Childless Sorceress
Ijaw · demigod · mythic age · Recorded classification
Culture-heroine of the Ijaw destiny myth; a mortal woman raised to extraordinary powers, classed here as demigod for her superhuman gifts and direct contest with the creatress. Her tale is the chief Ijaw narrative dramatising the irreversibility of Woyengi's destiny-decree.
Domains
- healing
- prophecy
Powers
- heal the sick
- contend in magic against the creator
- strip and absorb the magical powers of those she defeats
- take refuge inside the pupil of a pregnant woman's eye
Epithets
- the eyes that look back she who, trapped in the pupil, looks back from every human eyeWikipedia, 'Ogboinba' (secondary)
Relations
- rival: Great MotherEndowed by Woyengi at creation, the childless sorceress pursued the creatress to demand her recreating power and was defeated.Ulli Beier (ed.), The Origin of Life and Death: African Creation Myths (1966), Ijaw myth of Woyengi (primary)
Sources
- Ogboinba is the Ijaw sorceress-heroine who, discontented with her chosen childless destiny, challenges the creatress Woyengi and is defeated.: Ijo oral tradition of Ogboinba (recorded in Ijaw/Nigerian folklore collections). (reference)