The Adaptive Nature of the African Religion.
In Beneath Mary’s Skirt, Starhawk elaborates how the African religion came to the West when Europeans took slaves from Africa. Due to its adaptability and influence, the African religion has survived continuous opposition by Christianity. Furthermore, Africans realized there were similarities between their religion and that of the indigenous people, hence its survival in the southern part of North America. In the northern region, where Africans were forbidden from practising their religion, they found a relationship between their gods and the saintly figures in Christianity, such as in the case of Yemoja, their Ocean Goddess, and Mary. Through its influence in music, dance and creation of language, the African religion is still practiced in the contemporary world.
- “Ancestor reverence is an integral part of native American belief, and like the Africans they depended on the use of magic and the curing herbs of the swamplands for the regulation of daily life.” (105)
- “It has adopted itself to Catholicism and Protestantism.” (110)
- “African culture has embraced racial mixture, survived and impossible economy and adapted to urbanization without losing its essential nature.” (111)
- “Furthermore, among Black teens there is a tendency to spontaneously perform movements that come from the folk, social, and religious dance of African societies without prior knowledge of these movements.” (111)
Do I like the material? Why or why not?
I like the aim of the material to bring to light the African religion which is rarely talked about. Moreover, it brings to light how we could be implementing aspects of the African religion into our daily lives without recognizing it.
If I chose an aspect of this text to further research or Google, what would it be and why?
I would choose to research further on the similarities between the gods of the African religion and their similarities to those of the Native Americans. I find it intriguing that although these different groups lived far away from each other, they had similar mannerisms in their religious rituals and gods they worshipped.