Mwari

The supreme god of the Botswanan people, who express his/her will through cave-dwelling spirit mediums, usually female, known as the Voice of Mwari. He/she is a somewhat distant deity whose principal female attributes are as a god of fertility, seeds and rain-giving. She is the god of ‘below’; Mwari’s male attributes are a god of above - of the skies and light, and as the father of creation. He manifests himself as lightning or a shooting star. He has three manifestations: the Father, or SHOLOGULU, 'the big-headed one' or 'head of an elephant'; the Mother, known as BANYANCHABA, and the Son, known as LUNJI. He is in his own creation, but paradoxically distanced from it, in which circumstances his creation is called MUSIKAVANHU. The story of creation – in which Musikavanhu is Mwari’s agent, obeying his orders to dream and create a world - is curiously similar to the story of the Garden of Eden. Musikavanhu returns to heaven but his children disobey, think of themselves as gods, and corrupt the earth. Mwari’s attributes or aspects are named: DZIVAGURU (‘Great Pool’) is female darkness and mystery, but also the giver of water to her people, her symbols golden sunbirds (probably swallows); NYAMATENGA or NYADENGA (‘He Who Lives In His Own Heaven’) MUWANIKWA (‘He Who Was Found Already In Existence’) and sky god CHIKARA (‘The Beast’) are the principal ones. Chikara has a son, NOSENGA. Mwari also has praise names, the most popular of which are SHOKO, MBEDZI and DZIVA

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