Traditional African Religion
The Religious Sphere
There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the after life is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion. Ancestors mediate between God and men. It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare. Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.
The Ritual Sphere
Rites form and essential part of social life. Rites invoke ancestors and the dead. The whole person, body, and soul are totally involved in worship. There are many rites of purification of individuals and communities. Religious sacredness is preserved in ritual, in dress and the arrangements of the places of worship. The sick are healed in rites, which involve their families and the community. Some of the traditional blessings are rich and very meaningful. In worship and sacrifice there is co-responsibility each person contributes his share in a spirit of participation. Symbols bridge the spheres of the sacred and secular and so make possible a balanced and unified view of reality.
An important part of the African traditional religion is the presence of spirits.
The Spiritual Sphere
In the African world spirits are everywhere in persons, trees, rivers, animals, rocks, mountains and ever automobiles and other personal effects. The presence of these spirits in the African society offers a serious challenge to the behavior patterns of the people on the continent and elsewhere because traditional religious practices permeates every aspect of life on the continent. These spirits in many ways act as moral entrepreneurs of the African society. They abhor crimes like adultery, stealing, cheating and suicide. These spirits communicate their wishes, demands and prescriptions to the larger society through the traditional priests. The traditional priests are able to satisfy their clients through the performance of rituals.
These beliefs help us make analyses about this ritual, interpretations not strictly bound to earthly or worldly things.
the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects,
The article equips the reader with the tools needed to better understand other cultures, in terms of their own beliefs and rituals. Miner’s original approach does create a certain level of confusion that forces the reader to critically evaluate his purpose. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner ultimately brings people together, by illuminating the eccentricities present in all
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
Gatsby 's failure of his financial and social stature obliges him ignore his own particular moral quality to pick up the fortune of a tycoon who he worked for, and transform into a well off and respectable man “ working for a millionaire made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth” (Spark Notes 5 with the sole motivating regaining the affection of his darling Daisy Buchanan “Gatsby cannot take Daisy from Tom with money, but without money he could not even have tried to take him from him” (Tredell 52).
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
To begin, most Africans have come from societies with traditional African religious backgrounds unrelated to Islam or Christianity. As a whole, African religious traditions combine belief in a Supreme Being with the worship of other gods and ancestors and use ritual and magic to mediate between human beings, nature, and the gods. In many African languages, there is no word for God, because in their tradition every thing and place embodies God. Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief...
Another reason Socrates did not escape prison was his obligation to his city. Again, this ties to Socrates need for consistency, when manhood is reached in the city of Athens the citizens comply with the laws of Athens, and if they do not they are to leave the city. So, given this, Socrates must assent to the laws of Athens because he agreed they were just, whether he was wrongly accused or not. Socrates also towards the end of his life becomes certain of the afterlife, that it either must end in eternal sleep or you pass into a spiritual Transcension. Given the dilemma of a planned death, Socrates is given the opportunity to die a good person knowing he has committed no wrong, which is likely why he is content at the end of his life.
Illegal immigration has become a controversial topic in politics within the US. Some believe that undocumented immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy because they take the jobs Americans do not want. Others however, have the opinion that undocumented immigrants should be punished for doing things illegally, arguing that undocumented immigrants are taking the jobs of the American people and taking abusing it by not paying taxes. Although there are speculations that support the claim that immigrants should be punished, there are several counterarguments that state why they should be allowed to stay. Undocumented immigrants are an important factor to the development of the United States of America, immigrants have supplied a widespread example
Five myths from throughout Africa will be mentioned throughout this essay. They are from the Boshongo, Mande, Shilluk, Egyptian, and Yoruba peoples. For a brief description of these myths please see the appendix. Please remember that these myths do not represent the beliefs and stories of all of Africa.
The United States of America’s national immigration problem has sparked many bitter altercations and deliberations among the political spectrum of the United States government. Approximately thirteen million illegal immigrants are currently residing within United States borders. The processes involved in both legal and illegal immigration needs to be reformed and become more restrictive towards those illegal immigrants.
Gatsby point this notion out when he says, “Daisy is money”. She is the parallel that Fitzgerald sets up to demonstrate that the quest for money is inevitable to fail. Before Gatsby became enamored by her limitless possibilities and defined himself by her he could have had the world. But instead he dedicated his life to getting her as his own. His longing for Daisy is an unhealthy obsession that gears everything Gatsby does. The ostentatious parties were thrown in hopes of her attending. Gatsby buys a huge house and fills it with pretentious things in order to solicit attention from the thing he most desires. The irony is that all of this is a failure. When Daisy finally goes to one of Gatsby’s parties she despises everything about it. No matter what he does Daisy is unobtainable. Nothing is ever enough because Gatsby can never be satisfied. Fitzgerald proves that the blind pursuit of perfection and money, as the 1920’s were to some people, is predestined to fail. When Nick first sees Gatsby he is staring wistfully at a money-colored light in the distance. This is the light on Daisy’s dock. It is just across the lake that separates East and West egg from each other. It seems so close but at the same time can never be
As species we are all born human, yet the journey we take on the passage of life defines us as individuals. Our lives are an array of moments of secular and spiritual change. Regardless of their importance, in both contexts, these occurrences represent a transition from one stage of life to another. People formalized these important moments of physical or social change by ritualization, or also known as ‘rite of passage’. The rites of passage play an important role in society. They are an efficient tool in restoring and maintaining balance within the social environment. At the same time, through rituals, they lead the initiate to social transformation. Rites of passage characteristically give assurance of mastery of the new roles and often include instruction in the new roles.
What is culture, one might ask? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is the “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group or the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time” (Culture). Five major characteristics that define a culture include culture is learned, culture is shared, culture is symbolic, culture is all-encompassing, and culture is integrated. Culture depends on the human capacity for cultural learning that encompasses shared rules for conduct and that are dependent upon symbols. Cultures can be integrated by using “social and economic forces, core values, and key symbols” (Mirror for Humanity, 2002). This essay will elaborate on the physical geography and military history of Sub-Saharan Africa, an analysis of its weather, and an overview of the ASCOPE acronym.
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.