Jra Article p111 - 5

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132
brill.com/jra
Zulu Creation Myths by Credo Mutwa – Ancient

Tradition or Mutwa’s Invention?
Agnieszka Podolecka | ORCID: 0000-0003-1146-3433

University of South Africa, Department of Linguistics and Modern
Languages, Pretoria, South Africa
University of Warsaw, Department of African Languages and Cultures,
Warsaw, Poland
agapod70@gmail.com
Abstract
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa (1921–2020) was one the most famous and controversial
sangomas in South Africa. He is the first sangoma who published books about sango-
mas’ vocation and work, and revealed his version of Zulu myths. This paper first estab-
lishes if Mutwa’s tales can be considered myths, then if those stories are cohesive with
versions known to academics and contemporary sangomas. The aim of this article is
to analyse the creation myths that Mutwa presents, establish if they are original Zulu
myths or his creations, and find international mythological motifs that could have
influenced him. Mutwa’s myths are compared with myths collected by other research-
ers. Mutwa’s opinions, gained during a 2013 field visit to his home in Kuruman, South
Africa, are also presented. The field studies among contemporary sangomas were
financed by the Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Poland,
project no. 2017/25/N/HS1/02500.
Keywords
Credo Mutwa – sangoma – Zulu mythology – Zulu religion
1 What is a Myth? Are Mutwa’s Stories Myths?
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa (1921–2020), the well-known and controversial

South African sangoma1 and writer, published stories that he claims to be Zulu
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/15700666-12340202

Downloaded from Brill.com07/15/2023 11:40:26PM
via free access
112 Podolecka
myths in four books: Indaba, my Children (1964), Africa is my Witness (1966), My

People. The Incredible writings of Credo Vusa’Mazulu Mutwa (1969), and Zulu
Shaman, Dreams, Mysteries and Prophesies (1996).2 He uses the terms ‘myth’
and ‘mythology’ purposefully and with a positive meaning. He traces Zulu ‘reli-
gion, culture, mythology, legends and history back tens of thousands of years in
the past, farther back than any civilisation on earth’ (Mutwa 1999, 535). Mutwa
believes that the wisdom hidden in them helps resolve daily problems such as
religious and family issues (Mutwa 1999, 2003).
Evaluating the authenticity of Mutwa’s myths and religious statements is
difficult though not impossible. Zulu mythology is well documented and many
sangomas – even those Christianised – preserve pre-Christian myths as part
of their tradition. Mutwa claims that he learned Zulu myths from the goddess
Amarava, whom he describes in his books. He considers myths a sacred knowl-
edge that is revealed only to worthy chosen people like certain sangomas; only
they have the knowledge to understand them properly and pass this knowl-
edge down the generations. Mutwa claims he decided to break all the secrecy
oaths he had taken as a sangoma, and to reveal myths, in spite of the shock it
could cause to his ‘fellow Bantu’ and foreigners (Mutwa 1999, xvii).
There is no binding definition of the myth. Des Bouvrie describes myths
as ‘a group of identifiable tales, which by corollary we consider as historically
and otherwise “untrue”’ (Des Bouvrie 1998, 19). As is proven later, Mutwa’s tales
do not fulfil the condition of being identifiable. Sangomas and researchers’
informants do not recognise his stories. However, they do fulfil other require-
ments of myths.
Myths form the basis of all religions and discuss important issues of human
culture. African mythology is a combination of myth-makers’ observation
of the natural environment, social problems, and historical events both wit-
nessed by myth-makers and learned from the previous generations. They try to
explain the mysteries of life on two levels: exoteric, which sanctions the social
order, law, clan, and authority system that is understood by all, and esoteric,
which is more philosophical and spiritual, explains the life force and divin-
ity, and is understood only by initiates (Piłaszewicz 2008). Zulu myths have
been passed down orally for centuries, which means that at the moment of
creation they were the products of certain people living in certain place and
conditions. They were retold over time, and even though sangomas claim that
they are the same as at the beginning, they must have adapted to changing life
conditions. In creating and transmitting myths one can ‘recognize two major
groups: communication that presents “news” and communication which
represents an “interpretation” of existing situations’ (Vansina 1985, 7). ‘News’
means informing about something the society does not know but wants to

via free access
Zulu Creation Myths by Credo Mutwa 113
know and understand. It can explain frightening calamities like great floods
or huge bloody battles that change the fate of the society. The stories are first
told by eyewitnesses, then the explanation, which is usually supernatural, is
added. Over time they then become part of the mythological canon and are
passed down through the generations. Myth can also originate from commen-
taries or rumours that, repeated many times, become incorporated into col-
lective memory and are passed down as mythical stories (Vansina 1985). Myth
certainly also explains situations that have never been witnessed, such as the
creation of the world.
Myths give information about the most important divine forces at the
beginning of time. These factors distinguish myths from other forms of nar-
ration (Des Bouvrie 1998). Myths are supposed to form the cognitive basis for
and practical models of human behaviour. They sacralise taboos and are rep-
resented through ritual. In this way they make a sacred past present in human
lives. Thanks to rituals, myths are relived and incorporated into everyday life
(Honko 1972). They reflect on human problems, hopes, and dilemmas that are
explained and commented on in a way that is helpful to the listeners (Finnegan
1976). Because the boundaries between myths and tales are often fluid, reli-
gious leaders and tribal elders tell stories in a way that will make listeners
believe them. ‘Traditional tales are to be studied in their living environment,
their “mythical” quality may be that special feeling in the members of the audi-
ence then and there, something withdrawn from our library observation….
whatever their genre, [they] are not only received at the intellectual level, they
rouse emotions as well, which should be included in an interpretation’ (Des
Bouvrie 1998, 19). Mutwa told me that the importance of performance is some-
thing he had learned from his sangoma teachers during his twasahood, which
he then passed on to his twasas.3 Sangomas are trained not only in learning
myths and stories but also in performing them for the public so that the myths
are accepted as truth, or at least as metaphors that convey truth, and they help
people live their lives according to religious traditions. Mutwa claimed that
the myths he recalled in his books were sacred wisdom passed to him by Zulu
divinities and as oral tradition.
Field calls orally transmitted ‘facts’ as ‘the art of possible’; he emphasises
that oral literature is ‘inter-acted’ and ‘open-ended’ because it is influenced
by needs and emotions (often unconscious) of the tellers. ‘Social memory is
always a process of construction, selection and exclusion’ of many factors;
they often do not distinguish facts from myths, emotional from rational, or
past from present (2001, 249–250). Des Bouvrie calls myths ‘symbolic tales’
that explain ‘symbolic workings’, and states that their ‘symbolic quality’
should be recognised by the audience (2002, 22). Mutwa’s stories fulfil the

via free access
114 Podolecka
guidance of myths: they describe the creation of the universe and humans,
they present divine origins, how the law was created by deities, and why it
is important to follow this law. Even though the Zulu audience may not rec-
ognise Mutwa’s myths, many uprooted Christianised Zulus who seek their
cultural roots read Mutwa’s books and recognise the meaning of his stories.
Mutwa uses universal mythical motifs like the Tree of Life or the great deluge
to explain human weaknesses and gods’ impact on human lives. In this way
he shows how one should behave, maintain social order, and keep traditions
for the benefit of the whole society. Because Mutwa’s stories fulfil the require-
ments of myths and are treated by his followers as such, I suggest considering
them to be myths.
This paper presents Mutwa’s version of Zulu creation myths, and analyses
them and their message from the comparative religious studies perspective.
The comparison is based on juxtaposing Mutwa’s myths with Zulu myths
known to scholars and sangomas, and with the international, intercultural
mythological motifs. This shows that Mutwa draws from many cultures and
uses popular archetypical motifs, i.e., the Tree of Life. I also present the opin-
ions of my twenty six2 Zulu sangoma informants who learned Mutwa’s ver-
sion of Zulu mythology. Research among Zulu sangomas who could verify the
authenticity of Mutwa’s version of myths was conducted in 2013 and 2018 to
2019. It is the sangomas’ obligation to learn myths and the history of their peo-
ple and to preserve this knowledge. Hence they are well acquainted with the
mythological motifs present in Zulu beliefs. I also interviewed Mutwa because
I believe that as the author he should be given a chance to explain his own
myths and ideas, and comment on them.
2 UNkulunkulu and the Concept of a Supreme God in Zulu Religious

Beliefs
Mutwa starts his first book, Indaba, with the description of the god uNku-
lunkulu and separating light from darkness. He describes uNkulunkulu as the
‘Great Spirit’ and ‘the Spirit of Life’ (1999, 8). He doesn’t say how uNkulunkulu
originated, he only states that uNkulunkulu supervises the never-ending battle
between cold and heat, darkness and light and that he commands goddess Ma
to put in order Universe from Chaos and to create the Earth (1999, 2003). The
goddess Ma cannot be found in any researcher’s account and none of my 26
sangoma informants has ever heard of her (the myth will be analysed later
in the paper). When I asked Mutwa about uNkulunkulu, he identified him
with the concept of the supreme God praised in every monotheistic religion.4

via free access
Mutwa’s view on uNkulunkulu is unique and the concept of God who decides
to divide darkness from light is clearly influenced by the Bible and not reported
by any other known Zulu informant.
For Mutwa, uNkulunkulu is the supreme god but on the other hand Mutwa
speaks about the Ultimate God that has no shape, no gender and no name
(1999). Mutwa never gives the origin of uNkulunkulu. He neither mentions
reeds covering the Earth (like in academics’ reports, nor the fact that uNku-
lunkulu and all people were supposed to be born from them (Krige 1962).
Berglund’s informants recall a myth in which uHlanga, the Lord-of-the-Sky,
brings all the people from the reeds, the very first one of which was called
uNkulunkulu. In some myths uNkulunkulu jumps from a reed and brings peo-
ple and animals to life, thus becoming the first ancestor. The Lord-of-the-Sky
created reeds, so it is thanks to him that humans and animals exist (Berglund
1976). These are the most popular myths and are still learned by many Zulu
sangomas.
The complexity of uNkulunkulu is vast. Before the colonisation Zulus had
not wondered if he was a god or a first ancestor, if was there some supreme
being who created uNkulunkulu, or if he was the first creator of the universe.
They queried why if he is the first ancestor there are no myths that recount
stories about his offspring. These questions arose when Christian missionaries
tried to find a supreme deity within Zulu religious beliefs to put him against
Yahweh and Jesus and make converting Zulus easier. Chidester states that the
first attempts to describe uNkulunkulu to missionaries were far from coherent.
Some Zulus perceived him as the first ancestor who was born from the reeds,
others as a god and the creator of the world, yet others admitted they had never
thought about him before being interviewed by the colonisers. It was the first
moment that they were forced to conceptualise uNkulunkulu at all.5
The origins of uNkulunkulu are unclear. Leach states that he was ‘the first
man and there was nothing before him, yet he broke off from the source
[reeds]’ (2012, 297). UNkulunkulu is believed to be born from the first reed that
covered the world before gods and men were created. Other people were born
from the reeds as well (Krige 1962). Farrer’s informants call uNkulunkulu ‘Lord
of heaven’, and ‘the king which is above’. He is ‘the Old-old-one’ who created
goodness and evil and taught people the arts of divination and medicine, and
the significance of the dreams. For Farrer he fills the place of the Zulus’ creator
but is not worshiped as God-creator is in Abrahamic religions (1879, 130). As I
proved in my article ‘UNkulunkulu: God, a god or the first ancestor? The quest
for a supreme deity in Zulu religious beliefs’, these questions are still unan-
swered. UNkulunkulu remains a dim figure who may be the first ancestor and
as such a creator, but is so distant that even Zulus who practice their ancient

via free access
116 Podolecka
religion do not pray to him. Requests for help go to ancestral spirits, and they
are believed to help the living (Podolecka 2020).
At the end of Indaba Mutwa states that God is the cause of every creation:
‘God created Himself and then slowly expanded to fill the entire Universe – or
rather He himself grew in size’ (1999, 365). God permeates the whole universe
and resides in everyone. He is the divine ‘particle’ that started living as souls.
Human souls thus contain divinity and human life should be respected above
all. Mutwa states, ‘There never was a time when God was not and there never
is a time when God can never be’ (Mutwa 1999, 561).
Mutwa explains the concept of God via a picture (below) but emphasises
that ‘no man can ever see God and live or understand what he has seen, for
God is such that His very essence, His very being and His very Shape would
be beyond the interpretation of the human eye and the human brain’ (Mutwa
1999, 562).
The canoe has the shape of a tailless crocodile, which means that God is
‘neither evil nor good, neither life nor death (Mutwa 1999, 563). Human heads
at the stern and at the prow look upward to heaven, ‘which is a sign that God
continues into infinity and has neither end nor beginning’. The female figure in
the middle of the canoe symbolises ‘the Great Mother, the Ultimate Feminine
Creative Cause of All, and a symbol of the bisexuality of the most Ultimate
God’ (Mutwa 1999, 563). According to Mutwa, the three figures also symbolise
past, present, and future; they show that time is not linear but everything done
is interwoven with the past and future (Mutwa 1999). At the same time Mutwa
states that God should not be interpreted and portrayed in any ‘fixed shape’
figure 1 God in the shape of canoe

Source: Mutwa 1999:563

via free access
(1999, 564). God as described by Mutwa is omnipotent and omnipresent, and

does not interfere in human affairs (1999).
Such an idea of God seems strongly influenced by the Christian idea of the
omnipresent and omnipotent God. None of my or other researchers’ inform-
ants confirm Mutwa’s vision. The first deity described by Zulus at the begin-
ning of religious studies among them point to uNkulunkulu, whom they
could not definitely describe as the highest god or only the first ancestor. He
is believed to be masculine, born from the first reed that covered the world
before gods and men were created. Other people were born from the reeds as
well (Krige 1962). He definitely was not some three-headed crocodile; rather,
this god is Mutwa’s creation, not the Zulus’, and the representation of the croc-
odile canoe is Mutwa’s own artistic expression.
3 Creation Myth by Credo Mutwa: The History of Ma and the Tree

of Life
Creation myths presented by Mutwa tell the story of the beginning of the
universe, the history of the Tree of Life and his wife Goddess Ma as the par-
ents of the First People, then the story of the Great Flood that killed the First
People, then the story of beautiful Amarava and the awful iron-made Odu who
were the parents of the Second People from whom contemporary humans are
descended.
Mutwa’s first creation myth explains the duality of nature: in the beginning
of time there was nothing but the Fertile Darkness that floated in the invisi-
ble River of Time.6 Time and Nothingness mated and as a result they created
the spark of Living Fire. It grew stronger and bigger, and finally felt lonely.
After some time Fire consumed its mother, Nothingness. His father, the River
of Time, was angered by this crime and created ‘the Spirit Cold to fight the
spark outright’ (Mutwa 1999, 7). The battle that started at the beginning of time
will continue forever so that the balance between fire and cold is sustained in
the universe.
In the myth of the first battle of Light and Darkness, Mutwa does not name
any god who created the universe yet does mention the Great Spirit called
uNkulunkulu, ‘who dwells where no god or goddess can go’ and decides to
bring the universe from chaos to order. UNkulunkulu calls on the first goddess,
Ma, to do this task (Mutwa 1999). According to Mutwa, from the ashes of the
battle between Darkness and Light the Great Goddess Ma arose, the first deity
in a human shape. UNkulunkulu wanted order in the universe so he showed
himself to Ma and commanded his ‘most imperfect creature’ to bring ‘a perfect

via free access
118 Podolecka
Universe from Chaos’ (1999, 7–8). She created the stars, the sun and the earth.
Mutwa explains that the world is imperfect because Ma was cursed: she had all
the longings that humans have – hunger, thirst, and desire (Mutwa 1999). She
also felt lonely so she begged uNkulunkulu for a companion but he ordered
her ‘to end her queer emotional display’ and continue her work (Mutwa 1999,
9). Ma was so depressed that she started to cry even more, and from her tears
the waters on earth started. Finally Ma gave in and called herself ‘a tool and a
toy’ in god’s hands and promised to obey every command. Only then did the
supreme god promise her a companion (Mutwa 1999, 11).
To her horror, the companion was a twisted tree with a repulsive appear-
ance, with no leaves, and nothing that could remind Ma of her own beauty –
‘her golden luminous eyes …, chest with four immense breasts, each with a
sharp pointed nipple of emerald green … and a human posture’ (Mutwa 1999,
11). The Tree of Life resembled ‘the biggest baobab tree that ever grew on earth’
with ‘dozens of bloodshot eyes which burnt with a lecherous hunger, while
beneath them grinned a wicked mouth with a thousand pointed fangs’ (Mutwa
1999, 13). The goddess refused to marry the Tree of Life but uNkulunkulu was
adamant. He reminded her that the whole universe should abide by his rules,
including her (Mutwa 1999). Ma tried to flee her fate but the Tree of Life fol-
lowed her everywhere she went, even though Ma dove into the waters ‘like
some silvery luminous fish and then soared like an owl through the night sky’
(Mutwa 1999, 16). The Tree of Life took a huge rock and mud from the lake and
formed a stone as large as Kilimanjaro and threw it at Ma, causing her to fall
down. The stone stayed in the sky and became the moon, and ‘the Great spirit
in his Almighty wisdom with radiance declared it the Guardian of Love, to reg-
ulate the Love of Gods, and of Men and all the beasts and birds and fishes yet
to come’ (Mutwa 1999, 16).
When the Tree of Life finally caught Ma it forced her to have intercourse.
After that the Tree still held her tightly, and when Ma felt movements inside
her abdomen and a ‘tearing pain that prompted her’ and made her scream
with agony, the Tree did not know why she screamed and did not let her go
(Mutwa 1999, 18). When she finally liberated herself from her husband’s arms,
she fell onto the ground and tried to hypnotize herself to cease the pain. While
Ma was in self-hypnosis, the Tree of Life started to change: ‘green buds burst
from his writhing limbs and clouds of seeds emerged and fell upon the rocky
plains’, all plants began to grow, then the animals were born from the Tree
and inhabited the earth (Mutwa 1999, 19). After fifty agonising years of giving
birth, the First People were born. They all looked the same: red-skinned, simi-
lar height, no hair on their bodies, golden eyes like their mother. They lived in
forests that were abundant with water and animals (Mutwa 1999). People had

via free access
to abide by the laws of the Great Spirit, and as long as they did so the animals
did not attack them. The people were healthy and happy. Every baby born in
this paradise was blessed by talking Kaa-U-La birds and received a name from
them. People also accepted death as ‘life’s ultimate friend’ and did not rebel
against it (Mutwa 1999, 22–23). The paradise lasted ‘a thousand times ten years’.
Only ‘beasts were permitted to kill’, people had no need until evil came as a
deformed child (Mutwa 1999, 40).
The myth about Ma and the Tree of Life seems to be entirely Mutwa’s inven-
tion. In Indaba he gives his explanation of the myth: ‘This Tree of Life is the
most revered deity throughout Bantu Africa, even today’; it is depicted in
many pieces of art and common objects though often as ‘a huge hollow reed,
rather than a tree’ and is called ‘Uhlanga Lwe Zizwe, which means “Reed of All
Nations”’ (Mutwa 1999, 41). According to Mutwa, the creation of the human race
is the result of the marriage forced by uNkulunkulu on Ma and the Tree of Life.
Creation myths usually follow certain patterns. At the beginning there is
often Light and Darkness, then order emerges from it, then Earth is made with
plants and animals and finally humans. In his creation myth Mutwa follows
the following route: Light fights with Darkness; uNkulunkulu watches over the
fight and makes sure neither wins. The first goddess, Ma, makes order from
chaos and creates the universe for animals and people. In this myth Mutwa ful-
fils one of the aims of myth: he explains the origins of the universe and life. The
figure 2 Symbols of the Tree of Life

Source: Mutwa 199, 42

via free access
120 Podolecka
idea of creating the moon from a stone is not encountered in Zulu mythology.
No scholars’ informants refer to such an event. The informants of Callaway,
Farrer, Samuelson, and Krige imagined the sky as ‘a solid blue rock, which com-
pletely encircles the earth’ and the moon as ‘a hole in the heavens’ or a sun’s
officer; the sun was said to be ‘a great chief’ whose power is so strong that
it diminishes the moon and stars’ light (Krige 1962, 410). Berglund and other
scholars recall several Zulu creation myths, but none of them matches Mutwa’s
version. In the most popular myth the sky is built of a blue rock and inhabited
by deities, including The Lord-of-the-Sky one of whose names is uNkulunkulu
(Berglund 1976). Twenty-six contemporary sangomas told me that Mutwa had
a vivid imagination but his creation myth has nothing to do with ancient Zulu
beliefs. Although they do not accuse him of bad will and understood that he
might have believed what he had written, they could not accept his myths as
Zulu ones.
In addition, the goddess Ma is not mentioned in any Zulu myth. Her name
resembles Ma’at, the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, balance, and
morality. In ancient Egyptian Ma’at means ‘justice’; she binds ‘all things together
in an indestructible unity: universe, natural world, the state, and the individ-
ual’ (Tobin 1987, 113). Ma’at was responsible for the order of the whole universe,
the force that changed chaos into an organised universe and kept it this way
(Tobin 1987; Collier et al. 1998). This probably inspired Mutwa. When I asked
him specifically, he told me he had known about Ma’at while writing Indaba
and later books and he even visited her temples later. In his books and inter-
views Mutwa emphasises his knowledge of other African cultures.7 Mutwa’s
goddess Ma reminds of the Egyptian pattern: like Ma’at, she represents ethi-
cal and moral principles. Mutwa sets her as the example for all women in all
aspects of life: youth, womanhood, maternity and womens’ place in the world.
Ma’at (and after her Mutwa’s Ma and hence all women) is expected to act with
respect regarding social rules, abide by the law, and put social order before
private needs (Denise 2008).
The Tree of Life also seems to be a conglomerate of many intercultural sym-
bols. Choosing the Tree for goddess Ma’s husband may seem strange but it may
also sanction Zulu patriarchal culture. Mutwa explains that the First Goddess
‘worked as a tool under His [uNkulunkulu] directions’ (1999, 41). Like all peo-
ple, Ma should respect the god’s will. She finally learned to love her husband.
In reward the Tree of Life loved her back. It is a profitable partnership: Ma
learns the benefits of obedience, and the bold, twisted Tree starts to fully live
thanks to contact with Ma – it becomes green, bears fruit, and provides the
earth with all kinds of animals. Both Ma and the Tree become parents in the
literal meaning and their children live in a perfect world. This myth can be read

via free access
as an allegory of the sanctioned Zulu tradition of arranged marriages and the

beneficial mutual influence of one spouse to another. I asked Mutwa why Ma
and other women had to be forced into unwanted marriages and his answer
was clear: ‘In Africa life does not belong to a person. We are first and foremost
a part of our clan and we have to serve it. Romantic love does not matter, what
matters is the well-being of all the members of the clan, all people. Therefore
Ma was obliged to follow God’s rule and with time she learned to love her
husband’.8 Mutwa also explained: ‘The world consists of the opposites: good
and evil, pretty and ugly, strong and weak. We are not supposed to choose who
we fancy but to let the opposites unite. This is what marriage is about and this
is why even twenty people are involved in the matchmaking process’.9 I also
asked him why this myth was not reported by other researchers. As in the case
of his other myths, he said that it was a taboo and he was the first one to break
it; in addition, not every sangoma gets access to all sacred information.
The figure of the tree is a universal one, present in many cultures in the
world. It is encountered in the Eden of Abrahamic religions (Genesis 2–3), in
the Assyrian culture (the tree was an Assyrian emblem), in totemic religions,
shamanic rituals, Celtic legends, and various myths. The Tree of Life as a sym-
bol of unity can be found in European cultures, i.e., Yggdrasil in Nordic mythol-
ogy. In South America it is Ceiba or Yaxche of the Mayas. In San mythology
people were created at the roots of a huge, wondrous tree made by god (also
called Cagn). In Egyptian mythology the Tree of Life grows on a sacred moun-
tain with roots holding the earth and the branches reaching the sky; the heav-
ens and earth revolve around the tree. Hathor and Nut dwelt on the sacred tree
in heaven and supplied sustenance to the souls of the dead.10 The symbol of
the tree is often used as a metaphor for spiritual or intellectual growth. It may
represent the axis mundi connecting all the worlds from heaven to the under-
world. It may also be an emblem of a deity, a symbol of fertility, fortune, and
abundance (Giovino 2007). It is also a powerful magical symbol used by the
sacerdotal caste of ancient Egypt, Cabbalists (the tree has its roots in heaven
and grows down to earth), and Sufis. It is present in yoga and other Eastern phi-
losophies. It unites all aspects of life: masculine with feminine; positive with
negative; mother, father and child; consciousness with substance; wisdom
with understanding; divinity with humanity (Regardie 2005).
No academics report this myth in Zulu context. Also, none of my informants
learned the myth of Ma and the Tree of Life during their sangoma training and
they could not state the source from which Mutwa drew his inspiration. He
may have been inspired by the Tree of Life in the Bible or, as a well-read person,
from other myths. However, he clearly told me that he learned all the myths
described in his books from his teachers and from his sangoma visions. Mutwa

via free access
122 Podolecka
emphasises the fact that he learned from many wise men in Southern Africa,
and mythology was part of his study. In my opinion, Mutwa uses the similarities
in mythologies to emphasise the importance of his teachings and to strengthen
his authority in readers’ eyes. He combines the intercultural symbol of the Tree
of Life with Zulu belief in ancestors’ importance and powers. This combina-
tion was intended to fulfil the aim of his first books: to acquaint white South
Africans with native cultures and make it easier for them to associate ‘African
religion’ with Christian concepts and feel less alien. When I asked Mutwa why
the Tree of Life was such a monster, he disagreed and said that I presented a
limited European understanding. In several other situations he explained that
a single human life is less important than ‘the greater good’ like family, clan, or
community. However, fifty years after writing Indaba and the myths about the
Tree of Life and Ma, and decades after he presented the myth as Zulu lore and
true ‘religious fact’, Mutwa told me that he was happy to hear that the myth is
treated symbolically. After fifty years he no longer wanted to teach Westerners
about Zulu religion, but aimed to inspire people to take up their own spiritual
quest and discover what is right for them. After he began cooperating with
his New Age publishers he agreed to the reinterpretation of his myths.11
4 Defying Gods and Losing the Paradise-Like World
Mutwa tells the story about the loss of the paradise-like world in the myth of
Zah-ha-Rrellel.12 One day a deformed baby with shrunken limbs and twisted
mouth was born. Wise Kaa-U-La birds felt great evil in him and ordered the
mother to kill the baby. She refused and hid underground with her son. The
baby became known as Zah-ha-Rrellel, The Wicked. For years he could not
speak. One day when he was a grown-up his mother came back from crab
hunting and saw him humming to himself. She praised him joyfully but in
return she heard that she was the worst mother who saved him only for her
pleasure, and that she would be the first one to be sacrificed and take revenge
on humankind. Then Zah-ha-Rrellel made creatures named Bjaauni from the
iron ore in the cave. They ate the woman and began to multiply. Known as
Tokoloshes,13 they emerged from the tunnels and started killing people and
animals, including Kaa-U-La birds. The birds put up a fight that lasted more
than one hundred years, but failed. This was the end of the First People, who
were red skinned and later called the Race That Died, even though some man-
aged to hide and survive (Mutwa 1999, 2003). In Indaba Mutwa states that the
existence of Tokoloshe is proven by scientists, but does not cite any scientific
proof. He describes Tokoloshe as ‘not a ghostly or supernatural phenomenon.

via free access
He is a physical human being, and he operates along perfectly scientific lines’

(Mutwa 1999, 604–607).
According to Blakney, Za-Ha-Rrellel is not a mythical figure but a creation of
Mutwa and ‘the evil father of all Tokoloshes, [who] must have gotten his name
among or near Lunyoro-speaking peoples’, a language form the Bunyoro king-
dom in contemporary Uganda that was powerful before the colonisation.14
The name Za-Ha-Rrellel seems to be derived from ‘Za (go), ha (to), and rrellel
(I hate to guess!)’ (1968, 124). No scholars have found Za-Ha-Rrellel or the
name’s derivatives in Zulu mythology, and none of my sangoma informants
support Mutwa’s claim that it is a Zulu myth.
Tokoloshe (or uTikoloshe) are present in Zulu, Sotho, and Khosa folklore
and proverbs but not in a religious context. They are often accused of mak-
ing people misbehave or cause bad accidents. They are imagined as ‘little
men, sometimes with animal feet or even animal head’, and ‘the nature of the
Tokoloshe is dictated by some other person, who often is its spiritual host’ who
wants to cause harm (Coote Lake 1960, 56–57). Krige’s informants describe
Tokoloshe as a hairy ‘wicked dwarf who lives in deep pools or in the reeds,
steals milk, and is more of an animal than a man, though he is ‘very fond of
women … and is often guilty of cohabiting with women’ (Krige 1962, 354).
Berglund’s (1976) informants accuse Tokoloshe of evil witchcraft; if a woman
is a witch (umthakathi) or wants a child to become a witch she mates with a
Tokoloshe. Kohler’s (1941) informants believed Tokoleshes could strangle peo-
ple in their sleep. Tokoloshes exist in contemporary folklore. They are believed
to kill sleeping children. Such information can be found in the media even if
police reports give the actual reason of death. Even schoolteachers, instead of
denying Tokoloshes’ existence, often advise children on how to deal with them,
for example saying ‘Jesus’ out loud (Fordred‐Green 2000). However, none of
the descriptions fit Mutwa’s version. The origins of iron ore and Zah-ha-Rrellel
are not confirmed by scholars and their informants.
In Mutwa’s myth some of the First People survive. Za-Ha-Rrellel prom-
ised them a wonderful life with no more fights and no worries. He deceived
people by saying that Tokoloshes were the messengers of the Great Spirit.
People believed this and started a life that made them so lazy that they could
not walk. Tokoloshes worked the fields, and food was enchanted and made
its way directly to people’s stomachs. As a result people also became sterile.
Za-Ha-Rrellel learned how to be immortal and passed this knowledge on to his
subjects. Then he turned his mind to ‘knowledge of Forbidden Things which
the Great Spirit asks us never to seek’ (Mutwa 1999, 30). Za-Ha-Rrellel slaugh-
tered animals, and from their flesh he created hairless, mute, giant Bjaaunis to
be slaves in his expanding empire (Mutwa 1999, 2003).

via free access
124 Podolecka
Although the Tree of Life and his wife Ma did not interfere in worldly mat-
ters they finally decided to stop Za-Ha-Rrellel, who considered himself a god.
They sent a warning: a terrible storm over Za-Ha-Rrellel’s empire. Many people,
Tokoloshes, and Bjaaunis died but Za-Ha-Rrellel did not change. His slaves built
oblong rafts, saved many, and built new towns of pure gold. Za-Ha-Rrellel then
fashioned an artificial sun and jeered at the Tree and Ma (Mutwa 1999, 2003).
Victorious Za-Ha-Rrellel called his most loyal subjects to a council. He enter-
tained them with Bjaauni fights; at the end the strongest, ugliest, and stupidest
Bjaauni, called Odu, remained. Bjaaunis followed every command, so when
Za-Ha-Rrellel said ‘sleep’ Odu fell asleep at once. Za-Ha-Rrellel offered Odu to
one of his nobles as a gift and enjoyed watching other nobles’ jealousy. He then
showed them the magic bowl in which they could see The Tree of Life embrac-
ing Ma, and informed them that he wanted to kidnap Ma and marry her. In this
way he would become the ‘Lord of Creation – Master, not only of the Universe
but of Eternity itself’ (Mutwa 2003, 47). Tens of thousands of metal Tokoloshes
were built and attacked the Tree of Life. Even though the Tree fought fiercely,
four Tokoloshes managed to abduct Ma. They brought her to Za-Ha-Rrellel’s
capital so all his subjects could stare at her. The despairing goddess cursed the
people and all other creatures, and caused earthquakes that poured boiling
lava onto all beings. Then a strange thing happened: the mindless Bjaaunis felt
rebellion in their hearts. Led by Odu, they killed their former masters. Finally
Odu killed Za-Ha-Rrellel himself. Meanwhile, the Tokoloshes, having no mas-
ters now, attacked everyone they could, sending metal sparks into the air (the
sparks are supposed to be ancestors of the most dangerous insects in the pres-
ent world). After burning down the remnants of Za-Ha-Rrellel’s empire, the
world was flooded. Ma and the Tree of Life watched the fights and the annihi-
lation of all life on Earth until only two creatures were left: Odu and the beau-
tiful Amarava, who was not sterile like other people. They were spared by Ma,
who asked her husband to let Odu and Amarava be the parents of The Second
People (Mutwa 1999, 2003).
The concept of defying gods that results in losing a perfect life and the motif
of the evil that destroys paradise where people lived peacefully and talked with
animals is a popular motif in many mythologies, folktales, and the Bible. Mutwa
uses it in a didactic way to explain the hardship of life and the inevitability of
death. The idea of the first people whose appearance was different from con-
temporary people is also common in African religious beliefs. The first people
had attributes that helped them be immortal. They were either giants (Lobi
and Konkomba tribes in Ghana), or were always young or grew older and then
became young again (Pygmies Bambuti in Democratic Republic of Congo). For
some reason these first people were exterminated by God or gods (Piłaszewicz

via free access
2008). The cause of death varies in different cultures. Sometimes it is the fault
of the first race of people, sometimes of the messengers sent to people by a
deity, or a messenger sent by people who never reaches a deity. Messengers
are often animals: a dog (Baule people in Cote d’Ivoire; Krachi people in Volta
region of Ghana), a goat (Dagomba people in Ghana), or a chameleon (Zulu
people in South Africa) (Cieślewska 2007).
The motif of fire (boiling lava) as a purification tool is also widespread. It has
cleansing powers in both literal and metaphorical meanings. Mutwa blames
Za-Ha-Rrellel’s for the evil in humanity. He probably chose Za-Ha-Rrellel and
his Tokoloshes because Tokoloshes in Zulu culture represent wickedness and
harm. In the postscript to his creation myths Mutwa blames Za-Ha-Rrellel for
infecting humankind with ‘mental diseases like ambition and a love for all the
wicked things that mostly ensue from it, including bloodshed’ (1999, 41). Mutwa
claims that Za-Ha-Rrellel, who was born deformed and crippled, provides an
explanation for the ancient African tradition of killing disabled children ‘to
prevent this fabled tyrant from ever being reborn or reincarnated’, though he
does not approve of this practice (1999, 41). I asked over twenty Zulu sangomas
if it is a Zulu tradition to kill disabled children and they all said such a tradi-
tion had never existed. Laubascher (1937) also reports strong tolerance toward
children with mental disabilities; they are given a special status of people who
need more time to mature. If they do not mature they are treated like children
to the end of their lives. Half a century later Sibaya (1983), Gqbule (1987), and
Ntombela (1991) report a positive attitude and care of parents toward mentally
or physically disabled children and adults (Govender 2002).
None of the leading scholars and researchers confirm Mutwa’s version of
the myth of Za-Ha-Rrellel, Tsareleli, or Sareleli. In fact, none of the informants
recalled a story of Za-Ha-Rrellel and his kingdom. The informants of Berglund,
Krige, and Callaway do not mention such names and events.
5 The Great Flood
Another of Mutwa’s myths tells the story of the great flood. Waters were cleans-
ing the world after Za-Ha-Rrellel’s fall. Beautiful Amarava survived the disaster.
She had red skin, greenish hair, a slim waist and heavy breasts, and a good heart.
Ma decided that Amarava and Odu, the giant, ugly Bjaauni, would be the par-
ents of The Second People, a new race that would live on earth. Amarava begged
for mercy but Ma refused. She showed Amarava a vision of ‘Eternity itself’, the
Great Spirit shining ‘brighter than the brightest star … and the girl heard a
voice: ‘I command – All Obey’ that ‘tore into the very fibres of Amarava’s being’

via free access
126 Podolecka
(Mutwa 1999, 47). After the vision Ma forced Amarava to swear her obedience.
If she broke the oath she would suffer excruciating pain. Once the girl had made
the oath she fainted. The goddess told Odu that Amarava was his companion
and he should take care of her. Ma caused him to be less animal-like and taught
him to think and feel. She then created a robot shark to transport Amarava and
Odu to the only island in the flooded world, bundled Odu and unconscious
Amarava in a net, and sent them on their journey. When Amarava woke up she
cried for three days while the shark took her and Odu eastward. Finally, when
the girl had lost track of time they saw a rocky land in the vast ocean, the place
where they were to live (Mutwa 1966, 1999, 2003).
Mutwa offers few details of the Great Flood but describes it as a global
calamity: ‘the sea was filthy, having just devoured whole continents and mil-
lions of beasts and men; cruel and restless, and still scalding hot while above,
the clouds continued to grumble – vomiting forth bolt after bolt of thunderous
lighting’. Odu and Amarava reached ‘the rocks above the foaming waters’ (1999,
50). In another book Mutwa writes that they reached ‘the mouth of a mighty
river that would bear the name Bu-Kongo’ (2003, 52). They climbed onto the
land and Odu built a hut for them.
The myth of the Great Flood is one of the most common myths in the world
but it is not present in Zulu mythology. This myth divides life into preflood
and postflood. God(s) entrusted humankind with an organised world; due to
human misbehaviour this world fell into chaos. The wrongdoings are to be pun-
ished, and only the righteous can survive and are given a second chance.15 The
message the myth conveys is warning people against defying the rules of God
or gods, which translates into obedience to religious leaders. The great deluge
is present in the Old Testament (Genesis 6–9), Hindu Purana, Norse myths,
the beliefs of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, nearly every ethnic group
in Southern and Eastern Asia, ancient Greece, Australia, Mesoamerica, South
America, and Africa, not to mention countless island cultures.16 The great flood
myths are also present in various African peoples’ traditions, among them San
people (South Africa), Pygmies (Congo), Ababua (Congo), Kikuyu (Kenya),
Masai (Kenya, Tanzania), Yoruba (Nigeria, Benin), Kwaya of Lake Victoria
region, and the peoples of Cameroon. Most African myths present the deluge
as a result of people’s misbehaviour, such as cruelty, avarice, or disregarding
the social order (Dundes 1998). None of these myths resemble Mutwa’s version
with a mindless iron creature and a robot shark. Also, none of the scholars or
my sangoma informants recall a Zulu myth about the Great Flood.
A realistic source of Great Flood myths may be a huge deluge that could
have taken place in certain areas. However, the myth is usually treated met-
aphorically. It can be a metaphor of an act of birth: humankind is born from

via free access
those worthy of surviving God’s anger and purification of the world just as a
baby is born from a mother’s womb with waters (Dundes 1998). The flood can
be perceived as the inevitable cleansing of evil ‘to preserve the humanity of the
human race’ when ‘the earth was filled with lawlessness’ (Gen. 6: 11). The myth-
ical flood is never a coincidence, it is an act of purification and renewal that
takes place when it is needed the most. Mutwa uses the myth in such a sense:
humankind degenerated, forgot the real gods, and became self-indulgent and
mindless, and the only one way to make people live a proper life was to erase
everyone from the face of the earth and start anew.
The Great Flood also appears in Mutwa’s conception of the end of the world.
In Indaba, in the chapter ‘The religion and beliefs of Bantu’, Mutwa states that
the Bantu people believe that a Great Flood will end their world. He claims
that baobab trees are direct descendants of the Tree of Life, and one baobab
will give shelter to Nozala the Pure, the Last Woman of the Zulus, ‘when all the
Bantu south of Limpopo are destroyed by the Great Flood unleashed by the
Chief of the Bull. Nozala the Pure will be the mother of Luzwi’ (1999, 590–591).
Neither scholars nor my sangoma informants had heard of such a myth.
6 Amarava and the Second People
In the later story Amarava tried to escape from Odu. She tricked him into sleep-
ing and lit a fire in the hut. She fled, forgetting Ma’s promise of pain for diso-
bedience. Punished by Ma, she collapsed in pain and woke up surrounded by
intelligent Frogmen. Her pain lessened. The Frogmen were infertile and asked
her to prolong their kin. She agreed and became a Frog’s Bride of Frogmen
chief Gorogo and laid eggs from which yellow people hatched – Bushmen
and Pygmies. In those days people matured in just a few years and they soon
started fighting each other and killed the Frogmen, including Gorogo. Amarava
loved the Frogmen so she cursed the fighters to be disrespected and live in the
forests forever (Mutwa 1999, 2003). Mutwa does not explain how the Frogmen
could live on the earth cleansed by the Great Flood. There is no recollection of
a myth about Frogmen in Zulu mythology or any of the South African ethnic
groups. The story seems to be Mutwa’s invention, though he could have come
across the idea of Frogmen in Egyptian mythology. In ancient Egypt frogs were
symbols of life and fertility. A frog, or more frequently a toad, figure is also
present in other African traditional narratives; they are portrayed as tricksters
or gods’ messengers to deliver death to people.17
In Mutwa’s myth Amarava went around the world in search of solace. The
first person she met was Odu, whom she thought to be dead. He took her to

via free access
128 Podolecka
his kraal18 against her will, fed her, and then tied her to an idol of The Great
Mother he had built. He then beat her so severely that Ma had to intervene
and remind him that the woman had to be alive to become a mother (Mutwa
1999, 2003). After that Amarava accepted the gods’ orders and since then has
lived happily with her husband and ‘her lord’ (Mutwa 1999, 61). For the next
five hundred years she laid crystal eggs, from which two million people resem-
bling ‘the present-day Bantu’ hatched. ‘Some were as black as [a] much-used
pot; some were brown and even yellow-brown, … very few were truly wise, …
they resembled the puzzling muddle of present day humanity’ (Mutwa 1999,
61–62). After a few thousand years of advising people, Odu became old and
remembered his inferior origins. He went to Kilimanjaro and killed himself in
its crater. Amarava was devastated and tried to kill herself. She was rescued by
a lovely singer, Marimba, from whom Zulu ‘tribal singers claim descent’, and
Zumangwe the Hunter who took care of her.19 Amarava tried to escape sev-
eral times but was always stopped. During her final flight she was caught by
a monster. In his arms she started to change into a demon. An evil spirit of
Za-Ha-Rrellel became incarnated and influenced her, causing changes in her
mood, then fully possessed her. In front of Marimba’s eyes Amarava became
Watamaraka, the Spirit of Evil, with a metal body, five udder breasts, claws, and
a lion tail. The people who lived in the region of Tanga-Nyika decided to keep
the story hidden from other people (Mutwa 1999, 2003).
Mutwa’s story of Amarava and Odu is not known to the researchers or my
sangoma informants. Not only are the characters not found in Zulu mythology,
the whole concept of the Great Flood and Second People do not exist in Zulu
beliefs. Mutwa uses the pattern to emphasize the power of God or gods and
combines it with what he finds to be its earthly representation: social rules.
According to Mutwa, the highest value of a person is their character and obedi-
ence to the social order. In the beginning Amarava does not abide by the rules,
she does not comprehend their importance and value, and as such she has to
be taught a lesson. Ma does not reproach Odu for beating Amarava; instead,
she tells Amarava that she should learn and be obedient to her husband. In this
way the goddess not only shows people their place in the universal system but
also legitimizes man’s power over his wife. In addition she emphasises human
obligation to follow all gods’ orders.
One should remember that Mutwa wrote Indaba, Africa, and My People in
the 1950s and 1960s, before feminist movements permeated South African
society. Mutwa’s attitude changed over time. In March 2013 he emphasized
to me the need for mutual respect in marriage. Men should respect and pro-
tect their wives as much as women should respect their husbands. All women
should be respected.

via free access
Amarava is a very important figure for Mutwa. He claims that it was she who
told him Zulu myths; his teachers only added to that knowledge. When asked
about details of Amarava’s teachings Mutwa refuses to say more than he wrote
in his books because even though Amarava is ‘a bringer of enlightenment and
wisdom to this earth, she can also be vengeful’. Mutwa blames her for ruining
his first marriage. She also almost ruined his second by letting his wives see a
woman in his bed; in the second case he already knew how to explain that it
was Amarava (Tucker 2010).
7 Conclusions
The problem with analysing Mutwa’s myths and stories is that his stock char-
acters are not ones known to Zulus. The Zulu sangomas whom I interviewed
were all storytellers, firmly set in their societies. Although they all emphasised
the importance of passing down history and tribal culture, none of them rec-
ognised Mutwa’s stories of the goddesses Ma and Amarava, the Tree of Life,
or Marimba as Zulu stock characters. Also, the great deluge is not present in
Zulu mythology. This myth is definitely influenced by the Bible and other cul-
tures’ myths. Critics consider Mutwa’s stories as tales since they are outside
known Zulu mythology. Blakney, one of the very first reviewers of Indaba, calls
Mutwa’s work ‘nonsense’ that ‘contains no authentic Bantu tradition’ (1968,
122, 124).
Des Bouvrie sums up the requirements that stories must fulfil to be myths, set
by other academics.20 A myth should be: a traditional tale, independent of any
particular text, without immediate reference (empirical reality); be founded
on basic biological or social programs of action; guide ritual processes; be sys-
tems of ordering social life; structure, stylise, and filter the perception of real-
ity; be collective metaphors; offer a focus of identity; justify institutions such
as family, clan, city, or tribe; sometimes be a religious expression; and refer to
something of collective importance understood by the society (Bouvrie 2002).
Mutwa’s stories do not fulfil the last condition – they are not recognised by san-
gomas or researchers’ informants. However, Mutwa’s creation stories fulfil the
requirements of myths set by Bouvrie and other academics, e.g., Honko, Field,
Vansina, Piłasiewicz: they have the structure of traditional tales told around
tribal fires, they address divine beginnings of the universe and the workings of
gods whose behaviour and thinking patterns are very humane, they explain the
origins of people and laws and how the laws regulate everyday life for the ben-
efit of the whole society. Their metaphorical meanings are easily understood
and help organise everyday life (e.g., proper social behaviour, the husband-wife

via free access
130 Podolecka
relationship, the place of women in society). Mythical figures are not real-life
historical people but their lives are examples that explain the workings of the
society, and Mutwa uses such figures.
As shown above, Mutwa’s myths are largely fictional. He drew from many
cultures and traditions to write them. Mutwa claims he wrote them for a good
cause. When confronted, Mutwa was not surprised that his myths were not
mentioned by academics’ informants. In his books, Internet interviews, and
conversations with me, Mutwa clearly stated that his knowledge was much
wider than anyone else’s and that it was also the utmost secret. For Mutwa the
fact that nobody else confirms the existence of Amarava has no meaning. To
the end of his life in 2020 he felt chosen and granted secret wisdom that only a
few possess, and those few remain silent.21
References
Berglund, Axel-Ivar. 1976. Zulu Thought-Patterns and Symbolism, Uppsala: C. Hurst &
Company.
Blakney, Charles P. 1968. ‘Review of Indaba, My Children by Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa’.
African Historical Studies Vol. 1 No. 1, 122–125.
Bouvrie, Synnove des. 1998. ‘The definition of myth. Symbolical phenomena in
ancient culture’. Papers from the First International Symposium on Symbolism at
the University of Tromso, retrived from https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/
handle/1956/24398/The%20Definition%20of%20Myth_%20des%20Bouvrie
.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Cieślewska, Joanna (ed.). 2007. Ludy Czarnej Afryki. Warszawa: Rzeczpospolita.
Collier, Mark, and Bill Manly. 1998. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, rev.ed. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Coote Lake, E.F. 1960. ‘Folk Life and Traditions’. Folklore 67, 52–58.
Denise, Martin. 2008. ‘Maat and order in African Cosmology: A Conceptual Tool
for Understanding Indigenous Knowledge’. Journal of Black Studies Vol. 38 No. 6,
951–961.
Dundes, Allan. 1998. The Flood Myth. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Farrer, J.A. 1879. Zululand and the Zulus: Their history, beliefs, customs, military system,
home life, legends, etc., etc., and missions to them. London: Kerby & Endean.
Field, Sean. 2001. ‘Oral Histories. The Art of Possible’. In Russell Kaschula (ed.), African
Oral Literature: Functions in Contemporary Contexts. Claremont: New Africa Books,
249–256.
Finnegan, Ruth. 1978. Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fordred‐Green, Lesley. 2000. ‘Tokoloshe Tales: Reflections on the Cultural Politics of
Journalism in South Africa’. Current Anthropology Vol. 41 No. 5, 701–712.

via free access
Giovino, Mariana. 2007. The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations. Götingen:
Academic Press Fribourg.
Govender, Nancy. 2002. ‘Attitudes of parents towards their mentally retarded children:
A rural area examination’, PhD thesis, University of Zululand.
Honko, Lauri. 1972. ‘The Problem with Definig Myth’, Åbo Scriptia Instituti Donnerioni
Abuensis, 7–19.
Kohler, M. 1941. The Izangoma Diviners. Pretoria: Department of Native Affairs of the
Union of South Africa.
Krige, Eileen Jensen. 1962. The Social System of the Zulus. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter &
Shotter.
Lynch, Patricia Ann, and Jeremy Roberts. 2010. African Mythology, A–Z. New York:
Chealsy House.
Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo. 1966. Africa is my witness. Johannesburg: Blue Crane Books.
Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo. 1966. My people: the incredible writings of Credo Vusa’mazulu
Mutwa, Michigan: Penquin Books.
Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo. 1999. Indaba my children. New York: Grove Press.
Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo. 2003. Zulu shaman. Dreams, Prophesies and Mysteries.
Rochester: Destiny Books.
Piłaszewicz, Stanisław. 2000. Religie Afryki. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu
Warszawskiego.
Podolecka, Agnieszka. 2020. ‘UNkulunkulu: God, a god or the first ancestor? The
quest for a supreme deity in Zulu religious beliefs’. The Yearbook of Oriental Studies
Vol. LXXIII No. 1, 108–118.
Regardie, Israel. 2005. The Tree of Life. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications.
Stokes, Jamie. 2009. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York:
Infobase Publishing.
Tobin, Vincent Arieh. 1987. ‘Ma’at and ΔIKH: Some Comparative Considerations of
Egyptian and Greek Thought’. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt
Vol. 24, 113–121.
Tucker, Linda. 2010. Mystery of the White Lions: Children of the Sun God. New York: Hay
House Inc.
Vansina, Jan. 1985. Oral Tradition as History. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Watson, Paul. 1990. ‘The Tree of Life’. Restoration Quarterly Vol. 23, 232–238.
Notes
1 Sangomas (from isiZulu: izangoma) are healer-diviners who are believed to be called to
their duty by ancestral spirits. Their role in twenty-first century South African society is
still influential; they advise not only common people but businessmen and politicians as
well. They are believed to have the ability to contact the spiritual realm and acquire help-
ful information from there. South African Medical Journal claims that 80 percent of South

via free access
132 Podolecka
Africans seek help from sangomas and other traditional healers. They also seek their roots
and embrace tradition (http://africacheck.org/reports/do-80-of-south-africans-regularly
-consult-traditional-healers-the-claim-is-false/). Before the colonisation sangomas were
the highest religious authority.
2 In the article I use abbreviated titles of Mutwa’s books: Indaba, Africa, My People, Zulu
Shaman.
3 Twasa (from isiZulu: itwasa) is an initiate, a person who received the calling and was
accepted by a tutor for apprenticeship. Twasahood (in isiZulu: ukutwasa) is the pro-
cess of learning that is finished with an examination-initiation into the sangomahood
(ubungoma).
4 Private conversation, March 2013.
5 In Savage Systems. Colonisation and comparative Religion in Southern Africa Chidester
describes the evolution of the concept of uNkulunkulu and gods and ancestor wor-
ship during the colonisation, recalling the statements of informants from the times of
Christianization till the mid-twentieth century (1996, 163–164).
6 Capital letters in accordance with Mutwa’s writings.
10 One of myths connected with the concept of the Tree of Life is the story about Osiris.
In one of the Osiris-related myths, the god was killed by his brother Set and put into
a trunk. A tree grew around the trunk and became a pillar in a royal palace in Byblos.
Metaphorically, Osiris became the pillar, the tree itself, and a symbol of stability in all
worlds. Osiris was said to teach people how to grow crops, then gave them law, music, and
poetry (www.egyptianmyths.net). Another myth tells about Hathor and Nut who dwelt on
the sacred tree in heaven and supplied sustenance to the souls of dead (Watson 1980, 233).
12 Other names for Zah-ha-Rrellel are Tsareleli and Sareleli (Mutwa 1999, 28).
13 Mutwa writes Tokoloshe in italics and uses the English plural (Mutwa 1999, 28;
Mutwa 2003, 43).
14 The contemporary people of Bunyoro are agriculturalists and shepherds (Stokes 2009,
506–509).
15 Dynes, http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Doctwo/disaster.pdf.
16 It is not an aim of this paper to compare all Great Flood myths in detail. I present only
some of the aspects in which creation myths can be analysed. The history of The Deluge
in world mythologies is analyzed thoroughly in Alan Dundes (ed.), The Flood Myths
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988); David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to
World Mythology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004); Michael Witzel, The Origins of
the World’s Mythologies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
17 For more see Patricia Ann Lynch and Jeremy Roberts, African Mythology A–Z (New York:
Chealsy House, 2010).
18 Kraal is a South African traditional village where people and cattle live; it has a round
shape with a central place left free for holding meetings.
19 A marimba is a wooden musical instrument consisting of bars and resonators. It is a kind
of xylophone. Mutwa derives its name from the literary Marimba, whom he calls ‘the
Goddess of Music’ (Mutwa 1999, 110).
20 The academics are Kirk, Burkert, Graf, Bremmer, Versnel, Vernant, Hartdog, Vidal-Naquet,
Calame, Sourvinou-Inwood, Scheid and Svenbro, Dowden (Bouvrie 1998, 23–24).
21 Mutwa 1999, xxvii; telephone conversation with Mutwa in February 2010; personal meet-
ing in March 2013.

via free access

Jra Article p111 - 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Jra Article p111 - 5

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jra Article p111 - 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Zulu Creation Myths by Credo Mutwa – Ancient

Agnieszka Podolecka | ORCID: 0000-0003-1146-3433

Credo Mutwa – sangoma – Zulu mythology – Zulu religion

1 What is a Myth? Are Mutwa’s Stories Myths?

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa (1921–2020), the well-known and controversial

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/15700666-12340202

myths in four books: Indaba, my Children (1964), Africa is my Witness (1966), My

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

2 UNkulunkulu and the Concept of a Supreme God in Zulu Religious

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

figure 1 God in the shape of canoe

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

(1999, 564). God as described by Mutwa is omnipotent and omnipresent, and

3 Creation Myth by Credo Mutwa: The History of Ma and the Tree

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

figure 2 Symbols of the Tree of Life

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

as an allegory of the sanctioned Zulu tradition of arranged marriages and the

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

4 Defying Gods and Losing the Paradise-Like World

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

He is a physical human being, and he operates along perfectly scientific lines’

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

5 The Great Flood

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

6 Amarava and the Second People

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

Journal of Religion in Africa 51 (2021) 111–132

You might also like