Great Mother

Supreme creator goddess of the Ijaw (Izon) of the Niger Delta. The Western Delta Ijaw conceive of the supreme being as feminine, hence Woyengi / Woyingi, glossed 'our mother.' She is classed as deity. Egbesu and Tamuno are sometimes named as related/regional faces of the supreme power.

Domains

• creation of humankind
• destiny and fate
• motherhood

Powers

• mould human beings from earth
• allot each person their chosen destiny

Epithets

• Our Mother

Relations

• rival: Childless Sorceress

Sources

• "Woyengi," Encyclopaedia Britannica (online).
• P. Amaury Talbot, Some Nigerian Fertility Cults (Oxford University Press, 1927).