The Apprenticeship Initiation
The apprentices and Crew at Kane Kwei Workshop;from left to right: Kwasi, Nat, Ramon, Eric Adjetey Anang, Adante, Adjetui, Agbe, Cedi Anang Kwei, Shiduu(Cedi's cousin)
EXPERT IN ABEBUU ADEKAI
ONE GOAT
TWO FULL PIECES OF CLOTH
ONE PAIR OF SANDALS
THREE CRATE OF MINERALS
TWO CRATE OF BEER
ONE UMBRELLA
TWO FOREIGN SCHNAPPS
TWO BOTTLES OF WHISKEY
ONE ALCOHOLIC FOREIGN WINE
ONE PACKET OF CIGARETTE
ONE PACKET OF MATCHES
TWO BOTTLES OF APKETESHIE
ONE NIGHT POWDER
ONE BAG OF RICE
ONE GALLON OF OIL
A SET OF SILVER BOWL
ARTISIAN SITTING FEE (200.00)
MASTERS FEE (600.00)
This is the cost of apprenticeship at Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop. It is the list of items to be given to the workshop during the initiation, and it is no small fee. In fact it is a huge undertaking for a young man in Ghana to acquire all of these goods and money. Sometimes the family or father supports his son so that he may become an apprentice, but many times it is a sum that has to be wholly raised by the perspective apprentice. The fee is to insure that a person is serious about becoming an apprentice. It would be a huge loss to a person to start apprenticing and drop out after raising all that money, or a huge disappointment to a family who invested such a large amount of money on their son only to find out it was for naught.
The actual initiation ceremony takes place in the workshop. It is a day of celebration so no work goes on in the workshop during this day. The apprentices and family members gather in the workshop for the initiation. The master of the workshop opens the initiation with a prayer. The prayer first calls on the supreme God (Ataa Naa Ny) and then calls on the family ancestors to come and show their presence. The inductee is introduced to the workshop and then presentation of the gifts begins. Immediately following the gift presentation, the libations begin. The new bottle of Schnapps, given by the inductee, is opened and a small glass is served to the workshop master.
The libation is a centuries old ritual for calling and communicating with the supreme God, the smaller gods and also the family ancestors. During the Libation, schnapps (which possesses an aroma associated with the gods) is first sipped by the workshop master, then poured on the ground. The belief is that one is actually drinking with the gods by first taking a drink yourself, then providing the gods with a drink by pouring the schnapps on the ground. The manner in which the Schnapps is poured is also significant. If the schnapps is poured forward, away from the body, then one is asking for protection from evil(natural disaster, death). If the schnapps is poured toward or under the body, then one is asking for blessings for the good things that are to come(marriage, offspring, success). After the master performs the libation, everyone else is served a small glass of schnapps and takes a small sip for themselves and then pours the remainder on the ground for the gods. Then the head of the workshop serves the schnapps to the new apprentice.
The slaughtering of the Goat(or sheep) Follows the libation. The neck is cut and the blood is spilled upon the ground. It is believed that the blood provides nourishment for the smaller gods that were buried by past ancestors within the family houses. During the Initiation, the blood is first spilled over the apprentices feet, which symbolizes the apprentice as the one providing the nourishment for the gods. In this act the apprentice actually becomes a part of the Kwei family, a part of the Kla-naa family tribe. The goat is then cooked and served to the family, and since the meat still contains the blood of the goat, it is as if the family is dining with the gods.
