The west is ruled by the logic of forgiveness. In Christianism the original sin made the world, so it’s necessary to mitigate in each act the weight of this negative conscience.
For Africa the big Arché is joy. For the Nagô (the enslaved africans who spoke the Iorubá language) the world is how it is. Infinite forces make the world and make life possible. In this perspective there is no sin or degradation, only a non-understanding of balance, resulting in more or less “Axé”, which is the capacity to accomplish and claim one’s own will. There’s nothing to forgive, just comprehension about the world and the forces that move it. African spirituality will not settle on love or forgiveness, but joy.
Joy is the state of lightness in which it is possible to claim life as it is. To claim to the world our own presence. African spirituality is not about guilt and redemption, but about claiming the present world, the life, nature and all energies that permeate them. African Gods dance while western spiritual philosophy denies the body and denies the world.
When these children of the enslaved dance it is not about a rational desire to humiliate an opponent, it’s not about calculations and it doesn’t hold weight. It’s about them being who they are, and the reiteration of life in their bodies. No forgiveness, no weight; no guilt; only lightness and joy!