Akonedi Shrine
This is a shrine located at Larteh Kubeasi, very popular and believed to be one of the most powerful shrine among the Akuapims.
Major spirits worshiped at the Akonnedi shrine in Larteh include: Akonnedi,
Esi Ketewa, Adade Kofi, Asuo Gyebi and Tegare.
Okomfoo Ejo is referenced as the first okomfoo (priest) of Akonnedi who died in 1800.
According to Nana Akua Kyerewaa Opokuwaa a priestess of Akonedi:
“…Tega–also called Tegare or Tegani is from the Northern and Western part of Ghana near Upper Volta.
Tegare was originally a hunter’s Deity and assisted in locating and catching game.
He is said to have spoken
and revealed himself through a piece of wood.
Tegare –unlike Asuo-Gyebi, Tano, Densu Yao and others is more of a “Suman” than an “Obosum” in the strict sense.
He is best described as a Suman who is also an Obosum.
Thus He
resides in a manmade clump of medicine or Suman…”
“…He is a wonderful and popular Obosum who sings beautiful songs and is a spectacular dancer.
He is fun but
never to be taken lightly as he is always watching you carefully. He is from the Northern islamized part of
Ghana.
He dresses in that manner and often carries islamic prayer beads along with a throwing stick
called aconti…” [This link can be found here: http://www.rootsandrooted.org/?p=709 ]
Tegare has only been a spirit employed by the Akan since the early 12900s (1900s)—less than 100
years.
Nana Kwabena alludes to the fact that Tegare did not begin as an “Obosom”, but was a
suman (discarnate spirit, often associated with a talisman) first.
In Kwasi Konadu’s
publication “Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge in African Society” he addresses how in the Bono Akan
tradition Tegare, once received from the non-Akan region of Yipala in Northern Ghana, was
“transformed” into an “Obosom”.
In the article: Medicine and Anthropology in Twentieth-Century Africa:
Akan Medicine and Encounters with Anthropology, also by Kwasi Konadu he states:
“…Tigare is both a suman and an obosom, and the latter is a more recent development according to traditions
found among the Bono.
According to oral historical sources,Tigare was a suman used primarily by hunters, as a
hunter found it in the forest, and as a suman it did not “possess” its custodian.
A Tano obosom extracted clay
from the Tano River, in addition to other ingredients, and placed the composite substance on the Tigare suman,
transforming it to anobosom…”
In reality, Tegare is a “deified” Ancestor.
The Bono Akan people recognize Tegare as a suman – not
an Obosom. It must be noted that NO Abosom will carry islamic prayer beads nor the
implements or trinkets of any other pseudo/false-religion.
“…Friday is a very important day for Nana Tegare, who is a deified ancestor.
He is said to be from Northern
Ghana who settled throughout Ghana, IvoryCoast, Togo and other places in WestAfrica…”
Tigare Shrine
Tigare is one of the oldest shrines in Ghana and at the mention of his name back in the day, it used to send shivers down the spine of most Ghanaians. People have sworn to it in many courts and the results were not pleasant.
Tigare first arrived in the coastal area of Ghana around the 1920s. This West African cult is believed to have originated in the Islamized and semi-arid Sudanic region and gradually spread to the south into the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and parts of Nigeria.
Tano Shrine
The river Tano is believed to be a goddess and there is a shrine built in her name and those who visit it narrate how powerful she is.
The Tano River runs 400 kilometers (approximately 250 miles) from the Ghana-Ivory Coast border in the north down toward the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the sea. It is a highly regarded river by the Akan culture and has been associated with many of the great events and historical deeds of the Akan. Indeed, at the head of the river, where it begins, is the Tano Sacred Grove noted in history and by custom for its beautifully mystical clusters of striking sandstone formations, all enclosed in a semideciduous forest.
Here the earliest settlements of the Akan are said to have taken place. The people emerged from the land in this region and then began to create the first centralized state.
The Tano Shrine is kept nearby in the town of Tanoboase. Now the deity called Tano is the stool deity for Obo.
Pra Shrine
The Pra Shrine is similar to the Tano Shrine which also happens to be a river too.
It is the worship of the Pra River in Ghana, which is the easternmost and the largest of the three principal rivers that drain the area south of the Volta divide.
Rising in the Kwahu Plateau near Mpraeso and flowing southward for 240 km through rich cocoa and farming areas and valuable forests in the Akan lowlands, the Pra enters the Gulf of Guinea east of Takoradi.
In the 19th century, the Pra served as the border between the Ashanti Confederacy and the Gold Coast.
Klikor Shrine
The Klikor shrine has gained a lot of popularity due to its Trokosi practice. It is said that when someone reports you to the shrine and the shrine finds you guilty and you’re unable to pay the debt, your relative will have to serve the deity and mostly it is women who are made to serve. Most of the people who have been enslaved by the shrine are afraid to run away because they believe the shrine is very powerful you could easily be killed by it.
Dekadje Shrines
The Dekadje Shrine located at Goi in the Ada West district has attracted a lot of people for some time now and is believed to hold a lot of African culture and history and have been advised to be used as a tourism site. Besides this, the shrine has been noted for being one of the most powerful shrines in the country.
Tongo Shrines
The Tongo Shrines are a set of shrines located in the Northern Region of Ghana believed to be very powerful.
Tongo is a small town near the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga, and the capital of Talensi-Nabdam district, a district in the Upper East Region of Northern Ghana. Tongo is known for the, Tengzug shrine, Tongo whispering rocks and for its sowing and harvest festivals. The Tengzug shrine, tucked away in the remote village of Tengzug in Tongo, is unique due to its origin and the way in which local people worship in it.The Tongo Hills and Tengzug Shrine are located in the village of Tengzug, 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) southeast of Bolgatanga.
THE END
Source: http://african-research.com/
