Sunsum

The Akan universe is endowed with varying degrees of force or power. This force or power is referred to as sunsum, which is also understood as “spirit.” All things, animate and inanimate, contain sunsum, which has the power to hurt and the power to heal. It is for this reason that we consult the Nsamanfo (community of ancestors) before making and acting on many of our daily decisions. On an individual basis, the sunsum originates with the father and refers to an individual's spirit, the basis of one's character and personality.

The Akan believe that each individual consists of certain material and spiritual elements. The honam (body) and mogya (blood, connection to matrilin-eage) represent the material or physical components, whereas the kra (life force/soul), honhom (breath of Divine Life), and sunsum (spirit, connection to patrilineage) represent the spiritual or non-physical components. Nyame (creator) bestows these material and spiritual elements on us at conception and birth; however, when we “die,” the honam and mogya join Asase Yaa (Mother Earth) while the kra, honhom, and sunsum return to Nyame. The [Page 637]sunsum is a functionary of the kra, in that when Nyame gives us our kra at birth, it is the sunsum that escorts the kra; upon owuo (physical death), when the kra returns to Nyame, it is again escorted by the sunsum. Therefore, the kra and the sunsum are purposeful counterparts of one another.

The Akan believe that the Sunsum is capable of leaving the body at night when we are sleeping and returning before we awake. It is the sunsum that is the “actor” in our dreams and often encounters and communicates with other sunsum. For example, many awake from sleep convinced that they “saw” a deceased loved one in their dreams. The Akan would argue that the sunsum of the “dreamer” and the sunsum of the deceased loved one met and that the “dream” was a reflection of that meeting. Conversely, the departure of the kra from the honam signifies owuo.

This conceptualization of the sunsum is paramount to an understanding of the Akan life cycle. The Akan view life as a series of transitions from one stage to another. The sunsum is of particular significance to the stages of conception, birth, and physical death. At conception, arguably the beginning of the life cycle, it is believed that the sunsum of the father mingles with the mogya of the mother. Although this joining of spiritual and physical components gives rise to the physical bond between mother and child, providing the foundation for the matrilineal system of descent characteristic of the Akan, it also produces a unique spiritual relationship between the child and his or her patrikin. Although the child belongs physically to the abusua (family) of its mother, she or he is connected spiritually to the abusua of his or her father. In fact, during the outdooring, the customary naming ritual associated with birth that involves introducing the child to the world, it is members of the child's patri-line that officiate at the ceremony and give the child his or her names. Furthermore, whereas the child's first name will be reflective of the day of the week on which he or she was born, the day he or she received his or her kra, the child's second name, referred to as agyadzen (father's name), is given by his or her father and oftentimes is reflective of the family's belief that the sunsum of a departed ancestor has reincarnated in the child.

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