Post by ekaekomum on Aug 20, 2022 12:36:00 GMT -5
Link to purchase the book
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BB9XWCBJ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
Learning African religion is very important. It gives you an insight into how early Africans delt with living, in a much different environment. I have to say, Africans very much so earned their right to that continent. Note, that when most of the religions I listed started, it was a totally different landscape then today. These people were still getting to learn about some of the wild animals in the area, they had to co-exist with. Many of the animals of yesteryear, are extinct. When the Sahara formed it created many problems. Some say the Earths axis shift, caused more concentrated heat to the area, transforming fertile land into a desert. Theres many theories, but may I add, that most of the land around that area at the time was marsh like areas, due to the Polar Ice Caps melting. So Africans had to travel by papyrus boats half the time. This was a danger all in itself, because there was no telling what type of large snakes, or crocodiles lurked in the waters.
So now this brings us into where the religion comes in. If you are dealing with all of this and trying to insure a whole tribe, wouldnt you need religion? I think of it like if you have a small child who is scared of the dark, and thinks its a monster out there ready to get them.The only thing that you have to tell them is to say a prayer, and the monster wont get them. That went the same way for early religions. If they were in the jungle hunting, some believed that God or their creator was right behind them watching over them. If they looked back then God would no longer protect them, and they take the risk of getting eaten by a large animal. If they heard of someone who went into the woods and had been eaten by a wild animal, they would tell the people, that they didnt obey Gods rules, and that was the reasoning for the mishaps happening.
Other religions had laws that were one in the same. For example, if you committed a crime, you owed the victim tribute, meaning you owed that person in the form of some type of annual offerings that had monetary value, until that person forgave you. If that person didnt forgive you then you would not have your creator's protection over you. Then the whole entire time that you are in the process of paying tribute, the Creator wouldnt watch over you. So if a tribe invaded another tribe and lost, it could really cost them. Plus they were in fear of their creator not watching over them and a natural disaster, or famine would hit. This system was carried well into the 1600's during the time of slavery. In my humble opinion, this was a key system that kept Africans for the most part at peace with each other. That and the fact that populations were lower at a certain point and time, and everyone new which tribe were their cousins.
Like many other tribes around Africa, The Noks had a tribute system. A tribute system is built into religion and it is law. This is what kept Africa peaceful. It is sometimes confused with slavery and indentured servitude, but it is much more than just the two. With a tribute system if there were problems in agriculture for that year a tribute would be made to the creator, in forms of cattle or valuable goods. This also was used as a peace agreement among tribes. Notably the Asante, Dahomey, and Oya were practicing it when colonizers came. This made it easy for colonizers to collect slaves, and they took full advantage of the system.
You can read about the Noks judicial system below, were the tribute system was incorporated.
"It is a known fact that the Nok’s judicial system pre-dates the western judicial system. The Nok people created classes of courts used for adjudicating cases from minor civil cases, such as family disputes and false allegations, to criminal cases such as stealing, murder and adultery. The people believed that every crime attracts a curse which was capable of destroying whole family and therefore must be uncovered to avoid the consequences.
The suspect was brought before an open court for traditional oath taking, which involved standing between two monoliths facing the sun, the most supreme god called Nom. The suspect then swore to tell the truth. Cases that cannot be resolved in the open court are taken to the high court which sits within an enclosed shrine.
The court was presided over by the Chief Priest and various clan heads. Anyone found guilty was fined goats and chicken for sacrifice to the gods and local wine for the chief priest. The town would then declare a day of celebration on which the people would thank the gods for their graces in successfully resolving the issue and averting doom for the people".
So now you can see the importance of African religion, and why most people in the conscious community want to cling onto these for the most part forgotten systems. It’s the key reason for me writing this book. We have to know what we came from to know where we are going.
