| Part ofa series on |
| Traditional African religions |
|---|
 |
.svg)
Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of theAkan people ofGhana and easternIvory Coast. Akan religion is referred to asAkom. Although mostAkan people have identified asChristians since the early 20th century, Akan religion remains practiced by some and is oftensyncretized with Christianity. The Akan have many subgroups (including theFanti,Ashanti, theAkuapem, theWassa, theAbron, theAnyi, and theBaoulé, among others), so the religion varies greatly by region and subgroup.Similar to othertraditional religions ofWest andCentral Africa such asWest African Vodun,Yoruba religion, orOdinani, Akan cosmology consists of a senior god who generally does not interact with humans and many gods who assist humans.
Anansi the spider is a folkhero who is prominent in Ashanti folktales where he is depicted as a wisetrickster. In other aspects of Akan spirituality, Anansi is also sometimes considered both a trickster and a deity associated with wisdom, responsible for creating the first inanimate humans, according to the scholar Anthony Ephirim-Donkor.[1] This is similar toLegba, who is also both a trickster and a deity inWest African Vodun.[2]
Followers of Akan spirituality believe in a supreme god who created the universe. He is distant and does not interact with humans.[citation needed]
The creator god takes on different names depending upon the region of worship, includingNyame,Nyankopon,Brekyirihunuade ("Almighty"),Odomankoma ("infinite inventor"),[3]Ɔbɔadeɛ ("creator") andAnansi Kokuroko ("the great designer" or "the great spider").[4] There is no concept of a trinity in Akan religion, like in Christianity, but rather the veneration of the Creator, Mother Earth and the ancestors besides the abosom.[5][6]
The supreme creator is anomniscient,omnipotent god calledNyame.Asase Yaa (also known as Mother Earth), is second to the creator.[7] Together they brought forth four children: Bia, Epo, Bosomtwe andTano. The Creator is connected to Saturdays and Saturday-borns,[8] while Asase Yaa (Mother Earth) is connected to Thursdays and Thursday-borns and hence, revered by farmers on Thursdays.[9]
The mother of the abosom is Bosompo, the primordial goddess of the sea, who came after Abo, Nyame, and Asase Yaa.[10]
Theabosom, or the lower deities or spirits, assist humans on earth. These are akin toorishas inYoruba religion, the vodun inWest African Vodun and its derivatives (such asLwa in Haitian Vodun, and thealusi inOdinani). Abosom receive their power from the creator god and are most often connected to the world as it appears in its natural state. Priests serve individual abosom and act as mediators between the abosom and humankind. Many of those who believe in these traditions participate in daily prayer, which includes the pouring oflibations as an offering to both the ancestors who are buried under the land and to the spirits who are everywhere. Such abosom are also believed to give health, fertility, prosperity, protection fromwitches and other needs to those who have established communication with them.[11]
The abosom were divided into three groups; theatano (gods from water bodies such as rivers, led by Tano),ewim (sky gods) and theabo (gods from the mountains). Theewim were considered to be judgemental and merciless, while the abo were sources of healing and medicine. They also have different realms in Asoro (the realm of the gods).
TheNsamanfo are theancestors.
According to Akan oral tradition, the first being was Nyame, who created Asase Yaa to be his wife. Asase Yaa later created the deity Abo, the primordial cluster of stones. Later, Bosompo appeared, and married Abo, giving birth to the primordial abosom. Some abosom decided to inhabit the corporeal world, becoming landmarks like lakes and mountains, while others inhabited the spiritual realm. Nyame and Asase Yaa went on to have other children, such as Bia,Tano, Epo, andAnansi.[12]
According to Long, Akan (then referred to as "Coromantee") culture obliterated any other African customs and incoming non-Akan Africans had to submit to the culture of the majority Akan population inJamaica, much like a foreigner learning migrating to a foreign country. Other than Ananse stories, Akan religion made a huge impact. The Akan pantheon of gods referred to as Abosom inTwi were documented. Enslaved Akan would praise Nyankopong (erroneously written by the British as Accompong, not related to theMaroon leaderAccompong [Twi:Akyeampon]); libations would be poured toAsase Yaa (erroneously written as 'Assarci') and Epo the sea god. Bonsam was referred to as the god of evil.[13]Kumfu (from the wordAkom the name of the Akan spiritual system) was documented asMyal and originally only found in books, while the term Kumfu is still used by Jamaican Maroons. The priest of Kumfu was called aKumfu-man.[14]
TheJamaican Maroon spirit-possession language, acreolized form ofAkan, is used in religious ceremonies of someJamaican Maroons.
Kumfu evolved into Revival, a syncretic Christian sect. Kumfu followers gravitated to the AmericanRevival of 1800 Seventh Day Adventist movement because it observed Saturday as god's day of rest. This was a shared aboriginal belief of the Akan people as this too was the day that the Akan god, Nyame rested after creating the earth. Jamaicans that were aware of their Ashanti past while wanting to keep hidden, mixed their Kumfu spirituality with the American Adventists to create Jamaican Revival in 1860. Revival has two sects:60 order (or Zion Revival, the order of the heavens) and61 order (orPocomania, the order of the earth). 60 order worships God and spirits of air or the heavens on a Saturday and considers itself to be the more 'clean' sect. 61 order more deals with spirits of the earth. This division of Kumfu clearly shows the dichotomy of Nyame and Asase Yaa's relationship, Nyame representingair and has his 60 order';Asase Yaa having her 61 order of theearth. Also the Ashanti funerary/war colours: red and black have the same meaning in Revival ofvengeance.[15] Other Ashanti elements include the use of swords and rings as means to guard the spirit from spiritual attack. The Asantehene like the Mother Woman of Revival, has special two swords used to protect himself from witchcraft called anAkrafena orsoul sword and a Bosomfena orspirit sword[16][17]
Winti is anAfro-Surinamese religion which is largely derived from both Akom andVodun with Vodun gods such as Loco, Ayizu and so on.[18]
Haitian Vodou is a syncretic religion that combines Vodun with several other African religions in addition to influences fromCatholicism. Here latent influences of Akan beliefs can be seen in the incorporation of Anansi as one of theLwa worshiped in the Haitian religion. He is often depicted as maintaining the connection between the living and their deceased ancestors.[19]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)Akan topics | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History | |||||||||||
| Demographics | |||||||||||
| Subgroups | |||||||||||
| Linguistics (language) | |||||||||||
| Politics |
| ||||||||||
| Culture |
| ||||||||||
| Geography (Ashantiland Peninsula) |
| ||||||||||
| Titles | |||||||||||
| Wikipedia | |||||||||||
