the High God of Storm

High-god / sky-creator (deity) of the Bemba of north-eastern Zambia. Lesa is the regional Bemba form of the wider Bantu high-god name Leza; both transcendent sky-and-rain god and the immanent breath in creatures.

Domains

• rain
• thunder storm
• fertility

Powers

• send rain and speak in the thunder
• Sets the creative power in the roots and shrubs used for medicine and ritual

Epithets

• Lesa

Sources

• Richards, A. I. (1939). Land, Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.
• Werner, A. (1933). Myths and Legends of the Bantu. London: George G. Harrap, ch. III.