Blog

The feature photo of this post shows the Nubian king Taharqa making an offering to the falcon deity. Making offerings to spirit has been a common practice among the indigenous peoples of this planet for millennia. Among Africans, offerings are made as libations (pouring of liquid which could be water, alcohol or food such as milk), food offerings or other forms of offering. The form of offering depends on the culture of the people. Among ancient metropolises such as Egypt/Kemet and Rome, and certainly in India, religious ceremonies sometimes included making offerings to spirit.

Among the Akan people, offerings to spirit in the form of libation can be performed with strong spirits such as gin or schnapps. With the Dagomba and related people of the northern part of Ghana, offering to spirit can be made with liquid food such as milk. The Ga people of southern Ghana make food offerings during their Homowo festival. These are only three examples.

As such, it really depends on the people and on the culture. For example, among various indigenous people of North America, the smoke pipe is offered to the spirits. Among some groups of South America, food is offered. In Asia, it is very common to make offerings to spirit with one or a few sticks of incense.

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine sent me a short video of Dr. Paa Kwesi in Ghana explaining and also performing libation. You can see the video below. One thing that struck me as interesting in this particular video is that Dr. Paa Kwesi appealed not only to ancestors from/on Earth, but also those from the star systems Procyon, Sirius, Orion and Ursa Major. Fascinating, isn’t it? In The Akan, Other Africans & The Sirius star system, I reveal that the ancestors of the Akan include those beings affiliated with the Sirius star system who have been thought of as being gods. See the video below. Dr. Paa Kwesi is flowing with esoteric knowledge. Definitely check out the video.

I would point out that the libation example shown in the video pertains to cultures in West Africa such as the Akan, the Ewe, the Ga and related peoples. In the video, Dr. Paa Kwesi first calls on Divine Providence, then the Earth planetary spirit before calling on the ancestors. Sometimes, nature spirits are also called upon to help with the prayers. This is the usual protocol for pouring libation among the Akan.

I invite the reader to explore offerings as a means to communing with the non-physical world, and especially to explore libation for those who have cultural and heritage links with the cultures in West Africa.