Sun Birds
Origin Shona (Zimbabwe)
Dzivaguru goddes of light, darkness and rain clouds, owned to golden swallows of light. she would release them to bring warmth and light to the people and sealing them away to bring back the night and cool air.
Nosenga son of the sky god caught the sun birds and releasing them to the world. Without having Dzivaguru to seal them away the golden birds flew fast, high and low often causing droughts.
Mawu also known as Mahu is the Loa (goddess) in Dahomean (Fon) religion of the sun, moon and creation. She is the twin sister of the God Lisa and and also his wife in some variations. In other variation, both deities are of both genders and androgynous in appearance and is known as the deity, Mawu-Lisa. Mahu and Lisa are the children of Nana Buluku and are the parents of Xevioso
After creating the earth and all life and everything else on it, she became concerned that it might be too heavy, so she asked the primeval serpent, Aido Hwedo, to curl up beneath the earth and thrust it up in the sky. When she asked Awe, a monkey she had also created, to help out and make some more animals out of clay, he boasted to the other animals and challenged Mawu. Gbadu, the first woman Mawu had created, saw all the chaos on earth and told her children to go out among the people and remind them that only Mawu can give Sekpoli - the breath of life. Gbadu instructed her daughter, Minona, to go out among the people and teach them about the use of palm kernels as omens from Mawu. When Awe, the arrogant monkey climbed up to the heavens to try to show Mawu that he too could give life, he failed miserably. Mawu made him a bowl of porridge with the seed of death in it and reminded him that only she could give life and that she could also take it away.
(Art by Thalia Took)
Ayida-Weddo, also known as Aida Wedo or Aido Quedo or Rainbow Serpent is the Vodou goddess of sweet waters, serpents, fertility and rainbows. She is represented by the rainbow python.
Ayida-Weddo is a benevolent and sweet goddess, she is worshiped in parts of the Caribbean and in Benin. She represents continuity, strength, integration and wholeness.
Ayida-Weddo rules over fire, water, wind and the rainbow. She is also associated with wisdom. She protects creation.
Ayida-Weddo is the wife, or feminine aspect of Damballa-Wedo, the Sky God. Together, they both represent the principles of birth and creation.
Dhegdheer
Cannibal woman
Somalia
Deadly
Dhegdheer, also known as Lady Dhegdheer is a very famous character in Somali oral history. Her name, Dhegdheer means ‘the one with the long ear’. She had long ears that enhance her hearing enabling her to hear sounds from far away. When Dhegdheer sleeps, she folds her long ears.
Dhegdheer is known to eat children who move about at night.
Eloko (plural: Bikolo)
Origins-Mongo tribe (Congo) Zaire
Habitat- Rainforest
Dwarf/trolls
Eloko (pl, Biloko) is a term in a Mongo-Nkundo language referring to a kind of dwarf-like creature that lives in the forests. They are believed to be the spirits of ancestors of the people living there. Legend has it that they haunt the forest because they have some grudge to settle with the living and are generally quite vicious. Biloko live in the densest and darkest part of the rain forest in central Zaire, jealously and ferociously guarding their treasures: the game and the rare fruits of the forest. Only intrepid hunters are said to enter the deepest forest and survive, because in order to be successful, hunters have to possess strong magic, without which they would never see any game at all. There are many tales about wives who insist upon joining their husbands in the forest only to faint as soon as they see their first Eloko. The Biloko live in hollow trees and are dressed only in leaves. They have no hair; only grass grows on their bodies; they have piercing eyes, snouts with mouths that can be opened wide enough to admit a human body, alive or dead, and long, sharp claws of which they rub their large potbellies to cast their evil magic. They possess little bells, which, in Central Africa are believed to be able to cast a spell on passers-by. Possessing an amulet, talisman or some type of charm can offer protection from this type of magic.
A typical Eloko tale:
One day a hunter took his wife, at her insistence, into the forest, where he had a hut with a palisade around it. When he went out to inspect his traps, he told her: “When you hear a bell, do not move. If you do, you will die!” Soon after he had left, she heard the charming sound of a little bell coming closer, for the Eloko has a good nose for feminine flesh. Finally, a gentle voice asked to be let in to his room. It was like the voice of a child. The woman opened the door and there was an Eloko, smelling like the forest, looking small and innocent. She offered him banana mash with fried fish but he refused: “We eat only human meat. I have not eaten for a long time. Give me a piece of your arm.” At last the woman consented, totally under the spell of the Eloko. That night, the husband found her bones.
The Legend of Tahir by Terrence Walker (DeviantID: realteruchan)
This the type of ish that I would love to see on the screen.
No Folktale here, I found this on Deviantart and thought it was too hard not to post here. Reminds me of something out of Digimon.
Legend of Isa Bere and King Samba
Dragon
Origins- Guinea
Isa Bere was a big dragon that lived in the mountains of Futa Jallon (Fouta Djallon). The dragon had a very large stomach and would drink from lakes and rivers. The dragon saw the river Niger and wanted quench its never ending thirst causing a drought in West Africa.
The young King Samba fearing for his people’s lived went to fight Isa Bere along with his bard Tarafe. The battle was long and painfully lasting 8 years, it is said that King Samba used over 800 Eventually the dragon was killed by a blow to the heart with a long sword forged by the youngest son of a Blacksmith in the kingdom, thus releasing the waters of the Niger.
Loogaroo/Socouyant
Origins-Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada and other parts in the Caribbeans
Vampire/Witch
The Loogaroo/Socouyant is a vampire that once was a witch that had made a pact with a demon that lived in silk cotton tree demanded blood from the living so the Loogaroo would continue to practice evil magic. Once the witch died the she became a Loogaroo and elderly woman that would be seemingly harmless and would go from house to house asking to be invited in. Once invited in she would shed hers skin and drain to the blood from those in the household.
The Soucouyant varies slightly, once it sheds its skin and hides it in a mortar the soucouyant would become a giant ball of fire (very similar to the West African vampire Obayifo) and slide through the keyhole and cracks through the door and would drain blood form its victim
If the victim is drained too much and dies, it is said that she too will become a soucouyant or the soucouyant would assume her skin as a disguise. To expose a soucouyant, one should heap rice around the house or at the village cross roads as the creature will be obligated to gather every grain, grain by grain (an almost impossible task to do before dawn) thus being caught in the act. In order to destroy the soucouyant, coarse salt must be placed in the mortar containing the soucouyant’s skin or She then cannot put the skin back on and will perish. To protect your home you are to put salt at your door and place a broom behind it upside down
Bisimbi Bi Masa
Water Nymphs
Habitat - Forests near lakes, rivers and pounds.
Origins - Congo
Beautiful creatures that live in natural water places, they are know for causing skin disease that only they can cure with their haunting cries. They are so dangerous that only skilled herbalist risk entering places where they are known to be.
This blog is dedicated to African and African descended mythology, folklore,religion and mythology.
