Religious Experience in Africa: Flash of the Spirit

Catalog description

The course is an introduction to the cultural study of traditional African religions. We begin with close attention to cosmology, the traditional view of the world as filled with living, sacred powers. These powers are experienced in various ways: as ancestral presences; nature deities; personal guardian spirits. Therefore, we will focus on ritual practices, ways of communicating with unseen forces to bring communal and personal healing, restoring balance in the human relationship to nature. Cross-listed as REL623.