African American religions

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As African-American religions which are collectively neo-ethnic religions of African American called that since the 16th century by the African carryover slaves to America came and their roots in African religions are.

Similarities

Most African-American religions share the Orishas pantheon of gods , which goes back to the religion of the Yoruba from West Africa . In many cases they formed a syncretistic synthesis of African and European religions in order to obtain legitimacy for the practice of one's own customs and rites through a Christian facade (see also African churches as indigenous Christian cultures). Some religions have been influenced by South American Indian religions .

Another common feature is Yoruba as a ceremonial language in many Afro-American religions. Important components of the Afro-American religions are ancestor cult and animism (“Everything is animated”). Part of the African heritage is that the ceremonies are almost always accompanied by drum music. Often it is about trance cultures .

Brazil

Candomblé is particularly important among the Afro-Brazilian religions . As widespread but greatly from spiritualism affected is the Umbanda . Other Afro-Brazilian religions are the Xangô cult in the northeast and the Batuque in the south of Brazil . As a generic term, the Afro-Brazilian religions are often pejoratively referred to as Macumba .

Cuba

In Cuba , the Santería is the dominant African American religion. Another variety of African American religions is the Palo .

Haiti

In Haiti 's Voodoo the most widespread religion.

Jamaica

Obeah is practiced in Jamaica , but also in Suriname , the Virgin Islands , Trinidad and Tobago , Guyana , Belize , the Bahamas , St. Vincent and the Grenadines , Barbados and other Caribbean regions . Another variant in eastern Jamaica is Kumina .

Rastafarian is not an African American religion , although it is strongly related to the African continent . As a Christian religion that emerged in the 1930s, however, it has little or no roots in traditional African religions.

Suriname

The Obeah religion and Winti can be found in Suriname .

United States

In North America , the black African social order and culture were smashed during the time of slavery . While African forms of music sometimes survived in the blues and other black music , African religions no longer play a role in the USA . In the USA, at the same time as in Ethiopia at the turn of the 20th century, the idea arose that the biblical promises were specifically related to the inhabitants of Africa ( Ethiopism ). It was only through Haitian immigration that voodoo could gain a certain importance in the southern states in the last few decades . The fact that African-American religions play a minor role in the USA is also due to the comparatively small proportion of the black population in the total population. The Kwanzaa festival , which dates back to the Black Power movement and has been celebrated since the 1960s, is widespread among African Americans in the USA at the end of the year .

literature

  • Miloslav Stingl : The gods of the Caribbean. The history of African American culture. Econ, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-612-26203-3 .
  • Corinna Raddatz (Ed.): Africa in America. Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde, Gütersloh 1992.
  • Astrid Reuter : Voodoo and other African American religions. Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-48016-0 .
  • Angelina Pollak-Eltz : Drum and Trance. The Afro-American Religions (= Small Library of Religions. Volume 2). Herder, Freiburg 1995.
  • Bettina E. Schmidt: Spirit Possession in Brazil. The Perception of the (Possessed) Body. In: Anthropos. Volume 109, 2014, No. 1, pp. 135-147.
  • Stephan Palmié: The Exile of the Gods. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1991.

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