Saman Twentwen:
Saman Twentwen are defined as ancestors who never left Earth. They are cought between our world and Asamando. Some are lost and others refuse to leave. It is said that you may see them ("dead people") roaming in the land of the living. Speacial rites must be performed in order to help Saman Twentwen get to Asamando. These rites last for at least one year after the passing of such an ancestor.
Tofo:
Tofo are those who experienced a violent death such as an automobile accident or drowning at sea, suicide or an incurable dis-ease. Genarally speaking Tofo are those whose bodies could not be recovered to perform the proper burial rites to ensure the diseased reaches Asamando (the ancestor realm).
The queastion I am raising is in regard to Diasporans. For one, most of us are just now coming into the knowledge of Traditional Kmtyw Culture, Akan or otherwise. Therefore countless ancestors have passed without the "proper" burial rites being performed. Furthermore, many of our loved ones experienced violent deaths where the body was irrecoverable (Middle Passage, Lynch Victims) or unrecognizable (Drivebys, Lynch Victims) and of course incurable dis-eases (HIV, Cancer, Heart Dis-ease) plague our community. Have any of the initiated concidered this? How do we ensure that Our Ancestors make it to Asamando? How do we ensure that the proper rites will be performed for us?
according to cosmology of the bantu kongo, there are ancestors who have gone and done good deeds, and there are ancestors who have not done good deeds and they become roaming spirits:skeleton: and there are earth bound spirits:skeleton: good and bad, we need a shrine for those who have come across the trans atlantic slave trade,the victims of maafa,those ancestors need to be elevated...:pyramid::sphinx:
Me kyia mo oo!
Permit me to say a thing or two on this most interesting subject to present, in a way some of my own understanding of the subject.
When a person dies, there occurs a separation between the body and the Spirit. Using Akan terminology, the dead person becomes a "Sunsum" (perhaps the English equivalent is 'ghost'). If the person had been part of a traditional Akan society in the past, performing the correct rituals will enable the dead person to make the transition from "Sunsum" to "Saman". There is a slight difference between the two. The "Sunsum" still has the energy/life force that Westerners call the "etheric body" or the qi body or the pranic body etc.
Transition from the "Sunsum" stage to the "Saman" stage is referred to by some as the 'second death'. This can happen quickly or it can take years, decades or even millenia! When this occurs, there is a shedding of an extra layer of, shall we say 'matter', but it is of a very fine form, the same form of energy as what we call the 'life force'. It is in this 'life force' that memories of the person (alive and dead) are stored. Imprints of these memories are also stored in the cells, the blood and the bones of the human while alive (basically the human brain is not really where all the memories of an incarnated human are stored, rather the human brain serves more as a 'holographic, space-time switching device', while it is really the cells, blood and bones of the physical body, as well as the life force, that contain our memories and imprints).
The correct rituals when performed allow the "Sunsum" (etheric/dream body) to become a "Saman" ('astral/soul body), whereupon the Saman progresses to Asamandow, the realm of the ancestors. At this point the Saman and the Honhom are one.
Interestingly, some 'departed ones' become Saman very quickly after death, but are still 'stuck' but there are various levels of the astral plane and one particular level is like a void, it is the closest region between the higher astral and the energetic dimensions. A lot of tormented souls get stuck in the void and don't move to the higher astral. 2 main reasons are due to trauma and due to those who think there is nothing that exists after death, beyond this 'void'. It is these that have expanded this level.
On the other hand, other rituals can be performed to keep ancestors with the living. Such rituals often involve 'life-force offerings', but sometimes involve the offering of food, drink and other offerings. What this does is to maintain the energetic matrix of the "Sunsum". The memories and wisdom of the once-living human (perhaps an elder) after death, can still be accessed from the 'records' held in the energies of the "Sunsum". This is perhaps a big reason why it has been important to perform the correct rituals to maintain a link with the ancestors. Those ancestors who do not progress from "Sunsum" to "Saman" effectively create a new home on the physical -energetic level. Such places can be visited by the living, in dreams. Sometimes such places are on the surface Earth or slighly lower level. Also it is possible for the Sunsum of the ancestor to be put into a stool (I'm thinking of the "Black Stools" of the Akan) but apparently those rituals are secret.
It is also interesting that even after an ancestor progresses from "Sunsum" to "Saman", it is possible to commune with that ancestor, however that will have to happen on the level of the Asamandow, the abode of the ancestors who have moved on. After the 'second death' (transition from 'Sunsum' to 'Saman') there is a loss of the energetic matrix of the Sunsum and hence the Saman may not necessarily have the same memory and familiarity as the Sunsum of the ancestor but the Saman also has a memory matrix, so it is still possible to contact ancestors and learn from them when they are in Asamandow as Saman.
Another interesting facet of this discussion is that Asamandow can refer to 2 places: one is the place close to the Earth or slightly lower level where ancestors may live, those who are still custodians of knowledge. Another is 'in the sky' (true Asamandow) or otherwise known as the astral worlds (some have called it heaven or paradise etc, these places exist and can be temporarily visited in the out of body state).
Now for the interesting part. What happens to those who die through trauma or otherwise and who have not had the correct rituals performed for them. Some of them get stuck in space-time realities (still in the energetic realms close to the physical Earth dimension) that reflect the period that they lived in. It is really interesting to meet such 'departed ones' in the out of body state. Some have held on to the energies of their "Sunsum" so strongly that they are not aware that time has passed and may communicate from a culturally archaic point of view. Such 'unfortunate ones' create a major blockage in the flow of consciousness, the birth-death cycle if you like, between the physical and soul worlds.
Eventually such 'departed ones' tend to move on because time itself is relative, however at times they need to have some help from various kinds of 'soul helpers' to release them of what they are holding on to. Some Sunsum who remain on Earth realize that they have 'passed on' but then they linger, they do not go through the 'second death' and they learn to adapt to their new form as Sunsum. This is probably where Saman Twentwen comes in. Such 'departed ones' can often do things, like move objects or make themselves known.
So to address the original article (below) that is generating this response, my guess is that the Diaspora Kmtyws who died traumatic deaths, it is possible that some of them are still living out their traumas, caught in pockets of space-time regions and not having been able to move on yet. Some of these souls may still be traumatized, even after death, and could be found in the 'void'. It is also possible that some have managed to move on (number of reasons can contribute to this) but I can imagine that there are a lot of traumatized souls who died during the Middle Passage era, who are bewildered and have yet to move on. There are various levels of the Soul Worlds, even if a 'departed one' moves from 'Sunsum' to 'Saman',
there is no guarantee that they have yet reached their Asamandow (gone beyond the void), the abode of their ancestors. Even to this day. Those Kmtyws adept at soul travel can learn to help some of these traumatized souls, help them to move on to the ancestral realms. Once you get out of body, you can set your intent to be of assistance/service to some of these and you may be given such an opportunity. But be ready to face possible communication challenges due to the cultural and temporal divide. In such a case, it is the Soul Helper that has to adapt to the needs of the traumatized one being helped. It is also likely that such helpers will have even other helpers helping them, if they ever found themselves in such a role.
From the cultural point of view, some Kmtyw 'departed ones' who get 'stuck' find themselves in that state also possibly because they are expecting to have the proper rituals performed for them, and do not understand why this has not yet happened. Even for modern people who die having thought throughout their lives that there is nothing after death, such folk run the risk of getting 'stuck', just like some folk from past 'times'. On the level of the Soul worlds, it is possible to travel back and forth in 'time', and through 'space', to personally verify all of what I have said here.
Obarima, mikyia wo? Bro KwameD, You seem to have a wealth of knowledge. And I don't believe you can have KHOW-ledge from reading a book. How do you know so much?
My Brother Kofiasr, you are right, the knowledge I shared in that post is not from books, much of what I wrote is from direct experience, although I admittedly translated some of that experience into Akan vocabulary. Like many of our Brothers and Sisters on Abibitumikasa, I am also working hard to reclaim ALL of my Kmtyw identity. Although I am particularly interested in the West Kmtyw region because it's where I'm from, my heart goes out to all Blacks, especially the more aware/conscious ones. I am however not a master or not yet even initiated in a traditional Akan spiritual system, although I've received a number of other forms of "training". Some of my training/awareness has come directly from Spirit but more of it has come from learning from/with a number of groups during the better part of this decade. When it comes to Akan culture and spirituality, I realized that much can be learned from traditions and symbology because the culture is a living culture, however I am also aware that this does not replace genuine initiation into specific orders which have specific knowledge pertaining to those orders.
Thus when I speak in this way about the Akan, it is because I am very interested in the culture, language, spirituality and traditions of my people, and in learning more, rather than for instance placing myself as an authority on their spirituality. I am very open to learning as well as to sharing. The journey however proceeds, and the learning continues, it shall never stop.
Onua, Medase!