African mythology is a blend of different culture with most of the themes relating to animals and especially tricksters. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. This is an index of lists of deities of the different religions, cultures and mythologies of the world list of deities by classification. Each god has three objects known as otanes that are sacred to the god. Until july 20, headings for individual named gods, goddesses, and mythological figures were established in lcsh.
We read myths not only to learn about the culture in which the myth originated. The mother hippo would come with the baby to suckle from its mother every night. This paper seeks to examine how africans conceive of the supreme being, divinities and spirits. The same mysteries have puzzled people on every continent, the same fears have beset them and they have all attempted to explain the mysteries and allay the fears in the same waythrough the worship.
The routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons. Unlike europeans, who believe spiritual beings must be separated, african mythology believes jok is the unified spirit of all supernatural beings. African mythology gods and spirits from the african. However, red can also mean transparent or clear too. African mythologies are credited for most happenings in their part of the world and revered as deities to be worshiped. He is pictured as tall and white with only half of his body visible. The african culture similar to all the polytheistic religions believe to have the one god who created everything and anyone even other gods. The complete gods and goddesses of ancient egypt pdf. Their religion dates back to the stone age, but was influenced by the spread of agriculture from the middle east around 600 bce.
Many of the things that we will read this year will make a reference to a. Africa isnt a single place with a single pantheon, and wed be fools to. The stress of the program is on giving students an idea of the nature of the greek and roman gods and of the importance of these gods in the lives of the ancients. List of greek mythological creatures and monsters facts. She was married to obatala and is considered the mother of gods, as shango is her son. The creator is thought to have once lived on earth, but left it for his kingdom in the sky because of human infractions. Its subject matter is, african reality, african experience and how the african understand and interpret these experiences. She is the mother of the sea aja african aja is an orisha, patron of the forest, the animals within it and herbal healers, whom she taught their art. The number of gods and goddesses varies from culture to culture.
According to akan mythology, all humans lived deep within the earth. The concise list can be found on our pantheon page of african gods and spirits. In the roman empire, there are temples to jupiter, juno, quirinus, and other major and minor gods and goddesses. Photo by jeanchristophe benoist used under a creative commons license. African mythology gods and spirits from the african continent.
Looking around them, the astonished people became terrified, but adu ogyinaethe first man on the surfaceseemed to understand the world and its wonders. At the beginning of yoruba mythology, the universe was composed of two elements, the ethereal sky above and a watery chaos below. All the gods and goddesses of greece were black gnostic. The heroes are probably the bestknown part of greek mythology, but what makes a hero having monsters to fight, thats what.
Romans of the first century bce recorded the celtic myths and then later, after the introduction of christianity to the british isles, the irish monks of the 6th. A knowledge deity is a deity in mythology associated with knowledge, wisdom, or intelligence. Subject headings manual h 1635 page 1 january 2020. The orisha and the 12 gods of yoruba mythology ancient code. The stones are what sacrifices are made on, the metals are the particular metal sacred to. Others are lesser spirits, such as the spirits of ancestors. The concept of god, divinities and spirits in african traditional religious ontology has been so misunderstood by many scholars to the point of seeing africans as people who did not know the supreme being nor worship him. A god behind the gods, a supreme god who created everything. This is a list of african spirits andor deities found within the traditional african religions. Click download or read online button to get african gods book now. Godcheckers az names list of african gods and spirits.
God and the spirits, the gods, the holy ghost and beings from the otherworld. Most african traditional religions have multiple gods, often grouped together in family relationships. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Names of god epithets of gods of monotheistic religions.
Although no single set of myths and legends unites this diverse population, different cultural groups and regions share some common mythological elements. Most of these black gods were regarded as crucified saviors who died to save mankind by being nailed to a cross, or tied to a. Odin sacrificing himself to gain knowledge of the runes. Press button download or read online below and wait 20 seconds. All the gods and goddesses of greece were black gnostic warrior. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading mythology. God, divinities and spirits in african traditional. These tools maintain the traditions of a culture and reflect what is most important in peoples lives. To specify, greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, and the nature and origin of the world.
Its legends, spirits, gods, and goddesses provide rich territory for baby names. The african continent includes so many countries, regions, languages, tribes, cultures and crossovers that the sheer diversity of prevailing gods would seem overwhelming if there werent a few handy shortcuts. Shes also known as a guide to the dead and is the only orisha who has one foot in the world of the living and one in the. The multimammia is black in the campidoglio at rome, and in montfaucon. God in the sky, god on earth, creator god, river god. Orunmila is a god of wisdom, knowledge and divination. Thisperiod lasted from around 800 bce until about 600 ad.
Main gods and spirits african mythologies include supernatural beings who influence human life. See more ideas about african, gods and goddesses, deities. The top 10 infamous mythical legends and folklore from the african continent. All the gods and goddesses of greece were black, asserts sir godfrey higgins, at least this was the case with jupiter, baccus, hercules, apollo, ammon. Gods and goddesses is a twopart program that seeks to introduce students to both aspects of mythology. The seven african gods, african, hispanic, religion. Articles that are apart of african mythology will appear here. Thoth, originally a moon deity, later became god of wisdom and scribe of the gods. Move over odin, ra, and zeus, theres a new really old pantheon in town. In addition to working the land, the celts made great use of the materials avail. Revered by hunters he is the god of animals agwe benin africa. There may be spirits and ancestors floating around, but theres only one god. The routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and.
One day, seven men, five women, a leopard, and a dog crawled out of a hole made by a massive worm. In the early mythologies of most cultures, women were the supreme gods. His followers and priests are known as babalawo, meaning father or master of the mysticism. A concise guide to the gods, heroes, sagas, rituals and beliefs of african myths by bernard hayes available for immediate download. African doctrines or theories on reality being and the universe which is made up of things like god, gods, life. See more ideas about gods and goddesses, african and orisha. Our holy database currently contains 400 african deity names and 196 unique articles. Gods of different elements have been appointed as in the tradition in africa. African mythology is as vast and diverse as the continent itself. Gods and goddesses the african culture similar to all the polytheistic religions believe to have the one god who created everything and anyone even other gods. The dramatic legend of anansi, the spider, the trickster and spirit of knowledge in african mythology.
In african mythology, jok is the concept of the divine. The ronga of mozambique tell the legend of a mother who gave a hippo her baby to protect it from a foe. The goddesses venus, isis, hecati, diana, juno, metis, ceres, cybile, are black. African gods and goddesses pantheons the white goddess. After that date, headings for individual named gods, goddesses, and mythological figures are established as rda name authority. The druid priests of the celts did not write down the stories of their gods and goddesses but instead transmitted them orally, so our knowledge of the early celtic deities is limited. See more ideas about gods and goddesses, african and african mythology. As master of the deep, he has a great insight into the.
Captivating greek, egyptian, norse, celtic and roman myths of gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters kindle edition by clayton, matt. Olokun presides over this watery abyss, an aquatic realm populated by sea spirits. This list is frequently updated we are constantly discovering more. She was known as tawaret, the goddess of fertility and childbirth in ancient egypt. Jul 30, 2019 the druid priests of the celts did not write down the stories of their gods and goddesses but instead transmitted them orally, so our knowledge of the early celtic deities is limited. Written accounts of african mythology began to appear in the early 1800s, and presentday scholars labor to record the continents myths and legends before they are lost to time and cultural change. Aberewa earth goddess, ashanti people of ghana aja forest goddess, yoruba people of nigeria ala goddess of fertility, igbo people of nigeria.
H 1635 gods and mythological figures library of congress. The goddess of storms and strong winds is oya, one of the wives of shango. See the discussion in martin bernal, black athena vol. Our alphabetical list of african gods and goddesses names. The pantheon of greek gods and goddesses greek mythology page 2 you need to know the greek gods goddesses by both of their greek and roman names. African mythology myth encyclopedia god, story, legend. Red is the color of blood and deathviolence male qualities in the african mythology. Aug 26, 2018 this are the various gods of africa explained, and their powers, where they rule over. Lewis makes us wonder why the orishas dont have their own comic book series. The yoruba people are based in nigeria, benin and togo.
See more ideas about african mythology, mythology and african. A complete list of hindu gods and goddesses insight state. This are the various gods of africa explained, and their powers, where they rule over. Obatala, yemaya, oshun, shango, eleggua, ogun, oya.
The concise list can be found on our pantheon page of african gods and spirits this list is frequently updated we are constantly discovering more. Coeus, titan of the inquisitive mind, his name meaning query or questioning. Download african gods or read african gods online books in pdf, epub and mobi format. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. These characters are referred to many time in classical literature. The routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses,devils and demons from classical greek and roman mythology to the gods of eastern europe and mesopotamia. Humans use mythology and ritual to establish a sense of community and identity and an understanding of their place in the universe. African mythologyafrican mythology in contexta vast continent, africa is home to many cultures and a thousand or more languages.
Their names live on in placenames, peoples names, and history. Traditional african belief is overwhelmingly monotheistic. By sir godfrey higgins osiris and his bull were black. As queen of the oceans and the seas, she is the highest reigning water god in the yoruba tradition. Captivating greek, egyptian, norse, celtic and roman myths of gods. This is the supreme god or the creator who was believed to have once lived on earth but had left to his kingdom because of human infractions. This list also covers spirits andor deities found within the afroamerican religions which mostly derives from traditional african religions. It was made to commemorate the defeat of the galatians of asia minor by attalos i of pergamon in the third century b.
From the wooly texture of the hair, i am inclined to assign to the buddha of india, the fuhi of china, the sommonacom of the siamese, the zaha of the japanese, and the quetzalcoatl of the mexicans, the same, and indeed an african, or rather. He was present at the beginning of creation and taught priests spiritual knowledge and ethics. Most african cultures, if not all, believe in a supreme creator in one form or another. The female hippopotamus is almost always a goddess in african mythology. The gods in the yoruba language are referred to as orishas. She was said to be more clever than a million gods. A guide to the gods, goddesses, and traditions of ancient egypt check price as the title of the book indicates, it focuses on egyptian myths and several stories originating from this part of the world in ancient times. The african mythology myth is that the gods meant for humans to be immortal and that death was introduced when the wrath of the gods was incurred either by the animals or the people by some unlucky mistake.