Snake, tree, and river often figure together in
some religious rites. Some ethnic groups in Benin
believe that snakes are ancestors incarnate. Snake
temples are found along the coast of Africa.
Pythons are kept tame in temples, and people will
bow to them, put dust on their heads, and salute
them as fathers. The vilest crime is to kill a sacred
python in some places.
Africans accept that the most common experi-
ences of human beings are with nature. Because
nature interacts with humans on a daily basis, it is
important to understand how nature figures in
daily lives. All nature deities are useful in the
recruitment of true believers.
Deities are not inconsequential. They are able
to bring about healing or destruction. Sometimes
their potency is expressed in charms, medicines,
and rites of secret societies. Any force that appears
to have magical qualities that are inexplicable
must be considered in the realm of the divine.
These powers are often like energy, abstract, and
invisible; results are visible. They tend to be
amoral and forceful, simply manifesting them-
selves in the Earthly lives of humans.
Indeed, the Earth is a living entity. The Ibo
speak of Mother Earth, and the Akan say the
Earth isAsase Yaa, Mother Earth. Among the Kru
of Liberia, the Earth figures in all actions and can
keep humans from seeing those who are taken out
of the world, those who disappear or who are
removed from the land of the living.
According to the Kru,Sno-Nysoa, the Supreme
God, gave each of his four sons a necklace of leop-
ard teeth. He sent them to visit Earth, but they did
not return. When he inquired of Earth, he was told
that they had been encouraged to return, but
would not. Each time Earth told them to return,
they told Earth that their new home was so beau-
tiful they had no desire to return. One day, Sno-
Nysoa ran into his sons and told them, “You have
made me sad because I am alone and would like
for you to return.” They said, “But the new land is
so interesting we cannot think of returning. There
is so much food and Earth is very generous.”
Sno-Nysoa grew upset with Earth and said to
Earth, “I am going to get my sons back this very
night. You will not rob me of my sons!” When the
sons went to sleep, they slept soundly, and three of
them woke up the next morning, but the eldest did
not awake. Earth went to see Sno-Nysoa and
asked him to explain his secret power over the
eldest son. He noticed that the eldest son was
alive. Earth wanted to know how Sno-Nysoa had
got the eldest son to return. But Sno-Nysoa said to
him, “Don’t worry about my sons, when any one
of them does not awake, just bury him.” In time,
three of his sons slept the long sleep. One by one,
they were found in the company of Sno-Nysoa.
When Earth saw them, they were happy and quite
pleased. When it was the turn of the fourth son,
Earth decided that he would do everything he
could to keep the fourth son, but in time, he also
slept the long sleep. Earth then decided to go to
Sno-Nysoa again to get his secret. However, on
the way to Sno-Nysoa, Earth discovered that the
ladder had been removed and he could not con-
tinue. To this day, no living person can see the
abode of Sno-Nysoa. Now Sno-Nysoa could take
people from the world, and the way to them
remains barred because of the actions of Earth
long ago.
Altars are made for the lesser deities. How is an
altar consecrated? On the advice of a diviner, a
priest may consecrate himself to the service of the
religion. A woman may find something sacred in
her community and build an altar to a deity with
the soil surrounding the place where the object
was discovered. Elaborate ceremonies are created
for the training of priests and priestesses. In some
instances, it may take a person 20 years or more
to learn all the rituals, ceremonies, and sacred
texts necessary to become a priest.
What does the popular expression mean that
Africans are an incurably religious people? Is this
a backdoor way of saying that Africans are super-
stitious? What is the meaning of superstition any-
way? Are the things that we call superstitions
realities for others and vice versa? Africans are not
more religious than any other people; Africans
have had a longer association with the super-
natural because of the origin of humanity on the
continent of Africa. This is not something special;
it is simply a historical fact.
Understanding the origins of African religion
assists the reader in understanding the connectiv-
ity of the philosophical stream underlying all of
the ideas in thisEncyclopedia. This allows the
reader to have some appreciation for the dissemi-
nation of religious ideas throughout the continent.
Our aim in the encyclopedia is to have the readerxxviii Introduction