Great Pool Earth-Deity
Shona · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Classed as deity. Sex='none' as the figure is not consistently gendered in the sources. Distinct entry because Dzivaguru appears in some Korekore traditions as a separate territorial divinity rather than merely a Mwari epithet.
Domains
- water and pools
- rain
- night and darkness
Powers
- holds dominion over the great pools and springs that feed the land
- command the darkness of night
- bring the clouds and the rain
Epithets
- Dzivaguru 'the great pool/lake' (dziva 'pool' + guru 'great') — the ancient rain-and-water high spirit/creator of the northern Shona (Korekore), lord of the waters and fertilityGelfand, Michael. Shona Ritual, Juta, 1959 (primary ethnography); Daneel, M. L. The God of the Matopo Hills, Mouton, 1970 (secondary scholarship)
Sources
- Dzivaguru is an old earth-and-water divinity of the northern Shona (Korekore), variously treated as an independent deity or as a praise-name of the high god Mwari.: Bourdillon, M.F.C., 'The Shona Peoples' (1987) (secondary); Gelfand, M., 'Shona Religion' (1962) (secondary)