Spiritual Colonisation: Reclaiming African Ancestral Roots

Spiritual Colonisation: The Church’s Brutal Crusade Against African Ancestral Roots and the Rebellion to Reclaim Them

The Bloodstained Roots of Spiritual Colonisation

When white colonisers stormed African shores, they carried Bibles in one hand and whips in the other. Their mission? They aimed to annihilate African spirituality. It was a vibrant tapestry of ancestral reverence, communal harmony, and sacred connection to the land. They sought to replace it with a religion forged in the fires of European domination. Our ancestors were given a diabolical choice: abandon your gods or die. Grandmothers who whispered prayers to river deities were drowned in those very waters. Elders who danced under ancestral moons were burnt alive. This is the untold history of spiritual colonisation, a genocide of the soul that still haunts Black consciousness today.

Chains of Conversion: How the Bible Became a Weapon

The church was never a sanctuary for Africans; it was a slaughterhouse of identity. Colonial missionaries, backed by armies, weaponised scripture to justify the theft of land, culture, and freedom. In Nigeria, the Ekumeku resistance fighters were massacred for defending indigenous shrines. In Congo, hands were severed if villagers refused to harvest rubber for “Christian” empires. The Bible arrived bathed in African blood, its verses twisted to preach obedience to colonisers. Yet, centuries later, millions of Black congregants kneel in pews, reciting psalms that once justified their ancestors’ enslavement. How did we internalise a faith used to break us?

The Lies We Inherited: Brainwashing and the Myth of “Civilised” Faith

“Your gods are demons,” the colonisers hissed. “Our Jesus brings salvation.” But what salvation demands mothers watch their children hang for honouring ancestral rites? African spirituality is rooted in balance, justice, and respect for nature. It was branded “witchcraft”.

Meanwhile, European priests performed Eucharistic rituals eerily similar to libations. This inversion of truth was spiritual colonisation at its most insidious: convincing the colonised to police their own beliefs. Today, Nigerian pastors preach against “spiritual husbands”. This concept, stolen from Yoruba lore about Ori (personal destiny), is now demonised. It fuels fear and tithing. The very traditions once erased are exploited to fill church coffers.

Reclaiming Stolen Gods: The Fire of African Spiritual Revival

A rebellion is brewing. Senegal’s Serer communities are reviving Ndut rites. South African sangomas openly challenge Christian stigmatisation. A generation is tearing off the chains of spiritual colonisation. Young activists archive nearly lost languages, dance Egungun masquerades banned under colonial law, and pour offerings to Osun rivers again.

Christianity didn’t save Africa; it was the weapon that broke us. Now, we rise.

Yet resistance is met with backlash: Ghanaian traditional priests face arson attacks; Kenyan children are told, “Ancestors are demons.” The fight is not just against the church but against the self-hatred it planted.

The Painful Questions: Why Do We Still Worship Our Oppressors’ God?

Why do churches thrive while shrines crumble? The answer lies in trauma. Enslaved Africans caught praying to Yemaya were lynched; today, praising her risks social exile. Christianity’s dominance is upheld by systemic power. Schools teach “Daniel in the Lion’s Den.” They ignore the tale of Anansi the trickster. Meanwhile, Islam and Christianity drain billions from Africa annually via megachurches and foreign-led NGOs, perpetuating economic and spiritual colonisation.

Spiritual Husbands, Witchcraft Panic: Colonial Ghosts in Modern Guise

West Africa’s “spiritual spouse” hysteria reveals Christianity’s unresolved war on African cosmology. Pastors peddle exorcisms for a problem rooted in Akan and Igbo spirituality, where destiny (Nkrabea, Chi) guides marital paths. Colonisers recast these beliefs as demonic, and now Black preachers profit from the fear. Similarly, labelling Ifá divination “occult” ignores its role in sustaining justice during pre-colonial Yoruba empires. The real evil? A religion that taught us to hate ourselves.

They gave us the Bible while stealing our land our gods were silenced, but never dead.

Unearthing the Truth: How African Spirituality Fuelled Christian Hypocrisy

Ironically, Christianity’s spread relied on African spirituality’s corpse. Missionaries co-opted sacred sites, rebranding them as churches. They mimicked drum rituals with hymns and repackaged communal feasts as communion. Even the cross echoes the Dahomey tree of life. Yet this theft is denied, and our contributions are erased. The Vatican hoards Benin Bronzes while condemning “pagan” art. This is a spiritual colonisation plunder masked as piety.

Breaking the Chains: A Call to Ancestral Arms

Rejecting Christianity isn’t blasphemy; it’s justice. It’s honouring mothers who hid Okonko masks under church floors. It’s reviving Bakongo cosmograms that map the universe’s balance. Our fight isn’t against faith but against empire. Let churches be empty; let shrines rise. Let children learn their proper names, not “Paul” or “Mary”. Africa’s liberation begins when we spit out the poisoned Eucharist and feast on ancestral wisdom. The gods our grandmothers died for are waiting.

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