Joined Jul 2019
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Ghana
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I initially didn't respond to this thread because anyone with a genuine interest in African traditional religions could easily find tons of literature on the subject. That and I really didn't like the OP...
I have some experience with Akan traditional religion (Akom), but not a lot. I follow the god of Abraham, so I'm not particularly looking for exposure to Akan traditional religion, though I do respect it, and even accept some of it's principles. There is a supreme creator god, called Nyame or Onyankopon ("he who knows and sees everything"). It's the same name Christian Akans still use for the Christian god, and I also consider him the same god as the god of Abraham, though there are of course differences as they come from totally different traditions (but I believe god has many names). This Nyame is married to Asase Yaa (Mother Earth). Nyame is relatively apathetic towards mankind. No temples are built to him. He is not worshipped directly. The idea of trying to curry favor with him is seen as somewhat ridiculous from a traditional perspective. And teaching children about him is not considered necessary as children are believed to have an innate fate in him/born with knowledge of the supreme creator.
The big difference with Abrahamic religions, is actually not a big difference at all. Akan traditional religion, like many other African religions are considered polytheistic in Western literature, but some, myself included somewhat disagree with this. There are "entities" called "Abosom", which is traditionally translated as "gods" by Westerners (and locals followed suit because they learnt English from those same Westerners). But they are actually spirits, who derive all their power from the supreme creator. They are quite localized. There are dedicated priests to these Abosom, which can inhabit rivers, lakes, trees, rocks, anything really, and these priests offer prayers, libation and sacrifices to these spirits, which may have different powers that can help people. Regular Akans are not expected to worship these spirits, but they may consult them through the priests. Not so different from Christian Saints, if you're able to look at these questions with sober eyes.
Fetishism is commonly associated with this religion, even by modern day Akans, but traditionally (historically, before the upheavals of the 18th and 19th century), fetiches/amulets/gris-gris etc were almost looked down on, considered very low forms of spiritual protection. Probably a local corruption of Vodun and other foreign traditions, that became something we now refer to as Juju (basically magic). Originally, the highest form of spiritual protection was simply having a clean conscience.
Humans are composed of 3 parts. The body, the soul (Kra) and the spirit (Sunsum).
There are also the ancestors, Nsamanfo. The spirits of respected elders continue to be present among the living. Libations are poured for them.
Abonsam is essentially the equivalent of the devil. Nobody likes him...
Then there is also Anansi the spider (or Kwaku Anansi), a great trickster, wise, messenger of Nyame. Human kind was without stories, but Anansi managed to outwit god, and gave mankind all of Nyame's stories. Anansi's stories are even important to the people of Jamaica and Suriname to this day. There's a lot of wisdom in there, in a humorous package.
"A lack of a codified moral code" was brought up in a previous comment, but a lot of Akan moral codes were literally codified in popular visual symbols, known as the Adinkra symbols. Each symbol has a specific name, which is derived from a longer sentence, which in turn is often part of a story. Seeing the symbols is supposed to invoke the meaning of the stories associated with them. Some of the symbols deal with the supremacy of the creator god, like "Gye Nyame" ("except for God"), the most popular one, still seen everywhere today. Other symbols deal with everything from divine grace, (Nyame Nti: By God’s grace), to history (Sankofa: return and take it), to personal hygiene (Duafe: wooden comb), to the combination of humility and strength (Dwennimmen: ram’s horns), to unity and caution against tribalism (Funtunfunefu: Siamese crocodiles), to dynamism and versatility (Nkyinkyim: twisting) and so on.
You can see a non-exhaustive list of Adinkra symbols and their names below. You can just google the individual names to find out their meanings.
One of the books I read on the subject of West African traditional religions that really stuck with me was very originally called, West African Traditional Religion, by Kofi Asare Opoku (1978), which discusses Akan, Yoruba and other West African religions. It's an excellent start:
