Traditional calendar systems in Ghana

Many of the peoples in today's Ghana have their own traditional calendar systems , which are more or less widespread depending on the region and are still used today, be it in relation to agriculture, fishing or activities in the context of traditional religious practice.

Calendar of the Akan and Guang

Lunar calendar

Wilhelm Johann Müller, who worked as a Protestant preacher for the Danish African-Guinean Compagnie on Frederiksborg from 1662 to 1670, mentions in his book that the fetus divide the year into 8 months and count the months by counting each time they look of a new moon tie a knot in a counting cord. Since a lunar month, d. H. a moon phase, however, is exactly 29.5306 days long, neither a lunar year nor a solar year can result from eight months . However, Müller also mentions that said nodes are used to calculate the time of the general main celebration, which takes place every year in September.

Adaduanan Calendar

This is a sacred calendar that was particularly common in Asante and still is today. In historical times it seems to have been widespread among the other Akan peoples. The Ashantic variant of Adaduanan divides the year into nine periods of 40 days each ( Adae ). Each of these 40-day periods is divided into six weeks of 6 days. All of these six days have sacred and movable names. Two special days are considered to be particularly favorable - these are, based on the European calendar, Wednesday and Sunday. Only on these two days does a week end or start a new one. If the end of a 40-day period lies in between, the week is extended to the next Wednesday or Sunday, so that a 42-day period usually arises as good .

In the historical kingdom of Fetu of the 1660s, such a period consisted of 44 days, which were divided into 19-6-13-6-day periods. Only the 19 and 13 day periods were called "happy days" or Adae . According to Müller, the first three days of the 19-day period were also called A dà je pram pram , which meant "extremely happy days". The respective 6-day periods were A dà mu , i.e. H. Unlucky days.

The Adaduanan used to be based on a 6-day week, as is the case in some areas of the North Guang to this day. For example, the Nchumburu know such a 6-day week ( Nanson ), which consists of the following days and which have the following weighting:

Fo (court day; meeting day)
Nwuna (day of sleep; day of death; day of funeral)
Nkyi (hate day; destruction day)
Kuru (city day; political day; king's day)
Kwa (day off; uncontrolled day; day for duty)
Mono (fresh day; day to start something)

This 6-day week in Adaduanan was later replaced by a 7-day week ( Nawotwe ) among the Nchumburu . This was made up of the following days:

Dwo (Monday) (rest day, peace day)
Bena (Tuesday) (day (birthday) of the ocean, warmth and heat, cooking etc.)
Wukuo (Wednesday) (Spider's Day (Birthday))
Ya (Thursday) (Earth Day (birthday) (in some regions); Women's Day)
Afi (Friday) (Fertility Day, Earth Day (in some regions))
Mene (Saturday) (day of God; birthday of the Creator God; day of the ancestors)
Kwasi (Sunday) (day of the universe; "sub-day" (= awiase = under the sun = the universe))

From the combination of these two weekly cycles, i.e. H. 6 times 7 days, the Nchumburu works fine , d. H. a 42 day period. The names of the individual days are then simply made up of the name in the 6-day week and the name in the 7-day week, for example the 30th day of an Adae period is called Mono-Bena .

Star calendar

The calendar, which is particularly common with the Etsi, takes into account the heavenly positions of very prominent stars, such as the Southern Cross , the Pole Star , Sirius and Cassiopeia . It is mainly used by fishermen.

Aborabora calendar

The Aborabora calendar was mainly used on the western Gold Coast and here especially among the Asebu (Sabou). This is a 10-day calendar, which appears to be a simplified version of the 40-day ( adaduanan ) calendar . But it has its own peculiarities compared to the Adaduanan .

Calendar of the Sisala

For the Sisala in the northwest of what is now Ghana, a new year begins with the appearance of a certain star in the night sky, which they call Nyamkpanse . Such a year is divided into 12 or 13 lunar periods, which in their cycle determine the time for all important public activities, celebrations, etc.

Calendar of the Tallensi

The tallensi in the northern territories of today's Ghana have a lunar calendar , according to which in particular the time of their ritual celebrations is based. The months of a year are identical to the phases of the moon . The end or beginning of the year, however, depends on the rainy season, which in the traditional settlement areas of the Tallensi lasts roughly from April to September. Social and religious activities associated with the turn of the year are almost exclusively geared to agricultural conditions, which in turn are linked to the rainy season and the lunar months. For example, early millet is harvested in July-August , while late millet and sorghum remain. This harvest takes place in a special month, i.e. within a moon phase. With the Talli as well as with the Namoo, individual months are subject to special taboos, which are in addition to the constantly existing taboo rules.

The last month, d. H. the last moon phase of the rainy season is the Kuom ngmarig , literally the "moon of water". This is where a ceremonial cycle begins, which begins with the Baari and then covers the entire Tallensi region from here. With the Baari, on the first day of a new phase of the moon, in which the rainy season will end, the “Baari Tendana” literally performs the “throw away the water” ceremony, i.e. H. symbolically, the rains on the first day of the new month are discarded. On the fifth day of the moon and the following days, the Namoo in Tongo celebrate the Gingaung Festival, during which they thank the ancestors for the good harvest of the early millet and for the good remaining grain (sorghum and late Millet). Despite all the solemnity, the "moon of the water" is a dangerous month for the Baari-Talli and the Namoos, because according to traditional belief, human sufferings arise in this month, which are caused by the fact that the arch-sin has been committed and blood rises the earth has come.

The following lunar month is the "moon of Daa". This month the Gingaung menga phase of the Ginggaung festival takes place at the Namoo , the climax of which falls in the second week of the moon. In general, this month is where the sorghum and millet are harvested. The Daa festival is celebrated here by both the Talli clans and the Namoos . When the "moon of Daa" is over, the year is over and a new one begins. Then New Year is celebrated everywhere.

The subsequent moon phase is the "Boyaraam ngmarig". The Boyaraam Festival is celebrated here at the hill tallis , which follows the ritual ceremony of the same name that takes place on the first day of the appearance of the new moon. The festival has a much more religious background than the Gingaung and Daa festivals of the Namoos and the Daa of the Baari and G Reference.

The last lunar month before the onset of the rainy season (late April or early May) is the "moon of Golib". The Golib Festival takes place here at the hill tallis , whose ritual ceremonies have the purpose of ensuring the successful sowing and harvesting of the early millet and of asking for the blessing of fertility in general. The month is associated with numerous special taboos for the hill tallis.

Calendar of the remaining peoples of Togo

The Santrokofi as well as the Akpafu , two of the so -called Remnant Togo peoples in the east of today's Ghana, use a calendar in which the year is made up of 13 lunar months, each consisting of 28 to 30 days. Such a lunar month begins with the appearance of a new moon. The individual months consist of weeks of 2 × 3 days, i.e. H. 4–5 weeks make up a month, although the last week is usually not complete.

Day no.	Designation of the days of the week for the
Day no.	Santrokofi	Akpafu
1	lepó	ikpó
2	lepogálese	ikpoedkeató ikpodeakató (?)
3	nienké	ikpeídjera
4th	dikelú	ikúlu
5	dikelugálese	ikuluedeakató
6th	nemeló	ikuluídjera

The emphasis within such a weekly cycle is on 2 × 3, because the 1st and 4th day are holy days that are dedicated to certain deities.

The "ikpó" -tag of the Akpafu is dedicated to the "Tukpa", i. H. the national god and god of peace, who is also responsible for fertility in agricultural agriculture. Shooting in particular is prohibited on his day. Three months after the harvest, a special festival in honor of the deity takes place in these areas, which takes place approximately every year in March and lasts for a full day. This day is called "Tukpaikpo" by the Akpafu, as a combination of "Tukpa" and "ikpo".

With the Santrokofi, the “lepó” day is dedicated to the deities “Jángba”, “Togoté” and “Toróco”, all three of which are the main deities of certain family clans. The former is a powerful god , especially among the neighboring Likpe .

On “ikúlu” day, four other deities are worshiped by the Akpafu, but otherwise they do not seem to be too important, as long as there are no catastrophic conditions to be encountered. These are "Kánedu", the water god; "Jakpaná", the fire god; "Auwé", the air deity and "Tricocó", the earth deity. The main annual festival for these four gods coincides with the "Tukpaikpo" day (see above).

European influence

In the course of time and not insignificantly influenced by constant contact with Europeans, a calendar form has developed, especially among the ethnic groups on the coast and in the coastal hinterland, which divides the year into 12 months according to the tropical solar year common in Europe . The key points of such a year are, however, geared to agricultural conditions. According to this calendar, the time of the beginning of sowing and harvesting in the field is determined with the Akan.

According to Cruickshank, who describes the Gold Coast of the 1830s, the Fantis of the Gold Coast divide the year into 12 months and weeks, each consisting of seven days, analogous to these in their agricultural calendar, probably due to the years of European influence. One of these seven days, analogous to the Sabbath of the Jewish Old Testament, is a day of rest.

In contrast to European customs, however, this day of rest is Tuesday for fishermen on the coast and Friday for farmers in the interior. On such a day, people generally do not work and dress with more than usual care and pay all sorts of attention to fetish service. In addition, a private person pays special attention to the day of the week on which he was born (which can usually be recognized by one of the first names).

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Wilhelm Johann Müller, The Africanische Auff the Guinean Gold-Cust located Landschektiven Fetu . Pfeiffer et al., Hamburg 1673 (reprint of the 1676 edition: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1968 ( early journeys and seafaring in original reports 7)).

Brodie Cruickshank, An eighteen year sojourn on the Gold Coast of Africa . Dyk, Leipzig 1855 online .

M. Fortes: Ritual festivals and social cohesion in the hinterland of the Gold Coast . In: American Anthropologist . NS 38, 4, 1936, ISSN 0002-7294 , pp. 590-604.

Paul Hinderling: Notes from the Remaining Peoples of Togo . In: Tribus. Yearbook of the Linden Museum (Stuttgart). NF 2/3, 1952/53, pp. 361-358.

Philipp FW Bartle: Forty days. The Akan calendar . In: Africa . 48, 1, 1978, 80-84.

Footnotes

↑ When specifying "one year", Müller unfortunately expressed himself in a misleading way, because if the appearance of a new moon fell on January 1st, then there are eight moon phases = 236 days and the beginning of the 9th moon phase would fall on August 25th. In this sense it should be understood that within a European solar year eight phases of the moon must pass before the fetus celebrate their big festival, with which a new year also begins for them. However, since a lunar year (= 12 lunar phases) is 11 days shorter than a solar year, the locals of that time must have made further correction regulations, unknown to us today, in order to determine each time a point in time that falls in September.

↑ Denmark introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1699, Protestant Germany in 1700, consequently Müller writes from the point of view of the Julian calendar , which shifts its times by 10 days to the beginning of the year, so that this festival took place before the onset of the second rainy season, which starts in October according to our current (Gregorian) calendar. With the onset of the rainy season, there was and is no more time for celebrations, because the fields have to be tilled and this quickly.

↑ Müller writes "A dà je".

↑ The spider (the spider Anansi among the Akan) is considered to be a mortal corporeality of the otherwise immortal creator god.

↑ The earth, ie the earth goddess, is female

↑ The region of their settlement areas was called Cabes Terra by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries . It is located in the hinterland of the central Gold Coast. They are the northern neighbors of the Asebu (Sabou).

↑ The main settlement of the Baari Tallensi clan of the same name , which is one of the four main Talli clans, is located near Baari . Baari is located north of Tongo, where the main homestead of the Namoo clan is located. The Tallensi people essentially consist of members of two powerful family clans: the Namoo and the Talli .

↑ Among the Tallensi, the Tendaana is the chief of a patrilineal clan of the Talli. The title literally means “owner of the land”.

↑ The reason or the cause of a possible earth-blood contact is irrelevant. Whether this blood comes from a homicide or just from a cut or a harmless scratch is irrelevant, only the fact that blood reaches the earth on these days is decisive.

↑ literally " Gingaung menga " = literally: "the true Gingaung".

[1] When specifying "one year", Müller unfortunately expressed himself in a misleading way, because if the appearance of a new moon fell on January 1st, then there are eight moon phases = 236 days and the beginning of the 9th moon phase would fall on August 25th. In this sense it should be understood that within a European solar year eight phases of the moon must pass before the fetus celebrate their big festival, with which a new year also begins for them. However, since a lunar year (= 12 lunar phases) is 11 days shorter than a solar year, the locals of that time must have made further correction regulations, unknown to us today, in order to determine each time a point in time that falls in September.

[2] Denmark introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1699, Protestant Germany in 1700, consequently Müller writes from the point of view of the Julian calendar , which shifts its times by 10 days to the beginning of the year, so that this festival took place before the onset of the second rainy season, which starts in October according to our current (Gregorian) calendar. With the onset of the rainy season, there was and is no more time for celebrations, because the fields have to be tilled and this quickly.

[3] Müller writes "A dà je".

[4] The spider (the spider Anansi among the Akan) is considered to be a mortal corporeality of the otherwise immortal creator god.

[5] The earth, ie the earth goddess, is female

[6] The region of their settlement areas was called Cabes Terra by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries . It is located in the hinterland of the central Gold Coast. They are the northern neighbors of the Asebu (Sabou).