Hogbetsotso 2014 Do you know that........? The Hogbetsotso festival has some basic stages identified as Dordede, Nugbidodo, Togbui-korkor, and Hogbetsotso activities. The festival starts with household cleansing ceremonies followed by community cleansing. This ritual is called Dordede le aƒe me kple du me. It takes place before the new moon shows up as this ritual is performed at midnight. First, the town-crier (dugbeƒadela) will go out and announce publicly in all towns and villages when this Dordede will take place. On the appointed day traditional law expects each father as the head of his household to ask the wife or wives to sweep the house clean and leave the rubbish in a container in front of the house. This will later be carried away at midnight by traditional priests of the town and village (Tronuawo and Dordelawo) to the outskirts of the town or village (Dulegbato). A day or two after this ritual of cleansing the town, the Nyigblanua, visits the shrine of Nyigbla at Aƒiƒe. Later, the Awadada of Anlo visits Aƒiƒe to ask permission from Nyigblanua to initiate the beginning of the Hogbetsotso. The week long activities end with what is called Togbui-korkor (the carrying of the sacred Python). The two weeks’ ceremonies are elaborate. It includes Tsaliveme-yiyi and Amatsatsra rituals for young girls of Anlo. Amatsatsra (known in Kroboland as Dipo festival) is done for the virgins in Tsiame at Tsaliveme. It is also the time when the Awoamefia and Awadada had to visit Tsaliveme after which many taboos are lifted e.g. fishing, hunting etc. It is after these ritual activities that the Hogbetsotso begins as a climax at Anloga. Nugbidodo (Reconciliation): This is a peace-making period where all disputes are ended by finding amicable solutions among the various parties with conflicts. The reason for this traditional period of peace making is that the people believe their ancestors lived in harmony with themselves all through their escape from Notsie and that it was this character that made their journey to their present homelands a success. There will also be a purification ceremony of the ceremonial stools: This is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to the gods or spirit in memory of those who have died. The Ewe believes the ancestral spirits reside through the pouring of libations. In the past, the strict rules guarding the Awoamefia makes it that he is never seen or known in public by the citizens. It is at this Hogbetsotso festival that the people have the privilege of seeing the Awoamefia publicly. It also allows the citizens to witness the panoramic displays of Anlo artistic and spiritual characters. Space and time will not allow me to speak about each stage or the varied rituals that make up the Hogbetsotso festival. The importance of Hogbetsotso festival is that it ends the old year of Anlos and opens the door to the New Year for the citizens. This is symbolically explicit in the ritual of extinguishing of every light by midnight in every Anlo home on the night of dordede. The different waves of religious movements in Africa and in particular Ghana have affected many of the rites and rituals of Hogbetsotso festival. Chieftaincy disputes have also left a deep wound on the nobility and performance activities of Hogbetsotso festivals. We would like to hear your Hogbeza experiences. Credit: Prof. Padmore Agbemabiese
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 09:50:55 +0000
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