African Mythology

Part of the "Library of the World's Myths and Legends" series, this book was done by an author familar with both African culture and world mythology so it does a wonderful job exposing the oft-overlooked myths and legends of sub-Saharan Africa. I make a point of saying that because everything north of the Sahara (including Egypt) is excluded from this book. Instead, the focus is on the related themes running through indigenous traditions. Lavishly illustrated with masks, ceremonial objects, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, wooden figures, amulets, Bushmen rock paintings and so forth, this is a wonderful little book to look at. The introduction does a good job of showing how diverse Africa is, both in terms of geography and in terms of ethnicity.The first couple chapters are devoted to the Supreme Being (as indigenous African culture was monotheistic), including a widespread belief that some action of man caused this Supreme Being to withdraw from the world. The myths and legends of different groups are given, revealing both similarities and differences. From there it goes to examine myths of the creative ancestor figures and beliefs on the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Both are central to African beliefs, and are somewhat connected as people are believed to continue their involvement with the community after death as ancestor figures eventually to be reborn. These are very sophisticated ideas common throughout the coninent and again, numerous myths and legends are given. One particular myth that shows up here are the various myths about the origin of death.The next couple chapters examine more social aspects of mythology in African life, taking a look at oracles, divinations, magic, witchcraft, monsters and secret societies. These are things which take an active role in community life (whether it was to help the community as oracles and secret societies did or to harm it as witches and other monsters did), and the book is full of depictions of ceremonial objects such as masks, divination tablets, diving rods, vessels for making offerings, bullroarers and so forth. Both magical practices and specific myths related to them are observed, giving the reader a clear idea of how the practices related to a mythical past and connected the practicioners to the creative ancestors. This is followed up by legends involving historical events including Osei Tutu and the golden stool, tales of old Ifé and Benin, Kikuyu myths of Mt. Kenya, the~ mystery of Great Zimbabwe and even stories about the first ecounters with Europeans, amongst other things.The book closes out with numerous well known African animal tales, including numerous tales of Anansi the spider trickster of the Ashanti. He then mentions how aside from African influences travelling to the Americas and even Europe, other mythologies have influenced Africa; Islamic tales such as the 1,001 Nights in Muslim communities (especially in the north and the east), Indian tales like the Pancha-tantra and Jatak

The African continent of course is huge, and therefore it is not surprising that the number of ideas, works of art, and customs is overwhelming and would take any one person many decades to sort through. This book gives a brief sampling of these, with particular attention paid to the lands south of the Sahara desert. The author concentrates his attention on this part of Africa, for he reasons that it is this part that was shielded from European and Middle Eastern influence, due to the difficulty of crossing the Sahara. The reader learns of the Bushman, who were at the Cape of Good Hope when the first Europeans arrived, the Pygmies, and the Hamites, the latter being the group most strongly influenced by Islamic and Arabic traditions. It is primarily the Negro population of this geographical region though that the author concentrates on in the book. As the author points out, one troubling feature of African mythology is that they did not usually write anything down, but instead passed on their stories orally. The author blames this lack of written word on the geographical isolation that discouraged its spread. But he also points out that the absence of writing was also a characteristic of ancient American civilizations and the ancient Britons and Teutons. The author therefore relies on the research and recordings of modern African scholars who painstakingly wrote down the stories told them by the various peoples. A culture of course needs more than just verbalization to express its ideas and moods. To capture and sustain an idea in time without writing, one can use art, particularly in paintings and sculpture. The author argues that African art is deliberately expressive and was employed to symbolize the life in every aspect. Interestingly, the author holds that African proverbs and myths expressed joy in life and human activity. Calling it a 'world-affirming' philosophy, in which life on earth is thought of as good, despite human suffering. The Africans were surely correct about this. Absolutely for sure. The reader will also learn that nearly all African peoples believe in a supreme being, who created all things. Some of the names of this being include Mulungu in East Africa, Leza in central Africa, and Nyambe in the west. And the author points out, interestingly, that very few temples were built to the "supreme" god, while places of worship were built for the lesser deities and ancestors. "God is too great to be contained in a house" say the Africans. Also interesting is that the Africans did not have a god of Sun, for such a god was not needed: there is plenty of sun in Africa. In some African myths, god created the earth in four days, a fifth day being reserved for worship. God also created a mountain with the power of speech, so as to allow the people to hear the divine voice and laws. Dreaming was considered a gift from God, and it functioned as a sequence of messages from God. But witchcraft was believed in also, with women again being t