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

• Baatsi

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 moon

Relations

• identified with: Tore

Sources

• Paul Schebesta, Die Bambuti-Pygmäen vom Ituri (1938–48), on the Efe moon-creator and the Baatsi creation
• Mircea Eliade, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion, 'Pygmy Religions' (the Efe creation and the origin of death)
• Encyclopedia.com / folklore handbooks, s.v. Arebati (moon/creator/sky god; Baatsi from clay, skin and blood; the Tahu tree and the moon-witness)