Mandé

Mandé

Lara Orlandic Andrew Graham Costa Stasinopoulos
 * Group Members:**

Mangala, the god of creation, first created a single balaza tree seed (Sproul 67). The tree's seeds did not work because it was a single seed, so Mangala created several pairs of eleusine seeds, which became the four elements, four directions, and other ways to mark out the organization and expansion of the world (Adams 182). God thereafter created everything in pairs to maintain balance in the world (Sproul, 67). The eleusine seeds, which also included two pairs of male twins and two pairs of female twins, were all placed together inside of the world egg (Adams 182). The oldest male twin, Pemba, wanted to dominate the world so he left the egg prematurely and took his placenta with him (Knappert 151; Scheub 138). Pemba fell through space until God turned half of his placenta into the Earth and the other half into the Sun (Adams 182). This creates a two-part structure for the universe; God rules over the sky, and God's creations rule over the Earth. Pemba was unhappy with the barren Earth, but he was not allowed to return to the egg because he could not return his placenta (Adams 182). In his attempt to return to the egg, he stole eight male seeds from God and planted them into the Earth, therefore mating with the Earth (Adams 182; Lynch 67). One of Pemba's male seeds took root in the placenta's blood and came out red, causing the Earth to become impure and giving the eleusine seeds their red color (Adams 182; Sproul 67). Meanwhile in the world egg, Pemba's twin brother Faro had taken the form of a pair of mannogo fish; one of which represented Faro's strength and life, and the other representing his body (Knappert 151; Sproul 67). In order to pay for Pemba's sins, the fish representing his body was cut into sixty pieces and planted into the Earth, which became the Earth's trees (Scheub 138). God turned the other fish into a human. He sent Faro and the other humans, along with plants and animals, to Earth on an ark made of celestial placenta (Adams 182). The group of humans who were on the ark with Faro, often called the "first ancestors," contained four males and four females. Every male had a female twin, and all of the people were made out of Faro's placenta (Knappert 151). The ark reached Earth and landed on a mountain named Kouroula. The land surrounding Mount Kourula was named Mande, meaning "son of the mannogo fish" (Sproul 67). The first ancestors first stepped foot on Earth inside of a cave called Ka, which caused the four males to name themselves "Kanisimbo," meaning "from the womb of Ka" (Sproul 68). The humans watched the first sunrise while the first bard, Sourakata, played a drum made out of the skull of the previously sacrificed Faro. The start of the continuous drum beating represents the beginning of time. The drumming was an attempt to bring the first rain (Knappert 151; Sproul 68). This attempt failed, so one of the men, who was also a blacksmith, hit a rock with a hammer creating the first rain. The rain also brought mannogo fish that symbolized Faro, which is why these fish are sacred to the Mande (Adams 182). God gave the humans eight female seeds, along with thrity words. The humans built a sanctuary in which the seeds would multiply, and the words would aslo multiply to create a language (Sproul 69). The sanctuary was built out of bamboo, which represents Faro's hair. The sanctuary itself represents Faro's genitalia (Sproul 73). Faro and the rest of the humans used Mangala's eight female seeds to create many features and characteristics of the Earth (Adams 182). Faro's body turned into the Niger river, which caused floods in an attempt to rid the Earth of Pemba's evil (Adams 182). The humans built the first village named Kaba (Knappert 151). The humans married each other, but nobody married their own twin. This produced new people who are known as the second generation of Mande people. One of the men decided to sacrifice the first born pair of mixed-gender twins in the sanctuary. The sacrifice was made to ask Faro for a new birth of twins every generation, since the Mande believed that twins are important in maintaining balance in the world (Sproul 73). The Mande view the world as consisting of two types of people; Horonw and Nyamakalaw. The Horonw are the aristocrats and common people, while the Nyamakalaw possess Nyama, which is the spirit of nature. The Nyamakalaw tend to be magicians, sorcerers, and artists. Faro is thought to represent the goodness and purity of the Nyamakalaw, and Pemba represents selfish and non-spiritual humans. Faro's sacrifice represents how good people sometimes need to suffer for the things that are done by bad people (Adams 182). The struggle between Faro and Pemba, as known as the struggle between good and evil, still continues (Lynch 67; Scheub 183).
 * The Mande Cosmology**

Handloff, Robert E. ed. //Ivory Coast: A Country Study//. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1988
 * Bibliography**

Knappert, Jan. //The Aquarian Guide to African Mythology//. Illus. Elizabeth Knappert. Wellingborough: Thorson Publishing Group, 1990. Print.

Leeming, David Adams. //Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1.// Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2010.

Lynch, Patricia Ann. //African Mythology A to Z.// New York: Facts on Files Inc, 2004. Print.

Scheub, Harold. //A Dictionary of African Mythology.// New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Sproul, Barbara C. //Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World.// New York: Harper Collins, 1991.