Frequently Asked Questions

The African Diaspora was created by the movements of people and cultures from the African continent to places like the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia primarily through the Atlantic slave trade. Through the transport of people cultural traditions followed and were affected, preserved or changed in some way by their new environment.

Yes there are animal sacrifices and to follow the religion properly they are necessary- but 90% of the time those same animals are used to feed the community they gave their life for. Using the Lucumi tradition as an example- the only instances that the animals are not used as food is if they are used to cleanse some negative from a person. Blood is a hot and enregetic force. It is the thing that gives us life, the vehicle which pulses the divine through us. Tradition tells us that blood sacrifice is required to uphold our chosen religious traditions. It does not make ATR's "primative" or "backwards" or "misguided".  It also does not make us cruel. To the best of our ability the animals are dispactched quickly and humanely. They are treated well before they are used, which is more than most slaughterhouses and industrial farms can say.

 The only thing that we kill in religious ceremonies are plants and animals. And by animals I mean that to the exclusion of humans of any kind, lest some smart a$$ try to twist what I am saying. No ethical priest would encourage any behavior outside of the morals of society to be committed. That is to say- no ethical priest would enocourage rape, child pornography, murder, violence against another, infidelity, incest, theft or any other atrocity that people want to foist upon us. 

 I do make the point to say ethical, because there are far too many people out there that do commit such acts in the names of these religions. It is a sad fact that we are not beyond the reach of the insane and depraved anymore than any other group.

An African Traditional Religion is a religious system that has direct roots in Africa. Some major examples are Lucumi (commonly known as Santeria), Palo Mayombe, Voudou, Candomble. These examples survived the slave trade more or less intact- yet distinct from their roots in Africa (primarily West Africa). There are efforts among some practitioners to reclaim more "classical" traditions and aesthetics from the Motherland as travel becomes more feasible.

As I stated previously, the way which these traditions survived was through secrecy and hiding. This has not stopped for the most part. In some areas of the US you can't swing chicken without hitting a priest or practitioner. If you don't live in one of those areas or even if you do, it can take a while for find your religious family. **SCHMALTZ ALLERT** Have faith that you will be led to what you need when you need it.

LET ME REPEAT: You will be led to what you NEED WHEN YOU NEED IT.

**/schmaltz**

This does not mean you can't actively look. There are message boards and groups on Yahoo! and MySpace that you can join and ask for advice. Eventually this site will be a reference source for Michigan, the Midwest and eventually the WORLD!! 

Short answer is no  and no. Just as  no two American households are exactly the same, so  goes these religious traditions.  Not only do some come from different founding cultures, they were all shaped differently by their exposures in the "New World". There are similarities and parallels but they are not the same things.

Another unfortunate side effect of the process of forming the Diaspora is the intial secrecy the bearers of tradition had to maintain in order to survive. Unfortunately when people don't know something it tends to become more and more grand and sinister as they try to decipher the mysteries. There is nothing if not a dirth of wild eyed, crazy haired women with questionable makeup techiniques in any real and reputable branch of any ATR. Hollywood would be greatly disappointed in the mundaneness that is actually the practice many of these traditions. The favorite standby of elders is: "This religion is learned with a broom in hand"; and they certainly don't mean to use it for flying.