Myths, a durable mode of knowledge transmission, have been kept alive and resilient through communal storytelling across various cultures. In the African oral storytelling tradition, these narratives have deep roots in the natural world and are woven from human experience.

Since ancient times, African storytellers have crafted tales and cultural practices that serve as windows into ecosystems, unveiling the delicate balance of our interconnected world.

In cultures like the Akan in Ghana, the significance of every living being, including trees, is deeply rooted in the spiritual and natural order. For instance, when an individual seeks to build a house, they cannot simply venture into the forest, chop down trees, and commence construction. Instead, they must first seek permission from the Nsamanfo, the ancestral spirits, to cut down the trees.

This ritual is performed because trees are believed to possess sunsum, a spiritual essence or soul, which imbues all things, animate and inanimate, within the universe with varying degrees of vitality and significance.