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What Is The Concept Of God To African (Traditional) Religion?

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In Africa we have a number of religions & tribes, incl the mainstream: Muslim; Christian; Hindu; Buddhist, then there is Ancestor/ Christian. I can comment on what I know about the Zulu culture & their traditional worship ---- Ancestor/ Christian:   There is a belief in the Trinity & are committed to service of Jehovah; & they include their ancestors as guides & oracles in every day life & decisions = before entering a marriage, death, win lotto, love, curses or blessings, business, etc. They first consult their ancestors through a medium called Songoma {not a witch more like a shaman} who will give a sacrifice - crocodile, chickens, goats, depending on the request & ask the shaman asks ancestors to answer question bought to them by the people: I.e. A marriage: The bridegroom & brides family gets together to thank the ancestors for uniting the families, or ask if they should be united!   Labola is arranged {similar to a dowry but the bridegroom pays & gives gifts to the families – usually blankets, at times a car, cattle – this all depends on the wealth of the bridegroom} When there is a death, the rituals are numerous & an animal is slaughtered [cow, or goat]- to celebrate that the persons is entering the spirit world & ask the ancestors to come collect the soul & take it to the heavenly God. I.e. The recent World Cup, hundreds of supporters of our national team consulted their songoma's & were told South Africa would not win because Mr Mandela's family had a death on the night of the opening in Johannesburg {his great-grandchild}; they told that we will not win in the tournament as this was a bad omen; but that the soccer team would unite our nation; as this child had a gentle forgiving heart; yes, our national side did not win, but they united an entire nation in solidarity. Then there is polygamy, which is bought into this culture:   This can only be entered into if the male & his family are of great wealth; the custom is that one must treat each wife & child equally – no favourites {not always reality} each wife & child demonstrates to the community how rich the family is.   Now days, men often have numerous children out of wedlock, this is not ‘frowned upon’ in Africa, it shows your strength. Then there are the Zionist; their belief is of Jehovah, Christ, HS but that they too have a prophet Shembi who brings them the word of God; each year the they go on a pilgrim over Easter to the mountains in the Drakensberg where Shembi 1st heard God speak to him & give him the word [similar to the Muslim going to Mecca] to thank the Lord, Shembi & their ancestors for a prosperous year & ask for the year to come to be blessed. Hindu's are numerous as well, especially on the coastal regions; the Malays bought the culture to SA when the Indians were bought over to work in the sugar cane & wine farms.   They too are very committed to their rituals & auspicious days.  This is a long explanation, because we have many different traditions in Africa – South Africa alone has 11 official languages with many other smaller tribes. Trust this gives a general idea.

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