Adae

Adae, an important festival of the Akan people of western Africa that involves the invocation, propitiation, and veneration of ancestral spirits. Those are special days on which the ahene (traditional rulers; singular ohene) enter the nkonuafieso (stool house), the resting place for the spirits of ancestors, and pour libation and offer food on behalf of their people. As suggested by the meaning of the term, the festival is a day of rest and, as such, work is forbidden.

In the Akan calendar, one year is represented by nine cycles (also called Adae). Following the Akan calendar, according to which each cycle constitutes a period of about 42 days, the Adae festival is celebrated on two occasions in each cycle—Akwasidae, falling on a Sunday, and Awukudae, falling on a Wednesday. Akwasidae and Awukudae festivals are localized, celebrated by every ohene in his community among his people. The final Akwasidae of the Akan year is the Adae Kese (Great Adae), which is a larger celebration and observed more widely.

Akwasidae is grander than Awukudae, and much of it is celebrated publicly. However, the general public does not participate in the most-important aspect of the festival, which takes place in the nkonuafieso. On the Akwasidae morn, each ohene, accompanied by his elders and attendants, lowers his cloth to bare his shoulders and removes his sandals as a sign of humility and respect before the ancestors. Entering the nkonuafieso, he greets the ancestors by calling each of their names, one by one, and offering them libation. The ancestors are then offered a sheep, whose blood is smeared on the stools, as well as special foods prepared in their honour. The ohene then sits in state to receive his people. On those sacred days, personal and community disputes as well as important political matters are often addressed publicly in the presence of the ohene.

Equally important to Adae are the preparations for the festivals. The day before Akwasidae is Memeneda Dapaa; the Tuesday prior to Awukudae is Beneda Dapaa. On dapaa days, all of the preparations needed for the Adae are attended to by all those involved in the celebration. Ritual drumming announces the events of the coming day and invokes the spirits of ancestral drummers, seeking their cooperation and blessings for a successful Adae.

On a more-individual level, the Adae is also recognized through ritual by spiritual practitioners of the Akan tradition. Each Akwasidae, akomfo (traditional priests; singular: okomfo) and their attendees hold an akom. Akom is the general term given to a series of dances performed by the akomfo. As the akomfo dance to the specific cadences of religious drumming, communication with the ancestors and healing are believed to occur. The akom is an enjoyable social event, but, more important, it serves as a spiritual gathering of the ancestors, the abosom, and the people gathered who sing, clap, drum, and dance. It elevates the spiritual consciousness of the participants and thus is an appropriate ritual for Akwasidae. In the spiritual tradition, all are encouraged to recognize and celebrate Akwasidae because it provides a communal means through which to maintain contact with the ancestors.

Awukudae, which falls on the fourth Wednesday after Akwasidae, is primarily celebrated in the Eastern region of Ghana and is seen as the Adae on which people should work toward good causes (i.e., feed the hungry, make monetary donations, help the needy). During that Adae, particular attention is paid to the shrines of family ancestors.

Adae emphasizes and further reinforces the essential Akan principle that the living require the cooperation of the ancestors in their daily existence. That recurring invocation and veneration of the ancestors keeps their memory and spirits alive in the minds of the people and the heart of the community.