Abstract
This chapter examines the concepts of liturgy, rituals, traditions, sacrifices, and festivals in African Traditional Religion. These concepts act as customary public worship according to African beliefs, customs, and traditions as dictated by the gods or deity of that African territory. These are means of communication with the Supreme Being and ancestors within the context of worship. In West Africa, the adherents of traditional festivals observe the traditional religion to mark important social and cultural events in the lives of the people that culminate in a series of performances, entertainments, rites and rituals, liturgies, and sacrifices. Through these festivals, the people demonstrate their values and beliefs, which give meaning to the social, political, and religious life of the participants celebrating them. Festivals are vital mainsprings in traditional education and the remit of the people’s culture. This chapter utilizes the Social Mobilization theory as a conceptual framework to illustrate the importance of festivals (with examples) in West Africa.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Ansu-Kyeremeh Ansu-Kyeremeh, Perspectives on Indigenous Communication in Africa. Accra, Ghana: University of Ghana Printing Press, 1998.
- 2.
K.W. Deutsch, Nationalism and social communication. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1953.
- 3.
UN Habitat, Social mobilization. Retrieved from: www.fukuoka.unhabitat.org/docs/publications/pdf/peoples_process/ChapterIISocial_Molization.pdf, 2016.
- 4.
C. L. Adeoye, Asa ati ise Yoruba. Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1979.
- 5.
B. J. Stoeltje, “Festival. Folklore, Cultural Performances and Popular Entertainments.” Ed. by Richard Bauman. New York, 1992.
- 6.
Kristin Kuutma, Festival as communicative performance and celebration of ethnicity. Folklore (Estonia) May 1998. https://doi.org/10.7592/FEJF1998.07.festiva. Source: DOAJ.
- 7.
K. Agawu, The communal ethos in African performance: Ritual, narrative and music among the northern Ewe (Trans. Evista Transcultural de Musica, 119 Julio), 2007, 3–4.
- 8.
P. Sarpong, Libation. Kumasi (Ghana): Good Shepherd Publishers, 2010.
- 9.
J. Adjaye, Boundaries of self and Other in Ghanaian Popular Culture. Westport: Praeger, 2004.
- 10.
- 11.
Music around the world Global Encyclopaedia.
- 12.
S. Freud, The Future of an Illusion, trans. W. D Robson-Scott, rev. James Strachey. Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1964.
- 13.
Turner, V., The Drums of Affliction, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1968.
- 14.
Turner, V. The Forest of Symbol, Aspects of Ndembu Ritual, New York: Cornell University. 1967.
- 15.
Lugira, A.M. African Traditional Religion. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009.
- 16.
Washington, “Zulu Traditional Healing, Afrikan Worldview and the Practice of Ubuntu: Deep Thought for Afrikan/Black Psychology”. In The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 3, no. 8, June 2010, pp. 24–39. C. Ray, African Religions: Symbol, Ritual and Community, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.
- 17.
J. Adjaye, Boundaries of self and Other in Ghanaian Popular Culture. Westport: Praeger, 2004.
- 18.
Alphonse Kasongo Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences (2010) Vol. 2, No. 1, 309–322, 309. Impact of Globalization on Traditional African Religion and Cultural Conflict.
- 19.
- 20.
Mbiti, J.S., African Religions and Philosophy. Second edition (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1999).
- 21.
Mensah O.A. (2015) Mythology of Rituals and Sacrifices in African-Derived Diaspora Religions. In: Aderibigbe I.S., Medine C.M.J. (eds) Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
- 22.
Oborji, F.A. “In Dialogue with African Traditional Religion: New Horizons”. Mission Studies, Vol. 19, Issue 1, 2002, pp. 13–35.
- 23.
Ubruhe, J.O. 1996: A Key to Traditional sacrifice: A key to the Heart of the Christian Message. Journal for Theology in Southern Africa, 95, pp. 13–22, 1996.
- 24.
Evans-Pritchard, E, 1956, 1970, Nuer Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 273, 1956, 1970.
- 25.
Masoga A.M.; Rugwiji, A. A reflection on ritual murders in the biblical text from an African perspective Scriptura. Vol. 117, Stellenbosch, 2018.
- 26.
Sarpong, Peter K., Ghana in retrospect: Some Aspects of Ghanaian Culture (3rd ed.). Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1974.
- 27.
Gondola, D., The History of Belgian Congo. Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut, 2002.
- 28.
Opoku, K. A. Religious themes in West African Festivals, In Dialogue and Alliance, Journal of International Religious Foundation, 4 (1), 71–74 1990.
- 29.
- 30.
Coursey, D.G., & Cecilia K. Coursey. The New Yam Festivals of West Africa. Anthropos 66, no. 3/4 (1971): 444–484. Accessed February 26, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40457684.
- 31.
Abbey, N.H. (2010). Homowo in Ghana. Studio Brian Communications: Accra, 2010.
- 32.
Opoku-Agyeman. A Festival in Ghana. Ministry of Education: Accra, 1980.
- 33.
Gbadagbe, R. (2012). Aesthetics and Philosophy of the Asogli Yam Festival. Doctoral Theses. KNUST: 2. https://www.ipl.org/essay/Harvest-Festivals-In-Ghana-F3JYY22FC48R.
- 34.
Fosu, K. A. Festivals in Ghana. 2nd ed. Amok Publication: Kumasi, 2001.
- 35.
Opoku-Agyeman, A Festival in Ghana. Ministry of Education: Accra, 1980. http://ghanakey.com/ghana-festivals.html.
- 36.
Kamevor, A. K. Ghanaian Festivals as a resource for At Education. Doctoral Dissertation. KNUST: Kumasi, 2006.
- 37.
Der, B.G. (1998). The Slave Trade in Northern Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services: Accra.
- 38.
Agaasa, L & Hager Ampa-Korsah Feok Festival Costumes: Evolution & Socio-Cultural Importance. Journal of Culture, Society and Development, Vol. 24, 2016.
- 39.
Yirenkyi, 1998.
- 40.
Kemevor, A. K. Ghanaian Festivals as a resource for At Education.Doctoral Dissertation. KNUST: Kumasi, 2006.
- 41.
Yirenkyi, 1998.
- 42.
Opoku, A. A Festival in Ghana. Ministry of Education: Accra, 1998.
- 43.
Dzeradedu, E. Fashion and the Impact on Tong Culture in Ghana. Doctoral Dissertation, KNUST: Kumasi, 2010.
- 44.
Derkyi, E. Aboakyir: The Hunt of the Efutu People. Published by Edusei Derki: Cantonement, Accra, 2010. https://michaelaviel2014.wordpress.com/.
- 45.
Arhin, K., Dickson, K.A. & T.A. Boateng. Kyeremanteng and Culture: The Kyeremanteng Memorial Lectures 1990–1995. Centre for Intellectual Renewal, Accra, 1995.
- 46.
www.Nigerianbestforum.com. (Clarke-Ekong, Journal of Social Development in Africa (1997), 12 (2), 49–60. Traditional Festivals in the Political Economy: The Case of Contemporary Ghana).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Osei, M.A. (2022). Liturgy, Rituals, Traditions, Sacrifice, and Festivals. In: Aderibigbe, I.S., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89500-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89500-6_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-89499-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-89500-6
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)