Dagara Cultural History: Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery

  Dealing with Expectations From a cultural perspective, there are no public funeral or mourning rites when there is a stillbirth ( dɔg-saŋ ) following twenty-one weeks or more of pregnancy or when a child experiencing stunted growth (bi-gbããn ) dies before the mother could have another child. In other words, one cannot grieve publicly and call on the ancestors by wailing ‘Oh My Father!’ ( Sãã Woh-i! ) or ‘Oh My Mother!’ ( Ma Woh-i! ) and we do not gather to sing dirges and praise songs accompanied by the xylophone and the calabash drums. We take it that the expectations of the parents to have a child who will grow to realise their dreams, take fully his or her position as an adult member of the society and achieve the great things that life destiny has assigned for him or her cannot be ritualised in funeral celebration. These must be internalised as a process to understand the situations leading to the stillbirth or the stunted growth in order to keep the fire of expectations and fu

New Publication    About Sacred and Religious Art in Africa An Ethnographic Study on a Private Collection Alexis Bekyane Tengan Size: 6.89"x 8.39” (17.5 x 21.3 cm), 206 pages (including 35 colour pages), 151 Illus., Biblio. ISBN: 978-9988-9202-1-0, Hb (Case Bound), Woeli Publishing Service, Accra, September 2022  REVIEWS "Tengan provides an unassuming but bitter reminder that traditional African culture will continue dying slowly and could vanish altogether if not conscientiously and properly preserved. (…). This intensive investigation into the meaning and use of sacred objects and religious art urges the proper collection, preservation, curation, and promotion of these artefacts within the present African cultural system." ( Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives) DESCRIPTION Of what significance are sacred art objects in Africa? In this book, About Sacred and Religious Art in Africa, the author launches an investigation into the grammar of sacred and r

Out from Euphoria and Charisma to the reality of Catholicism The “mass conversion” and religious movement of the Dagaaba people into Catholicism in 1929 was euphoric in action and expectation. The tempo of the movement could only be sustained for a period of time by the over enthusiasm of the first missionaries to realise an eschatological hope in an African society combined with an unusual charisma of the first prelate who, also being a Dagao, was able to lead the people along this path of euphoria. The enthusiasm of the missionaries enabled them to find the appropriate material and human resources, mostly from outside the region and within the shortest possible time, to build a model church on earth that will take care of the material and spiritual needs of the people. The charisma of the local prelate, who was also extraordinarily gifted in ritual performance and church liturgy, perpetuated this euphoria as divine reality that could not be sustained.    I pay tribute to Archbis