Destiny

Akan Perspectives

In the Akan culture, a person is basically composed of several components: okra, mogya, and sunsum. But people are also members of an abusua, family, and exist in the context of community, which includes both the living and the Dead. Therefore, certain ritualized ideas of nkrabea are based essentially on the concept of family. Among these thoughts is the idea that a person exists within a community and therefore must work to assist others in carrying out their destinies. In addition, one cannot be “saved” alone; because there is no dancing alone, there is no destiny alone.

Even the idea of kinship reflects communal closeness so that age groups share common mothers and common siblings. There are no first cousins, only brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and uncles and aunts. Destiny in African religion is interconnected, although there are unique qualities to each person. In fact, nkrabea suggests that each human is unique and has value apart from others, although this value is meaningless without community. No person is without nkrabea, although many people will never discover their nkrabea. Only through communicating with other people can one truly discover nkrabea.

The reason for this is because, within the community of humans, there is an endless variety of possibilities. When people interact with others, they observe what completes them, makes them feel whole, satisfies them, and brings them to consciousness of their destiny. In ancient Africa, the priests would express the satisfaction of the divine when an action had been achieved that was considered difficult or extraordinary. One wanted to arrive at the point when every action, however small or large, would seem natural and expected, like water running off a duck's back. Then one would have achieved all the possibilities of nkrabea because there would be order, balance, and harmony.

Throughout Africa, there is a general belief in human destiny. It recognizes both the power of the unknown as well as the limitations of human beings. It is composed of several important elements. One can take the Akan word nkrabea as an example of the complexity of this concept. In the first place, the verb kra means to take leave of or bid farewell to the realm of the unknown so as to capture the idea that when one is born one is actually saying goodbye to providence. Nkrabea literally means “the manner in which a soul departs for the earth.” One may call this “fate,” “allotted life,” or “prescribed lot.”

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