Bantu Religion

Although Bantu peoples include several hundred different African ethnic groups of Central and Southern Africa, their cultures and customs are very similar. The Bantu believe in numerous higher and lower gods (often including a supreme creator or force), spirits, the veneration of the dead, magic, and the use of traditional African medicine. Complex Animistic practices include the worship of tutelary deities, nature, and ancestors. The Bantu believe that there is an afterlife. While some Bantu religions adopt a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Deceased humans, animals, and important objects continue to exist in the spirit world and can influence or interact with the physical world.