54 Hutton Webster 



the Ewe- and Yoruba-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast. Of 

 these the Tshi tribes (including the Fantis and Ashantis) are 

 the least, and the Yoruba tribes (including the Egbas, Ibadans, 

 Jebus, etc.), the most civilized. Among all these peoples there 

 are a few general deities worshipped by the members of a tribe 

 or of several tribes in common, a great number of local deities 

 confined to one locality and one particular natural object, and, in 

 addition, tutelary or protecting deities worshipped by special 

 sections of the community or by families and individuals alone. 

 Among the Tshi tribes, on the day sacred to the tutelary deity of 

 a family all its members wear white or light-colored clothes, and 

 mark themselves with white clay. On such days no work is done. 

 If one of the members of the family be absent on a journey he 

 must make a halt. The duration of such a festival depends on 

 the position of the family. Ordinarily one day is considered 

 enough, though influential chiefs may extend the period over two 

 or three days. In celebrating the day sacred to the tutelary god 

 of a town the practice is essentially the same. All the inhabitants 

 abstain from labor, daub themselves with white clay, and appear 

 in white or light-colored clothes.^^ 



It is not, however, only the guardian gods of a family or a town 

 who are honored with holy days. Among the Ewe tribes every 

 general and tribal deity, with the exception of Mawu, the most 

 powerful of their divinities, has his sacred day.^'* Saturday, for 

 instance, is sacred to Khebioso, the lightning-god. It is kept as a 

 holy day by his followers, who pass it in eating, drinking, and 

 dancing.^^ The Yoruba tribes, who have a five-day week,^^ keep 



^*A. B. Ellis, Tshi-S peaking Peoples, London, 1887, pp. 93, 89. On the 

 Gold Coast white seems to be the special color appropriate for holy or 

 festive days. On a man's birthday, which is sacred to his kra, or tenanting 

 spirit, he abstains from work, puts white clay on his face and dons a white 

 cloth {ibid., 156). 



"Ellis, Ewe-Speaking Peoples, London, 1890, p. 79. 



^Uhid., 41. 



^ Ako-ojo ("First Day"), Ojo-azn'o ("Day of the Secret" [sacred to 

 Ifa]), Ojo-Ogun ("Day of Ogun " [the god of iron]), Ojo-Shango 

 ("Day of Shango" [the god of thunder]), Ojo-Obatala (" Obatala's 

 Day"). A holy day is called ose. and because each holy day recurs weekly, 



54 



