The African Worldview

An Accumulated Experience

African Views of the Universe

Africans accumulated ideas about the universe through observation

The universe was created by God Humans are at the center of it There are two parts to the universe:

– invisible & visible or sky (heaven) & earth– some believe in 3 tiers: heavens, earth, and

underworld

A Two Part Universe Heaven

– contains the stars, sun, moon, etc and includes such phenomena as lightening, thunder etc

– home of God– home of other beings

who serve God.– has its own population – symbolically “father”

Earth– full of humans and

other created things– regarded by some as

a living being– home of mountains,

rivers etc which are highly regarded

– symbolically “mother”

African Views The universe is eternal

– its size is not known– no one can reach the end– time is not bounded– rhythms in life will continue to occur– symbols such as the circle indicate the

unendingness of time.• Circles are used in art, utensils, buildings

– The universe is dependent on God

African Views Order and Power of the universe. There is:

– order in the laws of nature– moral order among people– religious order in the universe– mystical order in the universe

• As shown in magic, medicine, witchcraft, sorcery.• It is a power in the universe which comes from God.

It is hidden and mysterious. It is available to spirits and certain human beings.

• Knowledge of this power is used to help people. When used to harm it is evil.

African Views Humans are the center of the universe

– God is outside and beyond the universe– Although God is very close to the universe

humans are its center.– Humans see the universe from this

perspective.– Objects in the universe are evaluated on the

basis of their usefulness to humans.• e.g. animals are divided into which ones can be

eaten and which ones cannot.

African Views: Humans at Center

Objects such as trees etc and lightening are regarded as divinities and spirits

Humans desire to live in harmony with nature and “attribute (mystical) life to it, in order to establish a more direct relationship with the world around them.”

Religions of Africa

Some of the World’s Oldest Civilizations

Religions of City-States Egypt - Encampment at the Nile

The Basongye of Congo - Before the Colonialists

The Zulus - The Ancestors of Shaka

The Yorubas - West African Watershed