Nana Buluku
Encyclopedia
Nana Buluku is the Supreme Deity of the Fon
from Dahomey
.
In Dahomey mythology, Nana Buluku is an androgynous deity creator of the Universe and all that exists in it. Twins were born to Nana Buluku: the moon god Mawu
and the sun god Lisa.
Nana Buluku was also incorporated into the Yorùbá religion
as Yemaja
, the female thought of the male creator Ashe and the effective cause of all further creation.
. She is celebrated as Nanã in Brazilian Candomblé Jejé
and Candomblé Ketu
, where she is pictured as a very old woman, older than creation itself; as Nana Buruku, primordial swamp spirit in Orisha
tradition.
Today the Yorùbá religion, and all its branches, is still practiced by tens of millions of people all over the world and Nana Buluku has an honored place in their faith.
Fon people
The Fon people, or Fon nu, are a major West African ethnic and linguistic group in the country of Benin, and southwest Nigeria, made up of more than 3,500,000 people. The Fon language is the main language spoken in Southern Benin, and is a member of the Gbe language group...
from Dahomey
Dahomey
Dahomey was a country in west Africa in what is now the Republic of Benin. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a powerful west African state that was founded in the seventeenth century and survived until 1894. From 1894 until 1960 Dahomey was a part of French West Africa. The independent Republic of Dahomey...
.
In Dahomey mythology, Nana Buluku is an androgynous deity creator of the Universe and all that exists in it. Twins were born to Nana Buluku: the moon god Mawu
Mawu
In Dahomey mythology, Mawu is a creator goddess, associated with the sun and moon. In some myths, she is the twin sister-wife of the male god Lisa; in others, both deities are aspects of the same androgynous or hermaphroditic deity, Mawu-Lisa...
and the sun god Lisa.
Nana Buluku was also incorporated into the Yorùbá religion
Yoruba mythology
The Yorùbá religion comprises the original religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorubaland...
as Yemaja
Yemaja
Yemanja is an orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American religions. Africans from what is now called Yorubaland brought Yemaya/Yemoja and a host of other deities/energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as...
, the female thought of the male creator Ashe and the effective cause of all further creation.
Worship in the New World
Worship of the deity spread to the rest of the world, especially through centuries of captured slaves who were purchased and sold all over the AmericasAmericas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. She is celebrated as Nanã in Brazilian Candomblé Jejé
Candomblé Jejé
Candomblé Jeje is the Candomblé cult that the Vodous of Kingdom of Dahomey brought to the Brazil by enslaved Africans in various regions of West Africa and Central Africa. These Voduns are the rich, complex and high Fon mythology...
and Candomblé Ketu
Candomblé Ketu
Candomblé Ketu is the largest and most influential nation of Candomblé, a religion widely practiced in Brazil...
, where she is pictured as a very old woman, older than creation itself; as Nana Buruku, primordial swamp spirit in Orisha
Orisha
An Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system....
tradition.
Today the Yorùbá religion, and all its branches, is still practiced by tens of millions of people all over the world and Nana Buluku has an honored place in their faith.