Abe Dua: The Adinkra Symbol of Prosperity, Self-Sufficiency and Resourcefulness
This Adrindra symbol of prosperity, Abe Dua ( pronounced ah-beh-doo-ah), means “Palm Tree”, this symbol embodies one of nature’s most utilized trees in regions where it is common.
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It is a cultural symbol of wealth, self sufficiency, and resourcefulness in Ghana. For those diaspora communities outside the embrace of Africa, it is the bridge which reconnects the African diaspora to the ancestral values of identity and resilience. Traditionally, every part of the palm tree has a purpose which can range from food, shelter to oil and tools.
As with all adinkra sumbols, the meanings provide different levels of understanding depending on the recipient’s awareness and readiness to look deeper into the symbol to see how it provides not just a daily guide to living, but to an ontological philosophy which appears to connect to the principles of ancient African Ma’at.
Abe Dua is a reminder that like the palm tree, that stands in one place and has everything it requires, it represents resilience and sustainability. Its utility for many things mirrors our own potential as human beings.
Why Abe Dua is Important and How it Can Help You?
Abe Dua is the principle that has been illuminated in the bloodlines of people unwillingly brought to the Americas and Caribbean from Africa. It is a beacon for all people who are experiencing a current need for self sufficiency, and reliance. This can take the form of individual or communal desire for these qualities.
Affirmation of Our Inherent Value
We each have skills, abilities, and gifts that are unique that allow us to make a contribution to the place and time we share with others. We must not underestimate our worth, or let our creativity and intellect be suppressed.
Resourcefulness and Self reliance
In many of the world’s market economies, it is becoming increasingly harder to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. The harder people work, the more taxes they pay. There is a parasitic system designed to keep people in debt. The cost of living is not sustainable. Abe Dua is the symbol that illuminates the path to taking control of one’s economic future and being self reliant. This philosophy lay in wait for a time when it would be needed, and that time is now.
Where I live in a rural in Canada, self sufficiency is required, especially in the winter months, for many basic things often taken for granted in the city, but this not to say that the community is not generous, as people are always willing to help each other. Individually we are strong and when we come together, we are stronger.
We are communal beings who are interdependent on each other for survival, it mirrors the Bantu principle of Unbuntu, which has been translated as:
“I am because we are” (also “I am because you are”), or “humanity towards others“
Wealth, does is not necessarily material wealth, the richness of being able to find solutions through creativity while incorporating the principles will bring prosperity. How can we become resourceful? If we look around, we see things that we complain about in the environment, and look to the government to fix, knowing full well that it not a priority for elected officials. Dependency on others gives them control over your sovereignty.
It means taking pride in self and environment, and not waiting for bureaucrats to fix things. The individuals, who are affected can find the solutions within their means. Self sufficiency is becoming the means to survival. More people interested in growing and preserving their own food, as this is where creativity emerges.
Our bodies are like the palm tree, a perfect and complex mechanism for our soul’s purpose on this Earth. Imagine if we covered the palm tree in chemicals just for aesthetic purposes. When we manipulate our bodies for fashion instead of function, think the of wigs, weaves, skin whitening creams, we diminish its ability to perform at its optimum level.
Resilience and Versatility
Like the palm tree, we can survive, in conditions ranging from ideal to inhospitable. In the diaspora, some people are experiencing hardship and marginalization instead of the economic opportunities they sought.
For communities, Abe Dua symbolizes all the things that can be achieved by combining resources,and looking for creative solutions. Think about water shortages, erratic electricity, garbage on the streets, these are fixable. When you can smell and see a scene like the one in the photograph above, as the saying goes, we must be the change that we want to see.
Cultural Reconnection
I noticed some commentaries the other day about a film from the early 90’s called Daughters of the Dust. It is a very beautifully filmed, lyrical cinematic journey of cultural connections to the past, and how a family arrived at a crossroads as they moved into the future. It embodied the principle of Abe Dua by reconnecting with ancestral knowledge, and fostering pride, and healing. The depth of pre-colonial African philosophy ran deep in the movie.
Final Thoughts
In daily life, we can initiate projects that reflect the principles of usefulness, resourcefulness, and sustainability. We thrive through recognizing our worth, being self sufficient, creative and versatile. Abe Dua is the bridge to cultural reconnection, which means you do not just survive, but you thrive.
Resources
Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working by Dambisa Moyo
Libraries, You Tube, there are no excuses for not trying to help yourself today.
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