VERSUS

Akua'ba vs. Blolo bla/bian 


There are many ways to connect to the fertility spirits through different figures from around Africa and it's cultures. Although they all have their differences in the form of the figure and how they connect to the spirit, they also have some similarities. The main goal of these figures: to bare a child.

The Akua'ba is a figure from the Asante from Ghana. The story goes that a woman could not have a child and was told to make a wooden baby doll and treat it like her own baby. Eventually, after carrying her Akua'ba doll, the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby girl! The practice caught on with other women in the Asante culture and the Akua'ba dolls became a popular tradition. The tradition is now so popular that you can find these dolls almost anywhere for a souvenir.

Aku'ba doll from the Asante.

The blolo bian and blolo bla is from the Baule and is actually a spirit spouse, in both a husband and wife form. A married couple in the Baule culture have a spiritual spouse to make offerings to or spend time with to keep balance with their life and their real spouse. Once a week, a spouse should spend time alone with their blolo bian/blolo bla and make offerings to, such as a wife offering an egg to her blolo bian or a husband breast feeding his blolo bla for the prayers of fertility.

Blolo bla, Baule

These are 2 very different ways to become fertile in different African cultures. The Akua'ba dolls are only for fertility purposes while the spirit spouses can be used for more than fertility problems, such as health, wealth, warding off evil, ect. The spiritual spouses are also to be kept hidden in the sacrificial alter while the Akua'ba dolls are out in the public, being treated like a real child. So although they have their differences, they are still figures used for the purpose of fertility.