Expiation and Punishment: A Viewpoint on Tongu Mafi Mortuary Rites in Ghana

Abstract

Aspects of the mortuary practices of the Tongu Mafi people of Ghana may be viewed as having seemingly contradictory philosophical explanations. However, the expiatory and punitive reasons are very clear and purposeful in the metaphysics of the people. An investigation into Tongu Mafi mortuary practices reveals different rituals and matching ceremonies with varied explanations on the occasion of death, burial and funerals. This paper focuses on those mortuary rites from two perspectives: the rituals as expiation and the rites as punishment. Whatever the label for the ritual, the society often views victims of the practice negatively. They include people considered to be evildoers, persons with disabilities, those who die unnatural deaths, and adults who failed to procreate. Often, these mortuary rites are explained as expiatory, especially to settle the souls of the victims in the hereafter. However, in Tongu Mafi philosophical thought, these are also punitive mortuary rites. This paper argues that such victims’ corpses are punished in order to encourage morally responsible life among the living and to ensure the realisation of specific soteriological ambitions. Furthermore, these beliefs and practices facilitate a harmonious relationship between the worlds of the living and the dead.