The African Traditional Beliefs & Practices

Abstract

Every ethnic group possesses its own distinct understanding of the life cycle and its own  elaborate set of rituals to mark life's stages. Many cultures in our traditional Africa have initiation rites to mark each phase of a person's life and their progressive entrance into a new social category. In many cultures, a child goes through several graduation stages which recognize one's growth and assigns him or her a place in the community. Each stage is marked by a specific ritual to introduce a new-born to its ancestors. It is in preparation for adulthood, those of marriage and of death. These moments marked important phases in the human life cycle and they were moments used to transmit complex messages about identity, such as social, political and religious roles. Initiation in the African setup was a central bridge in life; together one's youth and adulthood, the period of ignorance and that of knowledge. In initiation, the bridge between male and female, fatherhood with motherhood was created and this signaled the official permission for one to get married and bear children. It joined the living with the departed, the visible with the invisible. Puberty rites were also a gateway to marriage; it gave young people an opportunity to prepare for marriage. The period spent at the initiation school was used to teach them many things concerning the life of their people, their history, their traditions, their beliefs, and above all how to raise a family.