A Maryland-based lawyer who has spent 30 years representing children with disabilities has revealed how she became a fully initiated Ghanaian fetish priestess after discovering her African roots.
Lawranda Owens, also known by her shrine name Nana Ofua Serwaa or Okomfuor Serwaa, shared her unusual journey in an interview with Ghanaian blogger Zionfelix.
She explained that an African DNA test revealed that her mother’s ancestry is linked to the Yoruba people of Nigeria, while her father’s heritage comes from Ghana.
“I was born here in America. I did an African DNA test and realised my mom’s heritage is from Nigeria, the Yoruba tribe, and my father’s heritage is from Ghana. So I took it upon myself,” she said.
Owens said she had experienced spiritual encounters from childhood, including seeing spirits, entering the spiritual realm and receiving messages from ancestors she had never met physically.
“I am an Okomfuor. I can see, I hear, the spirits talk to me, I can see and talk to the ancestors. Before I even knew about this, I never fit in. I could see spirits. I could travel in spirit. I could wake up and tell my mum I had met my great grandparents whom I never met. She knew them, I didn’t,” she said.
After learning about her ancestry and accepting what she described as her spiritual gifts, Owens began a five-year training process that involved learning both in the United States and Ghana.
She said part of her training required travelling to her ancestral village in Koforidua, where she spent time learning the language, culture, taboos and how to develop her spiritual abilities.
“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, how to hone my gifts,” she said.
Owens also showed parts of her shrine, which contained idols and other spiritual items used in her practice.
She said combining her legal career with her role as a fetish priestess has been challenging because of the expectations attached to being a lawyer.
According to her, the initiation process required major lifestyle changes, including cutting her hair, avoiding makeup and wearing African clothing regularly.
“I had to cut my hair off, I could not wear makeup. I had to wear African clothes all the time, and as a lawyer, I had to wonder what people think of me. In the winter I still wear African wear and then a blazer or scarf to keep me warm,” she said.
Owens also rejected the belief held by some Ghanaians that spiritual practices and shrines cannot cross water.
“A lot of the spirit realms were brought here by Africans during the slave trade. Many Ghanaians do not believe I am real. And many Americans do not understand. So I spend most of my time educating them,” she said.
She added that she continues to receive messages from ancestors through dreams, which she shares with people who seek her guidance.
“When I sleep, I am really not asleep. I am travelling with the ancestors. So, I get messages and tell them. People tend to believe once I share a message,” she said.
