Mystical Sources of African Traditional Religion

Dr Christopher Appiah-Thompson
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Welcome to the podcast! Today, we're diving into the fascinating world of magic and mystical powers in African Traditional Religion, or ATR. It's a topic often misunderstood, so let's start with the basics.

Episodes

  1. The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper: Seeing Christ in Bread and Wine

    JAN 3

    The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper: Seeing Christ in Bread and Wine

    This episode aims to help listeners understand why the Lord’s Supper is called a “mystery” and how it serves as a visible sermon of Christ’s death and love. Explain the rich symbolism of the broken bread and poured‑out cup as signs of Christ’s body given and blood shed for the remission of sins. Encourage believers to approach the Table with thoughtful preparation, repentance, and faith rather than bare ritual. Show how the Lord’s Supper strengthens weak faith, comforts troubled consciences, and deepens love for Christ in everyday life.

    7 min
  2. Mystical Power, Magic and Witchcraft in African Village Life

    12/26/2025

    Mystical Power, Magic and Witchcraft in African Village Life

    Today’s episode explores mystical power, magic, witchcraft and sorcery in African traditional religions. Across many African societies, people believe the universe is filled with a living, dynamic power that can protect, heal, harm or destroy. This power is not seen as fantasy; it is woven into farming, family life, illness, business – even into how people explain accidents and everyday misfortunes. This episode will walk through vivid village stories, then unpack how African thinkers describe mystical power, good and evil magic, witchcraft and sorcery – and why these ideas matter for understanding contemporary Africa.

    7 min
  3. Beyond Superstition: Defining African Traditional Religion

    12/26/2025

    Beyond Superstition: Defining African Traditional Religion

    Hello listeners, today’s episode aims to introduce African Traditional Religion (ATR) as a serious, coherent religion, not “primitive superstition,” and frame the whole series

    4 min
  4. Hand Me Down Power: Conjure, Christianity, and the African American Spiritual Life

    12/26/2025

    Hand Me Down Power: Conjure, Christianity, and the African American Spiritual Life

    Today, we’re exploring that blend through the lens of scholar Yvonne Chireau’s book Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition. We’ll look at how African American conjure — often called Hoodoo, rootwork, or “black magic” — is not the opposite of religion, but a powerful, practical form of African American spirituality that has helped people survive, heal, and resist for centuries.

    8 min
  5. Echoes in the Night: Secret Societies of West Africa

    12/24/2025

    Echoes in the Night: Secret Societies of West Africa

    Welcome to West African Religion Unveiled, the show where ritual, mythology, and everyday life intersect. In this episode, we step into the shadowy world of West African secret societies—groups that guarded power, hunted witches, honored the dead, and enforced social order in ways both fascinating and terrifying

    9 min
  6. Interpreting African Philosophy: A Conversation with Kwame Gyekye

    12/23/2025

    Interpreting African Philosophy: A Conversation with Kwame Gyekye

    Today’s episode dives into an interview held in 1997 at the University of Ghana with philosopher Kwame Gyekye, conducted by Ulrich Lölke. Gyekye reflects on his training in Graeco‑Arabic philosophy, his return to Ghana, and, most importantly, how to understand the nature and future of African philosophy.

    7 min
  7. Beyond ‘Fetishism’: Rethinking West African Religion

    12/19/2025

    Beyond ‘Fetishism’: Rethinking West African Religion

    Welcome to today’s episode, “Beyond ‘Fetishism’: Rethinking West African Religion.” For a long time, European writers described African religions with words like “primitive,” “savage,” and “fetishism.” Those labels did not just misunderstand African faiths; they distorted them. In this episode, the focus is on how one mid‑twentieth‑century scholar, E. Geoffrey Parrinder, challenged these ideas in his study West African Religion, and what his work reveals about the richness and complexity of West African spiritual life.

    10 min
  8. The Mystical Sources of Ghanaian Political Values: Faith, Peace, and the Spirit of Governance

    12/15/2025

    The Mystical Sources of Ghanaian Political Values: Faith, Peace, and the Spirit of Governance

    Welcome to “African Wisdom Unveiled,” where we explore the hidden philosophies and cultural beliefs that have shaped societies across the African continent. We dive into something profound-“The Mystical Sources of Ghanaian Political Values: Faith, Peace and the Spirit of Governance.”

    6 min
  9. The Skinny But Imperishable Truth: African Spirituality and the Regeneration of Africa

    12/15/2025

    The Skinny But Imperishable Truth: African Spirituality and the Regeneration of Africa

    Welcome to “Skinny Truth,” the show where inherited wisdom meets today’s questions. In this episode, the focus is a powerful idea from Ghanaian scholar Kofi Asare Opoku: that African indigenous spirituality carries a “skinny but imperishable truth” essential for Africa’s regeneration.

    8 min

  10. 11/18/2025

    Spirits, Spells, and Secrets: African Mystical Powers Unveiled

    Introduction to Magic in ATR: Define magic within the context of African Traditional Religion, contrasting it with Western perspectives. Highlight its role in controlling natural and supernatural phenomena and addressing life's uncertainties. Mention the importance of specialized knowledge and ritual practices.

    13 min
  • 10 Episodes

About

Welcome to the podcast! Today, we're diving into the fascinating world of magic and mystical powers in African Traditional Religion, or ATR. It's a topic often misunderstood, so let's start with the basics.

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