{
  "id": 6129645,
  "title": "A White Stone at Glidji, and Togo’s Guin Community Exhales",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/a-white-stone-at-glidji-and-togos-guin-community-exhales",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-07T11:08:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Rio Times",
    "slug": "the-rio-times",
    "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/togo-sacred-stone-epe-ekpe-2026/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This year, a white stone was taken from the sacred wood at Glidji in south-east Togo, signifying a year of peace and prosperity according to the Guin community. The rite involves priests and initiates entering the sacred wood before dawn to find a stone believed to have been placed there by the ancestors. The stone is then shown to the crowd, and its colour is announced aloud. This ceremony, called Epe Ekpe or Ekpessosso, marks the start of the Guin ancestral year and occurs between late August and early September. The colour of the stone holds significance, with white indicating peace and prosperity, blue being broadly favourable, red signaling blood and conflict, and black being the worst. The Guin trace the taking of the stone back to 1663, making it one of West Africa's longest continuously observed civic rituals. The rite is a purification, closing the previous year and opening the new one, with grievances meant to be left behind. The Guin community traces their origins to what is now Ghana, and the festival preserves their migration story. The Glidji reading is one of the few Togolese stories that reaches an international audience, contributing to the region's soft power. The festival is a major event in the Aneho area, attracting the diaspora from Lome, Accra, Paris, and beyond, boosting local businesses and tourism.",
  "summary": "Priests carried a white stone from the sacred wood at Glidji this weekend, and for the Guin of southern Togo that colour sets the tone of the year that follows. The post A White Stone at Glidji, and Togo’s Guin Community Exhales appeared first on The Rio Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}