Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/141

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acknowledgment to his great ability in this field of research, was not an accomplished linguist in the Twi or Ashanti language, and must have relied for much of his information on his interpreters, supposed that this conception was due to missionary influence. This theory is rejected on apparently good grounds by Mr. Rattray, and his well-considered argument will be of interest to some who may remember an active controversy carried on in Folk-Lore some years ago regarding this subject. Among the many interesting facts recorded by Mr. Rattray, the following deserve special notice. When a man dies his spirit is believed not to go direct to the world below, but it has first, as it were, to report itself, some say to Onyankopon, others to a famous " fetish " Brukum, which has its earthly abode in Togoland. Such ghosts have little power for harm, are shy, and confine themselves to frightening people. Even when a spirit has gone to the lower world, it does not necessarily sever connexion with the land of the living ; hence manes-worship is a distinct branch of religion. An Ashanti never drinks without pouring a few drops of wine on the ground for the spirits which may happen to be about, and food is constantly placed aside for them. "There is absolutely no trace of a belief that spirits ever go to live in the sky with Onyankopon, but, as already noted, there is an almost universal idea that he in some way has power over them to interdict or permit them to enter the spirit world, and also to launch a soul again into the world of men, re-incarnation in fact." Ghosts, when visible to the human eye, are said to be white, or dressed in white, and the near presence of a spirit or ghost is supposed to be felt by its peculiar smell. The use of stools as a mark of dignity is common. An Ashanti, when rising from his stool, will generally tilt it against a wall or lay it on its side, lest a departed spirit should sit on it, when the next person to sit down " would contract pains in the waist. "

Men and women possessed of the powers of black magic can quit their bodies and travel great distances in the night ; they can suck out the blood of victims and the sap and juices of crops ; they emit a phosphorescent light from parts of their bodies. In everyday life they are known by their sharp, shifty eyes, restless- ness, and they are always talking about food. Hence no one will