The Concept of Reincarnation in African Thought System

Abstract

This work is an attempt to critically evaluate the concept of Reincarnation in African thought system. It does so, largely focusing on the cultural perspective of the Akan and Yoruba tradition respectively. Reincarnation is  conventionally defined as the belief that a person who is physically dead can again be born to live here on earth. In this work, an attempt has been made to show reincarnation was understood in the religious philosophies of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Indians. However, the African concept of reincarnation is in no way related to concepts such as metempsychosis and transmigration as it is conflated by many authors in the subject. Admittedly, scholars would agree that reincarnation is a pure concept, however, it is so evident in the beliefs and traditions of several cultures like the Africans. Invariably, we can affirm that the western conception of reincarnation is expressed in the doctrine of transmigration The examination of the concept of reincarnation in the African thought system offered us some useful insights into the African concept of personal identity, divination, resemblance and behaviour etc. There are some pertinent questions which has loom large the possibility of an ancestor living on earth as a child and still remain in the spirit world. The nucleus of this paper is to admit the fact that this puzzle has not been completely resolved, particularly because of its metaphysical nature.

Keywords: Africa, Akan, Person, Reincarnation,Yoruba