Yorùbá-Southwestern Nigeria

WIKI INFO

According to Kola Abimbola, the Yorùbá have evolved a robust philosophy.^[1] In brief, it holds that all human beings possess what is known as "Àyànmô"^[4] (destiny, fate) and are expected to eventually become one in spirit with Olódùmarè (Olòrún, the divine creator and source of all energy). Furthermore, the thoughts and actions of each person in Ayé (the physical realm) interact with all other living things, including the Earth itself.^[2]Each person attempts to achieve transcendence and find their destiny in Òrún-Réré (the spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things). One's Orí-Inu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must grow in order to consummate union with one's "Ipônri" (Orí Òrún, spiritual self).^[4]Those who stop growing spiritually, in any of their given lives, are destined for "Òrún-Apadi" (Lit. the invisible realm of potsherds). Life and death are said to be cycles of existence in a series of physical bodies while one's spirit evolves toward transcendence. This evolution is said to be most evident amongst the Orishas, the divine viziers of the Almighty God.
Iwapẹlẹ (or well-balanced) meditation and sincere veneration is sufficient to strengthen the Orí-Inu of most people.^[2][4] Well-balanced people, it is believed, are able to make positive use of the simplest form of connection between theirOris and the omnipotent Olu-Òrún: an adúra (petition or prayer) for divine support.
Prayer to one's Orí Òrún has been known to produce an immediate sensation of joy. Ẹlégbara (Eṣu, the divine messenger) initiates contact with Òrún on behalf of the petitioner, and transmits the prayer to Ayé; the deliverer of àṣẹ or the spark of life. He transmits this prayer without distorting it in any way. Thereafter, the petitioner may be satisfied with a personal answer. In the event that he or she is not, the Ifa oracle of the Orisha Orunmila may also be consulted. All communication with Òrún, whether simplistic in the form of a personal prayer or complicated in the form of that done by an initiated priest of divination, however, is energized by invoking àṣẹ.
In the Yorùbá belief system, Olódùmarè has àṣẹ over all that is. It is for this reason that He is considered supreme.^[2]According to one of the Yorùbá accounts of creation, during a certain stage in this process, the "truth" was sent to confirm the habitability of the newly formed planets. The earth being one of these was visited but deemed too wet for conventional life.
After a successful period of time, a number of divinities were commanded to accomplish the task of helping earth develop its crust. On one of their visits to the realm, the arch-divinity Obatala took to the stage equipped with a molluskthat held in its shell some form of soil; two winged beasts and some cloth like material. He emptied the soil onto what soon became a large mound on the surface of the water and soon after, the winged-beasts began to scatter this around until the point where it gradually made into a large patch of dry land; the various indentations they created eventually becoming hills and valleys.^[5]Obatala leaped on to a high-ground and named the place Ife. The land became fertile and plant life began to flourish. From handfuls of earth he began to mould figurines. Meanwhile, as this was happening on earth, Olódùmarè gathered the gasses from the far reaches of space and sparked an explosion that shaped into a fireball. He subsequently sent it to Ife, where it dried much of the land and simultaneously began to bake the motionless figurines. It was at this point that Olódùmarè released the "breath of life" to blow across the land, and the figurines slowly came into "being" as the first people of Ife.^[5]For this reason, Ile-Ife is locally referred to as the "cradle of existence".^[5]

An Alternative Version Of The Creation

The Yorùbá regard Olódùmarè as the principal agent of creation.

In another telling of the creation myth, Olódùmarè (also called Olorun) is the creator. In the beginning there is only water. Olódùmarè sends Obatala to bring forth land. Obatala descended from above on a long chain, bringing with him a rooster, some earth, and some iron. He stacked the iron in the water, the earth on the iron, and the chicken atop the earth. The chicken kicked and scattered the earth, creating land. Some of the other divinities descended upon it to live with Obatala. One of them, Chameleon, came first to judge if the earth was dry. When he said that it was, Olódùmarè called the land Ife for "wide". Obatala then created humans out of earth and called Olódùmarè to blow life into them. Some say Obatala was jealous and wished to be the only giver of life, but Olódùmarè put him to sleep as he worked. Conversely, it is also said by others that it is Obatala who shapes life while it is still in the womb.^[7]

Serer creation myth

I am  keeping this one  limited to only  Creation  of the Universe and  Earth  as this mythology  is  very  Vast 

and  would require a few separate blogs in order to sort  out into smaller categorized parts

Wiki Info 

The Serer creation myth is the traditional creation mythology ^[1]of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. Many Serers who adhere to the tenets of Serer religion believe these narratives to be prehistorical and sacred, which contains profound truths. Some aspects of Serer religious and Ndut classical teachings are included in the narratives contained herein but are not limited to them.
The Serer people have many gods, goddesses^[2] and Pangool (the Serer saints and ancestral spirits represented by snakes),^[3] but one supreme deity and creator called Roog (var : Rog). Roog is synonymous to the deity Koox (or Kooh), the name the Cangin refer to the supreme being.^[4]Serer creation myth developed from Serer oral traditions, Serer religion, legends, cosmogonies^[5][6] and Serer symbols^[7], which only the initiated can decipher.^[7][8] The specifics of the myth are also found in two main Serer sources : A nax and A leep. The former is a short narrative for a short myth or proverbial expression, whilst the later is for a more developed myth.^[9] Broadly, they are equivalent to verbs and logos respectively, especially when communicating fundamental religious education such as the supreme being and the creation of the Universe. In addition to being fixed-Serer sources, they set the structure of the myth.^[9]The creation myth of the Serer people is intricately linked to the first trees created on Planet Earth by Roog. Earth's formation began with a swamp. The Earth was not formed until long after the creation of the first three worlds : the waters of the underworld; the air which included the higher world (i.e. the sun, the moon and the stars) and earth. Roog is the creator and fashioner of the Universe and everything in it. The creation is based on a mythical cosmic egg and the principles of chaos.^[6][10]

 A leep details the scene of the primordial time in the following terms :

"A leep à joon maaga

a roxondox o maaga,

a gad'wa roog,

a saay'a lang ke."^[30]

Which translates to :

The Words leap into space,

He carried the sea on his head,

the firmament on his shoulders,

the earth in his hands.^[30]

The mythical words established the three worlds (water, air and earth) based on the prologue of the Serer genesis provided by A nax.^[27] In A leep, it gives the order in which they were created and elaborated on it. A leep posits that, with the words of Roog, the three worlds (the Universe) began to take shape. The first to be created was the deep sea waters (waters of the underworld); the second was air including the high heavens (Kuul na, in Serer) such as the sun, themoon and the stars; and third was earth. However, the Earth was not one of the first primordial worlds to be formed. It will take a long time before the waters and the Earth were separated.^[31]

First human couple

Before humans existed, there were three stages in the creation of the Universe and each of these steps followed a consistent order.^[57] The first phase was the first three elements : air, earth and water. The myhical words of Roog (orKooh) found in A nax, led to the formation of the heavens, earth and the sea. The second phase of the creation was the primordial trees (i.e. Somb, Nqaul, Nquƭ, etc.,). The third phase was the creation of the animal world : the jackal and"Mbocor" (which means : "The Mother"^[57]) - mother of all animals except the jackal.^[57] In each of these phases, and before the creation of the first human couple, the supreme deity did not directly create each species, but only theprimogenitors who then went on to populate the world with all the species of plant and animal life.^[57] The same was the case at the creation of the first humans.^[57] By thought, the supreme deity planned for the creation of human beings (a female and a male).^[57] By words, Roog went through a gestation phase which signalled the gestation of man and woman, paired within the divine placenta.^[57] Through its maternal nature, Roog projected a female and male human being as in childbirth.^[57] The first human was a female, named YAAB.^[76] The second human was a male named YOP (var : YOB).^[76]

YAAB and YOP were the first humans that walked the Earth according to the narrative. The ancient and sacred village of Yaabo-Yabo (var : Yaboyabo or YABO-YABO, in present-day Senegal) also derives its name from this couple.^[

Kenya-Ngai( East Africa)

Wiki Information

This article is about the African religious concept. For information on the ethnic group in Vietnam, see Ngái. For information on the Chinese family name, see Ngai (surname). For Māori tribal names starting Ngai, see Iwi.
Ngai (Enkai, En-kai, Engai, Eng-ai, Mweai, Mwiai) is the supreme God in the religions of the Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai nationalities of Kenya. According to the Kikuyu beliefs, he lives on the holy mountain Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya).
According to the Kamba, he lives somewhere in a hiding place and no one knows where.
The Maasai of Kenya in their creation narrative recount the origin of humanity to be fashioned by the Creator Enkai from a single tree or leg which split into three pieces. To the first father of the Maasai, he gave a stick. To the first father of the Kikuyu, he gave a hoe. To the first father of the Kamba, he gave a bow and arrow. Each son survived in the wild. The first father of the Maasai used his stick to herd animals. The first father of the Kikuyu used his hoe to cultivate the ground. The first father of the Kamba used his bow and arrow to hunt.^[1]Although Maasai people have also converted to Christianity, many still practice their traditional religion. The Maasai believe that he is the god of the sun, love and was the creator of the world; in another one of their traditions, this god married Olapa (the goddess of the moon).

• Ngai (Enkai, En-kai, Engai, Eng-ai, Mweai, Mwiai)=Enki??

The two fought one day, and Olapa, being a short tempered woman, inflicted Enkai with a wound. To hide his shame, he took to shining very brightly, so that no one could look straight at him. In revenge, Enkai hit Olapa back and struck out one of her eyes. This can be seen today, when the moon is full.

Central Africa- Kuba

Kuba Creation Myth 

Wiki Info 

Mbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba of Central Africa. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant covered with white skin who had the form of a man.^[1]The story of Mbombo's creation tells that in the beginning, Mbombo was alone, and darkness and water covered the all earth. It would happen that Mbombo came to feel an intense pain in his stomach, and then Mbombo vomited the sun, the moon, and stars. The heat and light from the sun evaporated the water covering the earth, creating clouds, and after time, the dry hills emerged from the water. Then Mbombo vomited once more, bringing forth nine animals: the leopard, called Koy Bumba; the eagle, Ponga Bumba; the crocodile, Ganda Bumba; the fish, Yo Bumba; the tortoise, Kono Bumba; a black leopard-like animal, Tsetse Bumba; a white heron, Nyanyi Bumba; a scarab; and a goat named Budi. Mbombo also vomited many men, one of them all white like himself who is called Loko Yima.^[1][2]These nine animals went on to create all the world's creatures. The heron created all flying birds but one, the kite, and the crocodile created snakes and the iguana. The goat, Budi, brought forth all the horned animals, the scarab all insects, and Yo Bumba, all fish.^[2]Three of Mbombo's sons then said they would finish creating the world. The first to try, Nyonye Ngana, vomited white ants, but died after.^[1] To honor him, the ants went deep in the earth for dark soil to bury him and transformed the barren sands at the earth's surface. The second, Chonganda, created the first plant, which in turn gave rise to all trees, grasses and flowers. And Chedi Bumba, the third son, made the last bird, the kite.^[2]Tsetse Bumba caused trouble on the earth so Mbombo chased him into the sky where he became the thunderbolt. This left people without fire, so Mbombo showed them how to make it from trees. Once the creation was complete and peaceful, Mbombo delivered it to mankind and retreated into the heavens, leaving Loko Yima to serve as "god upon the earth".^[1][2] The woman of the waters, Nchienge, lived in the East, and her son, Woto, became the first king of the Kuba.^[3]

• Vomit = a form  of giving birth 
• Thunder/trickster god
• Dark water covered earth

Southern Mali-Mandé creation myth(West Africa)

WIKI Information

The Mandé creation myth is the traditional creation myth of the Mandé peoples of southern Mali. The story begins when Mangala, the creator god, tries making a balaza seed but it failed. Then he made two eleusine seeds of different kinds, which the people of Keita call "the egg of the world in two twin parts which were to procreate".^[1] Then Mangala made three more pairs of seeds, and each pair became the four elements, the four directions, as corners in the framework of the world's creation. This he folded into a hibiscus seed. The twin pairs of seeds, which are seen as having opposite sex, are referred to as the egg or placenta of the world. This egg held an additional two pairs of twins, one male and one female, who were the archetype of people.

Among them was Pemba who wished to dominate and so he left the egg early, ripping a piece of his placenta. Pemba fell through space and his torn placenta became the earth. Because he left the egg prematurely the earth formed from this piece was arid and barren and of no use to Pemba. So Pemba tried to return to the egg, to rejoin his twin and his place in the rest of the placenta. But it was not to be found-Mangala had changed the remaining placenta into the sun. So Pemba stole male seeds from Mangala's clavicle, and took them to the barren earth and planted them there. Only one of them could germinate in the dry earth, a male eleusine seed which grew in the blood of the placenta. But because Pemba had stolen the seed and it germinated in Pemba's own placenta, the earth became impure and the eleusine seed turned red.

Faro, the other male twin, who had assumed the form of twin fish, was sacrificed to atone for Pemba and purify the earth. Faro was cut into sixty pieces which fell to the earth where they became trees. Mangala restored Faro to life giving him now the form of a human, and sent him down to earth in an ark made from his placenta. With him came four pairs of male and four pairs of female twins who became the original ancestors of mankind, all made from Faro's placenta. The ark also held all the animals and plants, which also carried the male and female life force. Sourakata followed with the first sacred drum made of the sacrificed Faro's skull which he played to bring rain. When the rain did not come, the ancestral smith came to earth and with his hammer, he struck a rock and then the rain came.

Faro created all the world that mankind has come to know from the descendants of Mangala's original egg seeds. He caused the land to flood to wash away the impure seed of his brother, Pemba. From this flood, only the good were saved, sheltered by Faro's ark.^[2][3]

Republic of Uganda-Kintu

Kintu
Wiki Info

According to this legend, Kintu was the first person on earth, the father of all people.In a distant past, Kintu was the only person on the earth, living alone with his cow. Ggulu the creator of all things lived up in heaven with his many children, who occasionally came down to earth to play. On one such occasion, Ggulu's daughter Nambi and some of her brothers encountered Kintu and his cow in Buganda. Nambi instantly took a liking to Kintu and decided to stay and marry him. After her brothers pleaded with her, she returned to heaven with Kintu to ask for her father's permission for the marriage.
Ggulu was not pleased, but blessed the marriage after Nambi had persuaded him. Ggulu advised Kintu and Nambi to leave heaven secretly, so that Walumbe, one of Nambi's brothers would not find out about the marriage until they had left. It was feared that Walumbe (which means "that which causes sickness and death") would insist on going with them and bring them misery.
Kintu and Nambi set out for earth the next morning, taking with them the few things that Nambi packed, and her chicken. While they were descending, Nambi remembered that she had forgotten to bring the millet that her chicken would feed on. Kintu tried to persuade her not to return to fetch the millet, but she left him and returned to fetch the millet. On the way back from fetching the millet, she met Walumbe. She did not tell him where she was going, but filled with curiosity, Walumbe insisted on going with her. Kintu and Nambi were therefore forced to go to earth together with Walumbe.
Walumbe's presence on earth caused suffering and conflicts. That, according to the legend, is how sickness and death started.
The area where Walumbe is traditionally thought to have fallen to earth and to have hidden from Ggulu is the Tanda Pits, west of Kampala on the south side of the road to the town of Mityana.

My notes

• First man on Earth lived with a Cow. (Kintu)
• Ggulu Creator of all thing ,lives in Heaven  ,with many  children  who occasionally come down to earth  to play 
•  Ggulu's daughter and some brothers  came down , she met  Kintu , she liked  Kintu ,so she stays to marry him 
• Walumbe "god"of sickness an death ,he came to  earth  and  spread /started  death and sickness
• Tanda pits  mark  the area where Walumbe fell to earth

WIKI on Walumbe

In tradition with Gandan culture, Walumbe, as a brother of the bride, claimed one of Kintu's children as his own. Kintu refuses Walumbe and continues to do so throughout the years. Frustrated, Walumbe, then begins to kill a single child every day. After conversing with Ggulu, Kaikuzi is sent to aid Kintu in sending Walumbe back to heaven. Walumbe grapples with Kaikuzi and then retreats by digging and hiding within the ground. Kaikuzi soon tires of pursuing Warumbe and asks all of mankind to be silent for two days to lure Walumbe out. When Walumbe finally emerges, children cry out at the sight of him and he again retreats into the earth. Upon Kintu's dismissal, Kaikuzi then returns to Ggulu and explains the situation. Upon hearing of this, Ggulu allows Walumbe to remain on Earth.

Walumbe is therefore blamed as the reason for death on Earth.

West Africa- Fon people

 Wiki Info

"While many Fon identify as Christian, the majority practice Benin's national religion Vodun. The Fon name for a god or spirit is "Vodu". Practise can involve drumming to induce possession by one of these gods or spirits. Fon religion is polytheistic, with a supreme (but not omnipotent) deity known as Nana Buluku."

The Fon creation myth is the traditional creation story of the Fon peoples of West Africa. Various versions of the creation story are told. In most the creator is either Mawu, the moon being and mother of all the gods and humanity, orMawu-Lisa, the sun/moon being who is both male and female. In others, Nana Buluku is the ultimate creator, an androgynous deity who gave birth to the female Mawu and the male Lisa and passed the power over creation to them.

Many of the creation accounts tell of Mawu creating everything as she was carried from place to place on the back or in the mouth of Aido Hwedo, the rainbow serpent. The earth was created first, its curves, slopes and rises shaped by the winding, snaking motions of Aido Hwedo. Mountains formed from Aido Hwedo's excrement wherever they stopped to rest, leaving precious minerals inside. When Mawu finished, all of the mountains, trees, elephants and other creations left world too heavy, so she asked Aido Hwedo to coil, to encircle the earth and rest underneath to support its weight.

Aido Hwedo holds his own tail in his mouth to hold fast to the earth, and rests in the cool of the seas which Mawu made for him to protect him from the heat. Mawu's son, Agbe, now commands them. Whenever Aido Hwedo shifts or readjusts his position, he causes an earthquake or tidal wave.^[1][2]

• Moon -Mother/female Deity
• Sun   -Father /Mother Deity
• Nana Buluku -As  the androgynous Creator of all , parent of  Mawu & Lisa (Sun & Moon)
• Serpent figure surrounding  earth,resting at the bottom  with  Tail in  mouth 
• Awakening of the serpent cause great  deal  of destruction on  earth