The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (Serer: A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Senghor, Léopold Sédar, Éthiopiques, Issues 55-56. Grande imprimerie africaine, 1991, p. 60Kalis, Simone, Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sénégal, L'Harmattan, (1997), p.31, [in] L'Harmattan (accessed 25 March 2025).), is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people living in the Senegambia region in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog (or Rog). In the Cangin languages, Roog is referred to as Koox (or Kooh Dupire, Marguerite, Sagesse sereer: Essais sur la pensée sereer ndut, Karthala Editions (1994), p. 54, .), Kopé Tiatie Cac, and Kokh Kox. Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l'exemple de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no. 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 1991 . Doctor of ethnology and lecturer in ethnosciences, Professor Simone Kalis writes that:
Traditional Serer religious practices encompass ancient chants and poems, veneration of and offerings to spirits (pangool), Serer initiation rites, folk medicine, divination, and preservation of Serer history, culture, and identity which includes forbidding mixed-marriages, and preserving one's sexual purity until marriage – a practice that is strongly adhered to by the Serer-Noon, where the consequence of breaking this custom could mean being sentenced to celibacy for the rest of one's life.Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l'exemple de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no 54, vol. 7, 2nd semester 1991
Beliefs
Divinity
The Serer people believe in a supreme deity called Roog (or Rog) and sometimes referred to as Roog Sene ("Roog The Immensity" or "The Merciful God"). Faye, Louis Diène, Mort et Naissance le monde Sereer, Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines (1983), . p. 44. Serer tradition deals with various dimensions of life, death, space and time, ancestral spirit communications and cosmology. There are also other lesser gods, goddesses and supernatural spirits or genie (pangool or nguusNguus means genie. See : Kalis, p. 153.) such as the fangool Mendiss (or Mindis), a female protector of Fatick Region and the arm of the sea that bears her name; the god Tiurakh (var : Thiorak or Tulrakh) – god of wealth, and the god Takhar (var : Taahkarr) – god of justice or vengeance.Henry, Gravrand, La civilisation sereer, vol. II : Pangool, Nouvelles éditions africaines, Dakar (1990).Kellog, Day Otis, and Smith, William Robertson, The Encyclopædia Britannica: latest edition. A dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature", Volume 25, p. 64, Werner (1902). Roog is neither the devil nor a genie, but the "Lord of creation".Verbatim: "le Maître/Seigneur de la créature" Thaiw, Issa Laye, "La religiosité des Seereer, avant et pendant leur islamisation", in Éthiopiques, no. 54, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991.
Roog is the very embodiment of both male and female to whom offerings are made at the foot of trees, such as the sacred baobab tree, the sea, the river (such as the sacred River Sine), in people's own homes or community shrine, etc. Roog Sene is reachable perhaps to a lesser extent by the Serer high priests and priestesses (Saltigue), who have been initiated and possess the knowledge and power to organise their thoughts into a single cohesive unit. However, Roog is always watching over its children and always available to them.Gravrand, "Pangool", pp. 205–8.
Divinity and humanity In Serer, Roog Sene is the lifeblood to which the incorruptible and sanctified soul returns to eternal peace after they depart the living world. Roog Sene sees, knows and hears everything, but does not interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the living world. Instead, lesser gods and goddesses act as Roog's assistants in the physical world. Individuals have the free will to either live a good and spiritually fulfilled life in accordance with Serer religious doctrines or waver from such doctrines by living an unsanctified lifestyle in the physical world. Those who live their lives contrary to the teachings will be rightfully punished in the afterlife.Fondation Léopold Sédar Senghor, Éthiopiques, Issues 55–56 (1991), pp. 62–95.
Ancestral spirits and saints
Ordinary Serers address their prayers to the pangool (the Serer ancestral spirits and saints) as they are the intermediaries between the living world and the Divine. An orthodox Serer must remain faithful to the ancestral spirits as the soul is sanctified as a result of the ancestors' intercession between the living world and the Divine. The pangool have both a historical significance as well as a religious one. They are connected to the history of the Serer by virtue of the fact that the pangool is associated with the founding of Serer villages and towns as a group of pangool would accompany village founders called "lamane" (or laman – who were their ancient kings) as they make their journey looking for land to exploit. Without them, the lamane exploits would not have been possible. In the religious sense, these ancient lamanes created shrines to these pangool, thereby becoming the priests and custodians of the shrine. As such, "they became the intermediaries among the land, the people and the pangool".Galvan, Dennis Charles, The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal, Berkeley, University of California Press (2004), p. 53, .
Whenever any member of the lamanic lineage dies, the whole Serer community celebrates in honour of the exemplary lives they had lived on earth in accordance with the teachings of the Serer religion. Serer prayers are addressed to the pangool who act as intercessors between the living world and the Divine. In addressing their prayers to the pangool, the Serers chant ancient songs and offer sacrifices such as bull, sheep, goat, chicken or harvested crops.
Afterlife
The immortality of the soul and reincarnation (Ciiɗ in SererCiiɗ means poetry in Serer, it can also mean the reincarnated or the dead who seek to reincarnate in Serer religion. Two chapters are devoted to this by Faye see: Faye, Louis Diène, Mort et Naissance Le Monde Sereer, Les Nouvelles Edition Africaines (1983), pp. 9–10, .) is a strongly held belief in Serer religion. The pangool are viewed as holy spirit/saints, and will be called upon and venerated, and have the power to intercede between the living and the Divine. The Serer strive to live a righteous life so they can be accepted by their ancestors who have long departed. To be righteous means one has the opportunity to enter Jaaniiw (the place where good souls goGravrand, "Pangool" (1990) pp. 33, 217−8), to be able to reincarnate, and to intercede with the Divine. Being rejected by the ancestors upons one's death means one become a lost and wandering soul.Faye, Louise Diène, Mort et Naissance le monde Sereer, Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines (1983), pp. 17–25, . Serer spirituality rejects the notion of heaven and hell. In Serer spirituality, acceptance by the ancestors, and the ability to enter Jaaniiw (or Jaaniw) so one can be closer to the Divine is as close to the notion of heaven. Being rejected by the ancestors (those who have reincarnated and became holy, and serve as interceders between the physical world and the Divine) is equivalent to hell. However, Serer spirituality rejects the notion of "hell fire". Thiaw, Issa Laye, "La religiosité des Seereer, avant et pendant leur islamisation", [in] Éthiopiques, no. 54, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991Gravrand, Henry, "La civilisation sereer: Pangool." vol. II. Nouvelles éditions africaines, Dakar, 1990, pp 91–128, The soul's inability to enter Jaaniiw means that it cannot return to its purest and natural form, and peace. Thus, it won't be able to fly from Jaaniiw to ciiɗ, and return to earth for a new course of human evolution.
Family totems Each Serer family has a totem (tiim / timDupire, Marguerite, "Sagesse sereer: Essais sur la pensée sereer ndut, KARTHALA Editions (1994), p. 116). Totems are prohibitions as well as guardians. They can be animals and plants among other beings. For example, the totem of the Joof family is the antelope. Any brutality against this animal by the Joof family is prohibited. This respect gives the Joof family holy protection. The totem of the Njie family is the lion; the totem of the Sène family is the hare and for the Sarr family is the giraffe and the camel.Jean-Marc Gastellu (M. Sambe – 1937 [in]), L'égalitarisme économique des Serer du Sénégal, IRD Editions (1981), p. 130, . Gravrand Henry, La civilisation sereer, vol. I : Cosaan: les origines, Nouvelles éditions africaines, Dakar (1983), p. 211, .
The secret order of the Saltigue
Both men and women can be initiated into the secret order of the Saltigue (Spiritual Elder). In accordance with Serer religious doctrines, for one to become a Saltigue, one must be initiated which is somewhat reserved for a small number of insiders, particularly in the mysteries of the universe and the unseen world. The Xooy (Xoy or Khoy) ceremony is a special religious event in the Serer religious calendar. It is the time when the initiated Saltigue (Serer High Priests and Priestesses) come together to literally predict the future in front of the community. These diviners and healers deliver sermons at the Xooy Ceremony which relates to the future weather, politics, economics, and so on.Sarr, Alioune, "Histoire du Sine-Saloum" (introduction, bibliographie et notes par Charles Becker), in Bulletin de l'IFAN, tome 46, série B, nos 3–4, 1986–1987 pp. 31–38. The event brings together thousands of people to Holy Sine from all over the world. Ultra orthodox Serers and Serers who "syncretise" (mix Islam or Christianity with the old Serer religion) as well as non-Serers such as the Lebou people (who are a distinct group but still revere the ancient religious practices of their Serer ancestors) among others gather at Sine for this ancient ceremony. Serers who live in the West sometimes spend months planning for the pilgrimage. The event goes on for several days where the Saltigue take centre stage and the ceremony usually begins in the first week of June at Fatick.
Holy ceremonies and festivals
Xooy (variation: Xoy or Khoy) Jobai Randou Rande Mindisse Mbosseh Mboudaye Tobaski Gamo (var: Gamou) Tourou Peithie Niang, Mor Sadio, [in] Ethiopiques numéro 31" - révue socialiste de culture négro-africaine 3e trimestre, IFAN, (1982) – (From Xoy to Tourou Peithie) . Daqaar mboobSeck, A.; Sow, I. & Niass, M., "Senegal", [in] "The biodiversity of traditional leafy vegetables", pp. 85–110. Raan Festival Ndut A curr ale
Raan festival