Earth Lord of Smallpox

The earth- and smallpox-vodu, eldest of Mawu-Lisa's children and head of the earth-pantheon. The English descriptor leads name.primary; the Gbe name Sakpata and the Ewe earth-praise-name Anyigbato (anyigba 'earth' + -to 'lord/owner of') stand in alt and the etymology. Typed deity. Documented for the Ewe by Ellis (1890) and Parrinder (1961) and for the cognate Fon in detail by Herskovits (1938); compare the corpus figure fon_sakpata.

Parentage

• the creator pair (engendering): Twofold Creator Pair

Domains

• earth and soil
• smallpox and pestilence
• healing and affliction

Powers

• Hold dominion over the earth and the soil that bears mankind
• Send the smallpox and the eruptive fevers, and withdraw them from the appeased

Epithets

• Anyigbato Ewe · Anyigbato · cultOwner/Lord of the EarthParrinder, West African Religion (1961) (secondary)

Relations

• sibling: Vodu of the Bush and the HuntFellow great vodu born of Mawu-Lisa; reciprocal within this batch.M. J. Herskovits, Dahomey (1938), vol. 2: Sakpata, Age, Gu and the rest born of Mawu-Lisa as brothers. (secondary)
• sibling: Vodu of Iron and WarReciprocal within this batch.M. J. Herskovits, Dahomey (1938), vol. 2, the children of Mawu-Lisa. (secondary)
• sibling: Trickster-Linguist of the CrossroadsReciprocal within this batch.M. J. Herskovits, Dahomey (1938), vol. 2: Legba the youngest of the same brood of Mawu-Lisa's children. (secondary)
• sibling: Thunder God of the StormSibling of the existing thunder-god ewe_so (Sogbo/Heviesso); their quarrel over the earth is a stock Gbe myth.M. J. Herskovits, Dahomey (1938), vol. 2: Sakpata (eldest, earth) and Sogbo (thunder) are brothers, sons of Mawu-Lisa, who contend over the rule of the earth. (secondary)
• equated with: SakpataThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Sakpata/Babalu-Aye).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)
• equated with: Babalu-AyeThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Sakpata/Babalu-Aye).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)

Sources

• Sakpata (Ewe praise-name Anyigbato, 'Lord of the Earth') is the Gbe vodu of the earth and of smallpox/contagious disease, the eldest son of the creator pair Mawu-Lisa and head of the earth-pantheon, brother of the thunder-god Sogbo with whom he disputes the rule of the earth.: M. J. Herskovits, Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom (1938), vol. 2, the earth-pantheon. (secondary); E. G. Parrinder, West African Religion (2nd ed. 1961), the earth-and-smallpox vodu. (secondary); A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (1890). (secondary)