African Spirituality: On Becoming Ancestors, Revised Edition

African spirituality among the Akan people of Ghana can be defined as a developmental quest to achieve ancestorhood in heaven (Samanadzie) after first attaining eldership and wisdom in the corporeal world (Wiadzie). The African life, then, is a cycle. A human originates in the Samanadzie as a spiritual personality after being joined by a spirit (Sunsum). At birth, a newborn is endowed with a soul, becoming a living being. During adulthood, a person embarks on an ethical existence, the successful application of which leads a community to confer an eldership title (Nana) on an adult. Upon death, a Nana is again transformed and judged at the Samanadzie. If found worthy, they joins the eternally esteemed company of the Ancestors (Nananom Nsamanfo), with the most powerful of them all—kings and queen mothers—transformed into deities.