#Kweku Ananse

[senafrost]

KWEKU ANANSE NE NYAME ABASƐM: KWEKU NE ONINI MU NSƐMNSƐM

AUTHOR’S NOTE Read the prequel KWEKU ANANSE NE NYAME ABASƐM PROLOGUE We were present in the beginning, with curiosity and cunning,  As the Ancients carved the earth, the seas, and the heavens. Yea, we were there, upon our four feet, when the fruit was consumed. We were cast down, to writhe upon our bellies, Slithering, as our legs did wither, turning into nought. My sister and I, we did…

[ghanamusicblognetwork]

Listen: Amerado - Kwaku Ananse

Listen: Amerado - Kwaku Ananse

Ghanaian musician Amerado has finally released the full song for his much anticipated viral Tiktok sound titled ‘Kwaku Ananse’. ‘Kwaku Ananse’ is an emotive journey through the highs and lows of life, set to the infectious rhythm of Afrobeat. Amerado’s lyrical prowess shines as he tells the story of overcoming adversity, echoing the unpredictable nature of humans and the everyday hustle. The…

[viviplaynet]

Last but not least, Amerado has released the music video for his song "Kweku Ananse," which was directed and shot by Bra Shizzle. Watch and enjoy the music video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkwWQCTGps

[assintalks]

@romanticrasta writes A Ghanaian will read a fairytale like Pinocchio or snow white and ignore marriage of Anasewaaa then growing up he the Ghanaian with start feeling entitled to slavery and racism. Without identifying the fact that Kweku ananse is even wiser in the pairing. Ghanaians will love a spider man movie but will definitely not patronize a Ghanaian made Kweku ananse film, you know why? Because they don't know that Kweku ananse characters existed from our ancestry days and spider man was created from Kweku ananse as part of the "bosted" cultures that the slave master found attractive and marketable. That is why a hiplife documentary was made by a foreign corporation. If a Ghanaian did it, it will appear not to gain any patronage or just a mere discussion. Our nature our problems #Mixtic #MixticRomras #WeGlobal🌎 #TheTalksFromAssin📣 #CleanHeartPromotions🔑 (at Cape Coast, Ghana) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co9fVULLag-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[heartmindalignedspirit]

AWUKU (ah-woo’-koo) is the Obosom … referred to as the Divine Messenger, Communicator. He is also known as Ananse - the Great Spider, Owner of all of the stories of the Supreme Being.

One of the definitions of the word ‘se’ in Akan is: to say, speak, tell. The title ‘esen’ means: messenger, herald, court crier. Awuku as Anan-se or Anan-sen is the messenger, herald, Divine Court Crier of Nyamewaa-Nyame. He is the swift messenger. Ananse also means spider in Akan. The term ‘anan’ means foot in Akan. Ananse is the Esen, messenger. The One who tells (se). He is the foot (anan) or travelling messenger (esen).

A spider resting upon a window sill can later be found to have woven a web which spans the entire empty space of the open window. The spider can now move to any region of the open space by navigating its web.

Awuku Ananse, the Great Spider, weaves a web of tumi (Divine Power) that permeates the Black Substance of Space and all of Abode (ah-baw’-deh - Creation). Each created entity has an okra (aw-krah’) - soul and we each have a thread of Ananse's web linking us from our okra directly to Nyamewaa-Nyame.

As Owner of the web, Ananse is able to travel from Nyamewaa-Nyame to us and back carrying our messages/desires along the web.

-Odwirafo Kwesi Ra Nehem Ptah Akhan-

[afr9desiac]

Kweku Ananse, The Trickster (West African god, Akans & Asante).

(image source)

I haven’t really seen a lot of him and since he’s pretty much my entire childhood, I thought I’d go ahead and make a post. Growing up I was told a lot of stories about Ananse (can be spelled Anansi) and his adventures. He was known as a trickster and would con his way into getting what he wanted. Every story of his had a lesson to teach: don’t be greedy/patience is key/whatever.

It wasn’t until recently that I discovered he was a deity. My whole life he seemed more like a spirit than anything else, but then again I grew up in a, now mostly, Christian Ghana.

His name Anansi/Ananse means ‘spider’ in Twi. He was described as a spider in his stories and never featured actual people (in the stories I was told as a child). The characters in each story were animals who always had or wanted something from Ananse. His stories were called Anansesem ( 'spider stories’ or in my grandmother’s translation 'foolishness’ lol). I can’t explain how many times she’s said “gyae saa anansesem” which translates to “stop that/those foolishness/lies/tricks” depending on what mischief I got myself into.

“Anansi is a spirit, who acts on behalf of Nyame, his father and the Sky Father. He brings rain to stop fires and performs other duties for him. His mother is Asase Ya. There are several mentions of Anansi's children, the first son often being named as Ntikuma. According to some stories, his wife is known as Miss Anansi or Mistress Anansi but most commonly as Aso. He is depicted as a spider, a human, or combinations thereof. In some beliefs, Anansi is responsible for creating the sun, the stars and the moon, as well as teaching mankind the techniques of agriculture.” (source)

I think Ananse deserves more recognition in the mainstream. He is the son of Nyame after all.

[blackmanandabroad-blog]

Man, I have been in Ghana 3 hours and have learned so much already! Part of their name comes from their tribe and the day of the week they were born on. In Ashanti homes in Ghana, Sunday-born males and females are named Kwasi or Kwesi and Akosua respectively (meaning ‘associated with the universe’); Monday-born are Kwadwo or Kojo, Adjoa or Adwoa (meaning ‘associated with peace’); Tuesday-born are Kwabena or Kobi, Abena (meaning ‘associated with the ocean’); Wednesday-born Kwaku or Kweku, Akua (meaning ‘associated with spider/Ananse’); Thursday-born Yaw, Yaa ( meaning ‘associated with the earth’); Friday-born Kofi, Afia or Afua (meaning ‘associated with fertility’); and Saturday-born Kwame, Ama (meaning ‘associated with God’). Fanti boys and girls, on the other hand, are given the day names: Monday – Cudjoe, Kojo, Quajo, Adjoa, Ajuba, Juba; Tuesday – Quabena, Abena, Bena; Wednesday – Quaco, Aqua, Acooba, Cooba; Thursday – Quaw, Aba, Yaaba; Friday – Cuffy, Afiba, Fiba; Saturday – Quame, Quamina, Ama; and Sunday – Quashie, Quasheba. Aside the main day names, there are variants and flexibly diverse adjustments. Examples include: Sunday – Akwasi, Kwasi, Kwesi, Akwesi, Sisi, Kacely, Kosi; Monday – Kojo, Kwadwo, Jojo, Joojo, Kujoe; Tuesday – Kwabena, Kobe, Kobi, Ebo, Kabelah, Komla, Kwabela; Wednesday – Kwaku, Abeiku, Kuuku, Kweku; Thursday – Yaw, Ekow; Friday – Kofi, Fifi, Fiifi, Yoofi; and Saturday – Kwame, Kwamena, Kwamina. The extensions and variants result from differences in ethnicities or bending of monikers to make them sound a certain way. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... #blackmanANDabroad #travelblogger #travelblog #travel #travelismylife #blackguystravel #blackguystraveling #blackguystraveltoo #blackguys #blacktravel #blacktraveler #blacktravelersunited #blacktravelclub #blackandabroad #blacktraveljourney #blacktravelblogger #blacktravelgram #digitalnomad #cocotravelersintl #melaninpoppin #blackfacesindopeplaces #blacktravelfeed #blackmentravel #blacktravelmovement #blacktravelhackers #ijustwanttoflyy #ghanaians #ghana #vlog #travelwoke (at Accra, Ghana) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2sjloJFF4_/?igshid=qqf43xfi58bq

[inspiredink]

Finding the Dots

This piece, and perhaps, future pieces will not be following any logical train of thought per se. There may be some method to these seemingly scattered thoughts, but, if there is any objective at all, then it is for both the writer and the reader to enter a space of mental exploration of themes and ideas as they come with the flow of words.

Our minds as humans have gone through various evolutions. One of them being that if you are not the one wielding power, then you must not oppose those wielding power over you, that you dare not rise against those established by your environment as superior to you, that everyone suffers, and you must accept your suffering with grace if you don’t want to be crushed. From this mindset, we’ve gradually and collectively evolved to what appears to be the opposite view: question authority. Challenge superiors. Not all authority is legitimate. Among the many themes of our various human conditions, we seem to cycle between these two mindsets.

Like waves of the oceans, people rise to challenge leadership and to change it if possible, and though the road to change may be arduous, once they have achieved it, they settle in the false hope that the leadership they have chosen will address their needs only to become discontent again and rise to challenge yet another superior power they have established. This may happen within the confines of democracy, revolutions, or whatever method people use to change who wields power.

But for the very fact that changing the powers that be is difficult, and like viruses, people with power over others never really relinquish their hold, these uprisings may happen several times in our lifetimes. And during these times we will engage with those who oppose our views, those who remain ambiguous, those who prefer not to choose sides, those who just don’t care, and those seeking to take advantage of whatever movement is active at the time.  (It’s happening on twitter even as I write). A time of political, social, and economic chaos as some may call it. I call it change. The process of change.  I once declared in a conversation, that while I believe that organized religion plays a powerful role in society, I feel today’s societies will do just fine without it and the social scientist I was chatting with said I was calling for anarchy. As though chaos and anarchy are not or cannot be organized. In any case, any attempt to rid society of organized religion will only make it flourish or evolve into other forms. But I digress…

 If you happen to be clinging to any of the ideas I’ve mentioned, then the stories you tell will probably carry these themes.

 Lay-by – it gets murky

Fairy tales about queens and kings and princesses and knights and subjects, and of course, the outcasts among them: be they dragons, elves, goblins, fairies, enchanters, sorcerers, dwarves, fawns, and talking animals; the outcasts who can create magic and change the course of a character’s presumably predestined life… These exist in a world of their own with their own organized system of hierarchy. Yes, hierarchy, there must always be hierarchy it seems. Someone must sit on the shoulders of others to keep things marching in some direction. Is it possible for groups of beings and communities to self-organize without some form of hierarchy? I don’t have answers, but it helps to explore these ideas.

Lay-by- memories

Fairy tales. In addition to all the western fairy tales I imbibed while growing up, I also enjoyed hundreds of Ghanaian “fairy tales” (Anansesem) most of which follow the format of the ruler and the ruled and probed themes such as pride, bravery, and cunning. Some stories were about anthropomorphic animals, and animal kingdoms. Many of them were about Kweku Ananse the trickster (Ghana’s spider man) who outwitted kings, and gods, and wise-men.  Sometimes, the human world and the animal world crossed paths in these tales. Other stories were about magic forests, caves, trees, rivers, wells, and beautiful women or proud princesses who married the fascinating and handsome stranger who turned out to be a dangerous serpent and therefore, these women needed to be rescued by the brave clansman.

Lay-by - the murkiness returns

Short stories without the magic people. Young adult. Modern. Are these any different from fairy tales? An 18-year old or a 22-year-old may leave home, leave their parent’s house to start life on their own. Let’s call home their place of nurture. Because home can be an orphanage, a foster home, a mental facility, a caravan, a convent et cetera. They leave home to discover what they can make out of their lives.  Is it any different from the farmer’s child, the merchant’s child, the orphan (of the old fairy tales) who leaves home, or village to discover their fortune? In the fairy tales, these adventurers ended up marrying some prince or princess, or queen, or king. Eternal rescue from poverty. Or as the stories called it The Happily Ever After ; another mindset that has been challenged time and again in today’s stories where writers scrutinize the human spirit and intellect. 

Modern stories. The young person going through a coming-of-age phase, meeting all types of characters who, one way or another, enable them to examine their world view. Detective stories which allow us to consider our views on crime and justice, horror stories which grant us license to indulge in the shock factor and life’s unpredictability and ambiguity, tales of fantasy and science fiction which focus on world building and also include similar themes of power, hierarchy, love, relationships, and may or may not include magic. We could go on and let our minds wander through the evolution of poetry and poetic prose, stories written from the first person or second person narrative, surreal writing and stream of consciousness writing and so on. Where was I going with this?

Last Lay-by- I’m putting a cork in it

Of course, we also know that not all stories, whether they are the tales of old or told today follow the leave home and find fortune narrative. Every now and then, one finds among the old tales a story of an adventurer who perished or didn’t find “the good life”. Such stories have been placed under the term Tragedy. But in all these stories, you will find CONFLICT. Both internal and external. And it makes me wonder, isn’t it interesting, that without some form of conflict in a story, most people would consider it incomplete? Is it possible to tell a story without conflict? Will we be bored out of our minds if our lives had no conflict in it? War is obviously our most extreme expression of conflict where we all have a chance to exercise our various levels of power or become victims. Those who are smart seek protection from the powers that win. Whether they find it is another tale all on its own. And that’s another narrative a writer can follow. Thus, hierarchy, power, and conflict seem unavoidable in storytelling, whether we live in chaotic or organized systems.

[whatareghanaianstudentsread-blog]

Book Review #3

Title: Ananse in the Land of Idiots

Author: Yaw Asare

Genre: Drama

Year published: 2006

Publishers: Accra, Ghana: Kwadwoan Publishing. 

Summary: In this story, Kweku Ananse, “Odomankoma’s Head-weaver; Master Craftsman in the Guild of Divine Craftsmen; Legend of Tailless Tales; One who manipulates creation from the fringers of a vibrant web; Hunter Extraordinary; Fellow of the Cult of Cosmic Linguists; Supreme Strategist; Odomankoma’s Mystery Messenger who flies the skies without wings and crosses rivers without a boat, ” (p. 2) travels to the land of idiots. This land seems to refer to the world. When Ananse arrives at this place, he is caught eating food that has been left as a sacrifice to the gods of the land. Ananse’s actions are viewed as a defilement of the land which could bring about a curse on the whole kingdom. To avoid a curse from the gods, the priestess of the land calls for the King to behead Ananse so his blood would appease the gods. Ananse, realizing his fate, gifts the king, queen, and elder three kente-woven headbands. The king is in awe of the finely woven masterpiece. Ananse promises to weave kente cloths for the princess and the prince who are soon to be married in exchange for his freedom. This leads to deception, seduction, and a murder that sees Ananse gain a chieftain, the princess as his wife, and many possessions from the land.

Reaction: I was surprised by how much information there was before readers get to the beginning of the play. There is a foreword Africanus Aveh, a section about the playwright, an introduction by James Gibbs, and a review by Professor A.N. Mensah from the Department of English at the University of Ghana. I wonder why all these people had to say something about the play. I refrained from reading most of these sections but I read the section about the playwright before reading the story. I realized why this book was so important to so many people. Yaw Asare, who originally wrote this play in the early 90s, passed away in 2002 at the age of 48. This story was one of his first works and his family and friends came together to put this in print to keep the Yaw’s memory alive. Yaw was a teacher, who majored in English and Theatre at the University and had a Masters in African Studies. He was about to start his PhD in folklore and performance theater when he passed away. Learning about the author beforehand gave me a profound appreciation for the text.

Yaw’s style of writing this play comes to life as he paints the picture as if you were in the audience watching the story unfold on stage. In the beginning of the 1st movement (what others might call act), Kweku Ananse directly talks to the audience as if they were part of the story. Kweku Ananse is angry with the audience: 

You have turned my hard-won fame into titles of notoriety “Ananse-the-Tickling-Trickster” “Ananse the Cunning Crook” you call me. What praise names to give a hero? Such terrible appellations!... (p. 2)

Ananse in this story still deceives, manipulates, and outsmarts the people around. Ananse, however, views himself as “the prime custodian of ethical, moral, and philosophical norms. In the story, Ananse words, actions, and interactions with people reveal cultural and societal traditions and practices that must evolve to protect the vulnerable in society.

I was also struck by the use of local language and the lack of translation that was provided. These words in the Ghanaian language were also not italicized or boldened to show them as foreign but written just like they would be spoken by a Ghanaian. This shows also that the intended audience here is local and Ghanaian so when Kweku Ananse chants the audience know exactly how to respond. 

[gotojobin]

Anansi Brings Stories to the World #AnansiBringsStoriestotheWorld #AnansiBringsStories #World Stories about a spider-god, Anansi or Ananse, were first told in Ghana by the Ashanti people. They were not written down but recounted from generation to generation. Gradually the stories grew and spread across Ghana and then all around West Africa. In Ghana they are called “Anansesem” meaning spider tales. West Africans originally considered Anansi to be the creator of the world. He often acted as a go-between for humans in their dealings with the sky god Nyame, and he supposedly persuaded Nyame to give both rain and the night to people. Anansi is one of the most popular of the animal tricksters in the mythology of West Africa, and is often called Kwaku or Kweku Ananse. Kweku means Wednesday, the day the spider-god’s soul first appeared. In some stories Anansi is the son of Nyame, the sky god, who becomes so annoyed with his son’s mischief and trickery that he turns him into a spider.  Some West African stories tell that Anansi was the creator of the world. In many stories, such as ours, he is a go-between for the humans and the sky god, Nyame. As the stories spread across the sea to the West Indies, the tales became the Nancy stories and then became Aunt Nancy in the Southern United States, half spider, half woman who had power over the other creatures.

[heartmindalignedspirit]

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A post shared by Heart & Mind Aligned Spirit (@heartmindalignedspirit) on Jul 30, 2020 at 10:14am PDT

I will never understand why my divinities appear to me as celebrities in my dreams but here we have LaKeith Stanfield as Kweku Ananse from Akan religion in Ghana. In Haitian Vodou, Ananse is known as Gede Zariyen, the Gede spider.

In the dream, I was wandering in a line of unknown people…from my aunt’s house, through her basement to where we ended up at a train station in the basement of a mall. Individually, people passed through the turnstile and standing at the turnstile were three people – I intuitively recognized LaKeith as Ananse, asked him, he confirmed and asked if I was walking through. I took a deep breath and was submerged under water, which felt like tar. I took one final breath (more like a grunt) and was transported to the other side of the water (anba dlo, in Haitian Kreyol) to the land of the ancestors… The rest is my business.

[accradotalt]

IND!E FUSE 2013: Meet Meche KORRECT

Meche Korrect strikes a pose in Accra central

We are so excited to introduce you aliens to MECHE…

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[yenghana]

‘Kweku Ananse’ opens in Accra

AMAA award-winning film director, Akosua Adoma Owusu of Obibini Pictures, will on Thursday July 4…

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