Kobiety w tradycyjnych religiach afrykańskich

Abstract

Ethnological and religiological studies point at a differentiation existing between the status of men and women, which follows from the cultural conditions, and not from the biological differences. A lot of researchers show the asymmetry connected with the gender, which also refers to the sphere of religion. Primitive peoples consider life to be the fundamental value and so their cultural and religious traditions emphasize the biological functions of a woman and see procreation as her main calling and task. Household duties and looking after the children take a lot of women’s time and in this way limit their possibility to take part in religious and ritual practices. In a number of African peoples it is the woman who performs the role of a native doctor and healer since the basic medical care takes place within the family and is frequently done by mothers and grandmothers. Women possessed by various spirits are often initiated into the medical cults. In Africa women perform priest’s functions to a smaller extent, there are mainly older women who have already gone through their menopause. The researchers of the African peoples emphasize that it is more often women then men who get possessed by spirits, which they consider a reaction to the inferior status of women in the social, political and religious life. In many African peoples both men and women are diviners. In a few peoples of East and South Africa women control the earth’s fertility and are the acknowledged rainmakers. In some African peoples women belong to secret societies. Both men and women can be sorcerers and witches although in many African peoples women, especially those older ones, are more often accused of sorcery, which is accounted for by social and economic inequality and the desire of power.