This is a brilliant article. THANK YOU. Whenever I write about our African spirituality systems, I just call it African Sacredness.
Regarding animism: Tylor viewed it as inferior, describing it as an early and “primitive” form of religion that came before and was less advanced than later systems like monotheism or organized European religions. His evolutionary model placed animistic beliefs at the lowest level of religious development, labeling them as characteristic of so-called “savages” or “primitive tribes.” Tylor argued that as societies advanced, their religious beliefs supposedly evolved beyond animism to more complex systems.
It is notable that Tylor regards Christianity as monotheism. From a Muslim perspective, however, Christians are seen as worshipping “three gods” (or a “three‑person god”) and have thus departed from pure monotheism in favor of a form of disguised idol‑worship. The traditional Christian language of “one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”—is often interpreted by Muslims as a de facto claim to three gods, even when Christians deny polytheism. In Islam, the act of ascribing “partners” to God is called shirk, considered the gravest form of unbelief because it transforms the One into a company. Many Muslims, historically and today, bluntly argue that the Trinity is simply polytheism in a more philosophical form: three beings worshipped instead of one.
My last point is that the central principle of African Sacredness is that we live in a world of three. My cine essay on Sinners explores this in detail, illustrating how this connection was disrupted in the African diasporic world.
Thank you once again for sharing your thoughtful reflections. It is clarifying.
This is such a beautiful written article. I especially loved the intricate breakdowns of certain terminologies that have been placed on African indigenous religious perspectives. This is a beautifully written article and I'm so grateful that you shared it here. In the Black American Community we pour out libation as well. It's done definitely. Perhaps you see the young men pour out liquor for their friends or loved ones who have passed on. That is libation, that is community, that is the diaspora connecting us to you. Thank you for this.
We do many rituals but because we don’t have a language for them-because they stole the language from us it’s just “what we do”. The moment we put a name on it then it becomes demonic because now it belongs to us and that was never the intention. I’m really glad we are beginning to more widely have these conversations. I love it here.
I've really struggled with finding a way to describe how limiting it is to look at African religions from a Eurocentric lens and I think your thorough examination has exemplified why - because it's not really something that can be briefly described. I've even found when framing African spirituality through the category of mythology can be an oversimplification because it often forces complex, living systems of knowledge into Western frameworks that separate the sacred from everyday life. For example, reducing the Yoruba Orisha to a parallel of “Norse mythology” risks flattening it into folklore or symbolic storytelling, rather than recognising it as an active philosophical, spiritual, ecological, and communal practice that continues to shape identity, ethics, healing, and social relations across the African diaspora. Really well written essay, I can't wait to learn more!
This is a brilliant article. THANK YOU. Whenever I write about our African spirituality systems, I just call it African Sacredness.
Regarding animism: Tylor viewed it as inferior, describing it as an early and “primitive” form of religion that came before and was less advanced than later systems like monotheism or organized European religions. His evolutionary model placed animistic beliefs at the lowest level of religious development, labeling them as characteristic of so-called “savages” or “primitive tribes.” Tylor argued that as societies advanced, their religious beliefs supposedly evolved beyond animism to more complex systems.
It is notable that Tylor regards Christianity as monotheism. From a Muslim perspective, however, Christians are seen as worshipping “three gods” (or a “three‑person god”) and have thus departed from pure monotheism in favor of a form of disguised idol‑worship. The traditional Christian language of “one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”—is often interpreted by Muslims as a de facto claim to three gods, even when Christians deny polytheism. In Islam, the act of ascribing “partners” to God is called shirk, considered the gravest form of unbelief because it transforms the One into a company. Many Muslims, historically and today, bluntly argue that the Trinity is simply polytheism in a more philosophical form: three beings worshipped instead of one.
My last point is that the central principle of African Sacredness is that we live in a world of three. My cine essay on Sinners explores this in detail, illustrating how this connection was disrupted in the African diasporic world.
Thank you once again for sharing your thoughtful reflections. It is clarifying.
This is such a beautiful written article. I especially loved the intricate breakdowns of certain terminologies that have been placed on African indigenous religious perspectives. This is a beautifully written article and I'm so grateful that you shared it here. In the Black American Community we pour out libation as well. It's done definitely. Perhaps you see the young men pour out liquor for their friends or loved ones who have passed on. That is libation, that is community, that is the diaspora connecting us to you. Thank you for this.
We do many rituals but because we don’t have a language for them-because they stole the language from us it’s just “what we do”. The moment we put a name on it then it becomes demonic because now it belongs to us and that was never the intention. I’m really glad we are beginning to more widely have these conversations. I love it here.
Wow! Thanks for the great analysis!
not all african religion belive in god
I've really struggled with finding a way to describe how limiting it is to look at African religions from a Eurocentric lens and I think your thorough examination has exemplified why - because it's not really something that can be briefly described. I've even found when framing African spirituality through the category of mythology can be an oversimplification because it often forces complex, living systems of knowledge into Western frameworks that separate the sacred from everyday life. For example, reducing the Yoruba Orisha to a parallel of “Norse mythology” risks flattening it into folklore or symbolic storytelling, rather than recognising it as an active philosophical, spiritual, ecological, and communal practice that continues to shape identity, ethics, healing, and social relations across the African diaspora. Really well written essay, I can't wait to learn more!
Praying for more Westernized Africans at home and in the diaspora get to read this . Atsé 🙏🏾
Love your tik toks so glad you are on Substack too