Asase Ya

Asase Ya
Earth Goddess
Husband Nyame

Issue

Occupation Goddess of the Ashanti people ethnic group

Asase Ya (or Asase Yaa, Asaase Afua;[1] pronounced: ah-SAY-suh yah) is the Earth goddess of fertility[2] of the Ashanti people ethnic group of Ashanti City-State.[3] She is also known as Mother Earth or Aberewaa.[4]

Asase Yaa is the wife of Nyame the Sky deity, who created the universe.[5] Asase Yaa gave birth to the two children, Bea and Tano.[2][3] Bea is also named Bia.[2][3]

Asase Yaa is also the mother of Anansi, the trickster, and divine stepmother of the sacred high chiefs.[2][3]

Asase Yaa is very powerful, though no temples are dedicated to her, instead she is worshipped in the agricultural fields of Ashanti City-State.[2][3]

Asase Yaa's favoured Ashanti people are occupationally Ashanti workers in the agricultural fields and planet Jupiter is her symbol.[2][3]

Asase Ya Worship

The Ashanti people of Ashanti City-State regard Asase Ya as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility, the upholder of truth, and the creator Goddess who comes to fetch Ashanti people's souls to the otherworld (Planet Jupiter) at the time of death.[6][7][8][9][10] She is credited as being the nurterer of the earth and is considered to provide sustenance for all.[11] When a member of the Ashanti people ethnic group wants to prove his (or her) credibility, he (or her) touches his (or her) lips to the soil of Ashanti City-State and recites the Asase Ya Prayer-Poem.[6][7][8][9][10] Another tradition holds that because Thursday is reserved as Asase Ya's day, the Ashanti people generally abstain from tilling the land of Ashanti City-State on that day.[6][7][8][9][10]

Asase Ya Prayer-Poem

Asase Ye Duru is the Adinkra Symbol of Asase Ya the Ashantis Goddess. Asase ye Duru means; The Earth has weight (symbol of providence and the divinity of Mother Earth and this symbol represents the importance of the Earth in sustaining life). Divinity of the Earth. Providence Power/Authority, Wealth and Might. Ashanti Twi: Tumi nyina ne asase (All power emanates from the earth) and Asase ye duru sen epo (The earth is heavier than the sea).[12]
Prayer Poem To Asase Ya[13]
First stanza
Old Woman Earth ....

She who Lent the Rights..
Of Cultivation to the Living ....

My Prayer to You, of Thanksgiving.
Second stanza
"Earth, When I am about to Die,

I Lean on you.
Earth, While I am Alive,

I Depend on You".
Third stanza
Lilacs in your Hair .. Ever Present Mother
In each Grain of Sand is thy Story.
Fourth stanza
Giver of Nkwagye the Salvation of Life

And Nkwa to live Life without Strife

To your Everlasting Glory.
Fifth stanza
That Man is Tame is thy Domain...

Giver of Law and Ethics

Scales of Justice.
Sixth stanza
With Each Field I till..

With Thee I am Still
And when Death comes to Claim..
I become One with thy Fame

Bringing Life to the Land with my Will.
Seventh stanza
The Fertile Fields and the Woman's Yield

All Have felt thy Hand
Hail and Thanks Be Great Mother

For your Back upon which we Stand.
Eight stanza
Upholder of Truth, our Lady Fair

To kiss the dust of thy Breast...

Is proof of the Tale.
Ninth stanza
Hail Great Mother

Whose Love is in the Earth
Thy gifts to your Children

Are an Unending source of Mirth.
Tenth stanza
A Smile to the Lips with a Song in the Heart
Praises we Sing, when the Plantings to Start.
Eleventh stanza
Hail bringer of Life, bringer of Law and Order

Hail Old Mother Earth, your Children
Have Crossed the Border

Into the Lands of Sweetness and Heart.
Twelfth stanza
Asase Yaa, Aberewa, Asase Efua

Names without End do we Call You
Blessed Be, Asase Yaa

To Be Cherished Forever, We Adore You.

The Abosom in the Americas(Jamaica)

Worship of the Asase Ya goddess was transported via the transatlantic slave trade and was documented to had been acknowledged by enslaved Akan or Coromantee living in Jamaica.[14][15] Jamaican slave owners did not believe in Christianity for the Coromantee and left them to their own beliefs.[14][15] Hence an Ashanti spiritual system was dominant on the plantation.[14][15] According to Jamaican historian and slave owner Edward Long, creole descendants of the Ashanti coupled with other newly arrived Coromantee joined in observation and worship of the Ashanti goddesses Asase Yaa and Asase Afua (the English people recorded erroneously as 'Assarci').[14][15] They showed their worship by pouring libations and offering up harvested foods.[14][15] Other Ashanti Abosom were also reported to be worshipped.[14][15] This was the only deity spiritual system on the island, as other deities identities in the 18th century was obliterated because of the large population of enslaved Coromantee in Jamaica, according to Edward Long and other historians who observed their slaves.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Historical dictionary of women in Sub-Saharian Africa. Author: Kathleen E Sheldon.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 African Traditional Religion in Biblical Perspective by Richard J. Gehman
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Egerton Sykes; Alan Kendall (2001). Who's who in non-classical mythology. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-415-26040-4. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  4. ↑ Opokuwaa, Nana Akua Kyerewaa (2005-01-01). The Quest for Spiritual Transformation: Introduction to Traditional Akan Religion, Rituals and Practices. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595350711.
  5. ↑ "Family tree of Litungas". royalark.net.
  6. 1 2 3 "Goddess Asase Yaa". journeyingtothegoddess. 2011-04-12. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  7. 1 2 3 Frances Romero (2011-04-22). "Top 10 Earth Goddesses: Asase Yaa". time.com. Time. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  8. 1 2 3 Loar, Julie (2010). "Goddesses for Every Day: Exploring the Wisdom & Power of the Divine Feminine" (google) (1/1): 149.
  9. 1 2 3 Skye, Michelle (2010). "Goddess Aloud!: Transforming Your World Through Rituals & Mantras" (1/1): 39.
  10. 1 2 3 "The U.N. Meddling with Religion: Historic 1992 Earth Summit". freerepublic.com. 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  11. ↑ Opokuwaa, Nana Akua Kyerewaa (2005-01-01). The Quest for Spiritual Transformation: Introduction to Traditional Akan Religion, Rituals and Practices. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595350711.
  12. ↑ Valentina A. Tetteh (22 April 2006). "Adinkra - Cultural Symbols of the Asante people" (PDF). stlawu.edu (PDF). St. Lawrence University. p. 9. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  13. ↑ "Prayer Poam for the Goddess Asase Yaa". paganandproudofit.com. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Chapter I: Ashanti Cultural Influence In Jamaica". sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Long, Edward (1774). "The History of Jamaica Or, A General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island: With Reflexions on Its Situation, Settlements, Inhabitants, Climate, Products, Commerce, Laws, and Government" (google). 2 (3/4): 445–475.
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