“Indigenous faiths of Africa hold within them the roots of our past, the healing for our now, and the path to a future of peace. These traditions grew out of wisdom of the first humans on the planet. The ancestors and the ancestral traditions are the crux of African thought and world view. Recognizing the continuity of life through the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth, the ancients understood that we are spiritual beings who experience human life for a time only to return to the place we came from after life is over” (Fatunmbi Fasola 2014:1). Being spiritually grounded in one’s culture reassures them a solid foundation to build on when life happens and circumstances change. What our Ancestors endured during the African holocaust not only destroyed them psychologically, physically, emotionally, and culturally it affected them spiritually.
“The Enslavement of an estimated ten million Africans over a period of almost four centuries in the Atlantic slave trade was a tragedy of such scope that it is difficult to image, much less comprehend. Then these Africans were brought to slavery in the mines, plantations, and households of the New World, they were torn away from the political, social, and cultural systems that had ordered their lives. Tribal and linguistic groups were broken up, either on the coasts of Africa or in the slave pens across the Atlantic. Most brutal of all, the exigencies of the slave trade did not allow the preservation of family or kinship ties” (Raboteau 2004:4). Most importantly the indigenous practices of our Ancestors became hidden inside the cloaks of Abrahamic faiths and practiced in secrecy which over time would separate the African in North America from her or his spiritual self.
In order to understand the argument, we must define what a spiritual being is, what is a soul, and what is a spirit. The definition of a spiritual being is an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events. The definition of spirit based is the non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul. The definition of Soul is the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. Are we indeed spiritual beings having a human experience per French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin? One could argue that from an African perspective, but the focus of article is on the Spirit and the Soul. “Nyama is the energy that emanates from Spirit and flows throughout the universe. It is the life force that links all of existence together; humans, animals, plants, and minerals. The power of creation and destruction, nyama commands everything from bountiful harvests to droughts and plagues; it directs the twinkling stars and the rippling tides. This energy of the universe shapes nature into its many forms and yields to our handling of its power” (Doumbia 2004:5).
“The indigenous belief of the Dagara is that we are primarily Spirit. In order to exist as material beings, we have to take a form, and there is the sense among my people that to be in matter is not the most familiar or suitable form for us. To fit ourselves into the narrow part of the universe that allows energy to exist as matter takes some getting use to, and we only bother with it at all because it serves the useful and unavoidable purpose of expanding the spirit in us” (Some 1999:61). “It has been shown that the African continent has a consistent body of thought. Individual cultures have their particular religious expression. On the continent, these forms of expression rely on theories that are in line with the continent-wide thought system. The thought system, then, is like the tree and the individual religious expressions are the branches” (Fatunmbi Fasola 2014:23). To the African everything is everything and all life forms carry a spirit. Within this body of knowledge lies the understanding of African art, philosophy, and expression of the natural world we call nature.
“The term soul commonly connotes a human element that is not physical, but vital, energizing, and indestructible. It coexists with the living human body from birth, or before, and remains until the time of death. Subsequently, and according to the cultural myths of a society, there are a number of tasks and responsibilities performed by the soul” (Asante/Mazama 2009:627). Once the soul stops performing its task or responsibilities then what good is the spirit? This thought process by some people in the community have spear headed what I call an excuse to not feed the spirit and starve the soul. This is a blueprint for a disaster to practically eliminate an entire body of work established by our eldest ancestors. “When colonialism, old or new, disrupts energy working like an umbrella to protect people, the people under the umbrella will be exposed to the elements. Like fish in a lake whose water had suddenly evaporated, the fish will die” (Some 1999:69).
Today’s African American soul and spirit is at a crossroad and this is not familiar territory. What have we learned from nature? If “Nature is the elements, the forces, the powers and the energy that creates,” (West 2016:xiii) is it telling us to abandon our spiritual selves? “A culture that is in touch with its spiritual connection is a culture that is poised to evolve. In the indigenous context, change is tolerated, even welcomed, because it originates with Spirit. If evolution originates in a spiritual source, then it does not disrupt stability. If evolution is seen in terms of the modern definition, concerned with ascendency, acquisition, and control and mastery over the material world, then evolution becomes destructive to stability. The modern notion of stability has a heavy load of military hardware associated with it. This contrasts sharply with the indigenous view of stability, which is a state of alignment with Spirit, with cosmic rules and regulations” (Some 1999:78).
Who are we the “Souls of Black Folks,” to deny spirituality and to scrutinize it under the lenses of Western ideologies? Who are we to challenge the very thing that helped us discover our natural world and move our people forward? Who are we to oppose the study of African Spirituality {by some}, and ignore its body of work by our Ancestors for thousands of years? To reject the Spirit is to Starve the soul, and how dare we call it pseudo-science (by the few) when in fact the very nerve of the people who make this claim can’t properly define spirituality or science. We need an African Consciousness with a scientific approach to solve problems our personal ideologies cannot. Enough with pseudo-intellectuals using their keyboards to give them an excuse and a reason why not to get serious and start studying. We have work to do and until we recognize that we will continue to allow ignorance belittle the work our Ancestors have done for us. It is within the spirit of our Ancestors that we protect the soul. Use your energy wisely!
Sources: West, Ankh. The Chronology of Human Evolution. Voices of Fire, 2016.
Doumbia, Adama, and Naomi Doumbia. The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition. Llewellyn Publ., 2004.
Somé Malidoma Patrice. The Healing Wisdom of Africa. Thorsons, 1999.
Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion the 'Invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South. Oxford Univ. Pr., 1980.
Fasola, Fategbe Fatunmbi. The Holy Odu: a Collection of Verses from the 256 Odu Ifa with Commentary. Publisher Not Identified, 2014.
Asante, Molefi Kete, and Ama Mazama. Encyclopedia of African Religion. SAGE, 2009.
“Spiritual Being - Dictionary Definition.” Vocabulary.com, www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spiritual%20being.
“Spirit | Definition of Spirit in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/spirit.
“Soul.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soul.
Image Reference: Wall, Kim, and Caterina Clerici. “Vodou Is Elusive and Endangered, but It Remains the Soul of Haitian People.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Nov. 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people.