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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The significance of beads in the rites of passage among some southern Ghanaian peoples |
Author: | Sackey, B. |
Year: | 1985 |
Periodical: | Research Review |
Volume: | 1 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 180-191 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ghana |
Subjects: | Akan Adangme Ga rites of passage beadwork |
Abstract: | Beads have considerable significance in the cultures of Ghanaian peoples, and they are used by nearly all ethnic groups. Here the author discusses their extensive use by the Akan and Ga-Adangbe peoples of southern Ghana in rites of passage (birth, puberty, death). After a description of some general uses of beads, of types of beads and of their alleged sources of origin, the author describes the use of beads in rites of passage and shows that they are used to indicate the passage from one status of life into the other: from the spirit world into the living world and in the living world, to mark the different stages of life until one returns to the spirit world. They are mainly used as charms for protection. Bibliogr., notes. |