Isanga
Mekeo · numen · Mekeo traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Isanga denotes the deadly killing-sorcery of the Mekeo together with the lethal spirit-power that carries it. It is one of the 'gifts' that A'aisa left to humankind and is deployed by the hereditary death-dealing sorcerer against victims marked out for punishment or vengeance. As with the other Mekeo spirit-terms, isanga names a power and a class of malign agency rather than a single individuated being; the boundary between isanga and the sorcerer's faifai familiars is drawn differently by different accounts.
Domains
- sorcery
- death
Powers
- kills the victim through deadly sorcery
Sources
- Isanga is the Mekeo deadly killing-sorcery and its associated lethal spirit-power, traced to the gift of A'aisa and wielded by the hereditary sorcerer.: Stephen, Michele. A'aisa's Gifts: A Study of Magic and the Self. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. (secondary)