Funeral celebrations, which are held at certain intervals after the burial of a deceased person, are widespread in Ghana and other West African countries. However, they rarely occur in  double form. In the case of the Bulsa, this doubling (Kumsa and Juka) makes it difficult to recognise a clear structure and a continuous, consistent course of the entire funeral sequence. The second celebration (Juka) does not begin where the first ended, but several ritual processes are repeated in a similar form.

As already mentioned, the religious purpose of a funeral celebration is to transfer the dead from their existence in the world of the living to that of their ancestors. This would already be possible after the death mat, the soul’s (chiik) previous temporary abode after death, was burned on the second day of the Kumsa celebration, freeing the soul from its material ties and allowing it to enter the land of the dead. Afterwards, rituals relating to the continued presence of the soul in the compound, such as the provision of food in the ancestral room (kpilima dok or dalong), no longer exist. However, it is not entirely clear to which material objects the soul is bound during this time. One piece of information from Sandema-Kobdem states that it is probably located in the granary of the dead man [endnote 16], but this assumption has not been confirmed by other informants. It is usually assumed that it is somewhere in the ancestral room (kpilima dok), where the bows and quivers of a deceased person are kept.

It is only at the Juka celebration, which often takes place many years after the Kumsa, that the soul of a deceased woman is clearly associated with a particular clay vessel (often a kpaam-kabook) or the soul of a man with his quiver (lok) and bow (tom). When women destroy the vessels and men burn the weapons, it is assumed that the soul begins its journey to the land of the dead. This is associated with renewed outbursts of grief from close relatives of the deceased, who have now lost their local closeness to a loved one. Only after this ritual can the deceased fully assume all the functions of an ancestor. Then his wen-bogluk (wen-shrine) can be moved, often several years later, from the courtyard of his first wife to the row of older ancestors in front of the compound. Although not entirely logical, the deceased may already take on some of the characteristics and powers of an ancestor between the Kumsa and Juka celebrations, for example punishing the living for offences or helping them in times of need (Gbedema information). He can even act as a guardian spirit (segi) after the segrika ritual of a young man or woman, as it happened in Wiaga-Badomsa.

The length of time between the two celebrations, often several years, leads to problems with the remarriage of widows. Young women with small children are not prepared to wait many years for a new partner, and births to widows during this period are not uncommon. However, the children are still regarded as natural descendants of the deceased, even if modern Bulsa find it difficult to believe in pregnancies lasting several years. As a reasonable way out, the ritual of remarriage for widows is sometimes postponed to an earlier date. In a well-known case in Wiaga-Badomsa, this happened shortly after the conclusion of the Kumsa festival. However, this innovation impairs the logical coherence of the funerary celebrations. If one assumes that the soul of a deceased man still lives in the compound until the burning of his quiver and bow and that the deceased still exercises his previously occupied offices and functions (e.g., as head of the compound), he can hardly be regarded as the husband of his wives if they have already remarried.

These logical discrepancies in the sequence of rites concerning the whereabouts of the soul and the remarriage of widows, which cast doubt on the necessity of the second funeral celebration, can be supplemented by other redundancies. Some of these probably belong to major celebrations in general, such as the brewing of pito, communal ritual meals, sacrifices to the ancestors, visits to the market, and so on.

However, other more important Kumsa rituals are also repeated at the Juka celebration, albeit sometimes in a slightly different form.

1. The bath and the shaving of the widows’ heads. In both cases, these are probably ritual cleansing rites that are necessary for a new position and a new phase in the life of the woman.

2. Plastering the burial bowl. While in the Kumsa, some women cover the bowl with moist balls of earth, which they only roughly plaster over, in the Juka the plaster is given a more final form, sometimes with an admixture of cement.

3) In the Kumsa celebration, women perform the sacrifice ton the compound wall (parik kaabka), in the Juka celebration it is men who do so.

4. The imitation (cherika) of the deceased takes place in both celebrations without major differences.

5. In the naapierika ginganga dance, men and women in both celebrations dance towards the rubbish heap in a war dance-like manner.

In more recent times, especially among the younger Christian generation, there have been frequent discussions about reforming funeral celebrations [Endnote 17]. They want to leave out the “pagan” elements or replace them with elements that Christians can also perform. In addition, a reduction in costs and, in particular, of high-proof alcoholic beverages is recommended [endnote 18]. I have not yet heard of a call to merge the two funerals into one that takes reformist ideas into account. However, some of the reformist proposals would be automatically considered, while others could be specially included.