Thunder

Songhai · deity · Songhay/Zarma oral tradition; living holey possession cult · deity

Spirit-class figure (a Tooru noble) entered as a deity. Songhay accounts vary on Dongo's exact descent from Harakoy Dikko (youngest son vs. adopted son); parentId reflects the common river-mother lineage. Principal scholarship: Stoller (1989); Rouch (1960/1989).

Parentage

River Mother of the Niger

Domains

thunder storm
justice retribution
rain

Powers

to hurl lightning and crack the sky with thunder
to descend into and ride the body of a possession dancer
rule the sky as master of thunder and rain

Epithets

Dongo

Relations

sibling: Lightning
sibling: Master Smith of the Hausa

Sources

Paul Stoller, Fusion of the Worlds: An Ethnography of Possession among the Songhay of Niger (1989)
Jean Rouch, La religion et la magie songhay (1960/1989)

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