A new poem by Ghanaian poet, Adjei Agyei-Baah, narrating the initiation rituals followed by traditional priests among the Akan and Guan peoples in Ghana.
The Ghanaian animist traditions attribute supernatural entities residing deep in the forests as having kidnapped humans and taught them the secrets of herbal medicines. The initiation into priesthood aims to recreate this experience as the priest learns the language of the dwarfs, to converse with them and gain their knowledge.
I was told they would come
When the old priest had joined the sleepers…
