Accra: While many believe that fetish priests and priestesses are based in their homeland, there are some who have taken their practice to lands overseas. One such individual is a Maryland-based attorney who has spent 30 years representing children with disabilities and also serves as a fully initiated Ghanaian fetish priestess.
According to Ghana Web, Lawranda Owens, whose shrine name is Nana Ofua Serwaa or Okomfuor Serwaa, opened up about her extraordinary life in an interview with Ghanaian blogger Zionfelix. She revealed how an African DNA test set her on a five-year spiritual journey that took her from America to a village in Koforidua and ultimately transformed her into an Okomfuor with 18 years of practice.
Owens explained that her spiritual gifts had manifested long before she understood what they meant, describing a childhood in which she could see spirits, travel in the spirit realm, and relay messages from ancestors she had never met in the physical world. Upon discovering her roots and recognizing her gifts, Owens embarked on a rigorous multi-year training program that combined learning in America with trips back to Ghana.
"As part of the training, we also travel back to Ghana to finish the process. We travel to our original village in Koforidua to spend a week there. I've had five years of training; they taught me the language, the culture, taboos, and how to hone my gifts," she said.
Balancing the role of a practicing attorney with that of a fetish priestess in America has not been without its challenges. Owens described the strict initiation requirements that forced her to rethink her professional image entirely. She also addressed the widespread Ghanaian belief that shrines cannot travel across water, firmly disputing it.
Owens continues to receive messages from ancestors in the dream state, which she passes on to those who seek her counsel. She says the accuracy of those messages is what ultimately wins people over.