family and friends into a shroud. The complete
body of the doll is covered in red cloth, while the
eyes and mouth were painted in white and
black—-thus combining the dynamic and spiritual
colors red, black, and white. During the sacred
time of a king’s burial, another symbolic cere-
mony to honor him was conducted by burying the
red dressed huge doll. As far as a warrior or
hunter is concerned, red is believed to inspire the
fighting spirit on the battleground and bravery on
the hunting grounds. Warriors especially painted
their bodies red to prepare their spirits and minds
for an intense war or after their return from a
victorious battle. War is red with blood and fire.
Currently, the traditional spiritual systems in the
African diaspora, such as Vodou in Haiti, Santeria in
Cuba, and Candomble in Brazil, honor and praise,
with daily offering and worship in sacred and highly
spiritual ceremonies, the Lwa Oggun and the Orisha
Shango whose colors include fire red. Oggun and
Shango have similarly defined mythological person-
alities. For example, both are known for displaying
aggressive behaviors, for being combatant spirits and
fierce warriors, and they are commonly represented
as physically dark strong men holding iron fighting
weapons. On August 14, 1791, the Vodou Priest
Dutty Boukman called and evoked the belief of the
spiritual energy of Ogoun with his iron sharp
machete into the hearts and souls of Haitians, who,
although physically enslaved, had never stopped
being free. Red fire and human blood moved and
rolled like fresh lava on the Island of Haiti. With the
courageous fighting spiritual energy of Ogoun, who
is associated with the colors of red and blue in Haiti,
and coupled with the will of the Haitian people, it
ensured that they were set free from captivity.
However, in Brazil and Cuba, the freedom-fighting
West African field workers and maroons called and
evoked the combating spiritual energy of Shango to
cut the chains of enslavement, cut the bodies fatally,
and cut off the heads of their oppressors. Shango
wears red and white, and he holds with both his
black hands a double-headed sharp iron axe. When
Shango goes into battle, he attacks with those dou-
ble-headed axes, causing his enemies’ wounded bod-
ies to turn the river bloodred.
Ibo ChangaSeealsoColor Symbolism
Further Readings
Andreu, G. (1997).Egypt in the Age of the Pyramids
(D. Lorton, Trans.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Campbell, J., & Moyers, B. (1991).The Power of Myth
(B. S. Flowers, Ed.). New York: Anchor Books.
Gage, J. (1999).Color and Culture: Practice and
Meaning From Antiquity to Abstraction. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Greenfield, A. B. (2006).A Perfect Red: Empire,
Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire.
New York: HarperPerennial.
Jacobson-Widding, A. (1979).Red-White-Black as a
Mode of Thought—A Study of Triadic Classification
by Colours in the Ritual Symbolism and Cognitive
Thought of the Peoples of the Lower Congo.
Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell International.
Vega, M. M. (2000).The Altar of My Soul—The Living
Traditions of Santeria. New York: One
World/Ballantine.
Verner, M. (2001).The Pyramids—Their Archaeology
and History. New York: Atlantic Books.
Wilkinson, T. (2001).Early Dynastic Egypt. New York:
Routledge.REINCARNATION
Reincarnationis generally accepted as a term that
means a dead person returns to life in another
being. It is thought that, among some cultures,
this means a return to life as an animal, whereas it
has been said that Africans, who believe in the
concept of reincarnation, see it as the return of a
living human being.
This is a misunderstanding of the dynamic
nature of African existence and a distortion, due
to a borrowed term, of the reality of African life.
Reincarnation as a term conveys the idea of a
bodily rebirth of an individual. However, from
the most ancient of times in African culture, this
has not been the precise meaning of African exis-
tence. Documents from the walls of the temples,
tombs, and pyramids attest to the fact that
Africans did not have, in ancient times, the idea
that after death the soul of a person occupied
another.
Thus, it is necessary to discuss this term in the
context of what is known of African societies. In
the first place, one must dispense with theReincarnation 565