Atete

Atete, also spelled Ateetee, is the Oromo divinity of women, fertility and the harvest, and one of the most prominent feminine powers of Waaqeffanna. She is addressed by the maternal term ayyoo, 'mother', and is closely associated, sometimes to the point of identification, with the motherhood divinity Maaram. Women petition Atete in dedicated rituals to be granted conception, a safe delivery and the general prosperity of their families and fields; the new mother's dignity is marked by the qanafa ornament worn at childbirth. Beyond fertility, Atete underwrites the siiqqee institution, in which married women carry a ritual staff and gather in assembly to denounce mistreatment and demand redress, so that the goddess stands as guarantor both of fecundity and of the social rights of women. In Oromo theology she is understood as a creation of, and subordinate to, the supreme Waaqa.

Parentage

• parent: Waaqa

Domains

• women and femininity
• fertility
• harvest and agriculture

Powers

• to grant conception and safe childbirth to women
• to defend the rights of women against mistreatment

Epithets

• AyyooBartels, Lambert. Oromo Religion: Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia — An Attempt to Understand. Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 8. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1983. (secondary)

Relations

• subordinate to: WaaqaAtete is regarded as a creation of the supreme Waaqa and dependent upon him.Kelbessa, Workineh. "The Oromo Doctrine of God." Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions 11, no. 4 (2022). (secondary)
• companion: MaaramIn women's rituals Atete is invoked together with, and often identified with, the motherhood divinity Maaram, the two forming a closely paired feminine power.Bartels, Lambert. Oromo Religion: Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia — An Attempt to Understand. Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 8. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1983. (secondary)

Sources

• Atete (Ateetee) is the Oromo divinity of women, fertility and harvest, central to women's fertility rites and to the siiqqee institution that protects women's rights.: Kumsa, Kuwee. "The Siiqqee Institution of Oromo Women." The Journal of Oromo Studies 4, nos. 1 & 2 (1997): 115–152. (secondary); Bartels, Lambert. Oromo Religion: Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia — An Attempt to Understand. Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 8. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1983. (secondary)