Kwabena Sarpong

Mrs. Katsanos
Global Connections- Ingenious People
30 October 2016
Akan Religion
The Akan religion was first practiced in Ghana and it is the main religion there to this
day, however, it has also spread to other west African countries such as Cote dIvoire, Liberia
and Togo. Akan believe that the world was created by a Supreme being known as Nyame (God),
and Odomankoma (Infinite Inventor). When people refer to the Supreme being as Nyame they
are referring to the one who keeps the universe in orbit and gives life and power. Nyame does not
associate with one gender. The male side is associated with the sun and his female side is
associated with the moon. Odomankoma, and he alone, is the one given all the credit for the
creation of the universe. It is believed that he created the universe with his sharp mind, keen eyes
for detail and craftsmanship. He was able to comprise the universe by sculpting it out of an
unknown substance. He illustrated his ingenuity by show developing trees, rivers, mountains,
valleys, etc. After he created the five large bodies of water, Odomankoma elevated one land
above and completely separated from the rest of the universe called heaven. Heaven and the
universe were separated, but Odomankoma was still close enough to the universe to watch over
his creation. He created visual living creatures such as wild animals and mankind. With visual
living creatures also came along non-visual creatures such as Death. One day a women decided
to become greedy and pound more fufu, a popular meal in Ghana, than she needed. In order to do
that she needed a longer pestle. When she raised up the already high pestle she hit heaven. She

apologized to him and asked if he could move up a little higher. Odomankoma agreed and
elevated heaven. This was the first time the pestle hit heaven, but it was not going the last. This
irritated Odomankoma and he raised heaven up so high that heaven cannot be seen from the
world. Since he was originally close to the universe he looked after them and kept them away
from sickness and disease and brought them immortality. Death killed Odomankoma, however,
he was resurrected, which is why he resides in heaven. He has more power when he is in
heaven, so that is why he was able to control Death and give humans immortality. Now that he is
gone, the universe started getting sick and people started dying. Odmankoma knew that he
couldnt return, so that is why he sent Nyame to save the world.
In the beginning, humans lived on the earth but did not know how to repopulate because
they were used to living forever, so there was no need to. One myth said that Nyame created the
python and the python taught the humans how to mate. Another myth said that men and women
lived separately. Nyame sent a goat to deliver the message to the humans. When the goat reached
earth, it got distracted by the beautiful grass. Nyame, in heaven, watched as all this was going
down, and he later sent a sheep to carry out the task. The sheep was able to reach the humans and
he told them a message, but he told the humans the wrong messages and said God said that you
will all die and you will be reunited with him. Finally, the goat reached the humans and told
them the truth about repopulating and how it could save mankind, but by then it was too late.
They had already heard what the sheep said and they accepted their fate and they wanted to be
with Odomankoma again. Nyame realizing what he done, kept sending other animals to convince
the humans that they should repopulate. Finally, after sending various animals, Nyame was able
to convince the humans that they should repopulate. He was able to convince the humans that
they should repopulate and fertilized the earth with various animals that we see today. By this

time Nyame realized all of the beautiful animals he created and decided to keep them all in the
world. He also realized how much trouble he faced when animals and human beings were able to
communicate using a common tongue, so he made it that humans and animals can no longer
communicate the same way. Instead of having a common way of communicating, Nyame gave
them souls.
The Akan believe that every human being and animal has a soul before they are born and
that soul continues to live on after he or she dies. A common way of naming a child is by the day
of the week that child was born because each soul is associated with one of the seven. (boy/girl)
Sunday Kwasi/ Akousa
Monday: Kwadwo/Adwoa
Tuesday: Kwabena/ Abenaa
Wednesday: Kwaku/Akua
Thursday: Yaw/ Yaa
Friday: Kofi/Afua
Saturday: Kwame/Amma
There are other ways of naming a child such as: if the child was first, second, third born; if they
were born on the road, in war; if they were twins, or if two children of the same household were
born on the same day. There are also different variations of names for everyday of the week.

Works Cited
"Odomankoma Creates the Universe - Oxford Reference." Odomankoma Creates the Universe Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press, 23 July 2016. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Sarpong, Kwabena. Personal Interview. 24 Oct. 2016.