Zakpai
Dan · numen · Dan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Zakpai is the fire-guardian mask-spirit of the Dan, an enforcing ge charged with protecting the village from fire during the parched harmattan season. At the dangerous midday hours it moves swiftly through the settlement to see that every cooking fire has been put out, since a single unattended flame could destroy the closely built, thatched houses. Its authority is coercive rather than gentle, and it is recognised by a carved face characteristically covered or bound with red cloth.
Domains
- fire protection
- village order
Powers
- ensures cooking fires are extinguished
Sources
- Zakpai is the fire-prevention mask-spirit that, in the dry season, ensures all village fires are extinguished to prevent conflagration; its face is bound in red cloth.: Fischer and Himmelheber, The Arts of the Dan in West Africa (1984). (secondary)