The birth of twins in most societies is a highly celebrated event. However this was not
always the case. For example the Ibo people at one time felt that twins should be feared,
that they were unnatural to humans, and that double births were fitting only to animals.
Yet the Bambara and Yoruba societies exemplify the more common, positive attitude
towards twins. Twins bring good luck to themselves, their family, and the whole village. They are treated with great care and the mother of the twins is especially revered as
a bearer of good luck. Often special gifts, food, clothing, or money is given to the
mother of twins so that the giver can also share in the good luck. (Walker 32).
The special Yoruba twin, ibeji, cult- is a domestic cult which involves
the parents and the twins in many rituals beginning at birth. Many rituals also involve
images of the twins made after death. If a twin dies prematurely, divination determines
if a carved image of the twin is needed to contain the twin's half soul. It is then treated
as it would have been in life: it is washed, fed, put to bed and so on. The reason for the images
is the palacation of the spirits of dead twins. If a dead twin sees that it is cared for
after death, it will send more children to the mother (Brain 200).
This Yoruba sculpture depicts a mother with her twins closely at her side and a hand gently placed atop each twin's head. Her fecundity is displayed in her full breasts. Her long strong neck, elaborate hair, and well-formed features display Yoruba concepts of beauty.
The spirit spouse generally exhibits the Baule ideals of feminine beauty and virtue: she has small eyes, ears and mouth, downcast eyes, a serene expression, strong legs, and her hands are placed gracefully on her protruding stomach to show her fertility. "The more beautiful the figure, the better it will localize and placate the spirit for which it was made and will in turn reward the owner with positive behavior (69).
All Baule people have an other wordly, ideal spouse, a "spirit spouse" with whom they were matched before they were born. This statue is an example of a man's spirit wife. The spouse appears at times of trouble or misfortune. Through dreams the spirit spouse will communicate to the earthly spouse what to do. The earthly spouse may be required to commission a spirit spouse statue to be placed in a shrine (as seen in the picture on the left) to appease the spirit. One night each week will be devoted to sleeping with the spirit spouse (Seiber and Walker 69).
An Asante legend holds that a woman named Akua, who was barren, was intructed to commission a small, female, child statue and to care for the doll as if it were real. She did so, until she conceived and successfully gave birth to a female child.
This tradition continues with a doll or small statue called Akua'ba or child of Akua. The Akua'ba dolls are commissioned by women wanting to conceive or desiring a healthy and safe pregancy of both male and female children. "After the akua'ba is blessed by the fertility deity in rites conducted by apriest, the women carries it and treats it like a real child; she adorns it with beads and earrings, 'nurses' it, and puts it to bed. After a successful birth, a mother may give the akua'ba doll to a daughter to play with or use it to teach child care (Seiber and Walker 44). The doll is female due to the matrilineage of the Asante society. Women also desire female children to help them with raising sibilins and doing household chores.
The doll represents Asante ideals of beauty in an exaggerated, stylized manner: a high, flat, oval forehead, a ringed neck displaying good health, arched eyebrows, and a small nose and mouth. This example of an akua'ba is also typical in it's truncation of the limbs, rather than a naturalistic rendering (44).
Introductory Page
Women's Roles in Society
Women's Roles in the Spirit World
Map of Africa
Bibliography