Ta Pedn
Semang · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
High creator-deity. Relationship to Karei is band-variable: Schebesta's Kensiu/Kintaq material pairs Ta Pedn (sky/creator) with Karei (thunder/punisher); elsewhere the two functions merge. Name kept as the attested Semang form 'Ta Pedn' since there is no plain-word English equivalent for the proper name. Latin transcription (unwritten language).
Domains
- creation and the sky
- fashioning of humankind
Powers
- create the world and dwell in the firmament
Sources
- Ta Pedn (Tapern / Ta Ped'n) is the Semang high creator-god of the firmament, ranking with or above the thunder-god Karei.: Paul Schebesta, Die Negrito Asiens, vol. II.1: Religion und Mythologie, 1957 (ethnography); Ivor H. N. Evans, The Negritos of Malaya, Cambridge University Press, 1937 (ethnography)
- The dragonfly Tanong serves as Ta Pedn's messenger, carrying word to the earth-grandmother (Manoid) when people commit impious acts and incur punishment.: Paul Schebesta, Die Negrito Asiens, vol. II.1, 1957 (ethnography)