Creator God
Mende · deity · Mende traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Entered as a deity (Mende creator). 'Ngewɔ' is the current name; 'Leve' the older one, glossed as 'the high-up one'. The Poro/Sande societies and lesser spirits (ngafanga) mediate human dealings with him. Sources: Encyclopedia of African Religion (2009); Britannica.
Domains
- creation supreme
- destiny justice
Powers
- to create the world and ordain each person's destiny and lifespan
Epithets
- Ngewo The supreme creator and sky-god, the distant maker of allMende ethnography (Sierra Leone); K. L. Little (secondary)
Sources
- Ngewo (older name Leve, 'the high/up one'), the Mende supreme being, is the creator of the universe and all within it who, having made the world, withdrew to the sky; he ordains destiny and lifespan and upholds truth and justice, with spirits acting as intermediaries between him and the living.: Encyclopedia of African Religion (SAGE, 2009), entry 'Mende' (secondary); Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Ngewo' (secondary)