Today is the Sabbath Day for Jews, Seventh-Day Adventists and the like. I would have(depending on the day) been worshipping from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Bible Study with family or friends, probably both. Prayer and reciting of hymns. Poking and prodding at my sister and my friends. An atmosphere of the typical Seventh-Day Adventist vibe. Ghanaian style. Children! Play! Friends! Spiritual vibes!! We fed off of each other. Like a human centipede except probably joined at the head instead of butthole to mouth *sorry to the audience that hates gruesome shit* (pun intended).
In the Myers Brigg’s system, I type as an ENFP. For those of you wondering what that means, just remember that the “E” part stands for extrovert. I love people and being in a great crowd with good music, especially reggae or soft rock, does something to my soul. It’s really a vibe man. I soak in not only the music but the energy of the whole crowd and the environment. It just fills the air. It’s what enabled humans to achieve so much and basically colonize the world. It’s also why religion(Abrahamic) still plays a big part in our world. The assurance that you have someone above to put your burdens and problems on. The assurance that someone will always love you no matter what. The pursuit of surrendering to Jesus, Allah, or Elohim feels so good. Strive to be like Allah. Strive to be good. The community you build while doing this can help you get through the toughest times of your life; nurturing and healing the soul through vital outside sources.
For people who practice religions outside the “normal” sphere of Abrahamic religion, the concept of venerating the good and bad parts of one’s self is a major component of worship. As a person who has West African parents, I’m only a few generations removed from ancestral worship/shamanism therefore it is still familiar to me. However, most people still mix it in with the popular religions of Islam and Christianity.
In this part of the world, rituals allow for priests sanctioned by multiple spirits to go into a trance and speak on their behalf. Depending on the area of West Africa, you can speak to ancestors, recieve amulets for protection and seek council. In pre-colonial days, it was a religion that allowed for story telling of the motivation of man. We all feed off of one another and Mami Wata, a water spirit, is seen as the mermaid who rules the river. Anyone who drowns, Mami Wata, takes them with her to the ancestral world and they become a spirit as well. I interpret it as she consumed one and he consumed her. As human beings, we all feed off of one another. It is natural and allows for cross pollination of ideas and for the river banks of creativity to flow.
However, there is a part of us that can be a monstrous consumer. Sometimes, that can be one’s definition. Therefore, there are consumers of the soul. Consumers of your energy and self worth. This is looked at as a neutral embodiment of the human psyche and is portrayed as basically cannibalism or “consuming another person”. It was said in West and West-Central Africa that those that left for the Americas were to be consumed by the Europeans. It coincided with the belief during those times, that sacrifices could be good and bad for the soul, for it brought the country money and it also led to their demise.
As a former Christian, I can look through the hindsight front view mirror and see how it can allow for one to over consume on the support of outside sources and not tap into oneself. There is a lot of power in the self as well as nuance. The bad part of ourselves doesn’t have to be thrown away. It must be acknowledged and incorporated. I am not promoting African traditional religions or any religion, whatsovever. I think all are mediums to allow us to get through this weird shit we call life. However, I think there is a place for it in our worldview and it gives us a glimpse of incorporating multiple pieces of the psyche. Like the great Carl Jung said, “man is an enigma”.