Encyclopedia of African Religion

Tree of Nyame

Symbol of the presence of Nyame and Nyame’s

protection

“Nyame Nti, menwe wura.”

Since God exists, I will not feed on leaves [like

an animal or beast].

Symbol of faith and trust in Nyame

“I Live not when Nyame is not!”

Symbol of the perpetual existence of

the human spirit

“The Spirit”

Symbol of spirituality, spiritual purity and

the cleanliness of the spirit

Yaba Amgborale Blay

See alsoAbosom; Akan; Asamando; Color Symbolism;

Nyame; Sunsum

Further Readings

Opoku, K. A. (1978).West African Traditional Religion.

Accra, Ghana: FEP International Private Limited.

Willis, W. B. (1998).The Adinkra Dictionary:A Visual

Primer on the Language of Adkinkra. Washington,

DC: The Pyramid Complex.

ADUOGYINAE

Adu Ogyinaeis the name of the first man in Akan

mythology. Among the Akan, a group of people

who occupy portions of Ghana and Ivory Coast,

it is believed that they descended from a group of

people who entered the area around 2000 BC as

farmers. Stone-using villages have been discovered

in this region, which suggests that they kept live-

stock and cultivated crops.

In the area of Brong, Adansi, and Assin, a

matrilineal Akan group emerged and spread to

inhabit most of the land between the Volta and

Comoe Rivers. They found Guan people, the

accepted early owners of the land, already in some

of those places. Nevertheless, around 500 BC, the

Akan had begun to establish their social and

political institutions. It is about this time that the

mythology of the people began to take shape and

the elders had created legends and narratives that

explained the people’s origins.

According to a traditional libation in Adansi, it

is declared that Adansi was the first Akan state

and that it stands at the head of the Akan Nation.

In fact, the cosmogony given by the elders of

Adansi state that Adansi was the place that Adu

Ogyinae came into existence.

In the tradition of the Akan, the Great Creator,

Odomankoma, another name for Nyame, made

everything in the universe. Thus, Odomankoma

made Awo, Abena, Aku, Aberaw, Afi, Amen, and

Figure6 NyameDua

Figure7 NyameNwuNaMawu

Figure8 Sunsum

Figure9 NyameNti

10 Adu Ogyinae