Mawu-Lisa
Mawu-Lisa is a creator goddess in Fon mythology who shaped the Earth with her creations. She was carried in the mouth of the rainbow serpent Ayida-Weddo as she created the world, forming canyons, rivers, valleys, and mountains. She asked Ayida-Weddo to help support the weight of her creations on the Earth.
↻ synthesized from 6 sources
When
- Historical notes
- Creator deity who made the first humans Adanhu and Yewa in some Fon stories.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Adanhu, Yewa, Oshumare, Minona, Nanan-bouclou, Erinlè̩, Aja, Ayé, Babalú-Ayé, Ọsanyin, Oshosi, Damballa, Oshun, Oyá, Obá, Oko, Xɛvioso, Fá
- allied with
- Lisa, Mawu, Ayida-Weddo
- served by
- Ayida-Weddo, Aido Hwedo
- child of
- Nana Buluku
- syncretized with
- Orisa-Yemowo
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“As Mawu-Lisa created the world, the serpent carried the goddess in its mouth as she shaped the Earth with her creations.”
#3212 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“After giving birth to these, she retired and left the matters of the world to Mawu-Lisa. She is the primary creator, Mawu-Lisa the secondary creator, and the theology based on these is called Vodun, Voodoo or Vodoun.”
#3276 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“the cult of Mawu-Lisa actually diffused westwards from Yorubaland where its roots are, into the socio-religious consciousness of the Gbe speaking peoples, first from the Agbome (Abomey) plateau which had come under the control of the very centralized Dahomey kingdom”
#3293 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Mawu-Lisa, Dahomey goddess of creation, the sun, and the moon”
#7698 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Agé (or Age) is a god in the mythology of the Fon people of Africa. He is the son of Mawu-Lisa. Agé is the patron god of hunters, the wilderness, and the animals within it. He is the fourth-born son of Mawu-Lisa.”
#20539 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001