Bâgoumâwel, the Miraculous Child
Fulɓe pastoral initiatory tradition · demigod · Fulɓe pastoral initiatory tradition traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Bâgoumâwel is the wonder-child of the Fulani initiatory cycle, described as an African counterpart of Little Thumb, young and old at once, who speaks before birth and names himself. He embodies the good in the tale's cosmic struggle, protecting his uncles and finally destroying the sorceress Njeddo Dewal through cunning and superior knowledge. As the hero of the initiatory reading, he models the wisdom, courage and self-mastery the postulant must attain.
Domains
- wisdom and deliverance
Powers
- to outwit and overcome the sorceress Njeddo Dewal
- to know hidden and future things from before his birth
Relations
- enemy: Njeddo Dewal, Mother of CalamityBâgoumâwel is the sworn adversary of Njeddo Dewal, the only being able to defeat the mother of calamity.Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Njeddo Dewal, mère de la calamité: conte initiatique peul, Nouvelles Éditions Africaines, Abidjan/Dakar, 1985. (secondary)
- subordinate to: Geno, the Eternal OneThe child is understood as the divinely favoured deliverer raised up in answer to the calamity that Guéno himself had loosed.Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Njeddo Dewal, mère de la calamité: conte initiatique peul, Nouvelles Éditions Africaines, Abidjan/Dakar, 1985. (secondary)
Sources
- Bâgoumâwel is the miraculous, prematurely-wise child hero of Fulani initiatory tradition who alone defeats the sorceress Njeddo Dewal.: Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Njeddo Dewal, mère de la calamité: conte initiatique peul, Nouvelles Éditions Africaines, Abidjan/Dakar, 1985. (secondary); Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, African Mythology, Femininity, and Maternity, Pan-African Psychologies, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019. (secondary)