Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Olodumare/ Alaaye/ Elemii/ Olojo/ Oni/ Olorun/ Orishanla" | Yoruba / Nigeria | A creator god to whom the souls of the dead are expected to make a confession |
God name "Ikenga Ibo" | Nigeria | A god of fortune, a benevolent deity |
God name "Sango" | Yoruba / Nigeria | A god of thunder |
Goddess name "Gbenebeka" | Nigeria | A goddess from the sky and mother of the Ogonu. Nigeria |
Deity name "Soko" | Nigeria | A rather vague and abstract concept, referring more to a mysterious impersonal power than to a personified deity. Nupe, Nigeria |
"Ofo" | Nigeria | A sacred object used to intensify the power of prayers. Ibo, Nigeria |
God name "Dzakuta" | Nigeria | A sky god and the thrower of celestial stones.' The Yoruba, Nigeria |
God name "Igwekaala" | Nigeria | A sky god. Igbos. Nigeria |
"Among the Yoruba" | Africa / Nigeria | Aja also refer to a "wild wind". It's believed that if someone is carried away by aja, and then returns,he becomes a powerful "jujuman". The journey supposedly will have a duration of between seven days to three months, and the person so carried is thought to have gone to the land of the dead or heaven (0run). |
Goddess name "Ala aka Ale" | Africa | Ana, Ani, Chthonic fertility goddess who is also goddess of the underworld linked with a cult of the dead, which rest in her womb . Ibo Eastern Nigeria, West Africa |
God name "Tar" | Tiv / Nigeria, West Africa | Chthonic earth god. Engendered by the creator god AONDO, Tar is depicted as a prostrate figure with his head toward the east, comparable with the Egyptian god GEB.... |
Goddess name "Ala" | Ibo / eastern Nigeria, West Africa | Chthonic fertility goddess. A popular deity who is also goddess of the underworld linked with a cult of the dead (which rest in her womb). Her temple is the Mbari which contains a cult statue depicting the goddess seated with a child in her arms and adorned with the crescent moon. She is flanked by attendant deities. She enjoys a profusion of local shrines which are well supplied with votive offerings. Serious crimes including murder are considered to be offenses against her. An annual yam festival is celebrated in her honor. Also Ale, Ana, ANI.... |
God name "Shango" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Chthonic storm god. As an earth deity he was once a mortal man, the king of Oyo, who transformed himself into an immortal. According to tradition, during his life he breathed tongues of fire. He then ascended into the sky by climbing a golden chain and became the god of thunder and lightning. He is also god of justice, punishing thieves and liars. His consorts include OYA, Oshun and Oba. Cult followers of Shango are believed to be able to make lightning strike an adversary. In shrines to Shango, the image of the god is adorned with a ram's head. Also SANGO.... |
God name "Aondo" | Africa | Creator god who lives in the sky and sends the Sun each morning. Central Nigeria, West Africa |
God name "Chhene" | Isoko / southern Nigeria, West Africa | Creator god. An abstract being who is embodied by a mediator in the form of a sacred wooden totem, the Oyise. The god has no temples or priests.... |
God name "Aondo" | Tiv / central Nigeria, West Africa | Creator god. An abstract principle who lives in the sky. He sends the Sun each morning, roars with the thunder which heralds his storms and is the creator of the earth.... |
God name "Olodumare" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Creator god. He engendered the god OBATALA as his deputy. The souls of the dead are expected to make confession to Olodumare. When he created the earth, he filled a snail's shell with dirt, placed inside it a hen and a pigeon and threw it down, whereupon the hen and pigeon began to scatter the earth and create land. Olodumare then sent a chameleon to report on progress. Sand was added, followed by a palm, a coconut and a kola nut tree. When these were established the god placed on earth the first sixteen humans. Also Alaaye; Elemii; Olojo Oni; Olorun; Orishanla.... |
Supreme god name "Oduduwa" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Creator goddess. The consort, or alternatively the daughter, of the supreme god OLODUMARE. She is perceived as the substance, or matrix, of the earth which Olodumare impregnated to generate life. She is also a goddess of war and her sons include the great heroic Yoruba god OGUN. According to some traditions Oduduwa is also perceived as a god.... |