Akanfo (Akan people) in the Takyiman and Wenchi areas of Ghana, West Afuraka/Afuraitkait (Africa) celebrate the festival called Apoo. Apoo is from the root 'po' meaning 'to reject'. The Apoo Afahye (Apoo festival) is a 13-day observance which is dedicated to the ritual purging of spiritual, cultural and social ills in self and society. Apoo Afahye is dedicated to the eradication of disorder and its purveyors, human and non-human, physical and non-physical, individual and communal.
Aakhuamuman Amaruka Atifi mu (Aakhuamu Nation in North America) observes Apoo Afahye for 13 days annually. Our observance is centered around fefewbere (spring). We take advantage of the shift in energy which occurs during what is called the vernal or spring equinox. Our Apoo Afahye in 13009 (2009) will occur during the gregorian calendar dates of March 12 through March 24.
The majority of Akanfo celebrate the New Year at some point within the gregorian calendar months of August, September or October. For certain groups of Akanfo, the New Year celebration is called Odwira. Odwira is celebrated for 7 days in some areas and 40 days in other areas. Odwira is a term meaning 'purification'. At the end of one cycle/year and the beginning of a new cycle/year it behooves us to purify ourselves physically and spiritually. It is a time to re-establish the values of our Ancestral Culture and re-dedicate ourselves individually and as an Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) community to our individual and collective nkrabea (Divine function) in Creation. Through Odwira, we enter the new year/cycle with a renewed spirit, a renewed drive to accomplish and a renewed focus to eliminate all obstacles to our success whether they be physical (including human) and/or non-physical.
Aakhuamuman Amaruka Atifi mu celebrates Odwira for 7 days annually. The last day of our observance is our New Year's day. This always occurs on the first full day of powbere (autumn). We take advantage of the shift in energy which occurs during what is called the autumnal or fall equinox. The manner in which we approach our unique form of the Odwira celebration, which we call Obra Dwira Nananomsom (A Life Purification Ancestral Service/Celebration), reflects our Ancestral connection to the Akanfo of Afuraka/Afuraitkait (Africa), but also the unique experiences we have gained since we have been separated from the Akanfo of Afuraka/Afuraitkait (Africa).
Afurakanu/Afuraitkaitnut (Africans) who are descendant of those who were taken outside of Afuraka/Afuraitkait (Africa) have received invaluable insight by engaging this part of the world, "losing" and "reclaiming" our Ancestral culture and seeing our absolute enemies--the whites and their offspring--for who and what they truly are. We therefore institutionalize this insight, this experience, as part of the accumulated wisdom of our Ancestry. The values of our culture are ritually re-affirmed in a major way annually, under the guidance and influence of the Nananom Nsamanfo and the Abosom. See UAB-ODWIRA for the root mbe (proverbs) delineating these values.
Aakhuamuman Amaruka Atifi mu celebrated Obra Dwira Nananomsom this year during the gregorian calendar dates of September 16 through September 22. Note that September 22 (2008) is our New Year's day--the first full day of autumn (Atem) and the first day of the year 13009. Aakhuamuman Amaruka Atifi mu will celebrate Obra Dwira Nananomsom, 13010 during the gregorian calendar dates of September 16 through September 22. Note that September 22 (2009) is our New Year's day--the first full day of the autumn and the first day of the year 13010.
Note: Most Akanfo celebrate the New Year at some point during the gregorian calendar months of August, September or October. Only with the advent of the corruption of our culture by the whites and their offspring did some Afurakanu/Afuraitkaitnut (Africans) begin the foolish practice of claiming that the New Year begins months later in the dead of winter on January 1.
Afurakanu/Afuraitkaitnut do not base our observance of time on a fictional character from the pseudo(fake)-religions of the whites and their offspring. The cycle we adhere to is the Afe Kesee (Great Year) which is the cycle wherein the equinotical point of Owia (the Sun) takes approximately 26,000 years to move through all of the constellations (so-called zodiacal signs) which cross the ecliptic. We are in the midst of the present-day Afe Kesee, hence the years beginning with 13000.
See: Akwasidae and Awukudae
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