would go to Oto, never to find its way back onto
the Earth, an unenviable fate. This entry looks at
the religion’s worship and historical context.
RitualCeremoniesKumina ceremonies are held in the form of ecsta-
tic dance, as a way for the participants to gain
knowledge from the ancestors. The dancers
receive messages from the ancestors through spiri-
tual transcendence known as mayal. The cere-
monies take place during the evening hours and
may well last until sunrise. The most important
elements of Kumina worship involve music, danc-
ing, spirit transcendence, and healing through
prophecy.
Like much in the African religious tradition,
drumming plays a paramount role. The lead drum
is calledkbanduand is accompanied by shakas,
graters, and catta sticks, as well as singing.
Kikongo words are common in Kumina songs.
Drumming is a central part of Kumina because it
is used to communicate with the spiritual world of
the ancestors. The rhythms of the drums call the
ancestors to commune with the participants of the
Kumina ritual.
The repetitive, circular-patterned dance used
during the ceremony brings about energy in the
participants that allows the ancestors to have bet-
ter accessibility to their body and spirit. The dance
pattern is relatively simple: It involves dancers
moving in a circular fashion anticlockwise around
the drummers. At first, the dancers move in a syn-
copated and slow manner and then gradually
accelerate their motion. Over the course of the
ceremony, the dancers become increasingly
excited and fast-paced, which helps to move them
from this Earthly plane and into the realm of the
ancestors through transcendence.
In Kumina, transcendence is called mayal,
whereby the dancers’ personalities change and
become unusual. Their voices become distinctly
different because of the external supernatural
ancestor who inhabits their body. During tran-
scendence, the dancers may be able to perform
extraordinary physical acts, such as walking
while in a trance and speaking in a different lan-
guage. Usually the participants use the African
language during Kumina religious ceremonies.
While in a state of transcendence, the dancers
receive messages to help the living achieve health
and balance in their lives and relationships. Such
messages are known as prophesizing.
Prophesizing is an important tenet of Kumina
because it relates to the spiritual messages that are
received from the ancestors and translated to the
living. During the ritual, the dancers receive the
sacred message through mayal (spiritual tran-
scendence). This is the real purpose behind the
Kumina religious ceremony. Indeed, when individ-
uals, families, or communities have become phys-
ically imbalanced through natural or unnatural
acts, such as death or violence, then there is a need
to receive prophecy from the ancestors on the
best way to restore peace and harmony in their
disrupted lives.
The religious leader, who may be a male or a
female and who will have undergone strict train-
ing under the supervision of a king or queen of
Kumina, is called to help the dancers receive the
message from the ancestors. Again, such a
prophecy is expected to help the person or group
involved neutralize or cure the spiritual imbalance
that has resulted in a calamity or an event.HistoricalContext
Kumina is often associated with the Maroon com-
munities of Jamaica, although many who do not
claim such ancestry also practice Kumina. Nanny,
Queen Mother of the Maroons and the only
female national hero of the Jamaican people, was
a practitioner of Kumina and is largely responsible
for making Kumina a revered and respected reli-
gion. It was her work as a revolutionary that pop-
ularized the Maroon culture throughout Jamaica.
She fought against the British soldiers and
government that enslaved the Africans. She was
the first woman recorded to have practiced an
African-based religion because she was from
Africa and brought this tradition with her from
the Motherland. It is said that her spiritual work
assisted her in defeating the British in many bat-
tles. As a spiritual medium, she used many mili-
tary tactics that were unfamiliar to the British and
caused them to fear her and Kumina.Edona M. AlexandriaSeealsoObeahKumina 371