Akan calendar
Encyclopedia
The Akan
calendar is based on what the Akan
call 'forty days'; Adaduanan (da=day, aduanan=forty). Close examination of the cycle reveals 42 different days, with the 43rd being the same as the first.
The six-day week is referred to as Nanson (literally seven-days) and reflects the lack of zero in the numbering systems; the last day and the first day are both included when counting the days of a week.
The 42-day cycle shown here, as recorded in Kwahu
, is the same recorded for the Brong
(i.e., Bono Techiman) a state northwest of the Asante
.
The 42-day cycle may be thought to begin on Fodwo and the other three dabƆne follow in nine-day intervals; Awukudae on the tenth day, Fofi on the nineteenth day, and Akwasidae on the twenty-eighth day. It takes a further 14 days to complete the Adaduanan.
When Kuru (from kurow, town) of the six-day week coincides with a Wednesday of the seven-day week (on Kuru-Wukuo), or with a Sunday of the seven-day week
(on Kuru-Kwasi), the two dabone most closely related to stool rites, Awukudae and Akwasidae (Wuko-Adae and Kwasi-Adae) are celebrated.
These two 'bad' days, related to death, are called adae (perhaps deriving from da, sleep, dae, slept or died and eye, well [sic], implying that the ancestors should lie comfortably in their death), and are closely associated with politico-ritual symbols of gerontocracy
sanctified or sanctioned by ancestor worship.
No funerals may be held and no news of death may reach the ears of a chief
(the living shrine of his ancestors) while libation
s of alcohol and offerings of food are made to the blackened stools (the permanent physical shrines of those ancestors) on an adae.
When Fo of the six-day week coincides with a Monday or Friday, the two dabone most closely related to tutelary spirits, Fodwo and Fofi, are celebrated. They are closely associated with medico-religious symbols or purification and the intervention of anthropomorphic spirits inhabiting natural objects such as rivers and caves.
The Asante
sent messengers to Brong (i.e., Techiman
) when in doubt about when to hold any festival, for the Brong were 'keepers of the King's calendar.'
These four 'holidays' are not complete vacations from all labour. No farming may be carried out on any dabone but work per se is not banned. Hunting and gathering are usually permitted and the people may go to their farms to carry home firewood or food reaped the previous day, so long as no weeding of farms is done. Often communal labour is performed on those dabone which are not filled with ritual and ceremonial activities.
on the Kwawu
Afram Plains
, and now the chief of the Kwawu
abosom (tutelary spirits), since the sixteenth century Akan
take-over of Kwawu
(the principle shrine being a large, striking inselberg on the northern slopes of the Kwawu
escarpment), celebrates the principal rites on Kwadwo (the Monday following Akwasidae).
The cult of Akonnedi, god of Late (Larteh) in Akwapim, which has branches in Kwawu
, observes its most frequent public rites on Nkyi-Mene or Memenada Adapa (the day prior to Akwasidae).
Various other gods in Kwawu
are honoured on various other days in the 42-day cycle.
.
Today some of the names for the Adaduanan cycles have been arbitrarily applied to the Gregorian calendar
of twelve months by some Akan scholars, although there is no traditional basis for such a translation. For example, Opepon is now used for the Akan word for January even though in the traditional Akan calendar there is no concept exactly corresponding to the Roman month of January (Janus
the god facing the past and future). The beginning and end of each Akan year tends to be the various yam festivals celebrated around August or September.
. Three bosome make two Adaduanan. Since the arrival of Swiss missionaries from Basel in the early nineteenth century, Christian Akan scholars have tended to 'Akanize' the Roman calendar rather than observe, analyse and explain the Akan calendar based on Adaduanan.
once a few keys are known. Understandably there is no equivalent in English to the six-day week. The seven-day week of the English and Akan calendars are, however, equivalent, with the suffix -da (day) added to the names of the days in the above list (Sunday is Kwasida, Saturday is Memenada, and so on). Every second year or so Easter occurs on an Akwasidae. In 1978, there are nine Akwasidae, celebrated on 8 January, 19 February, 2 March, 14 May, 25 June, 30 July, 6 August, 17 September, 29 October and 10 December, that is every sixth Sunday. The first four dabone of 1978 were Akwasidae (8 January), Fodwo (23 January), Awukudae (1 February), and Fofi (10 February). Other dabone may be calculated infinitely from these by adding or subtracting six-week intervals.
The synthesis of a six-day week and a seven-day week, forming the 42-day Adaduanan cycle may be added to numerous other items of evidence to support a theory of the origins and development of Akan culture which suggests that it is based on cultural diffusion and a compromise of observances having diverse origins.
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
calendar is based on what the Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
call 'forty days'; Adaduanan (da=day, aduanan=forty). Close examination of the cycle reveals 42 different days, with the 43rd being the same as the first.
Nanson
The composition or construction of the Adaduanan cycle appears to be based on an older six-day week, still extant in some northern Guan communities such as the Nchumuru.The six-day week is referred to as Nanson (literally seven-days) and reflects the lack of zero in the numbering systems; the last day and the first day are both included when counting the days of a week.
| Day | Translation |
|---|---|
| Fo | Council day (passing sentence); judgement day |
| Nwuna | Sleep (death) day; funerals day; covered day |
| Nkyi | Behind (hate-taboo) day; destroyed day. |
| Kuru | Town (ie political) day; royal day |
| Kwa | For nothing ('just like that', free, unrestrained) day, servant day |
| Mono | Fresh (starting) day |
Nawotwe
Seven-day week which may have been brought south with itinerant traders from the savannah is referred to as Nawotwe (literally eight days). Like Nanson the last day and the first day are both included when counting the days of a week.| English | Day Day A day is a unit of time, commonly defined as an interval equal to 24 hours. It also can mean that portion of the full day during which a location is illuminated by the light of the sun... |
Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Dwo | Quiet (peace) day; calm. |
| Tuesday | Bena | Birthday of ocean; heat, boiling, cooking. |
| Wednesday | Wukuo | Birthday of Spider (reverse or mortal version of God) |
| Thursday | Ya | Birthday of Earth (a woman); power. |
| Friday | Afi | Fertility (in some Fante States, birthday of Earth). |
| Saturday | Mene | Birthday of Supreme or Sky God (a man); respected, ancient |
| Sunday | Kwasi | Under Day (awiase= under the sun); universe, everything. |
Adaduanan
When the six-day week is counted side-by-side with the seven-day week it takes a total of 42 days to reach all combinations. The result of these combinations is shown below; the four dabone are in italics:| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Fo-Dwo | Nwuna-Dwo | Nkyi-Dwo | Kuru-Dwo | Kwa-Dwo | Mono-Dwo |
| Day 2 | Nwuna-Bena | Nkyi-Bena | Kuru-Bena | Kwa-Bena | Mono-Bena | Fo-Bena |
| Day 3 | Nkyi-Wukuo | Kuru-Wukuo | Kwa-Wukuo | Mono-Wukuo | Fo-Wukuo | Nwuna-Wukuo |
| Day 4 | Kuru-Ya | Kwa-Ya | Mono-Ya | Fo-Ya | Nwuna-Ya | Nkyi-Ya |
| Day 5 | Kwa-Afi | Mono-Afi | Fo-Fi | Nwuna-Afi | Nkyi-Afi | Kuru-Afi |
| Day 6 | Mono-Mene | Fo-Mene | Nwuna-Mene | Nkyi-Mene | Kuru-Mene | Kwa-Mene |
| Day 7 | Fo-Kwasi | Nwuna-Kwasi | Nkyi-Kwasi | Kuru-Kwasi | Kwa-Kwasi | Mono-Kwasi |
The 42-day cycle shown here, as recorded in Kwahu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
, is the same recorded for the Brong
Brong-Ahafo Region
The Brong-Ahafo Region is located in mid-western Ghana, between the Ashanti Region and the Northern Region. Its capital is Sunyani.This region was created in 1958. It contains many cultural and wildlife attractions, but it is less known to tourists than the Ashanti, Northern, Central, or Greater...
(i.e., Bono Techiman) a state northwest of the Asante
Ashanti Empire
The Ashanti Empire , also Asanteman was a West Africa state of the Ashanti people, the Akan people of the Ashanti Region, now in Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana, a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people of West Africa...
.
Dabone
Within the Adaduanan cycle are found four special days collectively called dabone (bƆne, evil); FƆdwo, Awukudae, Fofi and Akwasidae.The 42-day cycle may be thought to begin on Fodwo and the other three dabƆne follow in nine-day intervals; Awukudae on the tenth day, Fofi on the nineteenth day, and Akwasidae on the twenty-eighth day. It takes a further 14 days to complete the Adaduanan.
When Kuru (from kurow, town) of the six-day week coincides with a Wednesday of the seven-day week (on Kuru-Wukuo), or with a Sunday of the seven-day week
Seven-day week
The seven-day week is used by the majority of the world and is the international standard as specified in ISO 8601.- Origins :The origin of the seven-day week is the religious significance that was placed on the seventh day by ancient cultures, including the Babylonian civilization and the Jewish...
(on Kuru-Kwasi), the two dabone most closely related to stool rites, Awukudae and Akwasidae (Wuko-Adae and Kwasi-Adae) are celebrated.
These two 'bad' days, related to death, are called adae (perhaps deriving from da, sleep, dae, slept or died and eye, well [sic], implying that the ancestors should lie comfortably in their death), and are closely associated with politico-ritual symbols of gerontocracy
Gerontocracy
A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most power...
sanctified or sanctioned by ancestor worship.
No funerals may be held and no news of death may reach the ears of a chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
(the living shrine of his ancestors) while libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
s of alcohol and offerings of food are made to the blackened stools (the permanent physical shrines of those ancestors) on an adae.
When Fo of the six-day week coincides with a Monday or Friday, the two dabone most closely related to tutelary spirits, Fodwo and Fofi, are celebrated. They are closely associated with medico-religious symbols or purification and the intervention of anthropomorphic spirits inhabiting natural objects such as rivers and caves.
The Asante
Ashanti Empire
The Ashanti Empire , also Asanteman was a West Africa state of the Ashanti people, the Akan people of the Ashanti Region, now in Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana, a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people of West Africa...
sent messengers to Brong (i.e., Techiman
Techiman
Techiman is the leading market town in Ghana and is, together with Sunyani, one of the two chief cities of the Brong-Ahafo Region. This city of nearly 80,000 is located at a historical crossroads of trade routes and the Tano River, and serves as capital of the Techiman Municipal...
) when in doubt about when to hold any festival, for the Brong were 'keepers of the King's calendar.'
These four 'holidays' are not complete vacations from all labour. No farming may be carried out on any dabone but work per se is not banned. Hunting and gathering are usually permitted and the people may go to their farms to carry home firewood or food reaped the previous day, so long as no weeding of farms is done. Often communal labour is performed on those dabone which are not filled with ritual and ceremonial activities.
God Days
Apart from the four standard dabone, some gods may celebrate other days of the cycle, for example, the god Burukung, who was the senior god of the Guanon the Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
Afram Plains
Afram Plains District
The Afram Plains District is a district of Ghana in the Eastern Region.-Sources:*...
, and now the chief of the Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
abosom (tutelary spirits), since the sixteenth century Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
take-over of Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
(the principle shrine being a large, striking inselberg on the northern slopes of the Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
escarpment), celebrates the principal rites on Kwadwo (the Monday following Akwasidae).
The cult of Akonnedi, god of Late (Larteh) in Akwapim, which has branches in Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
, observes its most frequent public rites on Nkyi-Mene or Memenada Adapa (the day prior to Akwasidae).
Various other gods in Kwawu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
are honoured on various other days in the 42-day cycle.
Solar Year
The Adaduanan do not precisely comprise the annual calendar, because nine cycles total 378 days instead of 365 1/4. Eight cycles yield only 336 days. Annually celebrated rites of the different Akan groups, such as the first yam eating festival, Odwira (ablution) or Afahye (public festival), are therefore celebrated each year on different days of the year. The priests of the various gods, in consultation with the various gods and ancestors, determine which Adaduanan cycle to choose for the annual rites, usually depending upon the ripening of the crops. Any series of annual rites is observed on the same days of the Adaduanan each year, although not on the same days of the year as reckoned by the Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
.
Months
The various Adaduanan cycles within the year are given a number of appellations, which are not the same from place to place, and of course never quite the same from year to year, since there are fewer than nine and more than eight cycles in any one year. OpƐpon (OpƐ, harmatan, dry season; pon, supreme) for example, more or less corresponds to the Adaduanan which appears about January-February in the middle of the dry season. Every three years or so, one of the nine named Adaduanan is omitted from the year because of the extra thirteen days gained when observing nine cycles a year. The names of the Adaduanan are therefore flexible and vary over time and cline.Today some of the names for the Adaduanan cycles have been arbitrarily applied to the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
of twelve months by some Akan scholars, although there is no traditional basis for such a translation. For example, Opepon is now used for the Akan word for January even though in the traditional Akan calendar there is no concept exactly corresponding to the Roman month of January (Janus
Janus
-General:*Janus , the two-faced Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings*Janus , a moon of Saturn*Janus Patera, a shallow volcanic crater on Io, a moon of Jupiter...
the god facing the past and future). The beginning and end of each Akan year tends to be the various yam festivals celebrated around August or September.
Lunar Month
The lunar cycle and 28-day month are not carefully observed, except by the coastal Akan who are interested in tides as they affect fishing. Still, the month is known as bosome. It consists of 28 days rather than the 30 or 31 days of the Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
. Three bosome make two Adaduanan. Since the arrival of Swiss missionaries from Basel in the early nineteenth century, Christian Akan scholars have tended to 'Akanize' the Roman calendar rather than observe, analyse and explain the Akan calendar based on Adaduanan.
Gregorian Calendar
It is quite easy to calculate the Akan calendar from the Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
once a few keys are known. Understandably there is no equivalent in English to the six-day week. The seven-day week of the English and Akan calendars are, however, equivalent, with the suffix -da (day) added to the names of the days in the above list (Sunday is Kwasida, Saturday is Memenada, and so on). Every second year or so Easter occurs on an Akwasidae. In 1978, there are nine Akwasidae, celebrated on 8 January, 19 February, 2 March, 14 May, 25 June, 30 July, 6 August, 17 September, 29 October and 10 December, that is every sixth Sunday. The first four dabone of 1978 were Akwasidae (8 January), Fodwo (23 January), Awukudae (1 February), and Fofi (10 February). Other dabone may be calculated infinitely from these by adding or subtracting six-week intervals.
The synthesis of a six-day week and a seven-day week, forming the 42-day Adaduanan cycle may be added to numerous other items of evidence to support a theory of the origins and development of Akan culture which suggests that it is based on cultural diffusion and a compromise of observances having diverse origins.
Additional References
- Boahen, K. Adu 1966 'The origins of the Akan,' Ghana Notes and Queries 9:3-10.
- Busia, K. A. 1951 The Position of the Chief in the Modern Political System of Ashanti. Gold Coast Government, reprinted for Oxford University Press by Cass, London.
- Fortes, M. 1963 'The Submerged Descent Line in Ashanti,' in I. Shapira (ed.) Studies in Kinship and Marriage. Royal Anthropological Institute, London
- 1963 'Ethnological Notes on the Distribution of Guan Languages,' Journal of African Languages 2(3).
- 1966 'The Akan and the North,' Ghana Notes and Queries 9: 18-24.
- 1968 'The Myth of a State.' Journal of Modern African Studies 6(4): 461-73.
- 1963 'A Medieval Trade Route from the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea, Journal of African History 3(2).