Sakpata
Fon · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Fon eldest son of Mawu-Lisa, lord of the earth and smallpox; counterpart of Shopona.
Parentage
- parent: Mawu-Lisa
Domains
- earth
- disease smallpox
- agriculture
Powers
- Rules the earth as eldest son of Mawu-Lisa
- Sends and withdraws smallpox and disease
- gives the life-bringing rain and the fertility of the soil
Epithets
- Ainon Master/Owner of the Earth (ayĭ 'earth' + nɔ 'owner')Herskovits, Melville J. Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom. J.J. Augustin, 1938, vol. II, on the earth pantheon (Sagbatá). (ethnography)
- Jɛgbe Eldest son of Mawu, head of the Sagbatá (smallpox/earth) pantheonHerskovits, Melville J. & Frances S. Dahomean Narrative. Northwestern University Press, 1958, the earth-pantheon cycle. (ethnography)
Relations
- equated with: Earth Lord of SmallpoxThe 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)
- sibling: DanFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Mawu-Lisa) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- sibling: GuFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Mawu-Lisa) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- sibling: LegbaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Mawu-Lisa) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- sibling: SogboFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Mawu-Lisa) per the figures' cited genealogy.
Sources
- existence: Mythopedia, Sakpata; Herskovits, Dahomey (1938) (secondary)