For many people, African spirituality and religion exist only in mainstream visual arts like Whoopi Goldberg’s rendition of a medium in the 1990 film Ghost, Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album Lemonade and Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of an African king in 2018’s blockbuster Black Panther. For some Black Americans, there is familiarity with elders or other community members who “work roots”—as traditional practices are sometimes called. However, these practices are often shrouded in secrecy or misunderstanding. Today, African Traditional Religion (ATR) is thriving in Atlanta and serves as the spiritual foundation for Traditional African Medicine (TAM). Unlike Western medicine’s approach to treating body parts separately, TAM is a holistic approach that integrates the healing of body, mind and spirit through a variety of methods rooted in a sense of connection between the nonphysical or spiritual self, the natural world and an understanding of Source energy or God.

What is Traditional African Medicine?

TAM is drawn from ATRs of the African diaspora around the globe. It includes the Akan tradition of Ghana, Nigerian Ifá, Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé, among many others. Because the African diaspora reaches across continents and nations, many varieties of ATRs have developed, with some followers combining Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist or other faith systems. Because of this, TAM is not an “all or nothing” approach and can be accessed by those who seek healing, whether they are atheist, agnostic or members of other faith systems.

Much like people, both ATR and TAM practices have become intermarried and nuanced. However, their belief systems are rooted in honoring Divine beings or deified ancestors—Orishas—who can be communicated with for spiritual, physical and mental guidance and healing. “Orisha” is a term loosely translated from the Yoruba language of West Africa as “deity.”

Local Akan priest Nana Kweku Bakaan says, “The biggest overarching philosophy [of ATR] would be that we are forces of nature along with everything else … We are not separate from nature. We are forces of nature.”

Herbalism, plant medicine, drumming, music, community, nature and offerings to the Orishas are of vital importance to TAM. In the film Ancestral Voices: Spirit is Eternal, Professor James Small, a Pan-African activist, explains, “If God is every and all things at once, then we, the human being, the butterfly, the grass, the tree, the callaloo, the corn—we are all different expressions of that singular essence.”

TAM originated as an oral tradition thousands of years ago, according to anthropological evidence, likely predating both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic medicine from India. Its history and wisdom have widespread impact today. In his YouTube short, What is African Spirituality?, Small explains, “Everybody takes a piece of our story, makes it their story, and tells us we have no story.” According to Small, traditional biblical narratives—such as the stories of Cain and Abel, the immaculate conception and the resurrection—also appear as similar narratives in ATR and predate the Christian Bible.

A Global Tradition Rooted in Africa

Much of TAM is rooted in Yoruba language, traditions and religion. The Yoruba people are a major ethnic group in Africa, representing about 17 percent of the population of Nigeria as well as lower percentages in other African countries and around the world. The Yoruba people migrated from the Sahara Desert to Nigeria more than 3,000 years ago, reflecting the long history, culture and tradition of both Nigeria and TAM.

These cultural traditions were transported globally throughout the African diaspora through the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and other travel. In his acclaimed 1976 book They Came Before Columbus, historian Ivan Van Sertima asserts that Africans reached the Americas long before Columbus, challenging conventional narratives.

TAM was nearly destroyed over the more than 200 years of chattel slavery in the U.S., yet small groups, like the Gullah Geechee people of the coastal South, Hoodoo practitioners in Louisiana and small pockets of practitioners around the country, kept the tradition alive. In the Caribbean and South America, Catholic missionaries introduced religion in ways that allowed for the integration of Catholic saint veneration with Orisha worship—giving rise to spiritual traditions like Santería in Cuba and Vodou in Haiti.

Atlanta’s Healers

As of the 2020 census, approximately 47 percent of the city of Atlanta’s population identified as Black or African American. Often referred to as “the Black Mecca,” Atlanta has long served as a vibrant cultural center for Black Americans. It’s no surprise that the city is home to a growing number of TAM practitioners and followers.

Oloye Fasola Odunade, an Ifá priest and proprietor of the local spiritual supply store, Yeye’s Botanica, describes Atlanta as “one of the biggest African spiritual religious communities in the world right now.” He feels that Atlanta’s spiritual cohesion surpasses that of communities in New York, Miami and even Nigeria.

Odunade, who is trained in Nigerian herbalism and Akose medicine, was introduced to ATR and TAM when he read the book Metu Neter by Ra Un Nefer Amen, a Pan-African spiritual teacher and founder of the Ausar Auset Society. “They had this diagram in the book, and it was a tree of life [with] three different religions and how they all sync together. One was Egyptian … The second one was the Orishas and the third one was the Indian spirits.” Odunade was inspired to do research.

In 2006, after years of study, Odunade and his family founded the Oselogbe Ifá Temple and later opened Yeye’s Botanica to provide spiritual supplies like candles, incense, smudges and oils to support the work of the Temple. Central to the Temple’s mission is to create collaborations among the Ifá, Akan, Lukumi, Santería and Vodou communities. It also provides services such as readings, herbal remedies and classes to help improve people’s health and lives. A variety of readings are available, including Merindinlogun, which uses 16 cowrie shells. Others include Ifá readings, which use an Opele divination chain to get the Odu Ifá binary code unique to an individual’s destiny and “Five Question Consultation” readings, in which followers ask questions that are answered through channeling with the Orishas. The Temple also offers spiritual baths, which involve applying water and special herbs to the body and ceremonies for major life events such as births, coming-of-age and marriage.

Nana Kweku Bakaan is an Akan priest following the Akonedi order from Ghana, West Africa, and has been serving in the Atlanta community since 2001. He trained in Ghana and is affiliated with the Abosum Abaome Shrine, which was established in 1986 by his parents in Queens, New York. In 2017, he established his Bosumfi, or shrine house, with his wife, Nana Akua Bakaan, a priest and a licensed perinatal therapist.

Their Bosumfi offers many services, including plant medicine, divination, music to commune with the ancestors and deities, and special healing foods. They typically see clients by word of mouth and provide a variety of modalities, including herbal and smoke “bathing,” iron bells, sound bathing and spiritual readings, which include the pouring of libations. “Our ancestors invented … the concept of sound bathing—that there are certain frequencies that can be used to open and close certain portals or energies,” says Bakaan.

HRM Oba Oosalase Efundeji and his wife, HRG Olori Afahari Mku Orisayomi Efundeji, are founders of the United Nations of Ifá-Orisa-Vodun (U.N.I.O.V.). In 2013, Efundeji traveled to Nigeria and was installed as an Oba, or “king,” and Olori is the Yoruba word for “queen.” “There is no greater shrine and no greater temple than you,” he says.

Besides providing general “divination” readings that identify energies at play in someone’s life, they offer “roots” readings. “All of us have an ancestral energy or spirit that guides us or protects us throughout our life and journey on this material plane,” explains Oba Efundeji. Roots readings reveal this ancestral heritage as well as which Orishas are supporting one’s journey.

U.N.I.O.V also offers “house cleansing” to clear negative energy in physical spaces, baby naming and rites of passage. The couple’s children’s book, U.N.I.O.V. Orisa Our Way, teaches children about the Orishas. They also host regular gatherings, such as their upcoming Father’s Day Salute at Sweetwater Creek State Park. U.N.I.O.V. also offers the music album Ocha Soul Part 1, available on CD and streaming platforms. Drumming is particularly important in traditional music for its healing properties. Olori Efundeji is a professional drummer on the sekere, a West African instrument.

 “I am helping others realize the Divine within themselves,” says Oba Efundeji.

Healing Stories from the Community

Jasmine Lewis, a young mother, wife, and nurse, discovered ATR through her husband, who is a student of the tradition. She received multiple readings from U.N.I.O.V., which she describes as both healing and affirming. Through a “mat reading” with Olori Efundeji, she was able to resolve emotions around the loss of her sister.

Another woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, described her journey to get help for her adult daughter, who was suffering from severe illness. She was bedridden, emotionally unwell, and unable to go outside and be around people. After a failed attempt with another spiritual group, she was referred to Bakaan, which led to a life-changing intervention. After more than 12 hours of prayer, herbal medicines, offerings and spiritual prescriptions, the results were profound. Her daughter is now walking, engaging with people, and healing physically with medical and spiritual support. “Nana saved my daughter’s life,” she says.

Bridging Tradition with Modern Medicine

As far as the future of such unique collaborations is concerned, Kondwani says, “This relationship between Morehouse and Dr. Gbodossou is a model. We’re just touching the tip of the iceberg.”

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There is a wealth of information and healing remedies available through ATR and TAM, as well as opportunities for members of Atlanta’s robust African diaspora to have a deep connection to ancestral roots. As with the selection of any health practitioner, research and discernment should be used in selecting service providers. ❧

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Trish Ahjel Roberts is our consulting editor for African American issues. She is also a transformational leadership coach, keynote speaker and yoga and meditation instructor. Author of four books, Roberts’ most recent work is The Anger Myth. Learn more at TrishAhjelRoberts.com 

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