Mlimu
Ndebele · deity · primordial · deity
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 God
Sources
- Daneel, M. L. (1970). The God of the Matopo Hills: An Essay on the Mwari Cult in Rhodesia. The Hague: Mouton.
- Arntsen, 'Shona and Ndebele Religions' (postcolonialweb.org).
- Ranger, T. (1999). Voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe. Oxford: James Currey.
- Wikipedia, 'Njelele Shrine'.