Christianity and African traditional religion

                        African traditional religion has gained full attention in the last few years. Seen as a groups of religion based on African practice, these religions offer hope and power for these who believe in. In the other hand the European civilization do not accept these assemble as religion. Hundred years ago, for the Vatican, whoever are members of these circle are Devil or son of the Evil. There so many of them in the world. In the America, the most famous are, the obeah in Jamaica, the Orisha in Cuba, the Candomble in Brazil and the Voodoo in Haiti. All of them are result of the slavery.

           Parallel to these practice, we have the Catholic Church, a church that make area in 300 AC.  Catholic church is seen as one of the oldest religion in the world. Black people were not allowed inside the church since the beginning of the slavery. The only race that was converted into catholic roman was the native. This conversion has start with the discovering of the America by Columbus.

      The island Haiti Quisqueya (High land or Land of mountain) known today as Hispaniola is the first place Christopher has come with his boats. Over a long period Catholic priest were convinced that black didn’t have soul and this is not a sin to kill one. In an unknown date, black were allowed to pray. But the bible has been preach to them on a different angle. In the book of ephesians, God ask to the servitor to obey to their master. In Israel there was servant but not slave. A servitor is someone who voluntarily decide to serve in a palace or a great family. A slave is a kidnapped man or woman that they push to work against his volunteer. In the book  of Corinthian God said ‘’Don’t be slave of no one’’.

      Over the slavery the priest has teach to the slave about God and the holy statue use by the Catholic Church. Statute as Saint Patrick and others. Not all the gods use in the black religion are from Africa. Some of them are answers to the Vatican. Before talking about the recreation of the Holy personage of the Catholic Church by the slave. We have to take a look at the concept of slavery.

         Back in the time, Slavery was an economical practice base on human exploitation. No one can exactly give an interval of time when this has start. After the black who are most popular other race has been victim of this system long time ago. Race as the Jews in Egypt according to their spiritual history. In all the great nation in the world slavery was consider as legal. In all the actual power in the world black people were trade and work on plantation for years. Sure, having people on a plantation working under Surveillance is one of the angle on which slavery can be seen.

            Being slave don’t necessary mean working on a plantation but be exactly the property of someone else. The absence of liberty. As any other articles on the market, slaves may be bought and sold.  Slaves can be held from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation. Historically, slavery was accepted in all of the great society in the world as an action that does not go against the human right. The leader of these ideology are without doubt the Europeans. The world has assisted the destruction of the African tribute and black become the most popular immigrant in the new world. Whoever has a plantation need black.   The most tragic period is the middle passage (athlantic trade).

                         The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade  in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World  as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking, and they were generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals.The "Middle Passage" was considered a time of in-betweenness for those being traded from Africa to America. The close quarters and intentional division of pre-established African communities by the ship crew motivated captive Africans to forge bonds of kinship which then created forced transatlantic communities

                    No one know exactly what is look like to be trade, but we can at least have a little idea about the condition of live of these black on the boats. Did they have access to food over these month? Where do they go for the number two; no one know? For this paper what is important is how they have save their ethnicity over the long voyage.

                In the western Africa the most famous African traditional practice is the Yoruba. The Yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yoruba land. Yoruba religion is formed of diverse traditions. It has influenced a host of thriving traditions such as Obeah, voodoo, and candomble.Yoruba religious beliefs are part of  Iran, the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and other cultural concepts which make up the Yoruba society . The black have carried with them most of these tradition over the trade.

           Arrive in America slave has known a social cultural transformation. Their condition of life on the Island has great influence on their actual behavior. In the French colonies slave has to work 15 to 17 hour a days. Don’t really have time to stay at rest. The reproduction is arranged has the will do for Turkey in a cage. Some master bought a male and female after make them reproduce.  On the plantation slave, took the habit to sing on way to don’t feel pain.

          The slave not only working they were also looking for answers. Being forced to learn that God is agree with their condition, slave as work hard to don’t lose hope. And think about an existing god who will come to save them.  African from different tribute has to put their knowledge together to find a way out. In this procedure will lead to the dawn of black traditional religion as Obeah in Jamaica, the Orisha in Cuba and the Voodoo in Haiti. Each one of them represent a diversity of practice.

                  People who practice the orisha believe that daily life depend of one Ori. The ori can be traduce as the head. But in the Oricha practice it mean or portion of the soul connected to the destiny. We can talk about success. They also believe in ashe who represent the power of living, what make thing happen.  As any other religion they do believe in prayers and also in spiritual growth. The Orisha did not transform the occident God issue of the catholic roman church. They have connected the description of the bible to their practice. In the bible people believe that the soul is the center of all and for the orisha this is the ashes. They describes the ashes as the Christian do for the soul. And this is  the case for all the spirit you will meet in the Orisha. Rather convert to the Christianity, they have related to their mother land what They have learn  from the catholic roman church

               In addition to the Orisha we also have the Obeah, it refer to folk magic and African tradition. This term is most used in the West Indies. It practice in many country as Cuba , Suriname and others. This practice related to Jamaica Obeah is similar to other African American religion  including Palo, Voodoo,santeria and Hoodoo. Obeah is practiced in Suriname, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominica, Guyanna, Barbados, Grenada, Belize, The Bahamas, and other Carribbean nations. In some Caribbean nations, Obeah refers to folk  of the African diaspora. In some cases, aspects of these folk religions have survived through syncretism with Christian symbolism and practice introduced by European colonials and slave owners. Casual observation may conclude that Christian symbolism is incorporated into Obeah worship, but in fact may represent clandestine worship and religious protest. During slavery, Obeah was directed against the European slave masters. However, with the rise of Christianity, Obeah is considered a taboo, and the term has pejorative associations. It can cohabited with voodoo

                     Many people, define voodoo as a Devil and Maleficent religion because of some empiric tradition from the west Africa. These tradition or sometime violent and sometimes just traditional practice. Voodoo is the oldest back traditional religion in the new world. Fowers carried the name of voudouisanrt . They believe in (Bondye) who is the French translation of Bon Dieu who mean Good God. The accept theire is a creator but different from what the catholic chuch is teaching. Voodoo people do  not believe in jesus because they are against forgiveness. This concept ( forgiveness has alwas been seen as a slavery instrument to staop slave killing their master. And kill the master at this time was the only way out from slavery. Sure the marronage was there but not so effective. Different from the catholica chuch the holy people for the slaves has been called loa. The loa are the spirit of all people who has lived in past .Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects of life over which they preside. In order to navigate daily life, vodouisants cultivate personal relationships with the loa through the presentation of offerings, the creation of personal altars and devotional objects, and participation in elaborate ceremonies of music, dance, and spirit possesion.Vodou originated in the Caribbean and developed in the French in the 18th century among West African slaves when African religious practice was actively suppressed, and enslaved Africans were forced to convert to Christianity.

                     This religion is connected to the African practice vodun practice by the fon an Ewe. You will all the voudun practice inside the voodoo system. Voodoo also imported some custum from the Yoruba abd the kongo . it is also possible to find some index from the tainos civilization known as the native of the island. The only difference between them is the influence of the catholic roman church.Roman catholitism  and European spirituality including mysticism, Freemasonic, and others has  influenced generally all the black traditional religion

          At first view we can see the connection between the voodoo and he caholica church. The Legba represented by the voodoodo is nothing else than the deformation of the pepal saint peter represented by the catholic roman church . the concept concept are exactly the same.legba in the voodoo system is the one who has the key to open the door for the spirit and the sout and the catholica roman this is peter who has the key. Peter is a white man and them legba a black one. Because catholic priest didn’t believe that back has a soul , black people has cresates a parrallele god to have access to the heaven. Not only the pete that has been recreated but also saint Patrick known as the Damballa.

             In the land where these religion are present, they are subject of polemique. Years ago ther was difficulty for the voodoo to cohabited with the catholic roman. Today the situation has change. Whoever is voodoo is also a catholic Christian. But whoever is catholic Christian is not necessary a voodoo. On Sunday all voodoo go to catholic church because their thought are connected and they can live with this. Different from the voodoo catholic do not cohibedt with protestan. The difference betwee the both is that the Protestantism is a revolution against the catholic roman period of the reform and the voodoo ,the obeah and the orisha are movement to push the catholic system to accept people with equality.

                       No matter what religion look like, we will always found connection between them. All religion are developing with the History. Whoever study about History has to know about religion and there is no way to learn about the consequence of the slavery without mentioned the Black African traditional religion.

                                                                    Reference

1) Walker Sheila African roots/American cultures

2) A middle passage from Africa to American diaspora,

Stephanie Saltwater

3) Exanching our culture mark by Gomez

4) Authentic voodoo is synthetic by Michelle Anderson

5) The place of voodoo in the social structure of Haiti

(Department of Anthropology university of Chicago May 10,1972)

6) Heywood, Linda M Central Africans and cultural transformations in the American diaspora Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002