Z badań nad kultem ziemi u ludu Konkomba z północnej Ghany

Abstract

The Earth occupies a special place in the beliefs and cult of the primitive people. The Earth is the foundation of life and the basis of a number of hierophanies. As a fertile mother and feeder it is held in respect and cult. The rituals of offering libation to the Earth among Konkomba people of northern Ghana which are analyzed and interpreted in the present study put emphasis on the ability to create and the vital power of the Earth which are reflected in fertility and abundance. The author of the article presents the structure of the rituals of offering libation to the Earth in the villages of Nalongni (4 May, 1991) and Kiteek (5-6 May, 1991) as well as their social and religious significance. The source basis was provided above all by the author’s field studies conducted among the Konkomba in the area of Saboba in the periods from July 1984 to January 1985 and from September 1990 to August 1991. The Earth cult among the Konkomba people is first of all connected with agrarian economy and seasonal agricultural work. Among these, such jobs as preparations for yam planting, corn sowing and harvesting are of special religious importance and they have a rich ritual setting. Considering the rank and importance, the rituals taking place at the end of the dry season, before the beginning of the field work, are more important. They have a propitiatory character and their principal aim is to beg for the rain. Among the Bichabob tribe the ritual in the Earth shrine in Bwagbaln (performed on 24 March, 1991) has a close connection with the rituals of offering libation to the Earth because it precedes the performance of rituals connected with the Earth in homesteads and Earth shrines as well as in the shrines of protective spirits in the villages of Nalongni, Kiteek, Kumwateek and Bwakul. A characteristic common element of the rituals of offering libation to the Earth in Nalongni and Kiteek was the place of those rituals, which was the outside yard of the homestead. A cycle of rites performed in the yard had a basic character but it did not constitute the whole of the ritual. 21 men participated in the Nalongni ritual of lineage and clan range. On the other hand, the Kiteek ritual had a supraclan character and it comprised the village inhabitants and the representatives of the neighbouring major lineages and clans connected by the bonds of clan community (unibaan), ritual bonds (rnantotiib), the bonds of friendship and neighbourhood. The religious significance of the rituals of offering libation to the Earth is reflected in the addressees of prayers and sacrifices (god Uwumbor, Earth spirits, protective spirits of the clans, bush spirits, twin spirits, ancestor spirits), the content of prayers concerning various needs of individual and community life, especially requests for the rain, offspring, abundance of food, freedom from trouble and bringing the offerings (beer, beer mixed with water, poultry blood, intestines and liver).