yoruba
Yoruba mythology

The Yor?b? religion comprises religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people of old before the Yoruba community encountered Islam, Christianity and other faiths....
 cultures, the nkisi
Nkisi

An Nkisi , literally translates as "sacred medicine". The term Nkisi is the general name for a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa thought to contain spiritual powers or spirits ....
 of Bantu (Kongo
Kingdom of Kongo

The Kingdom of Kongo was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda , the Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
) traditions, and the vodou of Dahomey (Benin
Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin....
), Togo
Togo

Togo is a narrow country in West Africa bordering Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lom? is located....
, southern Ghana
Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders C?te d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south....
, and Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso , also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and C?te d'Ivoire to the south west....
. In addition to mixing these various but related African traditions, many Afro-American religions incorporate elements of Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
, indigenous American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
, Kardecist, Spiritualist and even Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
ic traditions. This mixing of traditions is known as religious syncretism
Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogy several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclu...
.

List of traditions





* "Developed in" as indicated in the chart does not refer to the religions' indigenous origins within continental Africa. It refers only to their development in the New World.

Other closely related regional faiths include:
  • Xangô
    Shango

    In Yor?b? religion, ??ng? is perhaps the most popular Orisha; he is a Sky Father, god of thunder and lightning. Sango was a royal ancestor of the Yoruba people as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom....
     de Recife
    Recife

    File:P?r-do-Sol_na_Jaqueira.jpgRecife is the fourth largest Metropolitan area in Brazil and the capital of the state of Pernambuco. The population was 1,549,980 in 2007....
     and Xangô do Nordeste in Brazil
    Brazil

    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
  • Tambor de Mina in Brazil
  • Candomblé Ketu
    Candomblé Ketu

    Candombl? Ketu is the largest and most influential nation of Candombl?, a religion widely practiced in Brazil. Its beliefs and rituals are similar to those of other Candombl? nations in general terms, but different in almost every detail....
     in Bahia
    Bahia

    Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast.It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after S?o Paulo , Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro , and the fifth-largest in size....
    , Brazil


New religious movements

Some syncretic new religious movement
New religious movement

New religious movement is a term used to refer to a Religion faith or an ethical, spiritual, or philosophical movement of recent origin that is not part of an established Religious denomination, church, or religious body....
s have elements of these African religions, but are predominantly rooted in other spiritual traditions. A first wave of such movements originates in the 1930s:
  • Santo Daime
    Santo Daime

    Santo Daime is a Syncretism spiritual practice, which was founded in the Brazilian Amazonas States of Brazil of Acre State in the 1930s and became a worldwide movement in the 1990s....
     (folk Catholicism and Spiritism
    Spiritism

    Spiritism is a Christian philosophy doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on Spiritist Codification written by French people educator Hypolite L?on Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting s?ances in which he observed a series of phenomena that could be o...
    , Brazil),
  • Nation of Islam
    Nation of Islam

    The Nation of Islam is a religious group founded in Detroit, Michigan, Michigan, United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mind, society, and economics condition of the Black people of America....
     (Islam
    Islam

    Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
    , USA)
  • Rastafarianism (Abrahamic, Jamaica),


A second wave of new movements originates in the 1960s to 1970s, in the context of the emergence of New Age
New Age

New Age is a decentralized western culture social movement and new religious movement that seeks universality Truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential....
 and Neopaganism in the United States
Neopaganism in the United States

Neopaganism in the United States is represented by widely different List of Neopagan movements. The largest Neopagan religion is Wicca, followed by Neodruidism....
:
  • União do Vegetal
    União do Vegetal

    Uni?o do Vegetal is a Christian religion based on the use of Hoasca in a program of spiritual evolution based on mental concentration and the search for self-knowledge....
     (Brazil, entheogen
    Entheogen

    An entheogen , in the strictest sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religion or shamanism context. Historically, entheogens are derived primarily from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts....
    ic, since 1961)
  • Vale do Amanhecer
    Vale do Amanhecer

    Vale do Amanhecer is a religious community located in the Federal District of Brazil six kilometers from the satellite city of Planaltina and 50 kilometers from Bras?lia....
      (Brazil, Spiritism, since 1965)
  • Ausar Auset Society
    Ausar Auset Society

    The Ausar Auset Society is a Pan-African religious organization founded in 1973 by Ra Un Nefer Amen. It is based in Brooklyn, New York, with chapters in several major cities in the United States as well as international chapters in places like London, England, Toronto, Canada and Bermuda, West Indies....
     ([USA, Kemetism, Pan-Africanism
    Pan-Africanism

    Pan-Africanism is a sociopolitical world view, and philosophy, as well as a movement, which seeks to unify both native Africans and those of the African diaspora, as part of a "global African community".Pan-Africanism calls for a politically united Africa....
    , since 1973),
  • Black Buddhist Community in America (USA, Buddhism
    Buddhism

    Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
    , since the 1960s)


See also

  • Afro-Brazilian Religion
    Afro-Brazilian

    Afro-Brazilian, or Black Brazilian, is the term used to Race categorize Brazilian citizens who self-reported to be of black or brown skin colors to the official IBGE census....
  • African traditional religion
    African Traditional Religion

    African traditional religions, also referred to as African indigenous religions or African tribal religions, is a term referring to a variety of religions indigenous to the continent of Africa....