Arebati
Efe moon/creator/sky god who fashioned the first human, Baatsi, from clay covered with skin and filled with blood, and whose Tahu-tree prohibition (broken under the Moon's witness) brings death into the world. Authored as DISTINCT because the Efe Baatsi/Tahu creation cycle is a separable strand — while noting that some bands equate Arebati with Tore (recorded as an 'identified with' relation, reciprocated in-batch). Baatsi (the created first man) is recorded inside this account rather than authored as a thin standalone mortal. SOLITARY otherwise: no named divine kin is attested. CAUTION (see header): the unified 'creator' image owes something to Schebesta's monotheistic framing; the Baatsi/clay/Tahu mythemes are nonetheless securely attested for the Efe.
Children
Domains
- the moon
- the sky
- creation
Powers
- Moulds the first human from clay, skin and blood
- Imposes the Tahu-tree prohibition and sends death
Epithets
- the moonArebati is associated with / identified as the Moon, which also acts as his witness in the creation cycle.Folklore/encyclopedia summaries s.v. Arebati (identified with the moon) (tertiary)
Relations
- identified with: ToreBand-level equation: among some Mbuti/Efe Arebati (moon-creator) and Tore (forest god) are one divinity under two names; among others they are distinct. The syncretic identification, not a kin link, is what is attested.Mircea Eliade, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion, 'Pygmy Religions'; folklore handbooks noting that some bands make no distinction between Arebati and Tore (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Paul Schebesta, Die Bambuti-Pygmäen vom Ituri (1938–48), on the Efe moon-creator and the Baatsi creation (primary); Mircea Eliade, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion, 'Pygmy Religions' (the Efe creation and the origin of death) (secondary); Encyclopedia.com / folklore handbooks, s.v. Arebati (moon/creator/sky god; Baatsi from clay, skin and blood; the Tahu tree and the moon-witness) (tertiary)