University Press of America
Pages: 220
•
Trim: 6 x 8¾
978-0-7618-6057-0 • Paperback • December 2012 • $50.99 • (£39.00)
978-0-7618-6058-7 • eBook • December 2012 • $48.00 • (£37.00)
Anthony Ephirim-Donkor is chair of the Department of Africana Studies and associate professor of religion at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He is the author of three other books on African spirituality.
Guide to Pronunciation
Preface
Chapter 1: Cosmology
Chapter 2: Ancestor Worship
Chapter 3: Witchcraft
Chapter 4: Sacrifices
Chapter 5: Living Ancestors
Chapter 6: The Ancestors’ Stool
Notes
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Anthony Ephirim-Donkor’s African Religion Defined is a masterfully written and insightful study of African religious experience. He offers a richly detailed examination of Akan cosmology and practices laced with engaging personal accounts. The book represents a major contribution to the field of Akan studies and to discussions about the nature and meaning of African religion. . . . The work will be useful in both undergraduate and graduate school courses and will challenge students and scholars to reexamine categories and assumptions about African religions.
— Samuel I. Britt, Gordon Poteat Professor of Asian Studies and Religion, Furman University, South Carolina
Challenging the notion in some quarters that equate African religions with animism, Ephirim-Donkor examines the religious and cultural practices of the Akan . . . and argues that ancestor worship as practiced by the people is quite similar to other world religions. Influenced by the works of Clifford Geertz and Wallis Budge, Ephirim-Donkor maintains that the souls of the Akan dead are symbolically housed in the ancestors’ stool, the very seat and embodiment of temporal and spiritual power among the Akan. . . . This exciting volume, which includes a completely new chapter written for this edition, is a must-have for those interested in African religions.
— Baffour K. Takyi, professor of sociology, the University of Akron, Ohio