Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Beyhive). Her congregation boasts an immense following.
Lemonade depicts an existential salvation, symbolized by her transformation into an African Goddess, as a result of rejecting hegemonic dogma and reconnecting with her authentic spirituality. Oshun represents liberation and female agency.
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Beyonce is a Christian
Beyonce’s religious practices and beliefs have inspired many to form their own church called The Beyhive with millions of members worldwide. Beyonce herself is known for being spiritual as well as involved with charitable work focusing on women and children – which makes her one of the world’s most esteemed artists.
Beyonce practices a combination of Christianity and African spiritual traditions in her music and conduct. For instance, she frequently performs with gospel choirs while using her platform to address issues confronting black America.
Beyonce defies Western Christian thought in Lemonade by accepting her spiritual authenticity from indigenous African roots, embodying Oshun who represents fertility, love and beauty. While Western Christian thought often portrays African spiritual practices as barbaric practices with no salvageable culture attached, Oshun legitimizes Beyonce by affirming her humanity.
Beyonce’s adoption of Christian baptism as an expression of her spirituality is another indicator. Christians believe that baptism opens them up to receiving new life through baptism by the Holy Spirit; she wears yellow in Lemonade when submersed as this represents Oshun (Spirit of Oshun).
Beyonce is a Muslim
People often mistake Beyonce as being Muslim because she appears to have many connections to it. She displays an interest in numerology, often referring to herself and her daughter by numbers like 4, 11 or even having matching roman numeral tattoos with her husband to mark their anniversary date in February on the fourth month. Furthermore, Beyonce is very supportive of Muslim communities such as A Tribe Called Quest whom she has collaborated with during concerts.
Beyonce’s Lemonade visual aesthetic was saturated with religious symbols. Viewers could identify references to Kali, a fierce Hindu goddess known for beheading men; Venus – Roman god of love and beauty; Oshun, Yoruba orisha associated with fertility, music, and beauty – each depicted prominently within Lemonade by Beyonce to further assert herself as an influential and empowered woman at the intersections of race and gender. Beyonce used these images to assert herself as an independent woman at intersections of race and gender by asserting her authority as an independent woman at intersections between race and gender – another manifestation of her intention as powerful female power at intersections between race and gender identities by drawing parallels between religions such as that depiction by being reference to Kali Hindu goddess Kali who beheads men from Roman god Venus while Oshun Yoruba orisha related to fertility music beauty, beauty. All three depictions demonstrated her desire to assert her as an independent woman at intersection of race/gender positions herself at intersection of race/gender power relations at intersectional positions between race/gender normative positions within society at large.
Beyonce emerges from the water as Goddess Oshun wearing a marigold yellow dress, symbolizing both her orisha as well as baptism – an important Christian practice which involves submerging someone under water to cleanse away sin and give new life.
Beyonce is a Hindu
Beyonce has long championed modern feminists and intersectional feminism – which takes into account multiple identities such as race and gender – through her status. She has used it to advocate for issues relevant to women such as reproductive health and empowerment of black women living in the U.S. Her most recent project Lemonade features imagery associated with multiple religious iconographies including goddess imagery.
Viewers of the video were quickly drawn to images such as Kali, a Hindu goddess renowned for her man-beheading abilities; Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty; Mary from Christian tradition and Oshun, Yoruba orisha associated with music and dance and power over water sources such as rivers and waterfalls – reminding viewers that Beyonce hails from an exuberant precolonial African culture.
Lemonade features another religious motif with Beyonce engaging in fasting as part of her cleansing of herself from vanity and lust through song “Hold Up.” Beyonce uses fasting as a way of managing conflicting emotions such as joy, rage and betrayal while simultaneously showing her playful side through an evil smile as she smashes store windows and cars with a baseball bat.
Beyonce is a Buddhist
As expected, some critics viewed Grace Cathedral’s Beyonce Mass as idolatry; however, Reverend Malcolm Clemens Young disagreed and stressed that this service wasn’t about worshiping Beyonce but instead honoring her legacy and work to improve lives of black women and families.
Beyonce used her music and image to spark an empowering dialogue about black women’s bodies in Lemonade. Additionally, she encouraged audiences to reimagine how they engage spirituality within their own lives – for instance one of Lemonade’s most striking visual moments depicts black women marching towards water reminiscent of Christian baptism as well as African American rituals associated with escape from slavery.
Beyonce expertly channels Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of water and love, throughout Lemonade. Her portrayal was apparent in her wardrobe, set designs, hair style choices and poses with Louisville Sluggers; Beyonce even donned braids that mimicked those found on Oshun! Often depicted wearing gold and yellow attire while surrounded by water such as waterfalls or the ocean; Oshun herself often features peacocks or vultures which symbolize its power and strength as an aspect of divinity.
Beyonce is a Sikh
No single answer exists when it comes to this question, yet Beyonce fans have formed a religion dedicated to her called “Beyism.” Beyism does not follow Christian denominational practices but instead places emphasis on Beyonce as goddess with her own following known as the Beyhive. Beyism promotes equal worship of all religions with all members having the right and freedom of worship as desired by individuals.
Beyonce’s rise from beneath the surface in Lemonade serves as a metaphor for divine agency. She does so by calling upon Oshun, a Yoruba goddess of water and love that has long been ignored in Western Christian thought. Beyonce finds strength through accessing this goddess and reconnecting to their spirituality – tapping into Oshun as part of an entire pantheon of indigenous African gods previously marginalized by Western Christian thought. This allows her to reclaim her power while reconnecting to her ancestors spirituality through accessing her agency and reconnecting spiritually with her ancestors’ spirituality reclaiming power by tapping Oshun as part of this pantheon of indigenous African gods which has been marginalized.
Beyonce invites viewers into an episode in which she conducts a cleansing ritual involving submersion in water – recalling Christian baptism while also honoring African American traditions of escape through water from slavery. Furthermore, Beyonce references fasting as a method for clarity and discernment within religious communities – thus destabilizing Christianity’s oppressive structures that have historically oppressed Black women.
Beyonce is a Taoist
The New York Times reports that Beyonce held what became known as a “Beyonce Mass” – similar to a regular church service but with Beyonce songs and dancers instead of regular congregation members and clergy; sermon and scripture readings; it became so popular that other churches started hosting similar services themselves! Beyhive, an international religious movement who worship Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter as their divine feminine, worships Beyism globally with huge following worldwide.
Beyonce channels Oshun through Lemonade, an ancient African practice to represent femininity, power, and healing, by turning herself into the Goddess of Waters while calling upon her maternal ancestors – something Beyonce has used before in honor of her mother and grandmothers.
Beyonce’s artistic decision to contrast subjugation, represented by Christian dogma’s patriarchal authority, with liberation represented by Oshun’s feminist agency can be read as a rejection of Western Christianity’s anti-African rhetoric and as she rediscovers her spirituality within precolonial Africa; validating sacred practices reclaimed through Oshun. This powerfully illustrates women’s ability to define their own faith and culture.
Beyonce is a Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest organized religions, founded by prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran about 3500 years ago. This monotheistic faith features a dualist cosmology in which good triumphs over evil; furthermore it was also one of the first faiths to include an agreement to promote good thoughts, words, and deeds as part of its faith tradition.
Beyonce is a practicing Zoroastrian who has raised awareness of her faith through her work. She has spoken publicly about it on multiple occasions and created her own church service called Beyonce Mass that draws thousands of women from Southern California to Portugal for its empowering message.
She recently attracted criticism for a music video she recorded with Iranian singer Amitis that depicts her in Zoroastrian princess garb and featured scenes where Amitis is sitting on a throne, cuddling with Persian cat and smoking water pipe while wearing Faravahar symbol representing values found within Zoroastrian religion behind them.
Amitis is the lead singer for The Parsi National Band, a collective of musicians and dancers that specialize in Iranian folk music and dance. For over 15 years she has graced international stages performing alongside 50 Cent and Kayne West; furthermore she created her own dance school exclusively for girls.
