Mende · deity · Mende traditional religion; continuing Sande society · deity
Spirit-class tutelary entered as a deity. The Sande masquerade is famously the only African masking tradition performed by women. 'sowei' names both the mask and the senior society official. Principal scholarship: Boone (1986).
Domains
water rivers
feminine beauty initiation
Powers
to embody and confer the ideal of Mende womanhood and beauty
Manifest as the female water-spirit guardian of Sande
Sources
Sylvia Ardyn Boone, Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art (1986)