territory or area of life and performs specific func-
tions. There are therefore divinities for the Earth,
the seas, rivers, hills, rocks, and other habitats in
the environment. Others control the wind, the rain,
and so on. Depending on the nature of the offense
committed, a divinity may bring disaster on not
only an individual, but also an entire community.
The Earth Spirit (known asAsaase Yaaamong the
Akans,Ani,Ala Ana, orAleamong the Ibos, and
Maa-ndooamong the Mendes), for instance, could
withhold its fertility and thus bring famine to an
entire community if an abomination such as having
sex on the bare ground in the bush is committed.
The powers of these divinities and other spirits
are sometimes invoked by human beings through
the use of the curse. A curse may be pronounced by
a chief, a traditional priest, a clan or family head, or
any aggrieved person against an unknown offender.
In this case, the person seeking justice calls on a
particular divinity to bring evil such as sickness,
misfortune, or even death on the guilty person.
Ancestors, that is, the spirits of the righteous
dead, are also believed to punish the living espe-
cially when their death wishes are not carried out.
In such cases, the aggrieved ancestor often pos-
sesses another person and reveals what should be
done to appease him or her.
Moses Ohene BineySeealsoAncestors; Divinities; Maat
Further Readings
Asante, M., & Nwadiora, E. (2007).Spear Masters:
Introduction to African Religion. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Mbiti, J. S. (1990).African Religions and Philosophy.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Opoku, K. A. (1978).West African Traditional Religion.
Jurong, Singapore: FEP International Private Ltd.
PURIFICATION
Purification, the process of rendering a person or a
thing free of pollution or contamination, is pervasive
in the structure of thought of most Africans. Like all
religious rituals, purification seeks to provide com-
munion between the individual or community and
the divine or spirit(s). Purification rites in Africa have
an ambivalent character: They are performed to
both drive away evil and confer divine life.
Purification, performed to remove pollution from
either an individual or the society as a whole, is asso-
ciated with emissions from the human body, life
crises and transition events, and maintenance of
sacred boundaries. Examples of pollution associated
with bodily functions include blood encountered
during warfare or menstrual blood. Major life tran-
sitions (birth, adolescence, marriage, and death) are
said to be periods when persons are especially
vulnerable to attacks by evil spirits and pollution.
Among the Ndembu of Zambia, for example, an
uncircumcised male is considered permanently pol-
luting and a threat to survival of the culture. Still,
purification rites were necessary to cleanse oneself
for future ritual. For instance, purification was
necessary before individuals were allowed to enter
sacred places or approach deities. In ancient Egypt,
three categories of people in particular were required
to be pure: the king, the priests, and the Dead.
Africans believe that pollution and the breach
of taboos by individuals caused harm to the col-
lective good and that to promote public welfare
and restore the natural cosmic order, purification
rites are necessary. The rationale for this is that
failure to purify contaminated persons and places
would herald the misfortunes and anger of the
spiritual beings and ancestors, who are believed to
have been also offended. Thus, until purification
takes place, the entire community (and not only
the individuals directly involved) stood in real and
imminent danger of suffering a disaster.
Entire communities also required periodic rites
of purification. Such community rites of renewal
took place annually, and at other times they were
performed on the recommendation of a diviner.
The belief is that the passage from one time period
to another creates special opportunities for the
community to rid itself of the accumulated sins of
the past year and enter a new year or period
refreshed and morally refortified.
Purification rites are normally addressed to spe-
cific divinities, such as the Earth and ancestors.
Some symbolic acts of African purification include
the burning of incense, the dragging of animal (in548 Purification