Indigenous Cosmologies in Light of New Epistemological and Political Trends of the Global South

The essential difference between indigenous religions and world religions is in the understanding of the “man-Nature” relationship. While the former perceive man as an equal actor in the establishment of cosmic harmony, placing him alongside all other living and non-living beings of creation, the latter place him in the centre of the world. The Christian religious tradition on the one side, and the Cartesian ontological dualism and methodological empiricism on the other, have strongly influenced the development of Western scientific thought. Over the past decades, the social sciences and humanities have made a great step forward: contributing to new interpretations of global economic and social laws, as well as of the hybridisation of ethnic identities, and starting to cooperate more closely with empirical sciences. The problem arises when self-indulgent introspection disqualifies any other type of knowledge as “non-scientific,” “local,” “romantic,” imperfect. At the beginning of the 21st century, the indigenous cosmology entered the political discourse and ideology of numerous social movements of the Global South. Based on a comparative analysis of three concrete indigenous cosmological and religious models (man vs. Nature relationship), this article seeks to draw attention to the need for a pluralism of mental concepts and social practices.

Gambaran Tentang Pemujaan Dalam Prasasti Batur Masa Majapahit

In general, the Batur inscription tells of the tradition of worshiping ancestors accompanied by the division of worship times among the descendants of their ancestors. Worship is carried out by the inhabitants of Kabuyutan Kalyasĕm and the mandalas around the Hyang Mountains. This study aims to determine the continuity of worship in the Hyang Mountains region along with the lives of its worshipers. The problem that will be discussed is how is the description of worship in the Batur inscription including chronology and who is the main character being worshiped? The conclusion of this research is that there is a continuity of worship as told in the Batur inscription that has been going on since the reign of Ratu Tribhuwana Tunggadewi, continuing during the reign of King Hayam Wuruk until the end of the Majapahit reign. Revered figures are the founders of Kabuyutan and the mandalas around the Hyang mountains with the main character who is worshiped is someone called Sang Hyang Kabuyutan i Kalyasĕm. The religions practiced by residents in religious places around the Hyang Mountains vary, namely: Hindu Saiwa, Indigenous Religions and Tantra. Other evidence to support the existence of worship as told in the Batur Inscription can be found in the Nagarakrtagama and Tantu Panggelaran Books. The method used is a qualitative method with a historical archaeological study consisting of several stages: data collection, source criticism, interpretation and historiography.

The Struggle of Indigenous Peoples to Maintain Their Spirituality in Latin America: Freedom of and from Religion(s), and Other Threats

This article argues that the (Western-oriented) right to religion has been proven inadequate in protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It recognizes that this is partly because of the distinctive characteristics of Indigenous religions, which differ from other dominant religions, but also because of the way in which religion has been used by colonialism with dramatic effects on Indigenous Peoples and their beliefs, spiritualities, and worldviews. The article focuses on Latin America to argue further that in addition to colonialism, the early Constitutions also attacked Indigenous religions. As Indigenous rights are more acknowledged in Latin America, we take this region as an excellent, albeit painful, example of how Indigenous religions have been pushed aside even in the most positive contexts. The article uses the constitutional and legal arrangements in Latin American states, mainly Ecuador and Bolivia, to critically assess the protection that these favorable to Indigenous Peoples legal systems’ guarantee to Indigenous rights despite a persistent implementation gap. Also, this article highlights the weaknesses of the international system in mitigating the manifold threats that Indigenous Peoples have to face on a daily basis in their struggle to maintain and transmit their religions and spirituality, including the assault of other religions and sects into their communities and the so-called neo-extractivism. The article finally draws some concluding remarks and recommendations on how to improve the freedom of and violations from religion(s) of Indigenous Peoples in the context of Latin America as well as international law more broadly.

A Counselor’s Cultural Identity: Implications from A Multicultural Counseling Perspective in Malaysia

Malaysia is a country with a diversified cultural background, ethnicities, and religions. Islam is the most widely practiced religion, followed by Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, other traditional Chinese religions, as well as other indigenous religions. Despite the richness of the cultural landscape, the counseling services in Malaysia seem to be very limited in terms of diversification of multiculturalism. Cultural relevance of counselling theories, adaptation of Western-trained counseling services to suit a Malaysian culture, and multicultural counseling competencies, are among the concerns in the profession. This paper focuses on factors that shape a counselor’s identity based on their cultural background, and its implications on multicultural counseling in Malaysia. Among the important factors highlighted in this paper are religious beliefs and values, locus of control, gender, and personality. This paper encapsulates the importance of understanding a counselor’s cultural identity for the effectiveness of multicultural counseling in Malaysia.

Influence of Religion and Religiosity on Fertility and Contraceptive Use in Continental Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comprehensive Review

The global human population has been increasing at an alarming rate over the last 100 years and is projected by the United Nations (UN) to continue to increase and reach 10 billion by 2057, despite a declining growth rate. Although some countries and regions, primarily Japan and Europe, have stabilised or declining populations, Sub-Saharan Africa is dramatically growing at an annual rate of 2.7% as of 2019, and is projected to sustain a rapid population growth up to 2100. Addressing the subject of population growth and overpopulation is an important but unfortunately neglected task. The consequences of a large, growing human population are already having distressing impacts on the planet, both on the natural environment and on humans, especially women and children. Until recently, there have been few studies on the effects of religion and religiosity on fertility and contraceptive use, and these factors are often overlooked as possible determinants. The aim of this review is to explore and seek to clarify the role of religion and religiosity on fertility and contraceptive use in continental Sub-Saharan African countries. The review of quantitative publications supported by insights and opinions from actual quotes of respondents from qualitative studies shows that followers of African Indigenous Religions and Islam have higher fertility rates than followers of Christianity. Across Christian denominations, Catholics generally had higher fertility than Protestants although the difference is small. Followers of the Apostolic Church exhibited the highest fertility among Christian groups. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews from the qualitative studies found that religious beliefs were frequently cited as a barrier to contraceptive uptake. The findings clearly suggest that religion influences fertility and contraceptive use, although countries differ in this respect. Few studies mentioned religiosity; existing results show a positive relationship across Sub-Saharan Africa between degree of religiosity and fertility, and a negative relationship with contraceptive use. These relationships are stronger in Islamic and Indigenous religions compared with Christianity. Religious leaders across all religions were found to be highly influential and many participants were inclined to follow the recommendations of religious leaders regarding fertility and contraceptive use. The implication of this finding is that educating religious leaders about rights-based family planning and its benefits should be part of a comprehensive strategy to increase contraceptive uptake and reduce fertility. With knowledge of its benefits, religious leaders could spread accurate messages about family planning to their followers and promote higher contraceptive use and low fertility. In addition, other important socioeconomic and cultural factors influence fertility and contraceptive use. Education, economy and access to family planning have a negative relationship with religiosity, but the strength of this relationship varies depending on religion, residence and region, with Muslims generally reported as the most disadvantaged in terms of education and wealth across Sub-Saharan Africa. Polygyny, gender attitudes, social status and misconceptions about family planning were additional influences on fertility and contraceptive use mentioned in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews from the qualitative studies. Religion and religiosity have an important role to play in relation to fertility and contraceptive use, but they also depend on other factors, their interactions and their relative influences. They have variable relationships to education, economy, gender equality, residence (rural/urban) and access to family planning, due to the different levels of these factors among and within countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The review suggests that with a more religiously open stance towards family planning, population policies can be more easily implemented. Religion and religiosity need to be considered in surveys and studies on fertility and contraceptive use to inform and help policymakers, economic planners, program managers, researchers and survey specialists. In addition, this has the potential to improve environmental conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

An Investigation into Architectural Creolization of West African Vernacular Mosques

In investigating the influence of religious thoughts on architecture, much attention has been given to divine world-wide religions by the researchers, while indigenous religions have to a great extent been neglected. Ancient tribes in different parts of the world, have, on the basis of their cosmology, shaped beliefs which reflect on their architecture, especially on their sacred buildings. Regarding the Dogons-a well-known and a dominant tribe in West Africa- their Gods, cosmology and beliefs have led to the formation of settlements comprising houses, temples and other types of buildings in accordance with their religious thoughts while also being in harmony with nature. Up on the expansion of Islam throughout Africa, especially West Africa, vernacular mosques are shaped gradually beside shrines making a typology of Islamic architecture which has traces of both Dogon and Islamic architecture within it; While the influence of natural materials and indigenous building techniques should not be neglected. Taking a descriptive-deductive analysis approach, this paper will search for the architectural creolization process and will eventually conclude that West African vernacular mosques inherit their formal and spatial features mostly from Dogon house and pioneer mosques in Medina and their physical features, elements and exterior decorations from Dogon temples.

Mother Earth, Mother Africa and African Women’s Role in Indigenous Religions

This paper explores the nexus between African indigenous religio-culture and ecology, gender, rituals and the environment, in current ritual debates. Current debates demonstrate that ritual has filtered into the public space thereby being resilient and at the same time vulnerable to exploitation by the public sphere. Examining the current debates on rites of passage, this article reviews four chapters from the book Mother Earth, Mother Africa and African Indigenous Religions. African indigenous rituals are spaces that produce knowledge for African ways of living. However, in search of progress, development and better life, most African people have been neglecting rites as they seem unprogressive. In ritual spaces, the novices were instructed about how to engage with nature and how to live with others within communities. Ritual spaces gave women and men (initiates) agency over a vast number of life issues. Drawing on African feminist cultural hermeneutics, I examine ritual functions as a tool to understand how contemporary African people’s search for justice can be gleaned within such African rituals in order to uplift women’s agency.

Primal or Indigenous?

Indigenous religions have been demonised, eclipsed or ignored ever since the advent of modernity. However, in the wake of the decolonial turn they are enjoying a revival of interest and restoration. In Africa this has led to a renewed interest in African Religion. Five approaches are made to the topic by its non-practitioners – that it does not exist, that it is evil, that it is inadequate, that it is preparation for the Christian gospel, or that it is a form of indigenous religion and has integrity in its own right. A particular debate has emerged over the past twenty years concerning nomenclature. How should African Religion be understood and what should it be called? Two possibilities have emerged, the primal and the indigenous. The primal discourse emphasises the role that African Religion plays in the shaping of religion generally and Christianity particularly. The indigenous discourse has developed in opposition to this and emphasises the particularity and uniqueness of African Religion as a species of indigenous religion to be understood in its own right.