Mlimu

Supreme Being of the (Zimbabwean/Northern) Ndebele, adopted from and identified with the Shona-Kalanga Mwari cult of the Matopos. The Ndebele also call him uNkulunkulu, uThixo, uMdali, uMvelinqangi. Conceived as creator and sustainer; addressed via ancestors and the Matonjeni oracle. Classified deity (high-god).

Domains

• creation
• rain

Powers

• speak through the cave-oracle

Relations

• syncretism: Supreme Creator GodDocumented adoption: in Zimbabwe the Ndebele took over the Shona-Kalanga Mwari oracle cult of the Matopo Hills, calling the god uMlimu/Mlimo. Cult centre, priesthood and rain functions preserved; the name is Ndebele.M. L. Daneel, The God of the Matopo Hills: An Essay on the Mwari Cult in Rhodesia (1970) (secondary); T. O. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-97 (1967), on the Mwari/Mlimo cult (secondary)

Sources

• The Ndebele Supreme Being is called uMlimu, identified with the Shona/Kalanga high-god Mwari (also Musikavanhu 'creator of people', Nyadenga 'owner of the heavens', Dzivaguru 'the great pool'), creator and controller of rain and fertility.: Daneel, M. L. (1970). The God of the Matopo Hills: An Essay on the Mwari Cult in Rhodesia. The Hague: Mouton. (reference); Arntsen, 'Shona and Ndebele Religions' (postcolonialweb.org). (reference)
• uMlimu/Mwari is approached through the amadlozi (Ndebele ancestors; Shona vadzimu) and through the rain-oracle at Njelele/Matonjeni in the Matobo Hills, headquarters of the cult for some 500 years.: Ranger, T. (1999). Voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe. Oxford: James Currey. (reference); Wikipedia, 'Njelele Shrine'. (reference)