It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the

pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

AKAN
MATRIARCHY
SUBVERTED
the menstruant as
the original priest

by
amma birago

women were a part of that

“nature” which it was culture’s
project to master and transcend.
Lévi-Strauss

The basic belief underlying most of the views on

menstruation, especially, is that the menstrual
blood, besides being unclean, is also considered as
dangerous, potent, so that any direct or indirect
contact with it is believed to render all powers
weak, impotent and interactive.
G. Nantakyiwah

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/bosomaa

BOSOMAA
daughters of the moon
- on menstruation, the big bang,
the origin of power & identity
- on guns & warfare, modernism
& mechanized bloodletting

https://www.scribd.com/doc/40664920/bosomaa
https://bit.ly/bosomaa

… the statement that the Akan

society is a male-dominated
matrilineal may sound like a
contradiction, but it is a fact.
Akan Theory of Conception.
Are the Fante Really
Aberrant?
I. Chukwukere

But menstrual blood was also spiritually powerful

because it was fertility fluid. In fact, the greatest Asante
shrine, the Golden Stool, was periodically contaminated
with menstrual blood to sharpen its power.
Spirituality, Gender, and Power in Asante History -
Akyeampong and Obeng

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/PreEmpireAkan

asaase
nye bosom
the menstruant as
the original priest
clan commonwealth & institutions
before asante cult, culture & empire
- subverting matriliny & matriarchy

… the statement that the Akan

society is a male-dominated
matrilineal may sound like a
contradiction, but it is a fact.
Akan Theory of Conception.
Are the Fante Really
Aberrant?
I. Chukwukere

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/womanpriest

helpmeet
& priest
the menstruant - the sacred
and the profane - in asante
and other societies
https://www.scribd.com/document/128140058/helpmeet-and-priest

By the late nineteenth century, Asante had developed a

sophisticated bureaucratic government, tiered in
structure, and in an imperial mould. The nation had
developed its political traditions.

“For, if bleeding, not having political rights, and not shedding

blood are causally linked, then whether we take sacrificial
exclusion to be a product of having no political rights, or having no
political rights to be a product of sacrificial exclusion, the bleeding
at least must be the cause and not the product of either sacrificial
or political deprivation.”
Women and Sacrifice in Classical Greece
Robin Osborne

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/AnokyeAsante

ECLIPSE OF
THE MOON
on anokye, statesman priest,
civic religion & modern nation-making
- the origin of power to rule
because of War and Trade

Okomfo Anokye
He came to be regarded not only as the Solon and
Manu of Asante but also as the foremost founder
of the Asante nation (Rattray 1929: 73, 270). All
the important political institutions of Asante were
said to be the ‘laws of Anokye’.
‘Renewal’ By Retrospection The Asante
Anokye Traditions
Jan. G. Platvoet

https://www.scribd.com/doc/98816268/anokye-and-
asante?secret_password=2cajhir7otbp53p4cysk

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/OseiKrom
CITY OF BLOOD
A PEOPLE
BECAUSE OF WAR
on patriarchy, gunnery & trade
- the institution of human sacrifice -
slavery & cult in a city of Kumasi
before british colonialism

https://www.scribd.com/document/116739370/
city-of-blood

When Prempeh returned, to what had once been

known as ‘the city of blood’, he was a cultured,
elderly gentleman, who took his place at the head
of the Kumasi town council, and his old capital
had become almost a city, with many fine and
imposing buildings. Rattray & the
Construction of Asante History

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

political society
& sacrifice in asante
& the role of the
post-menopausal woman
https://bit.ly/dansikran
DANSIKRAN
obaa na owoo ohene

https://www.scribd.com/document/126329813/dansikran

Purity and Impurity: Menstruation and its Impact

The Akan Religious-Cultural Setting
Frimpong

… though women serve as mediums, a virgin,

preferably before she attains puberty, is chosen for this
office. Otherwise, a woman of advanced age or one who
has ceased from childbearing and cohabitation is qualified
to hold this office.

A taboo against women during menstruation is common in Akan communities. Menstrual blood
is seen as “dirty”. Not only are women considered to be ‘impure” during these periods, but in
danger of communicating their impurity to others. Thus though the onset of menarche is
celebrated in Akan communities, the general trend is to stigmatize the event. … Although
women are regarded as producers of life, they are also seen as spiritual sources of danger. The
ritually “dangerous” nature of women is expressed in notions about the polluting nature of blood,
especially the blood of menstruation and childbirth. It is such notions of pollution, which
underlie rituals intended to separate “unclean” women from contact with others or to neutralize
the sources of pollution.

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

Gold dust also proved vital in hacking

culture out of nature. ... It continued
to play a vital role, it served as the
blood in the veins of the
administration of the state.
Tarnishing the Golden Stool
Fenna Maximiliane Wächter
Gold is the king, Gold is the ruler. At
the same time, the proverb may well
suggest that those who have gold will
be elevated to the position of a ruler
themselves.

https://bit.ly/sikamogya
On Commonwealth –
Gold, The Gods And Guns

SIKA YE
MOGYA
The Clan, The Republic & The Empire
Aggrandizement – The Individual And The State
Modernism, Personal Interest
& Commonwealth
The world capitalist system
strongly influenced the
development of the Asante
empire for three centuries.
Enid Schildkrout Department of
Anthropology, American

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

Museum of Natural History, New

York

… in the early seventeenth

century all of Holland came to
depend solely on gold from the
Akan mines in Ghana for its
coinage.
Aspects of Precolonial Akan
Economy
K. Y. Daaku

“You cannot cook and eat royalty;

money is what it is all about.”
Asante Proverb

The war correspondent, H.M. Stanley, argued: "King Coffee [Kofi Karari] is too
rich a neighbour to be left all alone with his riches, with his tons of gold dust and
accumulations of wealth to himself."
Order and Conflict in the Asante Empire:
A Study in Interest Group Relations
Agnes A. Aidoo

The accumulation of wealth was

a crucial civic duty in Asante.
Tarnishing the Golden Stool
Fenna Maximiliane Wächter

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/AkanPatriarchy
Akan –
A Patriarchal Society
As Cult and Ancestor
on asante cult and culture,
on patriarchy, masculinity & gunnery
on the subversion of matriarchy,
the mother & the unconscious
on the menstruant as
the original priest

The sacred bulls and cows were related

to the mother goddess. These animals
were then converted into monetary
units. In acquiring money, therefore,
one unconsciously gained the
protection of the mother.
"Origin of Money in the Animal
Sacrifice –
W. H. Desmonde

There are no regular and formal cults to God.

Purity and Impurity –
Frimpong

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

https://bit.ly/witchstate

STATECRAFT
WITCHCRAFT
Asante - A Modern Empire
An Empire Because Of War & Trade
commonwealth in postmodern akan
accumulation of wealth and corruption,
modernism – the individual and the empire
as a soul eating mechanism

Each Akan belongs to a consanguineal

group called “abusua”. An abusua is a unit
of persons who trace their ancestry to a
common ancestress called Aberewa (old
lady). It is the abusua that imposes upon the
individual identity of Akan citizenship.
The Akan of West Africa: Towards an
African Theological Anthropology
C. Owusu-Gyamfi

Outside All Reason:

Magic, Sorcery and Epistemology in Anthropology
Bruce Kapferer
The Magic of Modernity: Fragmentations of Power Most recent
studies of magic and cultic practice, of sorcery and witchcraft,
powerfully insist that these practices are thoroughly modern.

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler
It is the mother from whom differentiation must primarily be accomplished, thus providing an analogy between sacrifice, the
pollution of female reproduction, and male "rebirth." Nancy Jay and a Feminist Psychology of Sacrifice Kelley Ann Raab

The power of the king as sorcerer is in what he can force

together in spite of the socially differentiating and
divisive potencies that may fragment the king's order.
Such potency is not merely in the king's capacity to
order, but in the way he orders.

New Answers To Old Questions Tradition, Modernity, And Postcoloniality

Reconsidering Witchcraft: Postcolonial Analytic (Un)Certainties
Todd Sanders
African notions of witchcraft are neither archaic nor static but are highly flexible and deeply of our
contemporary world. Many anthropologists have recently argued that notions of the African witch
meaning and merit of modernity as experienced in different historical and cultural settings.
… African witchcraft may well be part of modernity, but by no means needs to about modernity.

… to a considerable extent, kingship was the possession of the gods as much as their gift: already in the early Second
Millennium, we find the state god conceived as the true king, the earthly ruler being merely his vicegerent.- Graham Wheeler