Mema wo Adae tɔkye!

Awukudae (Wuku+adae) is the 10th ɛda (day) of the Adaduanan, and it is a dabɔne (holy day) that occurs when “Kuru” of the Nnanson (six-day week) intersects with “Wukuada” of the Nnawɔtwe (seven-day week).

In Akan culture, Awukudae (Wuku+adae) is holy day that occurs every 6 weeks where individuals divert from regular business and secular activities to feed and commune with spirit of Aku/Wuku, as well as other Abosom (forces of nature) and Ancestors

On this Awukudae, let reflect on the ancestors Okomfohene Yao Opare Dinizulu 1st and Okomfohema Akua Oparebea.

In 1965, Gus Edwards alias Dinizulu met with Oparebea for the first time. An official from the University of Ghana had directed him to Larteh where he consulted with the Akonnedi Shrine in search of his spiritual roots. Oparebea divined that she and Dinizulu shared common ancestry and hence renamed him Nana Yao Opare Dinizulu. She initiated Dinizulu and trained him in the arts of akↄm during repeated visits over the years. When she deemed him ready, she bestowed the title ↄkↄmfoↄhene (chief of the priests) of the Akan diaspora on him and gave him the deities Asuo Gyebi, Esi Ketewa, and Adade Kofi to take with him and establish their shrines in America. So, when Dinizulu returned to the US in 1969, he took these deities with him, founded shrines for them in New York and Washington, and included these in the Bosum Dzemawodzi religious network which comprised Yoruba deities as well as other African American religious actors.

As it seems, he was unable to take Akonnedi with him as the goddess does not travel over water, but he certainly promoted the names of the deity and Oparebea in his community. So, when Oparebea visited him for the first time in 1971, she was eagerly expected by members of the Bosum Dzemawodzi network. She was consulted by numerous people and founded several shrines during her first trip to the US. Over the next decades, Oparebea travelled across the Black Atlantic and brought her deities to new places. She founded shrines for them and consulted with countless people to cure their ailments. In turn, people from across the Black Atlantic travelled to Larteh to consult with Akonnedi, receive training from Oparebea, or pledge their allegiance to them. Thus, Oparebea became the head priestess and Akonnedi the main deity of a transatlantic religious network.

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Nana Okomfohema Oparebea Visits Washington DC

Nana Akua Oparebea was a multi-faceted and powerful priest in her own right. With her close associations with Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s party, she was an astute cultural and pol