While many believe that fetish priests and priestesses are based in their homeland, there are some who have taken their practice to lands overseas.

One of such is a Maryland-based attorney who has spent 30 years representing children with disabilities also serves as a fully initiated Ghanaian fetish priestess.

Lawranda Owens, whose shrine name is Nana Ofua Serwaa or Okomfuor Serwaa, opened up about her extraordinary life in an interview with Ghanaian blogger Zionfelix, revealing how an African DNA test set her on a five-year spiritual journey that took her from America to a village in Koforidua and ultimately transformed her into an Okomfuor with 18 years of practice.

"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 explained that her spiritual gifts had manifested long before she understood what they meant, describing a childhood in which she could see spirits, travel in the spirit realm and relay messages from ancestors she had never met in the physical world.

"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.

Upon discovering her roots and recognising her gifts, Owens embarked on a rigorous multi-year training programme that combined learning in America with trips back to Ghana.

"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.

Okumfuor Serwaa shared a view of her shrine, complete with idols and other spiritual items she uses in her practise.

Balancing the role of a practising attorney with that of a fetish priestess in America has not been without its challenges.

Owens described the strict initiation requirements that forced her to rethink her professional image entirely.

"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.

She also addressed the widespread Ghanaian belief that shrines cannot travel across water, firmly disputing it.

"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.

Owens said she continues to receive messages from ancestors in the dream state, which she passes on to those who seek her counsel, and that the accuracy of those messages is what ultimately wins people over.

"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.

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