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Antiwitchcraft Shrines among the Akan: Possession and the Gathering of Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Jane Parish
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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.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article se propose d’étudier les certitudes et les incertitudes épistémologiques de la possession par les esprits et du savoir en sorcellerie chez les Akan. Nos recherches se basent sur une enquête de terrain effectuée entre 1990 et 1991 à Dormaa-Ahenkro, dans la région de Brong-Ahafo au Ghana. Nous examinons le savoir transcendantal découvert chez les dieux des lieux de culte anti-sorcellerie et leurs prêtres, et nous montrons comment le savoir sacré des dieux est utilisé pour contrecarrer la sorcellerie dans la postcolonie moderne. Nous soutenons que ce processus est ambigu car il oppose le savoir “partial” du prêtre du lieu de culte à la vision divine des événements, qui, elle, est “totale.” Nous suggérons cependant que la pratique de la sorcellerie est très populaire chez les prêtres parce que ce type de savoir permet au prêtre de gérer l’incertain à la source. Le sorcier (ou la sorcière) se confesse directement au prêtre et ce savoir ne passe pas par l’intermédiaire d’un dieu.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , December 2003 , pp. 17 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2003

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