Further Readings
Bohannan, P. (1960).African Homicide and Suicide.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Jamison, D. T., Feachem, R. G., Makgoba, M. W.,
Bos, E. R., Baingana, F. K., Hofman, K. J., et al.
(2006).Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Washington, DC: The International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development.
Jeffreys, M. D. W. (1952). Samsonic Suicide or Suicide of
Revenge Among Africans.African Studies, 11 ,
118–122.
SUMAN
In African religion, and especially among the
Akan, the presence of suman is a significant
part of the culture. A suman is a material object
that is dedicated to religious purposes because
of its energy. Because religion is based on a
set of beliefs, suman is an aspect of the religion
that is derived from a belief in the energizing
capacity of certain objects. Most African
cultures accept the following hierarchy: God,
the ancestors, the spirits, the totem, and suman,
also called charms.
The suman is a specialized piece of art that is
used as a talisman or charm for offensive or defen-
sive capabilities. A suman is not a fetish, a word
derived from the Portuguese wordfetico, which
originally referred to an object that was used as an
amulet. The idea behind fetico was that the object
was the religion. This is why so many people in
the West thought of African religion as fetish
religion. In fact, long before they knew anything
about African religion on a practical or philosoph-
ical level, many people in Europe and America
referred to African religion by the Portuguese-
derived termfetish. To use the wordfetishis to
collapse the full meaning of African religion to the
“things” of religion.
Suman is not the same thing as obosom.
Whereas suman is a dedicated religious artifact,
obosom means deity. These are two different con-
cepts in African religion. The suman is an object
that might be used to fend off evil spirits, create
protection around the defenseless, or empower
people to achieve something that they did not
know they were capable of doing.
One receives the suman from a priest who has
sanctioned its use as an object set apart for the
purpose of spiritual energy. Thus, it is not some-
thing that can be taken from the environment
without being “sanctified” by the proper rituals
of the religion. To be effective, the suman must be
made powerful and can be considered a form of
magical power because the material object signi-
fies the means through which important power
can be activated.
In some senses, the idea that evil exists in the
world calls into being the existence of a power
that is equally strong, and that force is channeled
through the suman. Therefore, the suman serves
as a personal security and protection device, much
like a weapon for combating evil or an instrument
for doing good. African religion takes the suman
as a necessary component of the religion when
one is confronted with evil that is unexplained or
that occurs as a result of malice.
The suman can be used by diviners, medicine
men, herbalists, and rainmakers to bring about
good in the world. In contrast, the suman can be
used to create chaos for one’s enemies. In light of
the various uses of the suman, it is important for
the student of African religion to know that the
suman’s activation is dependent on the proper
rituals being carried out by the proper officiate.Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoAmulet; MagicFurther Readings
Asante, M. K., & Nwadiora, E. (2007).Spear Masters:
Introduction to African Religion. Lanham, MD:
University Press of America.
Mbiti, J. (1969).African Religions and Philosophy.
London: Heinemann.
Opoku, K. O. (1978).West African Traditional Religion.
London: FEP International.SUN
The sun is generally perceived as a powerful like-
ness of the creator, although all traditions do not
perceive the sun as exclusively benevolent. Its first636 Suman