CALAMITIE S
A cal amity is a majordisastrouseventcausedby
natural or humanagents,in whicha community
suffers lasting damage.The African world was
intimatewiththepowerfulforcesof life,commu -
nity, nature, and de ath.Understanding, using,
propitiating, and cooperating with these forces
wasthemainlifeactivityof manyAfricanpeoples
whilesec ur ingbasicmaterial needs.Animbalance
in anyofthese forces could potentiallycausea
calamity. The intimacy among the pe ople, the
land,theirancestors,andtraditio ns providedthe
firstli ne of responseto a calamity.
Calamiti es of themodern world areona much
morecomplex scale.Theeffectsof enslavement,
co lonialism,fo rce d urbani zat io n, genocide, war,
po verty,exploitation, an d diseasehave placed
co nsider ablestress on African peopleand cul -
tu re.Themodernca lamitiesthatresultedfrom
th eseevents areoft enseenas ex clu sivelyeco -
nomic, ethnic, politic al , orhumanitarian in
na ture.With these diffused pe rspectives, the
identification,causes,andresponsestomodern
calamitiesar e framedin newperspectives with
ne w language. Africanreligion takes calamities
as br okenpartsof thesp ir itualworldandseeks
to reorder the balance of the environment
th roughrituals.
Therearefew,if an y, ev entsthatareseenas just
impactingtheperson.A birth is morethanjustan
“addition”to a specificfamilyor a clan.It enriches
theentire communityandis anaffirmationof life.
A newpriestess,chief,healer,or hunterdivinerhas
beenborn.Anancestorhasreturned.Conversely,
anyevildeedor misfortunesu ch as theftdoesnot
justhappento oneperson,it happensto a commu-
nity. Therefore, calamities are notdistinguished
by theirscope.Calamitiesaresorrowsor misfor-
tu nesthathaveimmediateanddevastatingcon -
se quences: fa mine, il lness,disease, epidemics,
plagues, crop failures, drought, flood, andwar.
Manyindigenousworldviewsholdthateveryevent
has a naturalor physicalcause,as wellas a super-
naturalor spi ritualone.Throughdivination,great
careis taken to determinethecausalfactorsas well
as identify stepsto remedythesituation.
In Africanthought,theoriginof calamitiesis
always spiritual, yetthey arenotautomatically
attributed tothe supremedeity. In some tradi-
tions,such as theYoruba,calamitiesaredeities.
Collectively,they arethe Ajogun,or “warriors
againsthumanityandthegoodforcesof nature.”
Th eirsole pu rposeof existence is toruin the
Orisha,humans, plants,andanimals.Thereare
eightwarlordsof theAjogun:Iku(Death),Arun
(Disease),Ofo(Loss),Egba(Paralysis),Oran(Big
Tr ouble),Epe(Curse),Ewon(Imprisonment),and
Ese(Afflictions).Theseeightarejusttheleaders
becausethetotalnumberofAjogunis 200+1.
Th e “+1”meansthatmorecanbeadded.In the
fl uidpractice of Vodun along coastal Benin,
deitiesthataddressmodernchallengesof homo-
sexuality, ab or tion,andprostitution have been
added,althoughnotas warlords.149