This book is a study examining the causes of the kingship internecine struggle among the Effutu by exploring the two traditional systems of succession, the patrilineal and the matrilineal among the Effutu (Awutu-abe), and how best to end political violence.

African spirituality among the Akan people of Ghana can be defined as a developmental quest to achieve ancestorhood in heaven (Samanadzie) after first attaining eldership and wisdom in the corporeal world (Wiadzie). The African life, then, is a cycle. A human originates in the Samanadzie as a spiritual personality (?saman) after being joined by a spirit (Sunsum). At birth, a newborn is endowed with a soul (?kra), becoming a living being (?kratsiasifo). During adulthood, a person embarks on an ethical existence (?bra b?), the successful application of which leads a community to confer an...

African religion is ancestor worship; it revolves around the dead, now thought to be alive and well in heaven (the Samanadzie) and propitiated by the living on earth. For the Akan, the ancestors stool is the emblem of the ancestors (Nananom Nsamanfo). Led by their kings and queen mothers as living ancestors, the Akan periodically propitiate the ancestors stools housing their ancestors. In return, the ancestors and deities influence the affairs of living descendants, making ancestor worship as tenably viable as any other religion. This second edition updates the scholarship on ancestor worship...

Kingship (chieftaincy) disputes are commonplace in Ghana. These disputes may begin as rivalries among eligible candidates, or when ineligible candidates are elected caretaker kings due to their invaluable services to a royal family. However, upon the demise of the caretaker rulers, sometimes their descendants refuse to cede power, thus creating protracted and sometimes violent power struggles. This is exactly what happened to the Ᾱwutu-ābe (Effutu) of Simpa. In 1898, twenty-seven years after the death of a caretaker ruler elected by the Otuano Royal Family for his invaluable...

This edition updates the scholarship on ancestor worship--with the addition of three new chapters. Beginning with Akan theology and ending with sacrifices, the study examines Akan conception of God, the abosom (gods and goddesses) relative to creation, centrality of the ancestors' stool as the ultimate religious symbol housing the soul of the Akan, and organized annual propitiatory festivities carried out among the Akan in honor of the ancestors (Nananom Nsamanfo) and abosom. The book, therefore, serves as an invaluable resource for those interested in the phenomenon of African religion,...