Akan religion

Similar to other traditional religions of West and Central Africa such as West African Vodun, Yoruba religion, or Odinani, Akan cosmology consists of a senior god who generally does not interact with humans and many gods who assist humans.

Anansi the spider is a folk hero who is prominent in Ashanti folktales where he is depicted as a wise trickster.

In other aspects of Akan spirituality, Anansi is also sometimes considered both a trickster and a deity associated with wisdom, responsible for creating the first inanimate humans, according to the scholar Anthony Ephirim-Donkor.

[citation needed] The creator god takes on different names depending upon the region of worship, including Nyame, Nyankopon, Brekyirihunuade ("Almighty"), Odomankoma ("infinite inventor"),[3] Ɔbɔadeɛ ("creator") and Anansi Kokuroko ("the great designer" or "the great spider").

[4] There is no concept of a trinity in Akan religion, like in Christianity, but rather the veneration of the Creator, Mother Earth and the ancestors besides the abosom.

[9] The mother of the abosom is Bosompo, the primordial goddess of the sea, who came after Abo, Nyame, and Asase Yaa.

Abosom receive their power from the creator god and are most often connected to the world as it appears in its natural state.

Many of those who believe in these traditions participate in daily prayer, which includes the pouring of libations as an offering to both the ancestors who are buried under the land and to the spirits who are everywhere.

Such abosom are also believed to give health, fertility, prosperity, protection from witches and other needs to those who have established communication with them.

[15] Other Ashanti elements include the use of swords and rings as means to guard the spirit from spiritual attack.

Here latent influences of Akan beliefs can be seen in the incorporation of Anansi as one of the Lwa worshiped in the Haitian religion.