Were
Luo · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
High-god name among the Luo and shared with the neighbouring Luhya. Often treated as an aspect or alternate name of Nyasaye rather than a fully separate deity; entered separately because both names are explicitly attested in the Luo material. Classified deity (high-god).
Domains
- sky
- providence
Powers
- grant and withhold welfare
Epithets
- Were The high god of the sky (Were Nyakalaga), the omnipresent one; a name of God among the LuoLuo (Nilotic) ethnography (secondary)
Sources
- Were is an older / Central-Luo (and neighbouring Luhya) name for the sky high-god, frequently identified or compounded with Nyasaye, invoked for welfare, rain and offspring.: p'Bitek, O. (1971). Religion of the Central Luo. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. (reference); Ogot, B. A. (1961). 'The Concept of Jok', African Studies 20(2), 123-130. (reference)