Spiritual democracy: The politics of patriarchy versus embodied spirituality as a sacred leadership praxis

Abstract

Patriarchy is a common denominator interwoven into Christianity’s and Ifá Isese’s culture, tenets, rituals, and infrastructure. It is a force that negates women’s spiritual power and anointing. Within the Christian and Ifá traditions, women’s spiritual power and presence have been largely suppressed, discarded, and ignored. Although these women are the spiritual backbone of their respective communities, they have been regulated to “leadership” positions that do not hold any authoritative power. This article offers a liberative model based on embodied spirituality for African and African Diasporic Women. The politics of patriarchy have stifled their spiritual and religious expressions and limited their leadership possibilities in their respective Christian and Ifá Isese (West African Indigenous Spiritual Tradition) communities. I propose the liberative model I term “spiritual democracy” to inspire these women to live their voice, power, authority, and presence.