The traditional Jamaican Maroon religion, otherwise known as Kumfu, was developed by a mixing of

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

religious practices Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, tran ...

Maroon communities Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

. While the traditional religion of the Maroons was absorbed by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

due to conversions in Maroon communities, many old practices continued on. Some have speculated that Jamaican Maroon religion helped the development of Kumina and Convince. The religious Kromanti dance is still practiced today but not always with the full religious connotation as in the past.

History

What can be deduced today about the religion's origins points to the idea that it is founded upon

Akan religion Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Akan people of Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. Akan religion is referred to as Akom. Although most Akan people have identified as Christians since the early 20th cen ...

but syncretized with other African beliefs. This is evident by the many specifically Akan aspects found in the religion. Very little was written about the original religion of the Jamaican Maroons because of little contact Maroons had with the outside world. What was written at the time by Bryan Edwards (a

pro-slavery Proslavery is support for slavery. It is sometimes found in the thought of ancient philosophers, religious texts, and in American and British writings especially before the American Civil War but also later through the 20th century. Arguments in ...

historian and planter) was the practice of

Obeah Obeah, also spelled Obiya or Obia, is a broad term for African diaspora religions, African diasporic religious, Magic (supernatural), spell-casting, and healing traditions found primarily in the British West Indies, former British colonies of th ...

by Maroons. When Anglican Christian churches were established in Maroon towns the traditional religion began to be practiced separately from Christianity and served a different religious purpose. As other non-Anglican churches appeared in Maroon communities they rallied against traditional Maroon beliefs and they became less popular. Today the Kromanti dance still is practiced on occasion even by self identified Christians.

Beliefs

Cosmology

According to the faith a supreme deity named Nyan-ko-Pong rules the cosmos and is generally unconcerned with human life. Below Yankipong exists ancestor spirits called " duppies", " jumbies" or "bigiman". These spirits have hierarchies of their own and can be communicated with by humans so their powers can be used for worldly matters. The matter of spirits and their influence on Earth is considered to be

(although the use of that specific term is controversial and some instead call it "science"). It is believed that the omnipotent god "Yankipong" is the Jamaican Maroon's conception of the omnipotent god

Nyame Onyame, Nyankopɔn (Onyankopɔng) or Ɔdomankoma is the supreme god of the Akan people of Ghana, who is most commonly known as Nyame. The name means "The one who knows and sees everything", and "omniscient, omnipotent sky deity" in the Akan lang ...

from

. Other Akan deities are reported to have been recognized like Asase Yaa and Epo. The Akan based word "Kumfu" was used for the total spiritual system and understanding of the world.

Practices

A priest of the religion is referred to as a "kumfu-man". The word "kumfu" itself has its origins in the Twi language. Ceremonies are involved in Jamaican Maroon religion but no worship of the god Yankipong is practiced, unlike in traditional

. An important ceremony of the religion is the Kromanti dance which involves the direction of a "fete-man" (ritual specialist) and the sacrifice of an animal to the pakit (ancestral spirit). The purpose of the dance is for participants to be possessed by ancestral spirits. The Jamaican Maroon Creole language is used during the Kromanti dance ceremony when addressing people possessed by old Maroon ancestors.

References

Afro-American religion Afro-Jamaican culture Akan religion Obeah Religion in Jamaica {{Afro-American-religion-stub

History

Beliefs

Cosmology

Practices

See also

References