Nwali
Nwali, more widely known as Mwali, is the supreme god of the Vhavenḓa, creator of humankind and giver of the rain, whose principal seat is the mountain of Makonde and whose oracular voice was consulted at the shrine tradition of Matonjeni. He is the same high-god venerated by the Shona as Mwari, and the Venda frequently identify him with their own sky-god Raluvhimba; sources differ on whether the two names denote one being or two. In the great migration epic Nwali is the god of the Singo who bestows on them the sacred drum Ngoma-lungundu, 'the drum that thunders'. No one might look upon the god, whose words reached the people only through the high priest Dzomo ḽa Dzimu, 'the mouth of god'. Through the drum Mwali worked miracles and struck down those who resisted the advancing Singo. When, in a later succession quarrel, the god withdrew his favour, the fortunes of the royal house collapsed.
Domains
- creation
- rain
- oracle
- war
Powers
- give rain to the land
- speak through the oracle-priest
- empower the drum Ngoma-lungundu
- command the people to migrate
Epithets
- Dzomo ḽa Dzimu — the mouth of god (his oracle)M. le Roux, 'Ngoma Lungundu' (2009). (secondary)
Sources
- The Venda acknowledge Nwali (Mwali), a supreme god and creator of humanity and giver of rain, associated with the mountain shrine at Makonde and the oracle tradition of Matonjeni.: H. A. Stayt, The BaVenda (1931). (primary); N. J. van Warmelo (ed.), Contributions towards Venda History (1932). (primary)
- In the Ngoma-lungundu epic Mwali is the great god of the Singo who gives them the magic drum and directs their migration.: E. Mudau, 'Ngoma-Lungundu', in van Warmelo (ed.) (1932). (primary); M. le Roux, 'Ngoma Lungundu: an African Ark of the Covenant' (2009). (secondary)