firmly held in most of Africa. The second one is that
the African idea of reincarnation differs from the
Asian idea. Throughout Africa, people believe that
humans who die return to the Earth in different
human forms, but not, as is found in India, as ani-
mals. There is no idea of suffering in the African
construction. In Asia, one has the notion of rounds
of existences and cycles of rebirth from which men
might escape by Nirvana. This idea is not found in
Africa. Similarly, the idea of reward or punishment
by rebirth into a higher or lower state, as one finds
in Asia, is missing in Africa. There is no thought that
the present world is an illusion and is full of suffer-
ing in the African context. Africans think of world-
affirming, not world-renouncing, activities.
Finally, one reason for which people appeal to
ancestors is that souls are reborn in children, and
the souls who are reborn may be grandparents
returned. There is a saying that the ancestors do
not create the child; the child has been here from
long ago. This means that it behooves the living to
pay close attention to those who have become
ancestors because they are not dead, but living.
As they live, the ancestral name is renewed in the
family. There is revitalization of people, and
believers can expect their descendants to carry out
the same rituals of memory for them.
Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoReincarnation
Further Readings
Fadipe, N. A. (1970).The Sociology of the Yoruba.
Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.
Idowu, E. B. (1973).African Traditional Religion.A
Definition. London: SCM.
Karade, B. I. (1999).Imoye:A Definition of the Ifa
Tradition. Brooklyn, NY: Athelia-Henrietta Press.
Opoku, K. A. (1978).West African Traditional Religion.
Accra, Ghana: FEP International Private Limited.
ANCESTORS AND
HARMONIOUSLIFE
The ancestors are at the center of African religion
because they are at the core of all harmony or
disharmony in society. No specific African cul-
tural community exists apart from the dynamics
provided by the ancestral realm. In fact, the causes
of all good deeds, fertility as reflected in the abun-
dance of harvest or the productivity of women,
and joy of family are the result of the ancestors.
One could also say that all misfortunes, misdeeds,
famines, and difficulties of living are caused by the
ancestors in African religion. Nothing in society is
immune from the influence of ancestors. The
ancestors are responsible for beneficence and
afflictions. However, harmonious living in society
can be achieved only by following the ritual paths
of the elders.
Malevolent actions are attributed to unhappy
ancestors and those spirits that might assist the
ancestors such as local or nature spirits. Affliction
and chaos can be traced to the lack of ritual and
sacrifice. Thus, it is necessary to have diviners
who can identify the cause of disasters and afflic-
tions to restore balance and harmony.Communication With Ancestors
All healers and diviners, whether they are called
babalawosorngangas, are able to detect occult
forces at work in the community. They might be
able to tell a person what spirit or ancestor is
responsible for a certain disease. To resolve this
issue, it is necessary for propitiation in the form of
rules, behaviors, and sacrifices to be followed. If
an ancestor is responsible for creating disharmony
in society, then the resolution has to be seeking
the reason for conflict within the line of descent.
This means that the members of the society who
participate in propitiatory exercises are appealing
to the ancestors to have mercy on the society.
In the typical African society, hierarchy is by
age. Of course, the ancestors are older than the
living, and among the living, the elders are the
highest in terms of authority. Thus, the ancestors
as participants in the society are eager to see the
prosperity and sustainability of the community.
They will be called on by the living, appealed to
in the case of crises, and evoked when children
are born. Their function, it seems, is to hold the
society together.
Actually, the visible and invisible worlds are
intertwined in an intimate interplay of the liv-
ing and the ancestors. This is a richly textured52 Ancestors and Harmonious Life