Akan PerspectivesIn the Akan culture, a person is basically composed
of several components:okra,mogya, andsunsum.
But people are also members of anabusua, family,
and exist in the context of community, which
includes both the living and the Dead. Therefore,
certain ritualized ideas ofnkrabeaare based essen-
tially on the concept of family. Among these
thoughts is the idea that a person exists within a
community and therefore must work to assist oth-
ers in carrying out their destinies. In addition, one
cannot be “saved” alone; because there is no danc-
ing alone, there is no destiny alone.
Even the idea of kinship reflects communal close-
ness so that age groups share common mothers
and common siblings. There are no first
cousins, only brothers and sisters, mothers and
fathers, and uncles and aunts. Destiny in African
religion is interconnected, although there are
unique qualities to each person. In fact, nkrabea
suggests that each human is unique and has value
apart from others, although this value is meaning-
less without community. No person is without
nkrabea, although many people will never discover
their nkrabea. Only through communicating with
other people can one truly discover nkrabea.
The reason for this is because, within the
community of humans, there is an endless vari-
ety of possibilities. When people interact with
others, they observe what completes them,
makes them feel whole, satisfies them, and
brings them to consciousness of their destiny. In
ancient Africa, the priests would express the
satisfaction of the divine when an action had
been achieved that was considered difficult or
extraordinary. One wanted to arrive at the point
when every action, however small or large,
would seem natural and expected, like water
running off a duck’s back. Then one would have
achieved all the possibilities of nkrabea because
there would be order, balance, and harmony.
Throughout Africa, there is a general belief in
human destiny. It recognizes both the power of
the unknown as well as the limitations of human
beings. It is composed of several important ele-
ments. One can take the Akan wordnkrabeaas
an example of the complexity of this concept. In
the first place, the verbkrameans to take leave of
or bid farewell to the realm of the unknown so as
to capture the idea that when one is born one is
actually saying goodbye to providence.Nkrabea
literally means “the manner in which a soul
departs for the earth.” One may call this “fate,”
“allotted life,” or “prescribed lot.”
The centrality of human beings in the universe
is a part of the African idea of destiny. This means
that the person must show respect and reverence
for both the visible and invisible spheres of life. In
the Akan view, the human must be in harmony
with both the animate and inanimate worlds to
claim the energies and vital forces in them. The
Akan say “Nkrabea mu nni kwatibea.” This
means that the destiny you have been assigned
cannot be escaped. In effect, the order that has
been given is settled and cannot be altered unless
one carries out certain rituals of behavior. So for
nkrabea to be fixed does not mean that it is
immutable; it only means that if one believes that
his or her destiny is negative, then ritual is neces-
sary to change the destiny. However, it is not easy.
Among the Akan, it is believed that a person’s
okrareceives his destiny before his birth. Thus,
the nkrabea is often called the hyebea, which
means “the way and manner in which one’s
destiny was ordered.” Once theokra, similar to
Western idea of soul, has been imprinted with
destiny, a person enters the world with certain attri-
butes that would aid in the destiny. The idea of
destiny is not like saying that one’s destiny is to be
a teacher, engineer, lawyer, or any other profes-
sional occupation, but rather like saying that one’s
character will reflect justice, mercy, truth, right-
eousness, and goodness. Thus, it is critical for a
person to communicate with others. Everyone
wants a good destiny. It is an indication that the
person “fits” well in the community of ancestors
and the living. A good destiny isAkraye; a bad
destiny isAkrabiriin Akan. When one seems to
have akrabiri, a bad destiny, as indicated by how
they get along with others, treat their parents,
interact with strangers, and “fit” into the society,
it is a serious problem that can only be dealt with
through ritual.African Themes
One finds similar ideas among other groups of
Africans. For example, among the Yoruba, the198 Destiny