African diaspora religion

Ritual being undertaken by followers of Maria Lionza.

African diaspora religion, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas as a result of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

These belief systems are derived from traditional African religions mixed with influences from the more widespread organized religions. However, unlike Abrahamic religions, African religions are not idealizations; instead, they seek to come to terms with reality.

Characteristics

Because there are so many varied African diaspora religions and such diverse groups who contributed to their development, it is difficult to generalize about their beliefs and rituals. Also, none of these religions have a centralized authority who can dictate how devotees worship.

Afro-American religions tend to involve ancestor veneration and include a creator deity along with a pantheon of divine spirits such as the Orisha, Loa, Vodun, Nkisi, and Alusi, among others.

In addition to the religious syncretism of these traditions, many also incorporate elements of Christianity, including reverence of Catholic saints. Other major influences include: Native American religions, Spiritism, and Shamanism (sometimes including the use of entheogens).

Various "doctoring" traditions also exist, such as Obeah and Hoodoo which focus on spiritual health.

Practices

Devotees honor spirits and deities through offerings such as flowers, foods, and alcohol as well as through prayers and rituals. They communicate with these entities using mediumship and possession.

However, some belief systems are more transactional, with individual clients only going to priests/practitioners for divination and rituals to correct a problem or to create a path for growth and opportunity.

Others are also communal, and have ceremonies and festivals that include singing, drumming, and dancing.

Animal sacrifice

The most controversial practice among African diaspora religions is the ritual sacrifice of animals. Although this practice varies significantly (with some traditions not using it at all), many share the same basic ideology behind the practice.

The animal is killed quickly and with as little pain as possible, its blood is then poured on the ground or in a shrine, while the meat of the animal is prepared and consumed by devotees or given to the poor. In terms of the animals' experiences and the training of the person doing the slaughter, these animal sacrifices are remarkably similar to the practices of Kosher meat in Judaism and Halal meat in Islam.

History

In the Middle Ages, religion was the primary determining factor for who was considered to be a legitimate target of slavery. Both Christians and Muslims allowed the enslavement of people they regarded to be heretics. Similarly, both Christians and Muslims approved of enslaving Pagans, who came to be a preferred target of the slave trade in the Middle Ages.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

By the 15th century, Europeans began using both race and religion as a justification to enslave sub-Saharan Africans. The first slaves to arrive as part of a labor force in the New World reached the island of Hispaniola in 1502.

Between 1500 and 1866, nearly 11 million Africans were trafficked to the Americas in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Enslaved persons primarily originated from the western half of Africa.

African religions were based on oral traditions, which facilitated their spread across the Atlantic Ocean. Enslaved Africans carried their belief systems orally to the New World without relying on printed texts or doctrine provided by a centralized leader. This allowed new forms of worship to develop quickly as newly-arrived slaves mixed their own traditions with those of the local indigenous peoples.

Pressures to conform to the wishes of Christian and Muslim slave owners caused many enslaved Africans to outwardly adopt the tenants of organized religion, while secretly continuing their traditional practices. This simultaneous resistance to and acceptance of Abrahamic religion led to the creation of new syncretic belief systems.

Criminalization and rebellions

Colonial elites disapproved of African traditions and introduced laws to prohibit them, using the term Obeah as a general label for these practices. Fearing that Obeah practitioners might incite rebellions, European authorities increasingly saw Obeah as a threat to the stability on their plantations and criminalised it.

In 1733, Governor Philip Gardelin issued a clause to the Danish West Indian slave code proscribing various ritual practices. Early Jamaican laws against Obeah reflected Christian theological viewpoints, characterising it as "pretending to have communication with the devil" or "assuming the art of witchcraft."

During Tacky's War, a widespread slave rebellion in the British colony of Jamaica which lasted from 7 April 1760 to 1761, its leader consulted a shaman who prepared a substance that would make the rebelling slaves immune to bullets, thereby boosting their confidence in executing the rebellion.

Post-emancipation

After emancipation and the abolition of slavery throughout the Americas in the 1800s, adherents of African diaspora religions were heavily persecuted. Government authorities and the predominantly Catholic or Protestant populations derided African belief systems as backward traditions that promoted barbarism and primitive superstition.

Laws against Obeah had typically applied only to enslaved people, so new laws to proscribe the practice were required. These new laws largely downgraded the severity with which Obeah was punished but also expanded the scope of what would be considered part of it. In this period, clients were typically approaching Obeah specialists for assistance with health, employment, luck, or success in business or legal entanglements, thereby setting up the practitioners for charges of fraud.

Modern era

Historical persecution of African religions has resurfaced in the 21st century in the form of both state and private discrimination. As extremist sects of Evangelical Christianity gain more influence in the Americas, these groups focus on attacking African diaspora religious communities. Most of this physical violence has occurred in Haiti and Brazil, although the Brazilian government has made some effort to combat violence against Afro-Brazilian religions, despite the government officials themselves being complicit in these attacks.

In other countries, followers are more likely to encounter legal restrictions and harassment from government authorities than physical violence.

Despite widespread discrimination, African religions in the Americas are often officially celebrated and marketed as an important part of the nation's cultural heritage.

Partial list of African diaspora religions

Example of a typical voodoo altar

There are numerous African diaspora religions and their practices vary widely from country to country and religion to religion. These religions are extreme minorities in the Americas, with official populations often too small to be featured on the national census.

Caribbean

• Voodoo (including Cuban Vodú, Haitian Vodou, Dominican Vudú, and Vodunu)
• Santería
• Rastafari

South America

• María Lionza
• Candomblé
• Quimbanda
• Santo Daime
• Umbanda