Fo

Fo, the sacred python, is one of the primordial creatures of Senufo cosmogony, believed to have been among the first living beings on the newly formed earth together with the hornbill, tortoise, crocodile, and chameleon. Revered as a divine messenger and benefactor of humankind, the python mediates between the visible world of the village and the invisible world of the bush spirits: when women of the Sandogo divination society consult the spirits, it is Fo who carries their questions to the madebele and returns with answers. The python's image pervades Senufo divination art, appearing on shrine sculpture, ornaments, and above all on the cast copper-alloy python bracelets that serve as the insignia of Sando diviners.

Domains

• divination
• messengers

Powers

• to carry messages between human diviners and the bush spirits
• to answer the inquiries posed by diviners during consultation

Relations

• subordinate to: Bush SpiritsFo serves as the primary messenger of the madebele bush spirits, relaying their responses to the questions of Sando diviners.Glaze, Anita J., 'Woman Power and Art in a Senufo Village', African Arts 8, no. 3 (1975): 24-29, 64-68. (secondary)
• companion: PorpianongThe python and the hornbill are counted together among the five primordial creatures of Senufo cosmogony, present at the beginning of the world.Goldwater, Robert, Senufo Sculpture from West Africa, New York: The Museum of Primitive Art, 1964. (secondary)

Sources

• Fo is the sacred primordial python of Senufo religion, one of the first creatures on earth and the chief messenger between human diviners and the madebele bush spirits.: Glaze, Anita J., 'Woman Power and Art in a Senufo Village', African Arts 8, no. 3 (1975): 24-29, 64-68. (secondary); Goldwater, Robert, Senufo Sculpture from West Africa, New York: The Museum of Primitive Art, 1964. (secondary); Glaze, Anita J., Art and Death in a Senufo Village, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981. (secondary)