Va

Va, Rain personified, is a leading figure of the Hwempetla cycle, where he appears as a householder whose daughter the culture hero desires. Rain warns that should the marriage succeed the rains would never cease and would devour the hero's fields; when the girl is nonetheless carried off, Rain ranges over the whole earth in search of her, tearing houses apart and lashing the trees, until the hero eludes him by hiding in a beer jar in Rain's own compound. In Kapsiki symbolism rain is 'white', the colour of blessing and clarity. Where shala is the deity who ultimately sends or withholds the rains, Va is the storm itself endowed with voice and will.

Children

• Daughter of Rain

Domains

• rain
• storm weather

Powers

• loose or withhold the rains
• range over the earth tearing houses and trees

Relations

• child: Daughter of RainHis daughter is carried off by Hwempetla.van Beek, Walter E. A., and Henry Tourneux. 2014. Contes kapsiki du Cameroun. Paris: Karthala. (primary)
• rival: HwempetlaOutwitted by the hero in the eight-day hiding wager.van Beek, Walter E. A., and Henry Tourneux. 2014. Contes kapsiki du Cameroun. Paris: Karthala. (primary)

Sources

• In the Hwempetla cycle Rain (va) is personified as a householder whose daughter the hero desires; he warns of unceasing, devouring rains and, when she is taken, storms across the earth searching for her.: van Beek, Walter E. A., and Henry Tourneux. 2014. Contes kapsiki du Cameroun. Paris: Karthala. (primary); van Beek, Walter E. A. 'The Common Ground: African Notions of Power.' African Studies Centre, Leiden. (secondary)
• Rain (va) is 'white' in Kapsiki colour symbolism, the hue of blessing.: van Beek, Walter E. A. 2025. 'Rain: The Arena of Power and Religion in Africa.' Human Ecology. (secondary)