Myths and Folklores

from Africa
This folklore is from Turkana Desert, Kenya

Long ago there were a Hyena and a Jackal who were the best of
friends. They herded cattle and played every day. One day Jackal
said to Hyena, "Wouldn't it be nice to be free to move about on
our own, to be away from our mothers' constant watch? Let's
throw our mothers in the river and run away!"
Hyena paced around for a few minutes and then agreed. The next
day Hyena brought his mother to the river in a sack. Jackal,
trickster that he is, put garbage in a sack, and pretended it was
his mother. On the count of three, they both threw their bags into
the river. When the job was done, they headed home.
For days and weeks afterwards, Hyena and Jackal went about
their business. They herded their cattle during the day and met
now and then in the evening. Without his mother to cook for him,
Hyena often found himself hungry, but Jackal seemed quite
satisfied and well fed. One day Hyena noticed this and asked,
"How is it, my friend, that you come here every evening looking
fat and satisfied? Where are you getting all your food?" Jackal
shrugged. "I found some fruit along the way," he replied.
For three nights in a row, Jackal showed up well fed. On the fourth
day, when Jackal went to tend his cattle, Hyena followed him.
Hyena discovered that after his morning in the pasture, Jackal
went straight to his mother's house, ate his dinner, and stayed for
a while.
When Jackal left, Hyena sprang into the room and found Jackal's
mother alive and well and cleaning up from the evening's meal.
Hyena was furious. In a fit of anger, he killed Jackal's mother and
then headed home.
The following day Jackal went to his mother's house, as always,
and found only her head left behind! He cried and sobbed until he
saw Hyena's footprints heading down the trail from the house.
When Hyena saw Jackal he taunted Jackal, saying "Why do you
look so hungry today, my friend?" Jackal began to cry and quickly
moved near the smoke of the fire so he could mask his tears.

"Why are you crying?" Hyena asked.

"I'm not crying," said Jackal, "it's just the smoke of the fire
burning my eyes."
"I know why you're crying!" Hyena shouted. "It's because your
mother is dead, just as mine is because of your treachery!"
From that point on, Jackal and Hyena lived with sadness and
regret for having been so foolish and killing their mothers. They
became friends once again, and came to depend upon each other
for food and company.

Perhaps the moral to this odd tale is: "Don't let

your friends do your thinking for you!"
This folklore is from Kitale, Kenya

A while ago, a terrible drought forced people to travel far and

wide in search of water and food for their animals. A barefoot
traveler bid farewell to his family, tied a rope around the neck of
his prize goat and struck off in search of greener pastures.
Along the road, hiding in the thorn bushes, was a hungry thief
wearing new shoes. He enviously eyed the traveler's goat and
began to plan how he could steal it. He ran ahead on the path,
put one of his shoes out in the middle of the road, and hid again
in the bushes. The traveler arrived at the spot and admired the
lone shoe. Instead of picking it up, however, he left it behind. He
knew that one shoe would do him no good.
The thief retrieved his shoe and again ran ahead of the traveler.
This time, he took off the other shoe and put it in the road. Again,
he hid in the bushes. The traveler arrived at the spot where the
thief was hidden. He was so excited to find the second shoe that
he abandoned his goat, left the shoe there and ran back to get
the first one! With that, the thief sprang out of the bushes,
grabbed his shoe and the goat and headed on his way, whistling
happily.
When the traveler realized he'd been tricked, he felt like a fool.
He went home to his family, a broken man.

So the question for you to consider isWhat are

your priorities? Would you risk something your

family thought was important so that you could

have something flashy or cool?

This folklore is from Meru, Kenya

In this land a long time ago, the people and wild animals were
friends and worked together. The elephant was the biggest and
strongest of creatures. It was also one of the most helpful of all
the animals. When the women of the village needed firewood
hauled to their houses, they would ask the elephants to help.
One day, a woman needed firewood, so she asked one of the
elephants to bring wood from the forest. The elephant happily
agreed to help, and headed off into the woods. After several
hours, the elephant returned. He brought just a small trunkful of
the nicest branches he could find. The woman wasn't satisfied
and complained to the elephant.
"You're the biggest and strongest of all the animals and this is the
best you can do? This is barely enough to keep a mouse warm for
the evening!
" The elephant couldn't understand why the woman was so upset,
but he promised to do a better job next time.
The following day, the woman asked the elephant to gather
firewood again. This time the elephant was determined to make
up for his earlier mistake. He came back that evening dragging
several large trees, roots and all.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" complained the woman.
"They're far too large to be of any use! Why can't you just do
what I asked?"
Hearing the woman complain again, the elephant got mad. He
decided to leave the village for good and to go off into the wild. In

the wild, he wouldn't have to suffer the constant complaints of

the woman. As he left, he turned to the woman and warned,
"When we meet again, we will be enemies.
" As he left, he angrily stripped the woman's house of its cowhide
shingles. He made the shingles into the floppy ears you still see
on elephants today.
From that day on, elephants were wild. The people came to fear,
respect and admire them. But people and elephants will never
again live together as they did many years ago.

What do you think is the moral of this story?

Telling tales
This folklore is from Munduli, Tanzana

"Many years ago, my father and his father owned many cattle
and lived in the hills on the edge of the forest. His home, like all
traditional Maasai homes, was built around the 'boma.' A boma is
a thorn corral where the cattle are kept safe at night.
"One dark, moonless night when my father, Longida, was just a
child, a strong wind blew in over the hills. The empty water
gourds outside the hut fell down and began knocking around. The
cows began to rustle about, and their bells rang out, 'Clang,
clang.' Longida awoke with a strange feeling that something
wasn't right, so he stepped cautiously into the cold night air.
"When Longida's eyes adjusted to the dark, he was able to make
out the form of a lion. The lion was standing still against the thorn
fence. The beast growled, and Longida stepped back slowly. Then
the lion sat back on its haunches and held up its paw. This
gesture made Longida feel oddly at ease. He ever-so-slowly
approached the lion, closer and closer, until he could see a long
acacia thorn sticking out from the lion's paw.
"His heart beat fast in his chest. Longida walked towards the lion
until he was close enough to feel the lion purr and smell his
musty breath. With his hand shaking, Longida reached out, pulled
the thorn from the lion's paw and quickly stepped back.
"With that, the lion turned to walk away. It looked over its
shoulder, beckoning Longida to follow. The lion walked into the
bush, looking back every several feet to make sure Longida was

following. He led the boy to a clearing where a gazelle had been

freshly killed. The lion stopped as if to offer him the meat to
Longida as a gift, and then stalked off into the night.
"Longida woke his family, and told them his fabulous story, but
nobody believed him. They did enjoy the meat, though!"
This folklore is from Mangola, Tanzania

A long time ago there was a young boy named Simboya who had
an older brother named Ngaida. It was a time of famine, and their
father sent them into the wilderness to find food. Deep in the
bush they came upon an elephant that had fallen into a trap. The
elephant looked up from the trap and pleaded with the boys,
"Save me! Save me!"
Simboya freed the elephant, which made his brother very angry.
"How can you be so foolish to let our dinner go so easily? Would
you let your family go hungry?!" Simboya felt bad and offered to
go without food so Ngaida could eat more, so long as he would
promise that not to tell their father about the elephant.
After several days passed, Simboya's father asked him, "Simboya,
why are you getting so thin?" Ngaida couldn't hold back. He
blurted out the whole story about Simboya and the elephant. The
boy's father was very angry with Simboya. The next day, while
they were out collecting honey from the trees, he and Ngaida
pulled away the ladder. They left Simboya stranded in the tree.
After days in the tree without food, Simboya's bones began to
show. One day, weak with starvation, he saw an elephant pass
beneath him. "Hey, do you know an elephant who is a little
smaller than you? It has long ears." he called out. "It once got
caught in a trap near here."
"Oh yes, I know him," recalled the elephant. "He should pass this
way soon."
Some hours later, Simboya's elephant friend passed below. "What
happened, Simboya?" called the elephant, with distress.
"I'm being tortured for freeing you from the trap. Can you help
me?"
The elephant paced around the tree all day and night, thinking
and thinking. In the morning he proposed a plan. "Can you spit on

my back?" he asked. Simboya spat in the middle of the elephant's

back, forming a small pool. "Good," said the elephant. "Now spit
again, and then jump."
Simboya gathered a huge gob and spat. Then he leapt from the
tree and landed with a splash in the pool of spit on the elephant's
back. The elephant took Simboya back to his home. The elephant
lived in Seya Habarkari, which means 'the place of the trees."
There the elephant gave the boy cattle, and found him a wife.
Some years later, Simboya began to miss his family. He sent a
little bird off with a message for them to come to him. They
arrived, crying with happiness to see Simboya alive and well. He
forgave them, and they lived the rest of their days together in
Seya Habakari."
Thunder and Lightning (Nigeria):

A long time ago, both thunder and lightning lived on this earth,
among the people. Thunder was a mother sheep and Lightning
was her son, a ram. Neither animal was very popular with the
people, for when somebody offended Lightning, he would fly into
a furious rage and begin burning whatever he came across. This
often included huts and corn bins, and even large trees.
Sometimes he damaged crops on the farms with his fire and
occasionally he killed people who got in his way.
As soon as Thunder knew he was behaving this way, she would
raise her voice and shout at him as loudly as she could, and that
was very loud indeed. Naturally the neighbors were very upset,
first at the damage caused by Lightning and then by the
unbearable noise from his mother that always followed his
outbursts.
The villagers complained to the king on many occasions, until at
last he sent the two of them to live at the very edge of the
village, and said that they must not come and mix with the
people any more. However, this did no good, since Lightning
could still see people as they walked about the village streets and
so found it only too easy to continue picking quarrels with them.
At last the king sent for them again. "I have given you many
chances to live a better life," he said, "but I can see that it is
useless. From now on, you must go away from our village and live
in the wild bush. We do not want to see your faces here again."
Thunder and Lightning had to obey the king and agree to abide

by his ruling; so they left the village, angry at its inhabitants.

But still there was plenty of trouble in store for the villagers, since
Lightning was so angry at being banished that he now set fire to
the whole bush, and since it was the dry season this was
extremely unfortunate. The flames spread to the little farms of
the people, and sometimes to their houses as well, so that they
were in despair again. They often heard the mother ram's mighty
voice calling her son to order, but, since it was always after the
fact, it made very little difference in his actions.
The king called all his counselors together and asked them to
advise him, and after much debate they hit on a plan. Why not
banish Thunder and Lightning completely away from the earth,
and send them to live in the sky. And so the king proclaimed.
Thunder and Lightning were sent away into the sky, where the
people hoped they would not be able to do any more damage.
Things did not work out quite as well as they had hoped,
however, for Lightning still loses his temper from time to time and
cannot resist sending fire down to the earth when he is angry.
Then you can hear his mother rebuking him in her loud rumbling
voice.
Lituolone (Sesuto):

Once there was a monster, named Kammapa, that devoured

humans. Eventually the only person left in the world was an old
woman who had fearfully gone into hiding when she saw what
was happening. One day, without the aid of a man, she gave birth
to a boy-child who was adorned with amulets. She named her son
Lituolone in honor of her god.
By nightfall the boy was full-grown. He asked his mother where
the other people were, and being told of Kammapa, grabbed a
knife and went forward to fight it. The monster swallowed him in
one gulp; finding himself unharmed in the beast's stomach,
Lituolone used his knife to cut his way out. In tearing apart the
beast's entrails he allowed thousands of human beings to escape
with him. The world was repopulated again.
Tortoise and the Lizard (Bantu):

Tortoise had used up all his salt, and he found his meals so
tasteless without it that he decided to call on his brother and ask
him if he had any to spare. His brother had plenty. "How will you
get it back to your home?" he asked Tortoise. "If you will wrap the
salt in a piece of bark cloth, and tie it up with string, then I can

put the string over my shoulder and drag the parcel along the
ground behind me," said Tortoise. "A splendid idea!" exclaimed
his brother, and between them they made a tidy package of the
salt.
Then Tortoise set off for his long, slow journey home, with the
bundle going bump, bump, bump, along the ground behind him.
Suddenly he was pulled up short, and turning round, he saw that
a large lizard had jumped on to the parcel of salt and was sitting
there, staring at him. "Get off my salt!" exclaimed Tortoise. "How
do you expect me to drag it home with you on top of it?" "It's not
your salt!' replied the lizard. "I was just walking along the path
when I found this bundle lying there, so I took possession of it and
now it belongs to me." "What rubbish you talk!" said Tortoise.
"You know well it is mine, for I am holding the string that ties it."
But the lizard still insisted that he had found the parcel lying in
the road, and he refused to get off unless Tortoise went with him
to the elders, to have their case tried in court. Poor Tortoise had
to agree and together they went before the old men at the court.
First Tortoise put his case, explaining that as his arms and legs
were so short he always had to carry bundles by dragging them
along behind him.
Then the lizard put his side of the matter, saying that he had
found the bundle lying in the road. '"Surely anything that is
picked up on the road belongs to the one who picks it up?" cried
the lizard. The old men discussed the matter seriously for some
time; but many of them were related to the lizard and thought
that they might perhaps get a share of the salt, so eventually
they decreed that the bundle should be cut into two, each animal
taking half. Tortoise was disappointed, because he knew it really
was his salt, but he sighed with resignation and let them divide
the parcel.
The lizard immediately seized the half that was covered with the
biggest piece of cloth, leaving poor Tortoise with most of his salt
escaping from his half of the parcel, and spilling out on to the
ground. In vain did Tortoise try to gather his salt together.His
hands were too small and there was too little cloth to wrap round
it properly. Finally he departed for home, with only a fraction of
his share, wrapped up in leaves and what remained of the bark
cloth, while the elders scraped up all that had been spilled, dirty
though it was, and took it back to their wives.

Tortoise's wife was very disappointed when she saw how little salt
he had brought with him, and when he told her the whole story
she was most indignant at the way he had been treated. The
long, slow journey had tired him, and he had to rest for several
days. But although Tortoise was so slow, he was very cunning and
eventually thought up a plan to get even with the lizard. So,
saying good-bye to his wife, he plodded along the road towards
the lizard's home with a gleam in his eye, and after some time he
caught sight of the lizard, who was enjoying a solitary meal of
flying ants.
Slowly and silently Tortoise came upon him from behind and put
his hands on the middle of the lizard's body. "See what I've
found!" called Tortoise loudly. "What are you doing?" asked the
perplexed lizard. "I was just walking along the path when I found
something lying there," explained Tortoise. "So I picked it up and
now it belongs to me, just as you picked up my salt the other
day." When the lizard continued to wriggle and demanded that
Tortoise set him free, Tortoise insisted that they go to the court
and get the elders to judge.
The old men listened attentively to both sides of the story, and
then one said: "If we are to be perfectly fair, we must give the
same judgement that we gave concerning the salt." "Yes," said
the others, nodding their white heads, "and we had the bag of
salt cut in two. Therefore we must cut the lizard in two, and
Tortoise shall have half." "That is fair," replied Tortoise, and before
the lizard could escape, he seized a knife from an elder's belt and
sliced him in half, and that was the end of the greedy lizard.
Tortoise and the Baboon (Nyanja):

One evening when the tortoise was crawling slowly home, he met
the baboon on his path. "Hello, old fellow," said the baboon
heartily. "Have you found much to eat today?" 'No,' replied
Tortoise sadly. "Very little indeed." The baboon danced up and
down, chortling with laughter at an idea which had just come to
him. "Follow me, poor old Tortoise," he exclaimed, "and when you
reach my home I will have supper all ready for you." "Thank you.
Thank you," said the grateful Tortoise, as the baboon turned
round and bounced gaily along the path that led to his home.
Tortoise followed as fast as he could, which was very slow indeed,
especially when he went uphill. Once or twice he stopped to rest,
when the ground became so bumpy that he got disheartened, but
holding in his mind the picture of a wonderful feast, he plodded

on. At last he reached the place in the bush that the baboon
called his home. There he was, leaping about and grinning to
himself, and as soon as he caught sight of Tortoise he
exclaimed:"Bless my tail! What a long time you have taken to get
here.
I declare it must be tomorrow already!" "I'm so sorry," said
Tortoise, puffing a little after his long journey. "But I'm sure you
have had plenty of time to get the supper ready, so do not
grumble at me." "0h, yes, indeed!" replied the baboon, rubbing
his hands together. "Supper's all ready. All you have to do is to
climb up and get it. Look!" he said, pointing to the top of a tree.
"Three pots of millet-beer, brewed especially for you." The poor
tortoise looked up at the pots which the baboon had wedged in
the branches high above his head. He knew he could never reach
them, and the baboon knew that too. "Bring one down for me,
there's a good friend," begged Tortoise, but the baboon climbed
the tree in the twinkling of an eye and shouted down to him: "0h,
no! Anybody who wants supper with me must climb up to get it."
So poor Tortoise could only begin his long homeward journey with
a very empty stomach, cursing at his inability to climb trees. But
as he went he worked out a splendid plan for getting his own
back on the unkind baboon. A few days later the baboon had an
invitation to eat with Tortoise. He was very surprised, but knowing
how slow and good-natured the tortoise was, the baboon said to
himself: "0h, well, the fellow evidently saw the joke and bears me
no malice. I'll go along and see what I can get out of him."
At the appointed time the baboon set out along the track that led
to Tortoise's home. Now it was the dry season, when many bush
fires occur which leave the ground scorched and black. Just
beyond the river the baboon found a wide stretch of burnt and
blackened grass, over which he bounded towards Tortoise, who
stood waiting beside a cooking pot from which issued the most
savory of smells. "Ah, it's my friend the baboon!" said Tortoise.
"I'm very pleased to see you. But did your mother never teach
you that you must wash your hands before meals? Just look at
them! They're as black as soot." The baboon looked at his hands,
which were indeed very black from crossing the burnt patch of
ground. "Now run back to the river and wash," said Tortoise, "and
when you are clean I will give you some supper."
The baboon scampered across the black earth and washed

himself in the river, but when he came to return to Tortoise he

found he had to cross the burnt ground again and so arrived as
dirty as before. "That will never do! I told you that you could only
eat with me if you were clean. Go back and wash again! And you
had better be quick about it because I have started my supper
already," said Tortoise, with his mouth full of food. The poor
baboon went back to the river time and again, but try as he
would he got his hands and feet black each time he returned, and
Tortoise refused to give him any of the delicious food that was
fast disappearing.
As Tortoise swallowed the last morsel, the baboon realized he had
been tricked and with a cry of rage he crossed the burnt ground
for the last time and ran all the way home. "That will teach you a
lesson, my friend," said the Tortoise, smiling, as, well-fed and
contented, he withdrew into his shell for a long night's sleep.
This is a myth from West Africa:

In the beginning, there was only Mangala. Mangala is a singular,

powerful being who is perceived to be a round, energetic
presence. Within Mangala existed four divisions, which were
symbolic of, among many things, the four days of the week
(time), the four elements (matter), and the four directions
(space). Mangala also contained two sets of dual gendered twins.
Mangala was tired of keeping all of this matter inside, so the god
removed it and compiled it into a seed. The seed was his creation
of the world. The seed however did not hold together well and
blew up. Mangala was disappointed with this and destroyed the
world he created.
Mangala did not loose hope; the creator began again, this time
with two sets of twin seeds. Mangala planted the seeds in an egg
shaped womb where they gestated. Mangala continued to put
more sets of twin seeds in the womb until he had 8 sets of seeds.
In the womb, the gestating seeds transformed themselves into
fish. The fish is considered a symbol of fertility in the Mande
world. This time, Mangala's creation was successful. This is
important, because it illustrates the idea of dual gendered
twinship, an idea that permeates Mande culture.
Mangala tried to maintain this perfect creation, but chaos crept
in; one of the male twins became ambitious and tried to escape
from the egg. This chaotic character is called Pemba. He is a t
trickster figure who symbolizes the mischievousness of humans.
Pemba's first trick was to steal the a piece of the womb's placenta

and throw it down. This action made the the earth. Pemba then
tried to refertilize what was left of the womb, committing incest
against his mother, the womb.
Mangala decided to sacrifice Pemba's brother Farro to save what
was left of his creation. He castrated him and then killed in order
to raise him from the dead. Mangala took what was left of the
placenta and transformed it into the sun, thus associating Pemba
with darkness and the night. Farro was transformed into a human
being and was taught the language of creation by Mangala.
Farro's knowledge of words is very powerful and the tool he used
to defeat Pemba's mischief. Farro and his newly created twins
came to Earth and got married (not to each other) and became
the horonw. This is the basis for the foundation of exogamy in
Mande.
Next, an unknown being named Sourakata arrived from the sky
with the first sacred drum, hammer, and the sacrificed skull of
Farro. Sourakata began to play on the drum and sung for the first
rain to come. Sourakata is a magical being who can control
nature, and he taught Farro and his followers. He is the origin of
the nyamakalaw.
As one can see from the origin myth, the horonw are the people
of the earth. They were destined to become farmers and wellbred aristocracy. The nyamakalaw, on the other hand, were
destined to be primal and mysterious. They understand nature
and are able to use it to their benefit. These roles are exactly
what we see in the horonw and nyamakalaw relations in Mande
society today.
This myth is from Nigeria:

The Yoruba creator is called Olurun or Olodumare and is often

assisted by the lesser god, Obatala. In the beginning, there was
only water and chaos. The supreme being sent Obatala or
Orishanla down from the sky to create some land out of the
chaos. He descended on a long chain (umbilical cord) and brought
with him a rooster, some iron, and a palm kernel. First, he put the
metal on the earth and the rooster on top of that. The rooster
scratched the metal and spread it out to create land. Then he
planted the palm seed and from it grew the earth's vegetation.
Olurun named earth "Ife" and the first city "Ile-Ife." Orshilana
created humans out of the earth and got Olurun to blow life into
them.

This myth is from Ekoi(South Nigeria):

In the beginning there were two gods, Obassi Osaw and Obassi
Nsi. The two gods created everything together. Then Obassi Osaw
decided to live in the sky and Obassi Nsi decided to live on the
earth. The god in the sky gives light and moisture, but also brings
drought and storms. The god of the earth nurtures, and takes the
people back to him when they die. One day long ago Obassi Osaw
made a man and a woman, and placed them upon the earth.
They knew nothing so Obassi Nsi taught them about planting and
hunting to get food.
This myth is from Ethiopia:

Wak was the creator god who lived in the clouds. He kept the
vault of the heavens at a distance from the earth and covered it
with stars. He was a benefactor and did not punish. When the
earth was flat Wak asked man to make his own coffin, and when
man did this Wak shut him up in it and pushed it into the ground.
For seven years he made fire rain down and the mountains were
formed. Then Wak unearthed the coffin and man sprang forth,
alive. Man tired of living alone, so Wak took some of his blood,
and after four days, the blood became a woman whom the man
married. They had 30 children, but the man was ashamed of
having so many so he hid 15 of them. Wak then made those
hidden children into animals and demons.
This myth is from Fans(Bantu):

In the beginning there was nothing but Nzame. This god is really
three: Nzame, Mebere, and Nkwa. It was the Nzame part of the
god that created the universe and the earth, and brought life to
it. Whle the three parts of Nzame were admiring this creation, it
was decided to create a ruler for the earth. So was created the
elephant, the leopard, and the monkey, but it was decided that
something better had to be created.
Between the three of them they made a new creature in their
image, and called him Fam (power), and told him to rule the
earth. Before long, Fam grew arrogant, he mistreated the animals
and stopped worshipping Nzame. Nzame, angered, brought forth
thunder and lightning and destroyed everything that was, except
Fam, who had been promised immortality.
Nzame, in his three aspects, decided to renew the earth and try
again. He applied a new layer of earth to the planet, and a tree
grew upon it. The tree dropped seeds which grew into more trees.
Leaves that dropped from them into the water became fish, those

that dropped on land became animals.

The old parched earth still lies below this new one, and if one digs
deep enough it can be found in the form of coal. Nzame made a
new man, one who would know death, and called him Sekume.
Sekume fashioned a woman, Mbongwe, from a tree. These people
were made with both Gnoul (body) and Nissim (soul). Nissim
gives life to Gnoul. When Gnoul dies, Nissim lives on. They
produced many children and prospered.
This myth is from Yoruba:

In the beginning was only the sky above, water and marshland
below. The chief god Olorun ruled the sky, and the goddess
Olokun ruled what was below. Obatala, another god, reflected
upon this situation, then went to Olorun for permission to create
dry land for all kinds of living creatures to inhabit. He was given
permission, so he sought advice from Orunmila, oldest son of
Olorun and the god of prophecy.
He was told he would need a gold chain long enough to reach
below, a snail's shell filled with sand, a white hen, a black cat,
and a palm nut, all of which he was to carry in a bag. All the gods
contributed what gold they had, and Orunmila supplied the
articles for the bag. When all was ready, Obatala hung the chain
from a corner of the sky, placed the bag over his shoulder, and
started the downward climb.
When he reached the end of the chain he saw he still had some
distance to go. From above he heard Orunmila instruct him to
pour the sand from the snail's shell, and to immediately release
the white hen. He did as he was told, whereupon the hen landing
on the sand began scratching and scattering it about. Wherever
the sand landed it formed dry land, the bigger piles becoming
hills and the smaller piles valleys. Obatala jumped to a hill and
named the place Ife.
The dry land now extended as far as he could see. He dug a hole,
planted the palm nut, and saw it grow to maturity in a flash. The
mature palm tree dropped more palm nuts on the ground, each of
which grew immediately to maturity and repeated the process.
Obatala settled down with the cat for company. Many months
passed, and he grew bored with his routine. He decided to create
beings like himself to keep him company.
He dug into the sand and soon found clay with which to mold

figures like himself and started on his task, but he soon grew tired
and decided to take a break. He made wine from a nearby palm
tree, and drank bowl after bowl. Not realizing he was drunk,
Obatala returned to his task of fashioning the new beings;
because of his condition he fashioned many imperfect figures.
Without realizing this, he called out to Olorun to breathe life into
his creatures.
The next day he realized what he had done and swore never to
drink again, and to take care of those who were deformed, thus
becoming Protector of the Deformed. The new people built huts
as Obatala had done and soon Ife prospered and became a city.
All the other gods were happy with what Obatala had done, and
visited the land often, except for Olokun, the ruler of all below the
sky.
This myth is from Zimbabwe:

Modimo was the creator. He distributed good things, appeared in

the east and belonged to the element water. At the same time he
was a destroyer, a terrifying creature responsible for drought,
hail, cyclones and earthquakes. When these things happened he
appeared in the west and was part of the element fire. Modimo
was also sky and light, earth and root. He was unique and
singular. He had no ancestors, no past or future. He pervaded the
whole of creation. His name was taboo and could be spoken only
by priests and seers.
This myth is from Zulu:

The Ancient One, known as Unkulunkulu, is the Zulu creator. He

came from the reeds (uthlanga, means source) and from them he
brought forth the people and the cattle. He created everything
that is: mountains,streams, snakes, etc. He taught the Zulu how
to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food. He is considered
to be the First Man and is in everything that he created.
Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths:

Lower Kingdom Creation Myth Only the ocean existed at first.

Then Ra (the sun) came out of an egg that appeared on the
surface of the water. Ra brought forth four children, the gods Shu
and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut
became the atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became the
earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled over all.
Geb and Nut later had two sons, Set and Osiris, and two

daughters, Isis and Nephthys. Osiris succeeded Ra as king of the

earth, helped by Isis, his sister-wife. Set, however, hated his
brother and killed him. Isis then embalmed her husband's body
with the help of the god Anubis, who thus became the god of
embalming. The powerful charms of Isis resurrected Osiris, who
became king of the netherworld, the land of the dead. Horus, who
was the son of Osiris and Isis, later defeated Set in a great battle
and became king of the earth.
Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths:

Upper Kingdom creation story) At first there was only Nun, the
primal ocean of chaos that contained the beginnings of
everything to come. From these waters came Ra who, by himself,
gave birth to Shu and Tefnut. Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the
goddess of moisture gave birth to Geb and Nut, the earth god and
the sky goddess. And so the physical universe was created. Men
were created from Ra's tears. They proved to be ungrateful so Ra,
and a council of gods, decided they should be destroyed.
Re created Sekhmet to do the job. She was very efficient and
slaughtered all but a few humans, when Ra relented and tricked
her into stopping. Thus was the present world created. Against
Ra's orders, Geb and Nut married. Ra was incensed and ordered
Shu to separate them, which he did. But Nut was already
pregnant, although unable to give birth as Ra had decreed she
could not give birth in any month of any year. Thoth, the god of
learning, decided to help her and gambling with the moon for
extra light, was able to add five extra days to the 360-day
calendar. On those five days Nut gave birth to Osiris, Horus the
Elder, Set, Isis, and Nephthys successively. Osiris became the
symbol of good, while Set became the symbol of evil. And thus
the two poles of morality were fixed once and for all.

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