All African religions contain notions of evil, which may take the form of sudden illness or death, unexpected failure, or bad dreams or visions. Recording the Past, Supporting the Future. African religions also share many ideas with world religions such as Judaism and Buddhism. Representing panthers, Nufori are intended to frigthen as well as entertain. Lobola is an ancient and controversial Southern African tradition in … They exist in a state of perpetual balance and rebalance; actions performed by the inhabitants of one world have a corresponding effect on the other, some beneficial and others detrimental. For the San people of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Angola, dance is considered a sacred power. Many diviners act as mediums, communicating with spirits through possession or trance. Throughout the initiation, the warriors and their female companions perform courtship dances, during which the men leap high into the air to prove their agility. South Africa is blessed with rich cultures, one of which is its traditional wedding ceremony. Meanwhile the groom undergoes the traditional African wedding rituals known as Kupeka Begi… in this ritual the female relatives of the groom take gifts to his bride on his behalf. It is to rituals, dances, masquerades, storytelling and folk celebrations with all their theatrical elements, then, that one must look for such an African definition. A strong collective future in an uncertain world depends on families working together, and the common goal of survival is often put ahead of personal pleasure. One of the great challenges in African cultures is to find a balance between the age-old tensions of romantic passion and family stability. From birth to death, these rites of passage regulate and give expression to meaningful changes in people's lives. VIDEO: Maasai warriors enter the ceremonial manyatta for their four-day ritual passage to elderhood. The wedding ceremonies of Swazi and Zulu traditionalists involve elaborate rituals aimed at ensuring the future cooperation of the ancestors of the bride and groom. Among them is the practice of slaughtering an ox and attaching gall bladders to the bride's head. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity.Adherents are known as creyente ("believers"). Masquerades: Bedik Harvest Masks, Senegal. Not all deceased individuals become ancestors. All of the males of the same age in a community participate as a group in the communal ceremonies that mark each transition. African rites of passage usually occur at birth, marriage, and death; on initiation into SECRET SOCIETIES (often associated with reaching a certain age); and on achieving an important position such as that of king or priest. Three African Tribes Ceremonies Traditions and Rituals ⚞ The Maasai Manyatta Ceremony This unique archive, created during a thirty-year period of dedicated work, encompasses 120 distinct cultures from 37 African countries. Courtship and marriage traditions vary greatly. The creation story emphasizes the separation between humans and the divine, which is often represented by the division between the earth and the sky. Generally the rituals called on the spirits of ancestors or the spirits of nature for help and assistance. To begin their training, intiates often enter a special place, a sacred forest or a ritually built house. Hundreds of millions of Africans now claim one of these faiths as their chosen religion, and Africa is currently the site of a dramatic growth in Christian converts. All African religions feature myths, which are stories that are used to explain the nature of society and of the universe. 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