Mystical Protection among the Anlo Ewe

Abstract

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Powerful Pots, Humbling Holes, and Regional Ritual Processes: Towards an Archaeology of Huedan Vodun, ca. 1650–1727

“…Vessels for holding sacrifices to Legba, the trickster deity who serves as messenger within the Vodun pantheon and also between humans and vodun, are arranged near points of access and egress in house compounds (Argyle 1966: 188). Although there are distinctions between du-Legba shrines dedicated to communities and a-Legba shrines associated with families and specifically male members of the family, both types have ceramic offerings, and at times human burials, positioned beneath their aboveground, mounded, unfired clay avatars (Cudjoe 1971;Gilbert 1982).…”

Ruptures, Junctures, and Difference

“…one located at the center of the town/village, and two in the north and south areas, respectively (Cudjoe-Calvocoressi 1974;Gilbert 1982). 31 "Sonic imaginary," as used here refers to the sound that is associated with the colliding of the old and new year at the critical midnight moment.…”

Art Studies in Ghana: Whose Responsibility?

“…She warns against lumping all terracotta from Ghana into one category, or seeing them as unconnected to another. Her works reveal that despite modernisation and social change, traditional representation of mystical powers in clay and cement figures is still important among the Anlo-Ewe (Gilbert, 1982). Bonakire pottery making has also been fairly recounted by Berns (2007) providing a rich context for the study of integration of pottery production, its consumption and distribution.…”