Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, an Outdooring ( Ga: ''kpodziemo''; , Ewe language “vihehedego”) is the traditional

naming ceremony A naming ceremony is a stage at which a person or persons is officially assigned a name. The methods of the practice differ over cultures and religions. The timing at which a name is assigned can vary from some days after birth to several months ...

for infants. Traditionally this ceremony occurs eight days after the child is born where parents bring their newborn "outdoors" and give the child a name. Cultural beliefs dictated that after eight days, the infant was likely to survive and could be provided a name. In addition to the day name, Ghanaians frequently give children a name of an elder relative, either living or deceased. During the Outdooring, male infants would be

circumcised Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

and female infants would have their ears pierced. Currently in Ghana, many of these practices including naming, circumcision, and ear piercing are done after birth within the hospital, and the Outdooring serves as a symbolic ceremony and celebration of birth. Although most there are slight variations among the tribal Outdooring ceremonies, the practice's are mostly similar and focused on welcoming the baby. Among the

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan languages, a language group within the wider Central Tano languages *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano language ...

babies In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

would be raised toward the sky three times as an introduction to the gods and earth. The Ewes thank God, giver of life called Mawu Sogbolisa for the new gift of life. Among the Gas and Ewes, the elder drops water first, then a dips their finger into alcohol and places the finger on the child's tongues to symbolically let them know water represents good and alcohol represents evil.

Libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

s are also poured as protection over the child. The Ewes also thank the ancestors for the new baby and ask for protection for the baby. After being given a name, friends and family provide gifts to the baby which is then followed by a feast. Outdoorings are now very

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...

as Ghana's population has adopted

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Christian Ghanaians will often give their children both local or English names with names, while in Muslim communities a ''mallam'' suggests several names for the parents to choose from.

References

Culture of Ghana Circumcision Naming ceremonies Akan culture {{Ghana-stub