Summary
Contents
Reader's guide
Entries A-Z
Subject index
“Numerous titles focusing on particular beliefs in Africa exist, including Marcel Griaule’s Conversations with Ogotemmeli, but this one presents an unparallelled exploration of a multitude of cultures and experiences. It is both a gateway to deeper exploration and a penetrating resource on its own. This is bound to become the definitive scholarly resource on African religions.” — Library Journal, Starred Review. “Overall, because of its singular focus, reliability, and scope, this encyclopedia will prove invaluable where there is considerable interest in Africa or in different religious traditions.” — Library Journal. As the first comprehensive work to assemble ideas, concepts, discourses, and extensive essays in this vital area, the Encyclopedia of African Religion explores such topics as deities and divinities, the nature of humanity, the end of life, the conquest of fear, and the quest for attainment of harmony with nature and other humans. Editors Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama include nearly 500 entries that seek to rediscover the original beauty and majesty of African religion. Features: Offers the best representation to date of the African response to the sacred; Helps readers grasp the enormity of Africa’s contribution to religious ideas by presenting richly textured concepts of spirituality, ritual, and initiation while simultaneously advancing new theological categories, cosmological narratives, and ways to conceptualize ethical behavior; Provides readers with new metaphors, figures of speech, modes of reasoning, etymologies, analogies, and cosmogonies; Reveals the complexity, texture, and rhythms of the African religious tradition to provide scholars with a baseline for future works The Encyclopedia of African Religion is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as Religion, Africana Studies, Sociology, and Philosophy.
- Ancestral Figures
- Communalism and Family
- Concepts and Ideas
- Deities and Divinities
- Abasi
- Agwe
- Aida Wedo
- Aiwel
- Akamba
- Amen
- Anubis
- Anukis
- Apep
- Apis
- Asase Yaa
- Aten
- Atum
- Ausar
- Auset
- Azaka, the Loa
- Bes
- Bondye
- Chi
- Danbala Wedo
- Divinities
- Eleda
- Eniyan
- Ennead
- Esu, Elegba
- Ezili Dantò
- Ezili Freda
- Faro
- God
- Goddesses
- Hapi
- Hathor
- Heru, Horus
- Ibis, Symbol of Tehuti
- Jok (Acholi)
- Khnum
- Khonsu
- Mami Wata
- Mawu-Lisa
- Min
- Montu
- Nana Buluku
- Ngai
- Ngewo
- Nkulunkulu
- Nyame
- Nzambi
- Obatala
- Oduduwa
- Ogdoad
- Ogun
- Olodumare
- Olokun
- Olorun
- Orisha Nla
- Orunmila
- Oshun
- Oya
- Ptah
- Ra
- Ruhanga
- Sekhmet
- Serapis
- Seshat
- Set
- Shango
- Shu
- Songo
- Sopdu
- Tefnut
- Thoth
- Tibonanj
- Wepwawet
- Woyengi
- Yao
- Yemonja
- Zin
- Eternality
- Nature
- Personalities and Characters
- Possessors of Divine Energy
- Rituals and Ceremonies
- Adae
- Agricultural Rites
- Ceremonies
- Circumcision
- Clitorectomy
- Dance and Song
- Desounen
- Harvest
- Incense
- Initiation
- Invocations
- Lele
- Medicine
- Medicine Men and Women
- Mediums
- Mummification
- Music
- Naming
- Offering
- Ohum Festival
- Opening of the Mouth Ceremony
- Puberty
- Purification
- Rain Dance
- Rites of Passage
- Rites of Reclamation
- Rituals
- Seclusion
- Shawabti
- Shrines
- Societies of Secrets
- Yam
- Yanvalou
- Sacred Spaces and Objects
- Akhenaten
- Altars
- Amulet
- Asamando
- Bata Drums
- Boats
- Bois Caiman
- Cowrie Shells
- Crossroads
- Drum, The
- Flag and Flag Planting
- Govi
- Groves, Sacred
- Ikin
- Ilé-Ifè
- Incense
- Kisalian Graves
- Lakes
- Maroon Communities
- Mount Cameroon
- Mount Kenya
- Mountains and Hills
- Oumfò
- Potomitan
- Pyramids
- Rivers and Streams
- Rocks and Stones
- Sarcophagus
- Sphinx
- Totem
- Vilokan
- Waset
- Societies
- Symbols, Signs, and Sounds
- Taboo and Ethics
- Texts
- Traditions
- Akan
- Asante
- Azande
- Baga
- Baganda
- Bakongo
- Bakota
- Balanta
- Balengue
- Baluba
- Bamana
- Bamileke
- Bamun
- Banyankore
- Banyarwanda
- Bariba
- Barotse
- Bassa
- Basuto
- Batonga
- Bete
- Bobo
- Candomblé
- Chagga
- Chewa
- Chokwe
- Convince
- Dagu
- Dinka
- Diola
- Dioula
- Dogon
- Duala
- Efik
- Ekoi
- Ewe
- Fang
- Fon
- Fula (Fulbe)
- Ga
- Gamo Religion
- Gola
- Gurunsi
- Haya
- Hoodoo
- Hutu
- Ibibio
- Idoma
- Igbo
- Jola
- Kabre of Togo
- KalÛnga
- Kirdi
- Kumina
- Lobi
- Lomwe
- Lovedu
- Lugbara
- Luo
- Maasai
- Mende
- Mossi
- N'domo
- North America, African Religion in
- Nuer
- Obeah
- Okande
- Ovambo
- Palo
- Pedi
- Petwo
- Peul
- Rada
- Santeria
- Sara
- Saramacca
- Senufo
- Serer
- Shilluk
- Shona
- Songo
- Sotho
- Susu
- Swazi
- Tallensi
- Teke
- Tellem
- Temne
- Tiv
- Tsonga
- Tswana
- Tutsi
- Umbanda
- Vai
- Vodou and the Haitian Revolution
- Vodou in Benin
- Vodou in Haiti
- Vodunsi
- Wamala
- West African Religion
- Winti
- Wolof
- Xhosa
- Yao
- Yoruba
- Zarma
- Zulu
- Values
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