African

African

Rachel Tecora Tucker - Singer/Dancer/Teacher

Ala: Ibo Divine Mother who gives life, provides all that is life sustaining, establishes laws, guides morality and finally claims her children in death. If her children live peacefully, there will be bountiful harvests from the earth and womb.
Atai: Efik goddess who encouraged the creation of humans, choosing earth for us to inhabit. When, as she feared, we forgot our creator and attempted to become equals of the deities themselves, she sent death to remind us that we are only human.
Bunzi: Woyo rain goddess of Zaire, who manifests as a rainbow colored snake and is invoked for plentiful rains and harvests.
Chineke: Ibo creator goddess of Nigeria. She protects those who are good, and punishes those who are evil.
Eka Abassi: Goddess of the Ibibio people. She came before everything and created humans.
Igbarun: Nigerian river goddess who is wed to the king of the sea. As a couple, they embody all of earth's water.
Isamba: Moon goddess of the Issansun people of Tanzania. She married the sun, and they had a contest to see who was wisest.
Kono: A bird goddess, she is the ancestor deity of the Senufu people of the Ivory Coast and Mali. She is worshipped in teh form of a large crested crane.
Mawu-Lisa: Dahomey supreme deity. Mawu, the moon, is the female half of this androgynous deity. She is called the wife or twin of Lisa, the sun. Together they created all the other deities. When they mate, it causes an eclipse.

The Goddess is first of all earth, the dark, nuturing mother who brings forth all life. She is the power of fertility and generation; the womb, and also the receptive tomb, the power of death. All proceeds from Her; all returns to Her. As earth, She is also plant life; trees, the herbs and grains that sustain life. She is the body, and the body is sacred.

Starhawk, The Spiral Dance

Minona: Protector of women of Benin who gives fertility to women and the fields. She can divine the future from palm kernels.
Nagadya and Nagawonyi: When there are droughts, or the gods are being difficult, these Ugandan goddesses are asked to intercede on behalf of humans. They cause the rains to fall, allowing food to grow once more.
Nasilele: Moon goddess of Zabia. Bartose and Nalozi women are buried facing west so they can be closer to her in death.
Nyale: Creator of the Bambara people, she gives magical powers to women.
Nyame: Ancient Ashanti earth mother who is the deity of death. She provides a place for her children in her womb, the earth, when they die.
Oshun: Oshun is an African goddess who represents the joy of being female. She became a siren of the oceans and saved the lives of saiors, then eventually gained full dominion over the earth's waters. She is a goddess of barren women, pregnant women, and women with female problems, such as difficult pregnancies. She was a seductress who delighted in her body and her erotic nature.
Oya: Goddess of the Niger river. The personification of the violent rainstorms that formed the river, like many other goddesses, she can both create and destroy.
Sodza: Goddess of thunder in Togoland, who is married to the lightning. Her loud noise drives away evil spirits.
Tsetse: Boshongo goddess of lightning. She brought fire which can be helpful, but also disastrous.

Mask with Large Spiral Headdress

Ekoi, Nigeria - Animal skin, wood and natural fibers
Private Collection

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