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"A Knowledgeable Insight By Philip Fugah"
Philip Fugah is an Authority On Ewe Customs and
Traditions
Noviwo,
I find the discussion
on "bome," "bometsitsi," bometsila," "bo," etc,
quite very intriguing. It shows clearly that the Ewe
language is very deep. We can dive into different levels
and come out with astounding different meanings.
It has thick layers of
perception according to the discipline one is coming
from. Bome, according to the oral tradition of
Ewe cosmology, is equivalent to the Garden of Eden.
Our ancestors have
tried in their most contemplative moments to decipher
the origin of the universe and mankind, just as
Hesiod, the Greek philosopher, has
done in his famous work, Theogony.
Like every society on
earth, Ewes also have their creation myth which begins
in a garden, like the biblical Garden of Eden.
According to our
ancestors, creation of mankind is continually taking
place in the Garden, called "Bome".
("Bo "here means
Garden, note this garden begins with a capital
G).
The supreme creator or
creatrix is believed to be a woman, who is reverently
referred to as, "Bomenor",
which for better literal rendition, would be called
Goddess of the Garden.
It is said, "Bomenor",
being a very busy person, has appointed several
assistants to help in the creation process, by fitting
readily available parts to human beings about to enter
the "kodzogbe" or the world..
Unfortunately, the
creation process is not always smooth and perfect due to
very subtle sloppiness of some "Bomenor's"
assistants. As a result of this, some folks rush into
the world without receiving the full thinking
equipments.
Our ancestors
originally refer to them sympathetically as people whose
essences or essential human parts, e.g. the brain, heart
or even the soul, are left behind in the Garden or
"Bome."
The "tsitsi"
in "Bome,"
connotes "leaving or forgetting something (like the
brain) behind," "lingering behind," or "left behind."
If one begins to think of this Garden as the
garden behind or in the front of mansions, one may not
catch the full import of the meaning.
Thus the word
"bometsitsi" would be equivalent to
the developmentally challenged or the cerebrally
deficient.
"Bometsitsi"
originally was used to explain away the difficult
situation of the mentally challenged, then it
degenerated into an insulting language, which labels the
victim as a crassly stupid human being..
One must remember that
"halo" not quite long ago,
used to be a formal part of the "halowu".
The goal of this "halo" is to
inflict verbal damages on the opposing dance-team with
any cruel words one can imagine from his repertoire of
words.
Thus "bometsila"
who is thought to be a victim of the "Bome"
functionaries is now tranfered to
perfectly normal people to hurt them very deeply. In the
same manner, anybody whose gumptions do not operate
always in full capacity is labelled "bometsila"
, in order words, he has left his sensitive organs in
"Bome" or Garden (of
creation).
It is the dynamism in
every living language that accounts for evolution of
words. I agree with the other meanings attributed by the
earlier contributors to the root word "bo."
but "bome" is different .
Other examples not
mentioned are "kpa bobo, alo, si bobo"
-shout or make a very loud noise, "atibo/boka/boke"
- magic or juju, There are more variations of this
word according to the Ewe dialect one is using.
The ongoing analysis is
heavily slanted towards linguistic breaking down of
words to get their meaning. We can have eclectic
approaches to this exercise to make it a complete
reference work.
I heard of Ewe
cosmology when I was a young child in Master Rockman
Daniel Damalie's class in E.P Middle School at Anyako. I
have also heard my father participated in informal
sysmposia with the old men who used to assemble at Chief
Akaba the VI's court.
I later did some
enquiries on this by talking to other knowledgeable
older men who gave me elaborations on what I heard from
Mr. Rockman Damalie (He prefers to be called
Daniel now).
Notable among people
who corroborated this Ewes' worldview of creation were,
Bokor Seke of Anloga, Rev. W.E. Nutsuakor
and Mr. Charles Mamattah, all deceased. Just
six weeks ago I took up this very story again with
Mr. Damalie to find out whether he has any
published works on this.
My intention is to
quote them as a reference in an article in our EMAO
Noviwo, EMAO newsletter. Unfortunately the
manuscript Mr. Damalie had is lost. Some of
the oldmen who used to indulge in this exercise were:
my father, Korwu
Kaledzi Fugar, Ameko Hadzah, Nenyewode Kugblenu-Akaba,
Akakpo Aklika Akaba, Togbui Akaba VI, Gavudu Damalie,
Fiawodzo Hadzah, Togbui Sedegah, Ahiaba Bonuedi, Husunu
Anagbla, Zate Ladzekpo, Fiaxo Segbedor, Yaofli Segbedor,
Korwu Anaglate, Kosi Anaglate, Klutse Agudogo, Amega
Amekudzi Klaye, Amega Adika, Amega Nefito and many
others.
This bunch of men,
mostly illiterate, indulged in an exercise which the
ancient Greeks did and became very famous, without
knowing it. They were contemplating the origin of the
universe. The Greeks have their Helicon,
and the Ewes have their Bome, (Garden
of Eden). You can take this to the market any day.
Akpe.
(Thank you)
© Copyright
2003
Philip Fugar
Send
Your Comments to Philip Fugah at
pfugar@netscape.net
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