Deity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Sub-Saharan African=== {{Main|List of African mythological figures|Traditional African religion|Afro-American religion|Orisha}} [[File:MusΓ©e africain Lyon 130909 02.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55|Yoruba deity from Nigeria]]Diverse African cultures developed theology and concepts of deities over their history. In [[Nigeria]] and neighboring [[West Africa|West African countries]], for example, two prominent deities (locally called ''[[Orisha|ΓrΓ¬αΉ£Γ ]]'')<ref name="Osun">{{cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Joseph M.|last2=Sanford|first2=Mei-Mei|title=Osun across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas|date=2002|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0-253-10863-0|pages=1β8|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=XIx0TjQb8yEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> are found in the [[Yoruba religion]], namely the god [[Ogun]] and the goddess [[Osun]].<ref name="Osun"/> Ogun is the primordial masculine deity as well as the archdivinity and guardian of occupations such as tools making and use, metal working, hunting, war, protection and ascertaining equity and justice.<ref name="Barnes">{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Sandra T.|title=Africa's Ogun: Old World and New|date=1997|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, IN|isbn=978-0-253-21083-8|pages=ixβx, 1β3, 59, 132β134, 199β200|edition=2nd|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8OWjkR-1btMC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Juang|first1=Richard M.|last2=Morrissette|first2=Noelle|title=Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History|date=2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-1-85109-441-7|pages=843β44|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=wFrAOqfhuGYC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Osun is an equally powerful primordial feminine deity and a multidimensional guardian of fertility, water, maternal, health, social relations, love and peace.<ref name="Osun"/> Ogun and Osun traditions were brought into the Americas on [[slave ship]]s. They were preserved by the Africans in their plantation communities, and their festivals continue to be observed.<ref name="Osun"/><ref name="Barnes"/> In [[Southern Africa|Southern African cultures]], a similar masculine-feminine deity combination has appeared in other forms, particularly as the Moon and Sun deities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Tamra|title=Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky|date=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-513677-7|pages=6β7|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7jS65aClvFEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> One Southern African cosmology consists of ''Hieseba'' or ''Xuba'' (deity, god), ''Gaune'' (evil spirits) and ''Khuene'' (people). The ''Hieseba'' includes ''Nladiba'' (male, creator sky god) and ''Nladisara'' (females, Nladiba's two wives). The Sun (female) and the Moon (male) deities are viewed as offspring of ''Nladiba'' and two ''Nladisara''. The Sun and Moon are viewed as manifestations of the supreme deity, and worship is timed and directed to them.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnard|first1=Alan|title=Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa: A Comparative Ethnography of the Khoisan Peoples|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-42865-1|pages=87β88, 153β155, 252β256|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2nBx83jMc48C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> In other African cultures the Sun is seen as male, while the Moon is female, both symbols of the godhead.<ref name="Lynch"/>{{rp|199β120}} In [[Zimbabwe]], the supreme deity is [[Androgyny|androgynous]] with male-female aspects, envisioned as the giver of rain, treated simultaneously as the god of darkness and light and is called ''Mwari Shona''.<ref name="Lynch"/>{{rp|89}} In the [[Lake Victoria]] region, the term for a deity is ''Lubaale'', or alternatively ''Jok''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Makward|first1=Edris|last2=Lilleleht|first2=Mark|last3=Saber|first3=Ahmed|title=North-south Linkages and Connections in Continental and Diaspora African Literatures|date=2004|publisher=Africa World|location=Trenton, NJ|isbn=978-1-59221-157-9|pages=302β04|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zGUcI99zssYC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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