THE ROLES OF WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS.

 

A REVIEW BY PRINCE KELLY UDEBHULU.

The importance of women in our society is portrayed in a proverb which says, "A Woman is a flower in a garden, her husband is the fence around".

I shall first attempt a description of religion  as the beliefs and practices associated with the supernatural which embrace a creed, a code and a cult. The creed deals with the philosophy, beliefs, or faith of the people, the code with the ethical dimension, while the cult focuses on the ritual ceremonies of the religion. I shall look at all these aspects as they affect women in traditional African religion.

I observe from the Oriental world that women are kept behind the veil.  Jewish thought, for example, did not regard women as a necessity but merely as helpers to men. The Jews had a rigid masculine concept of God who was the 'God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob', but not the God of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachael.  To St. Paul, it was a taboo for women to speak in the church. She was to ask her husband at home if there was anything that she wanted to know.  In Islam, women could only lead prayers for a congregation of women. And in the mosque, women are not to stand in the same row with the men but separately behind the rows of men. The situation is, however, not the same in Nigeria and Africa in general during the era of traditional life void of so called modernization and civilization.

CONCEPT OF GOD IN AFRICA:

In the context of traditional Africa, people are surrounded not by things but by beings; the first in rank being GOD. Although in many parts of the World, God is conceived as male, in other instances, there are feminine images. Apart from belief in the Supreme Being, Africans do recognize lesser categories of spiritual forces. These are considered more responsive to the needs of human beings in their secular and religious lives. These divinities were created by God to fulfill specific functions. They are regarded as the children of God or the messengers of God, or his agents. They may be male or female, good or evil, may have their abode in the environment, such as trees, rocks, rivers, the sea and even certain animals. They are however not confined to the physical objects in which they reside, since they have unlimited mobility and can move anywhere. They are treated with respect when they fulfill human expectations.  However, they may be despised when they fail to deliver the goods. In the cult of these divinities, there are both priests and priestesses who serve at their shrines or temples, the sex of the minister is not an indication of the sex of the divinity. Each sex can operate as the messenger of the deity.
It is this factor which has made it possible for both men and women to perform their sacred functions in the worship of God and his functionaries, the divinities, who incidentally are in both sexes.

In the area of ritual services, women are never left behind or relegated to a subordinate position.  For example, the priesthood, which is a highly respected office in African societies, is open to both men and women. As a rule they are formally trained and commissioned.  Each candidate usually receives a call to the priesthood before embarking on training.  Spirit possession usually indicates a call.  The training includes instructions in the laws, taboos, dances, songs and the idiosyncrasies of the divinities, as well as general priestly duties. The initiate also acquires knowledge of herbs and roots and other medicinal values of the environment. There is also training in traditional methods of psychiatry. Their duties include making sacrifices, offering prayers and conducting private and public rites and ceremonies.  They give advice and perform judicial and political functions, in addition to caring for the temples and shrines to which they are attached.  They also fulfill their obligations as intermediaries between their people and the spirit world, special convents  are established where only women are trained to become priestesses and these are accorded great respect in the society.

Women like men, also train hard to become traditional doctors, healers, or herbalist . They are often wrongly described as Witch doctors. These are well trained in traditional medical practice, psychology and psychiatry and ‘symbolize the hopes of their society; hopes of good health, protection and security from evil forces, prosperity and good fortune, and ritual cleansing when harm or impurities have been contracted.

Every village in Africa has a medicine-man or woman within reach. As friends of the community they are accessible to everybody and at all times. They are concerned first and foremost with disease, sickness and misfortune which in the African experience are caused by mystical forces. The traditional healer has therefore to diagnose the nature of the disease, discover the cause of the sickness and apply the right treatment, together with a means of preventing its re-occurrence. Here, both physical and spiritual methods are applied to assure the sufferer of good health. Furthermore, they protect people from witchcraft and sorcery by supplying charms and other medications. It is important to note that many diseases especially those related to mental disorders which cannot be cured in the modern hospitals are being treated in the homes of these traditional healers.

A lot of festivals abound in African traditional religions. A good number of them are in honor of the most important divinities and ancestors. Of relevance to us is the phenomenon of singing and dancing by well-dressed women during the celebrations of these festivals. Although the songs and dancing add luster to the celebrations, they have a veiled but more important effect of curbing recalcitrant and criminally minded members of the community who during the year had broken the norms, convictions and customs prevalent in the community. The songs are deliberately composed to highlight the abuses and crimes committed and expose the criminals. The singing groups, protected by the community's traditions, perform the role of  'the people's court'  to whose verdict the culprits and their relations cannot pretend to be indifferent and against which they have no appeal. The gaily dressed women, armed with well- rehearsed abusive songs move from house to house, mentioning names and coming down heavily on the social miscreants within the community.

Under the immunity graciously conferred by tradition, the women boldly call out in songs the names of the offenders in front of their houses and contemptuously pour down condemnation on them. By so doing these women help to cleanse society of social misfits by bringing to the open the sins committed under the cover of darkness. Furthermore, with their ritual dances and singing women warm the hearts of the gods who by their nature, hate evil and always want to get rid of them. Disarmed by the traditional immunity enjoyed by the women, social non- conformist are either compelled to mend their ways or flee from the community. This indeed, has been a very significant and effective mechanism of social control in many African countries.

I have in this review, drawn attention to the significant role women  play in African traditional religions, both as ritual specialists and upholders of community norms and traditions. I cannot however overlook the apparent prejudices shown to women in religion by virtue of their sex. Though they are regarded as producers of life, they are also seen as spiritual sources of danger. The ritually 'dangerous' nature of women is expressed in notions about the polluting nature of blood, especially the blood of menstruation and of childbirth. Hence during this period women are banned from entering palaces, shrines and other places where rituals are performed.

In spite of my lengthy explanation on the roles of women in relation to religion, there is an urgent need to eradicate all forms of discrimination against women based on their natural biological functions. Already, Christianity and urbanization are changing the attitudes of many people. However, it is only through education, both formal and informal that the minds of people can change for the better.

‘Customs’ it is said, “die hard.” And only conscious and consistent educational programs mounted at all levels and on all fronts can defeat the tyranny of obnoxious customs and traditions which discriminate against women.  I therefore call on parents, teachers and religious groups and on-governmental organizations especially those dealing with women’s affairs to get involved in the campaign to liberate women from all forms of sexual discrimination.

...to be continued
By Prince Kelly Udebhulu

You can tweet to @princekelly75