Like many people, when I think of African spirituality or African Traditional Religion (ATR) practices, the first image in my mind is that of a witch doctor. I first picture a dark cave or shelter in the bush radiating a dark presence, you know like that depiction of Shaka’s sangoma from the 1986 SABC TV series of Shaka Zulu with Henry Cele, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this. 

The portrayal of African Spirituality in the mainstream media does little to show ATR as a means for anything other than bad or madness. Often, the thought of traditional African spirituality fills us with foreboding thoughts, before we can get around to considering that African spirituality has positive elements.

What is African Spirituality?

In his paper African spiritual phenomena and the probable influence on African families, South African Johannes J. Knoetze defines African spirituality as a holistic concept that stemmed from the historical, cultural and religious heritage of Africa, and includes among others, folktales, beliefs, rituals and culture. He asserts that African spirituality must be understood as originating from Africa's soil, but also developed through contact with people from other countries and continents.

To put it differently, Phemelo Olifile Marumo & Mompati Vincent Chakale, in their paper titled Understanding African philosophy and African spirituality: challenges and prospects, detail that Africans believe that there is a need to communicate with those who have left this world and gone to the spiritual realm. This communication serves as a relationship even after death. 

They express that the contention of African philosophy is that people leave the human stage to the spiritual stage wherein they can be approached in times of joy and calamities. The spiritual world serves to allay the fears and to offer protection at all times. 

Rising Stars: The Growing Digital Landscape Of African Astrology

So why do we think of African spirituality as bad instead of a shaping of Ubuntu?

Sena Voncujovi is an Afro-Asian, West African Vodu herbal and spiritual practitioner and Founder of ReVodution — a Voodoo education initiative aimed at digitally preserving and demystifying the herbal and spiritual traditions of Ewe Vodu (Voodoo). In a blog post, Voncujovi explores how African spirituality got tied to Satan and explains in detail where many of the modern day misconceptions of African spirituality stem from.

He clarifies that African spirituality has been demonised through mistranslations of the names of deities. Take Eshu (also known as Eshu Elegbara) for example, a highly revered trickster god of the Yoruba of Nigeria. Samuel Ajayi Crowther — an Oxford-educated Nigerian who went on to become the first Anglican Bishop in Nigeria — wrongly translated Eshu to mean ‘Satan.’

“By equating Eshu to the devil through translation, Crowther succeeded in demonizing an entire spiritual tradition. Even today, many Yoruba Christians view Eshu and the entire Yoruba pantheon of deities as the epitome of sin and evil,” Voncujovi states.

Voncujovi goes on to explain that African spirituality was also demonized because of its association with slave rebellions and uprisings. Slave masters believed that through these spiritual traditions, slaves would coalesce and fight for their freedom. The practices were, therefore, discredited and/or banned.

An example of this can be seen in C.L.R. James’ 1938 book The Black Jacobins. Speaking of the Haitian Revolution, he says:

"Voodoo was the medium of the conspiracy In spite of all prohibitions, the slaves travelled miles to sing and dance and practise the rites and talk; and now, since the revolution, to hear the political news and make their plans . . . On the night of the 22nd a tropical storm raged, with lightning and gusts of wind and heavy showers of rain. Carrying torches to light their way, the leaders of the revolt met in an open space in the thick forests of the Morne Rouge, a mountain overlooking Le Cap. There Boukman gave the last instructions and, after Voodoo incantations and the sucking of the blood of a stuck pig, he stimulated his followers by a prayer spoken in creole, which, like so much spoken on such occasions, has remained. "The god who created the sun which gives us light, who rouses the waves and rules the storm, though hidden in the clouds. He watches us. He sees all that the white man does. The god of the white man inspires him with crime, but our god calls upon us to do good works. Our god who is good to us orders us to revenge our wrongs. He will direct our arms and aid us…"

As Jaco Beyers puts it, the African understanding of religion is an understanding of the connectedness of all things. He clarifies that there is a close relationship between all things with one reality, and no distinction between physical and spiritual, adding that meaning in life is derived from unity. Just as rituals are an expression of this unity, so too are morals and ethics. 

This unity leads us to Ubuntu and the notion that we all share a universal bond. Beyer asserts that as such, religion is universal and expressed contextually according to local culture. For a long time, religion has been understood solely according to Western thought patterns, and as a result, anything different and inherently African was seen by the colonialists and missionaries as a threat. However, if the Haitian — and indeed many other revolutions—are anything to go by, it can be seen that ATR has been for centuries a conduit of unity.

A modern take on African spirituality

Admire Tom, also known by his totem, Sekuru Bonga Chihwa, is a Zimbabwean who practices African spirituality. He believes that carrying on these traditions from our forefathers is important because they give us direction.

“Like any other teaching, we could have had or been given traditional forms that also branch into so many different things like praying, respect, loyalty and appreciation amongst other things,” says Chihwa. “I believe personally, that without our tradition, and in as much now people have changed or are trying to match tradition with modern society, how or parents to grandparents to our forefathers how they lived in the past should be carried to the future.” 

From his experience, he has found that if you do not have patience to implement what was done or what tradition requires of you, you will either fall on hard times or give up. He adds that though tradition teaches us to work and be patient, there are people who only come to him to consult about money and relationships, with some even looking to acquire black magic. He laments that they never really ask about how to live an appreciative life or how best to follow the path of their ancestors.

Whilst we have seen an uptick in younger generations practicing African Spirituality through African astrology inspired by the evolving digital landscape, Chihwa worries that young people may lack the real knowledge behind accepting traditional culture and spirituality.

“We have our ancestors, be it fathers, grandmothers or aunts and then we have others who we call friends to our forefathers who came from the water, mountains, caves etc., who then work hand in hand with our ancestors,” he says. “But because of manipulation, greed and selfishness, people, or rather mediums only focus on the friends for example those from the water and tell people that they were rich and glamorous which is true but they neglect to tell them about their ancestors. Most young people are only practicing ATR because of glam. For some it's out of curiosity, some indeed are pursuing the paths of their forefathers but from what I’ve observed, to most it's like a trend.

“He further expressed concern that social media is being misused in relation to spirituality, as some ATR practices are not meant for public viewing. 

“In as much as we are proud of our culture now, people don't take tradition seriously because it's all over social media. If I go about parading, yes I will be famous but without roots or without that self-meaning I'm just a trend. That's what people are doing to tradition now, making it a trend as opposed to what it should be,” he adds. 

Chihwa describes his life practicing ATR as happy and comfortable, saying it has given him a sense of affiliation, a reason to wake up and desire to learn more, as well as teach and mold others.

ATR is seen as many things but for those who practice it, it is seen as fulfilling — a great way to find unity within oneself, with the earth and the spirits of those who have gone before us.