My roommate’s aunt died this week, which lead to a really interesting conversation on rites of passage in Ghana. There are rites and rituals for a lot of different points in a life. Monica said that as the country turns more toward Christianity and away from traditional religions, some of these traditions aren’t as prevalent as in the past. She still fully believes in their power though, and has many stories of success.
If a person is lucky, they will go through four or five rites as they age. If they aren’t as lucky they will go through at least two, birth and death.
At birth, there are many things that happen to ensure the life of the newborn is pure and successful. Once the baby is born, it does not touch the ground, leave the house or have a name until it is seven days old. Most Ghanaians believe that newborns are the closest to pure as one ever is. If the baby dies within the first seven days, keeping it from the way of the world ensures that it will enter heaven. After the baby survives seven days, it is given a naming ceremony. Until this time, the baby has had no contact with the outside world. The parents give a name and introduce the child to the community. The ceremony is also a way to cut the extreme bond between mother and child. If this ceremony isn’t preformed, the child may cling to its mother throughout life, causing problems (no marriage, no children, etc.) If the baby dies after this, the parents have two options when the next child is born. They can have the traditional ceremony in the same way again, or they can go to a traditional priest who will bless the baby, hopefully guaranteeing survival and the survival of successive children. The priest will make small cuts on the child’s face in a pattern that marks either where the child is from or why the ceremony had to take place. Monica says she doesn’t know how or why, but 9 times out of 10, after a baby dies and the next goes through the ceremony, the successive children all survive. Walking around Ghana, we see many people with scars on their faces. They’re considered to be beautiful and a strong part of their culture.
When children are born, there is a special ceremony for twins, especially fraternal twins with one boy and one girl. Twins are considered very jealous people in Ghana. The ceremony cuts the special bond that exists between them. If the bond isn’t cut, the twins can become too close as they grow. Fraternal cases with one child of each gender are extremely risky to waive the rites. Ghanaians believe that these sets of twins are basically married from birth. They closely grow together in the womb, and spend their lives together until marriage. If the boy has a girlfriend, or vice versa, the other twin may become extremely jealous that another is breaking the bond between them. If this bond is broken at birth, the children can grow separately and don’t have to go through trouble as they grow older. Monica was telling the story of a set of fraternal twins she knew that didn’t go through the ceremony. The boy was in the process of getting married, but the woman’s family insisted that the ceremony take place before the wedding. If not, the wedding would be called off. Many times if a family doesn’t complete the ceremony at birth, they will return within a matter of years to have it. Monica explained that sometimes things are just done. There is nothing Christianity or modernity can do to stop them.
The next ceremony is considered optional in the cultures of Ghana today. Puberty rites are only for girls and take place immediately after their first menses. Monica explained that this ceremony is basically only to keep young girls in villages in check. To go through this rite, you must be a virgin. If a girl has a baby before she goes through the ceremony or if she doesn’t go through the ceremony and later has a child, she will be exiled from the community and will receive no help with the raising of her child. Monica didn’t go into detail about what happens during this ceremony, and knowing what happens in other puberty ceremonies for girls, I’m sure I don’t want to know.
When Ghanaians start dating, the next ritual comes in. A man must formally introduce himself and his family to the family of a woman before they are allowed to be alone together. Parents have all the rights to object to their daughter seeing or talking to a man before his intentions have been brought to the family. The “Knocking ceremony” brings both sides of the man’s family to the door of the woman’s. It is essential that both sides of both families are present, or the ceremony can’t take place. The man announces his intentions, and the family of the woman either gives or denies him permission to court their daughter. It is the same way during engagements. A man must ask both sides of the woman’s family for her hand and again, he must have representatives from both sides of his own family present. Monica says that if this rite is not completed, the couple can’t be married. She says that because all parts of the families are coming together, it shows the couple the support they have. The couple can fall on this support for advice or action when there are problems in the relationship or marriage. She insists it prevents many cases of divorce. If these rites aren’t completed, the marriage may be doomed to failure because it shows lack of support for the marriage.
There are also other really random ceremonies for specific circumstances. Monica swears that a man or woman married to a person who cheats can complete a ceremony that repels people from their house. For instance, if it is the man who cheated, other women will find it very difficult to enter the family’s home. Monica said that all of a sudden they’ll remember something, or something will happen so that they have to leave. She claims it works very well and has seen it herself! I’m not quite as convinced.
The last ceremony a person will go through is a ceremony of death. There are traditional things that must be done before and after the funeral. If these aren’t completed, it’s said that the spirit of the deceased comes to haunt their family.
Monica and I don’t have many conversations where I learn so much but I love it when we do! She has so much to share with me that I don’t know about her culture and I always feel crazy when I can’t share such awesome things about our culture with her. If you have any ideas of things specific to American culture, let me know so I can share them with her!
