Kwaku Ananse - The Spider God
Kwaku Ananse, have you heard of him? He is the spider god from Ghana in West Africa. You may have heard some stories about Ananse as a child. His stories lend themselves to children's storytelling since there is usually some wisdom to be gained from them. Before i go on, i'll tell you that i have put a few stories, some about Kwaku Ananse and some not, on a separate page so as not to interrupt the flow here. You can visit the page of stories by clicking here.
The people of Ghana seem to be a very poetic and interesting people, at least to my westernised way of being. they have a very involved new year festival ("Homowo", 'laughing at hunger'), an interesting culture, of which i know very little and an interesting naming structure, which basically gives the day you were born as an honorific at the start of your given and surnames. For instance, i would be Friday Calum Carlyle, were i to carry the tradition to my own name and language. It should be noted that our friend, Kwaku Ananse, has a day name of "Kwaku". I'm embarrased to say i don't actually know which day it refers to! Nevertheless, Ananse is his real name, Kwaku is his (much more inconsequential) day name.
African traditional religion is something that is necessarily very complex, at least to me since it is something i am unfamiliar with. From what i gather, many Africans take religion seriously, believing that there are many spirits and one great all-powerful creator. They believe that there are certain mediators through whom contact with the gods must be conducted, or so it appears. Click this link to read a proper and fuller account of the religion of Ghana by Rev Addo, a retired methodist pastor and former teacher of religion.
To be honest i find it difficult to talk about Ananse or Ghana, since firstly i know very little of them and secondly, what i do know of them is almost entirely through stories, proverbs and legends. Perhaps i should just let the stories speak for themselves.
"Opened Can Of Words" by Chris Frofy
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