Throughout history, the quest to uncover one’s identity and origin has been a fundamental pursuit of humanity. This pursuit has been addressed through a diverse range of cultural lenses, each offering unique perspectives on the matter.
In Africa, creation myths have been a great way to explain how the world and man were made. Running the length and breadth of the continent, some different myths like the Zulu, Igbo, Yoruba, and Oromo explanations have continued to dazzle many.
10 African Creation Myths
1. Shona Myth of Creation
The Shona people of Zimbabwe believe that a supreme god called Mwari first made man whom he called ‘Mwedzi’, which translates ‘to the moon’. He then created a woman whom he gave the name Hweva, which means morning star. He gave Hweva to Mwedzi as a wife with the instruction that she would return to heaven after two years of living with the man.
One night Mwedzi and his wife got intimate, and by morning, her stomach was swollen. She gave birth to vegetation of all kinds. After her two years were over, she went back to heaven.
Mwari then sent another woman to the man named ‘Vhenekeratsvimborume’ which means ‘evening star’, to be the man’s wife for another two years. Mwedzi got intimate with his new wife and just like the first, she got pregnant but unlike the first, she gave birth to cattle, goats, and sheep of all kinds. Later, that morning, she gave birth to boys and girls.
After her two years were up, and she was set to return to heaven, Mwedzi got intimate with her again, and this time, she gave birth to wild animals like lions, leopards, snakes, and scorpions. Mwedzi then became king of the earth.
2. Zulu Myth of Creation
The Zulu people of South Africa believe that in the beginning, the earth was as lifeless as a rock, but in the darkness, there was a god called ‘Umvelinqangi’. His voice was like thunder and when he got angry, he would cause earthquakes.
‘Umvelinqangi’ created a tiny seed that he sent to Earth. The seed sprouted and became the very first form of life on earth. The seed produced reeds which fell on the soil and grew into more reeds and continued until it covered a massive swamp, which he named Uthlanga.
One of the reeds grew into a man which was named ‘Unkulunkulu’. He is known as the first ancestor and the great one. As he walked through the Uthlanga, he saw more people sprouting from reeds. These people were the first humans to walk the face of the earth. They spread across the earth and journeyed south of Uthlanga to the lands they inhabit today.
The great one continued walking among the reed and found animals growing from them. He picked the fish and flung them into the water, birds, and antelopes into the wild, and picked cattle to be used by humans. Similarly, plucked a ball of fire and a glowing stone, which he flung into the sky; that was how the sun and moon emerged.
He also plucked spirits, both good and bad. One was the snake-like goddess of the rivers, Mamlambo, who caused people to drown, and she would eat their faces and suck out their brains. Another, is Mbaba Mwana Waresa, a beautiful goddess. She created rain, and rainbows and invented farming. She was said to be the one who gifted the Zulu people the gift of beer.
After all this, the great one plucked a chameleon and sent it to the humans that men must not die but the chameleon was slow and the lizard was faster and he gave the wrong message by saying men must die, which marked the emergence of death in the world. It is for this reason that chameleons change their color because they still feel ashamed that their ancestor caused death due to their slow nature.
3. Ashanti Myth of Creation
According to these people, a man and a woman came down from heaven, while another set of men and women came from the ground. The god also sent a python which made its home in the river.
At the time, the men and women on earth knew nothing about procreation, hence they had no children. The python approached them and asked if they had children and after they told him they had none, he promised to make the women conceive.
He asked the men and the women to stand facing each other and then he went into the river and came out with his mouth full of water which he sprayed on their stomachs saying the words “Kus Kus”. He then asked them to go to their homes and lie together. The women conceived and bore children.
As a way of showing gratitude to the python, the descendants of the men and women took the python which is the spirit of the river, as their clan spirit, and to this day, killing or harming it is a taboo, and when it dies, they bury it humanly.
4. Igbo Myth of Creation
The Igbo people of Nigeria believed that at the beginning of the world, all gods and goddesses lived together in heaven, along with the Supreme Being, Chineke. These gods and goddesses became greedy and there was a power tussle between them. It became a problem for Chineke that he had to come up with a plan.
He divided heaven into equal parts among the gods and goddesses. The god who received the sky was called Igwe, while the goddess who received the land was called Ala. The duo came together and created human beings in their image. They used 4 kinds of materials for this creation. Sticks from the Ofor trees as bones, clay, chalk as flesh, and Umune leaves for the five senses and sexuality. They created eight people in total, 4 males and 4 females
They also educated them on the cycles of life. Ala and the women went to Ala’s garden and gathered food while Igwe and the men went to his garden to gather more food. Ala prepares the food gathered from her and Igwe’s garden for a ceremony.
The humans were gathered and brought together and were taught that the contribution of the energy of life and the creation of mankind was done by Igwe while Ala made the rules of morality.
Ala and Igwe invited the other gods, Amadioha (the god of thunder and lightning) Anyanwu (the sun god) Ekwensu (the trickster god), and Onwa (the goddess of the moon). This marked the beginning of human existence as the four men and four women went ahead to get married and create families.
5. Berber Myth of Creation
These people believe that at the beginning of time, there was one man and one woman who lived under the earth. They were oblivious to their differences, until one day when they argued while at a drinking well and the man pushed the woman.
When she fell, her dress rose and she was exposed. The man saw that what was under her garments was different from what was beneath his. This made him curious, and she told him that it represented well. He then stayed with her for eight nights. After these eight nights, they gave birth to 50 sons and 50 daughters.
Overwhelmed by their number of children, they sent their children above the ground created mankind, and expanded on earth.
6. Oromo Myth of Creation
According to these people, in the beginning, there was just one male called Waaqa, who was the god of the sky. He kept the vaults of heaven away from the earth and covered them with stars. Wak then made a man and asked him to build himself a coffin.
At the time, the earth was empty. He then pushed it down to the earth from the skies and rained fire for seven years until the earth’s landscape was formed. After seven years had gone by, he released the man from the coffin and took blood from him. After four days, the blood turned into a woman and the man took her as his wife.
The man and the woman gave birth to 30 children. The man was ashamed of the number of children he had, so he hid fifteen of them. Wak in return turned those hidden children into animals and demons
7. Boshongo Myth of Creation
According to these people, creation started with a god called M’Bombo. One day he fell sick and vomited in the sun. The sun was so hot that it dried up some water, leaving dry land. Still, in pain, he threw up a second time, and this time around, he vomited the moon, stars, and some animal.
After a short while, M’Bombo got sick again, and this time, he vomited some men. He named one of them Yoko Lima. The creatures he made, created others.
His 3 sons thought they could complete the creation work their father started and went to work. The first called, Nyonye Ngan, was made white but because he was not equal to the task, he died. The ants as a way of appreciating their maker buried him.
The second son, Chonganda, created a plant. It is from this plant that all other plants emerged. Chedi Bumba, the third son created a bird called the kite.
All the creations were good, except Tsetse the lightning, who caused so much trouble. This made M’Bombo chase her into the sky, without providing a means for fire. Subsequently, the god had to teach people how to create fire from trees. After the creation was completed M’Bombo looked at the people and told them the earth belonged to them.
8. Dogon Myth of Creation
They believed that Amma is the principal of all creation, he created the earth. The stars were the different body parts of the god while the constellation of Orion was Amma’s navel.
Amma then split in two and created Ogo, who represents disorder. Ogo descended to the earth in an ark, through the Milky Way. Ogo created trouble and havoc on the earth. Amma then decided to create order, which he called Nommo. He created eight assistants for him including sets of twins.
These are the first set of humans created. The assistants were brought down to earth in an ark. The ark was suspended from Heaven through a copper chain, which allowed the ark to float down to Earth, and that was how humans made their way to the Earth according to these people.
9. Tswana Myth of Creation
According to the Tswana people of southern Africa, Modimo was the creator and the distributor of good things. As much as he gave good things, he was also a destroyer when he was angry. He had the power to cause drought, hail, cyclones, and earthquakes.
When he was good, he lived in the east and was of the element of water, and when he was angry he lived in the west and was the element of fire. Modimo was also the sky and light, earth and root.
Modimo was the first and only one of his kind, with no past or future, and no ancestors.
See Also: African Mythology – 15 Myths And Legends That Will Blow Your Mind
10. Fulani Creation Myth
The Fulani who are found in many parts of West Africa have an interesting creation story based around a huge drop of milk which was there from the beginning. According to the Fulani, Doondari is the creator and he made the world from milk. It was from this basic material that the five basic elements, water, fire, iron, and stone were made.
Doondari is said to have created stone out of the milk. The stone then created iron, in turn, the iron created fire and fire created water. The last element created was air and it was created by water. Doondari shaped these elements into man. But this is not where it ends.
In a twist, man became so proud and this made Doondari create blindness to defeat man. but when blindness also became proud of the supreme being, Doondari created sleep to defeat blindness. Blindness also became proud and this made Doontswana dari to create worry. Like other creations, it also became so proud that Doondari created death to defeat worry. Death also became proud and this forced Doondari to descend.
Doondari then took an eternal form known as Gueno.
