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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Antiwitchcraft Shrines among the Akan: Possession and the Gathering of Knowledge
Author:Parish, JaneISNI
Year:2003
Periodical:African Studies Review
Volume:46
Issue:3
Period:December
Pages:17-34
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:spirit possession
Akan
witchcraft
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Religion and Witchcraft
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1515040
Abstract:This article examines the epistemological certainties and uncertainties of Akan spirit possession and witchcraft knowledge. It is based on fieldwork carried out between 1990 and 1991 in Dormaa-Ahenkro, Brong-Ahafo region, Ghana. The article examines the transcendental knowledge found among antiwitchcraft shrine gods and their priests and how the sacred knowledge of gods is utilized to counter witchcraft in the modern postcolony. This, it is argued, is an ambiguous process, involving the 'partial' knowledge of the shrine priest versus the 'complete' picture of events held by the god. However, it is suggested that antiwitchcraft practices are very popular among priests because this type of knowledge allows the priest to manage uncertainty at first hand. The witch confesses directly to the priest, and this knowledge is not mediated through a god. Bibliogr., note, sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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