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Zulu mythology contains numerous deities, commonly associated with animals or general classes of natural phenomena. Unkulunkulu is the highest God and is the creator of humanity. Unkulunkulu ("the greatest one") was created in Uhlanga , a huge swamp of reeds, before he came to Earth. Unkulunkulu is sometimes conflated with the Sky Father Umvelinqangi (meaning "He who was in the very beginning"), god of thunder and earthquakes. Another name given for the supreme being is uThixo.
Other deities include Mamlambo, the goddess of rivers, and Nokhubulwane, sometimes called the Zulu Demeter, who is a goddess of the rainbow, agriculture, rain and beer (which she invented).
Uhlakanyana is an evil dwarf-like being; Intulo is a lizard. Unwabu is a chameleon who was sent to humanity to grant them immortality. Unwabu was too slow, leading to the current mortality of humanity. The chameleon's color changes from green to brown because it is mourning Unwabu's sloth.
One of the most visible signs of Zulu mythology in South Africa is the fact that most people, even in urban areas, will sleep with their beds raised on bricks in order to avoid the Tokoloshe. The Tokoloshe is a small mischievous creature that fights people, usually killing them; if he loses, he will teach the human magic and healing.
The Zulus believe that in the very beginning the Earth was covered in a very thick layer of fog or mist. There was no thunder and the sun and the moon were only visible as very vague glimmers of light in the sky. The people were spiritually as one and there was complete harmony. Men did not use speech to communicate, they spoke with their minds. If a man wanted fruit from a tree, he would think about it and the tree would allow some of its fruit to fall to the ground for the man to eat. If a man needed meat, he would call out to the animals and they would nominate an old and tired member of their herd to be sacrificed. The man would kill it quickly and painlessly to take the meat back to his cave.
However, a God-like race called the Chitauli eventually arrived from the sky in terrible flying machines shaped like bowls and that made a great sound and looked like a great fire in the sky. These Gods were humanoid in form, but were very tall, and had lizard-like skin and tails. Their eyes were yellow, and some of them had a third eye in the middle of their forehead.
Before these beings came, the Zulu believed that God was female and lived underground. The Chitauli now told men that God in fact was male and lived in the sky. They also told the Zulu that they would be given various kings and chiefs to rule over them. Next, the Chitauli created languages and gave people them the power of speech. Other powers that people previously had were taken away.
Man became divided by this new gift of speech because the Chitauli created many different languages, and so the people created different tribes under their new leaders. People began to feel unsafe, erecting large fences and walls around their villages to keep out other, possibly invading, tribes.
See also
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- This page was last modified on 27 November 2008, at 23:33.
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