Ghana

In Ghana, sand is used in a ritual to keep bad luck away.

Among the Nawuri people of northern Ghana, sand is mixed with pito, a local beer, during a ceremony connected to the Kankpe shrine.

The mixture is used to make cross marks on participants’ foreheads. In the tradition, the sand is believed to counter bad luck and illness. Some is also taken home, wrapped in fresh leaves, to be used in the same way later.

Here, sand is not building material, raw material or ground to walk on. It carries a protective meaning.