Axé and the Interrelatedness between Spirituality, Nature and Survival

Natural disasters are often perceived as divine punishment. A recent example is the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 which was blamed on Vodou. Another example is the Aberfan catastrophe 60 years ago in Wales which some preachers blamed on the decline of faith, however, with the unintended consequence of accelerating the decline instead of strengthening it. While academic studies voice a growing critique of the anthropocentric understanding of nature, their focus is still too often on Abrahamic religions. 

In her lecture, Bettina Schmidt (University of Wales Trinity Saint David) expands the debate by reflecting on African-derived religions and the concept of axé, the divine energy that links human with other than human agencies. Land is not owned but inhabited in a relational and collective way. Changing the perspective towards ‘spiritually relational territories’ will challenge the understanding of natural disasters and the impact of climate change. Perceiving the effect of environmental destruction not only on material resources but also on the spiritual force will challenge the anthropocentric narrative. 

Bettina Schmidt is Professor in Study of Religions and Anthropology of Religion at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. Her academic background is in Cultural Anthropology with a special focus on anthropology of religion and religious experience. She studied at the University of Marburg in Germany where she also obtained her PhD and a post-doctoral degree. A focus in Professor Schmidt’s research activities is on the African diaspora, with ethnographic fieldwork in the Caribbean, South America, the US, and more recently Brazil.