Africa is the second largest continent in the world and boasts a population of one billion people. Among this diverse group, there are more than 1,000 spoken languages and an immense variety of ethnic religions. African cultures have traditionally passed down history and beliefs through oral traditions and stories that often deal with common themes such as life after death or the origins of the universe. There is also significant focus on mythology involving creatures such as ghosts, gods, angels, witches, dragons etc.
Huveane
The Bushmen, also called the Khoi or San, are the nomads of Africa. In the last few decades, many have become farmers due to the dangers that our modern life poses to their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but their territory once stretched from the Cape to Kenya. The Bushmen are experts at finding water, and their advice is often sought out due to their precognitive dreams and divining capabilities.
According to their beliefs, the supreme god Kaang created the world but sent death and destruction after experiencing too much disobedience and antagonism. Even though he lives in the sky, his invisible spirit still resides in all living things. In one story Kaang’s wife gave birth to an eland (African antelope). The god nurtured the calf but it was mistakenly killed by his two sons. Kaang demanded that the eland’s blood be boiled. The subsequent fatty residue was scattered across the landscape, in turn becoming other antelope and animals. In this manner, Kaang provided the meat that his people hunt, kill, and eat to this day.
Adu Ogyinae
According to Akan mythology, all humans lived deep within the earth. One day, seven men, five women, a leopard, and a dog crawled out of a hole made by a massive worm. Looking around them, the astonished people became terrified, but Adu Ogyinae—the first man on the surface—seemed to understand the world and its wonders. He calmed them and gave them strength by laying his hands on them. Adu Ogyinae also took charge and grouped the people into work teams. He coordinated the building of their first shelters until a tree he was chopping down fell on and killed him.
The Biloko
The Biloko are an evil dwarf-like entity that is believed to roam the nethermost regions of the Central African rainforest. According to legend, these creatures are restless ancestor spirits who still harbor resentment towards living beings. They zealously guard the forest and its inhabitants from hollow trees in which they hide. Women lose consciousness at the sight of them and only brave hunters enter these forests and survive.
The Zambezi River God
After the Kariba Dam project started in 1956, many Batonga people believed that the Zambezi River God, Nyaminyami would not allow it to be built. In a year after work on the dam began, a severe flood struck and killed several workers. It also destroyed part of the partially-built dam. For three days relatives waited for any signs of survivors but there were none found.
The Hippopotamus
The remarkable African mammal, usually featured as a goddess in African legends, is worshipped as Tawaret in ancient Egypt. She was essentially regarded as a protective and caring deity who helped to bring about fertility and childbirth.
In Mozambique, the Ronga people tell a legend of a mother who left her child with Mother Hippo as its life was threatened by an envious rival. Every night, Mother Hippo would emerge with the child so that it could suckle from its mother.
Male hippopotami are often seen as shape-shifting beasts that can eat all the crops in a field. The legend of the hero Fara Maka says that one such beast ate all of the crops in a field, and the hero threw all his spears at it but couldn’t kill it. The monster was subdued after someone used a spell to put a seal on it.
