Akwasidae

Akↄm is the twi word used to identify the spiritual lifestyle of the Akan people.  Akↄm is also the drumming, dancing, singing ritual that is performed on sacred days and special ceremonies. The essence of Akↄm is celebratory, musical, and mystical in nature…..the rhythmic sounds of the drums elicit transcendence to the African ways that establish familiar connections that are satisfying and complete.  

The Akan people maintain a 9 month calendar year within which sacred days occur on a 40-42 day cycle.  These Sacred days are opportunities for celebration of our spiritual connections with deities and ancestors.  Akↄm creates a sacred space that invites Onyame, ancestors and deities and provides an opening for communication between the community and the spirit realm.   

Although worship-type expressions of African spirituality are rare in Jamaica, strong ancestral elements of the Akↄm were retained by groups such as the African maroons who are descended primarily from the Akan people.  Akↄm as a form of African worship that celebrates our lineage, history and culture as black people, rooted in the cultural practices and the way of life of the Akan people of Ghana and other parts of West Africa. 

Sankofie’s primary Akↄm celebration is held on Kwasiadae (Sacred Sunday). It is normally open to the public from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.  We are happy to share with you here some of the sacred teachings brought to us by our deities and ancestors during our Akↄm.

!!!!!!!…AKOM…!!!!!!!

We are approaching the month of May—the threshold in the Gregorian calendar that brings us to the brink of the halfway mark of this 2026 year: masculine, self-focused, foundation-building, and action-oriented. In the earlier months, we were invited to center ourselves and to make plans for a future shaped by our own initiative and courage. Now, as May—named in honor of Maia, the Roman goddess of spring and growth—takes her place in the year, we are called to move beyond April’s grounding energy and step into May’s dynamism.

Having made our plans and even started with some early planting of seeds, we are now ready to expand into full implementation with freedom and adventure. It is time to draw on May’s energies of fertility, growth, manifestation, action and momentum, as guiding forces that summon us to align ourselves with the rhythms of nature, embody courage, nurture our goals and intentions with consistency and allow for transformation to ensure our emergence in abundance.  

Let us gather in commUnity to give thanks to God, our ancestors and deities for how they will continue to guide and protect us as we proceed not only into May but also through it and into the closing months of the year.  Let us talk, sing, dance, eat, drink and make offerings. Gifts for the ancestral altar are items that convey your love, respect and gratitude, We also welcome fruits, flowers, money, drinks, prayers, incense, candles etc.

 We invite you!!!