Population: 1.5 million
Religious Information: The Ashanti mainly adhere to an indigenous traditional belief system, though there are come Muslims and Christians among them. The Golden Stool has a great significance in their traditional beliefs. It is their symbol of power, embodies the unity of their people, and is believed to be divine. They believe in a supreme divinity as well as many minor deities and revere the spirits of their ancestors.
Image: The Golden Stool, 1935 - "Photo of the Asante Golden Stool with its immediate caretaker." Wiki
The Ashanti flag includes the Golden Stool at its center.
Image: “Aquasi Boachi and Quamin Poko, sons of king Quakoe Dua of the Ashanti people. Quamin Poko claimed to be the heir to the throne.”
Japin, Arthur (1997) De zwarte met het witte hart Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers; Wikipedia
O God, creator of our land, . . .
You have also pulled other continents out of the sea.
What a wonderful world you have made out of wet mud,
and what beautiful men and women! . . .
The grace of your creation is like a cool day between rainy seasons.
Bless us.
Bless our land and people.
Bless our forests . . .
Bless our fields . . .
Bless the waters . . .
Be with us in our countries and in all Africa, and in the whole world.
Prepare us for the service that we should render.
O Lord, O God,
Creator of our land,
our earth, the trees,
the animals and humans,
all is for Your honor.
The drums beat if out,
and people sing about it,
and they dance with noisy joy
that you are the Lord.
You also have pulled the other continents out of the sea.
What a wonderful world You have made out of wet mud,
and what beautiful men and women!
We thank You for all the beauty of this earth.
The grace of Your creation is like a cool day between rainy seasons.
we drink to Your creation with our eyes.
We listen to the birds’ jubilee with our ears.
How strong and good and sure Your earth smells,
and everything that grows there.
The sky above us is like a warm, soft Kente cloth,
because You are behind it,
else it would be cold and rough and uncomfortable.
We drink in Your creation and cannot get enough of it.
But in doing this we forget the evil we have done.
Lord, we call You,
we beg You:
tear us away from our sins and our death.
This wonderful world fades away.
And one day our eyes snap shut,
and all is over and dead that is not from you.
We are still slaves of the demons and the fetishes of this earth,
when we are not saved by you.
Bless us.
Bless our land and people.
Bless our forests with mahogany
wawa, and cacao.
Bless our fields with cassava and peanuts.
Bless the waters that flow through our land.
Fill them with fish and drive great schools of fish to our seacoast,
so that the fishermen in their unsteady boats do need to go out too far.
Be with us youth in our countries,
and in all Africa,
and in the whole world.
Prepare us for the service that we should render.
Image: Landscape photograph of Ghana, home of the Ashanti people
Earth, condolences,
Earth, condolences,
Earth and dust,
The dependable one,
I lean upon you, Earth,
when I am about to die,
I lean upon you.
Earth, when I am alive,
I depend upon you.
Earth that receives dead bodies,
The Creator's drummer says:
From wherever he went,
He has roused himself,
He has roused himself.