African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam.
Characteristics
Afro-American religions share a number of beliefs and practices. Central beliefs include 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 various African traditions, many also incorporate elements of folk Catholicism including folk saints and other forms of folk religion, Native American religion, Spiritism, Spiritualism, Shamanism (sometimes including the use of Entheogens), and European folklore. Various "doctoring" spiritual traditions also exist such as Obeah and Hoodoo which focus on spiritual health. African religious traditions in the Americas can vary. They can have non-prominent African roots or can be almost wholly African in nature, such as religions like Trinidad Orisha.
African diaspora religions in the present
The nature and composition of the African diaspora have undergone significant changes over time: from the forced migration of African captives of the Old and New Worlds to the voluntary emigration of free, skilled Africans in search of political asylum or economic opportunities; from a diaspora with little contact with the point of origin (Africa) to one that maintains active contact with the mother continent, all culminating in the birth of a unique African who straddles continents, worlds and cultures.
Defining diasporas
There are several conceptual difficulties in defining the African diaspora—indeed, in defining the term diaspora. Contemporary theorizations of the term diaspora tend to be preoccupied with problematizing the relationship between diaspora and nation and the dualities or multiplicities of diasporic identity or subjectivity; they are inclined to be condemnatory or celebratory of transnational mobility and hybridity. In many cases, the term diaspora is used in a fuzzy, ahistorical and uncritical manner in which all manner of movements and migrations between countries and even within countries are included and no adequate attention is paid to the historical conditions and experiences that produce diasporic communities and consciousness—how dispersed populations become self-conscious diaspora communities.
List of religions and spiritual traditions
The Bahamas
Haitian Vodou Obeah Rastafari
Belize
Dugu Obeah
Brazil
Batuque Cabula Candomblé Candomblé Bantu Candomblé Jejé Candomblé Ketu Jarê Omolokô Quimbanda Tambor de Mina Terecô Umbanda Xangô de Recife
Colombia
Alabaos Colombian Yuyu Lumbalú
Cuba
Arará religion Cuban Vodú Palo Regla de Ocha (aka. Santería) Ganga-Longoba Espiritismo
Curaçao
Montamentu
Dominican Republic
Dominican Vudú
Grenada
Big Drum Dance (Gwa Tambu)
Guatemala (Garifuna)
Dugu
Guyana
Comfa Obeah
Haiti
Haitian Vodou Ibo loa
Honduras
Dugu
Jamaica
Convince Jamaican Maroon religion Kromanti dance Kumina Myal Obeah Rastafari Bobo Ashanti Nyabinghi Twelve Tribes of Israel
Nicaragua
Dugu
Puerto Rico
Sansé Espiritismo
Saint Lucia
Rastafari Kélé Obeah
Suriname
Winti
Trinidad and Tobago
Obeah Rastafari Spiritual Baptist Trinidad Orisha Vodunu
United States
Hoodoo Louisiana Voodoo Spiritual church movement Espiritismo African Theological Archministry
Venezuela
María Lionza Birongo
African diaspora religions in Asia
Pakistan
Sheedi Mela
Black theology Ring shout Traditional African religions African diaspora in the Americas
Fieser, James; Dowden, Bradley (eds.). "Philosophy of African Diaspora Religions". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ISSN 2161-0002. OCLC 37741658. Roots and Rooted
Demo article adapted from African diaspora religions on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply.
