Ancestors in the Traditional Religion of the Ashanti People

Abstract

African Traditional Religions are often perceived as religious systems, where the most important role is played by the ancestors. Sometimes they are directly called ancestral cults, but giving such a name is not adequate to reality. It is proved by the role and position of ancestors among the Ashanti people. Although their indigenous religion has a clearly ancestral character, the high rank of the ancestors results from their relation with the Supreme Being. Every cult dedicated to the ancestral spirit and all the special rituals to honour their place among this African society reveal the superiority of Supreme Being Onyame. She is the source of ancestors’ importance. The above article presents Ashanti ancestral idea, the role of the ancestral spirits in the society, conditions which must be fulfilled by the dead to obtain a noble status, forms of religious respect which is paid to the deeds who are still considered alive. The work also shows a scheme of Ashanti eschatology and sociological influence spread to West African community.