When the Deities Visit forHɔmɔwɔ

Translating Religion in the Language of the Secular

Bibliographic Data

ID7098280
AuthorsMariam Goshadze (0000-0002-8329-1848, Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University, Somerville, MA, USA, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume87
Issue1
Pages191-224
Publication date2018-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfy031
OpenAlexW2922283273
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited46

Every summer, indigenous deities visit Ghana’s capital, Accra, for the Hɔmɔwɔ festival. To create a peaceful environment for the guests, Ga indigenous priests introduce a one-month “ban on drumming and noise-making.” Almost overnight, sacred silence blankets the city as nightclubs and dance halls close down and Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches subdue their services. Although sonic negotiations have been amicable recently, in the 1990s Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches fervently resisted the pressure to suppress their worship. Such disobedience resulted in serious confrontations with the Ga “traditionalists” who argued that Christians angered and disrespected their deities. To ensure inter-religious peace in the capital, the Ghanaian state has been actively involved in the regulation of the ban for the past several years. Taking these events as a point of reference, this article analyzes the legal language employed in the negotiations and how it reflects distinct roles of Christianity and traditional religion in Ghana’s public domain

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Blessing · Charisma · Christianity · Indigenous · Negotiation · Political science · Silence · Sociology · State (computer science · Worship · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · Law · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Religious studies

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