sacral rule and the Christian Church: An ... - ResearchSpace

I pray you for strength)". Rattray continues to report that a sheep is also slaughtered
and the blood allowed to fall upon the ground; pieces of meat are threaded upon the
skewers projecting from the forks of God's altar, with the words: "here is a sheep I
killed for you, take and eat and give me health and strength". At the end of this day of
his arrival, he would spend eight nights in the temple with the wife he had chosen. The
royal personal annual retreat ended with the slaughtering oftwo white fowls.
Apart from the Nyame Dua outside and inside the Nyame Dan,246 there IS
nothing else in the temple. There is a separate house for the priestesses outside it. The
temple of the Supreme God is the royal sanctuary for the Ohene 's yearly spiritual
retreat of nine days and eight nights. The first and the last days are for sacrifices when
the priestesses Fa ma 'Nyame is in action. Probably, the second and the fifth days are
those in which the priestess Nyame adom (God's favour) talks about the mercies of
Onyame (God) to the ruler. The third and sixth days see the 'Nyame asem (God's word)
priestess in action speaking to Ohene, the ruler, on behalf of Onyame. The fourth and
seventh days are reserved for 'Nyame boa me (God help me) who talks about the help
Onyame could bring to the sacral ruler. The eighth day, the Ohene could be alone
before Onyame. There is no doubt that the Ohene has at least one day for being alone in
the temple with Onyame. However, differently from Rattray, we may classify the four
priestesses in the following order:
First day; Fa ma 'Nyame
Second day; 'Nyame adorn
Third day; 'Nyame asem
Fourth day; 'Nyame boa me
Fifth day; 'Nyame adorn
Sixth day; 'Nyame asem
246 This building dedicated to the Supreme God was flanked at the palace courtyard. Rattray Ashanti p
94. ' ..
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