For A Trouble Free World

A departed spirit does not wait for the living before it eats. That is, a departed spirit does not depend on the living for its sustenance.
Explanation: The Afican belief is that their departed relatives are spirits and that they have unlimited mobility and unhindered access. Therefore, as spirits, the departed can have access to meals even before their living relatives begin to eat. The proverb shows the power of the departed spirits as well as the basis of the continued relationship between them and the living.

If you are not going to partake of the food of the departed spirit, you do not put your hand into it.
Explanation: Although the Akan express fellowship with their departed spirits, they nevertheless keep a respectful distance between themselves and their departed ancestors. The reason for this attitude is the fear that the dead might take the living away with them since they are always seeking to increase their number by taking people from among the living to join their ranks. The living therefore try to
avoid direct physical contact with them. Food intended for the spirits is, therefore, either put into a separate dish, put on the ground or even scattered.

When an apparition (ghost) stretches its hand to greet you, you pull yours back.
Explanation: Although shaking hands with each other and with strangers is stressed in the Akan tradition, this mark of brotherhood and sisterhood is not extended to the departed spirits because of the fear they may take one away. In its wider connotation, the proverb implies that one should avoid coming into contact with what will bring about harmful or undesirable consequences.

When a ghost is approaching at a distance, it is fearful; but when it gets closer (you discover that) it is a relative.
Explanation: The avoidance of direct physical contact with ghosts as a result of the fear of the consequences of such contact is a common Akan behaviour. An approaching ghost is therefore a frightening phenomenon but when the ghost gets closer, one finds that it is a relative. In a general sense, the proverb suggests that things may be fearful at a distance but when they get closer, they no longer appear to be so.