CREATION STORY

"Nana Buluku, also known as Nana Buruku, Nana Buku or Nanan-bouclou, is the female supreme being in the West African traditional religion of the Fon people (Benin, Dahomey) and the Ewe people (Togo).[1][2][3] She is the most influential deity in West African theology, one shared by many ethnic groups other than the Fon people, albeit with variations. For example, she is called the Nana Bukuu among the Yoruba people and the Olisab- uluwa among Igbo people but described differently, with some actively worshiping her while some do not worship her and worship the gods originating from her. In Dahomey mythology, Nana Buluku is the mother supreme creator who gave birth to the moon spirit Mawu, the sun spirit Lisa, and all of the universe. 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. According to Maya Deren, some Vodouwizan believe that Nanan-bouclou is both male and female."

                                                   --Photo Source:   Wikipedia

                                                                          by Alashe Michael Oshoosi Wright
                                                                                  See YouTube Video Channel                                        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P0j6XPyf0c&t=425s                                                                                                                                                                        *
                                                                                                                 *"Because you probably  were not born on this Road, before  you  heard  about or came to your first African socio-religious function--such as a religious dance and ceremony, a “naming ceremony," a reading or a wedding, i.e., before your birth, you must now be reminded, there was God. And with God there were, in the beginning, Witnesses and Forces. So for the purposes of simplicity, let me set forth an example of an African world view concerning the Heavenly origins of Earthly causes and occurences that preceded your birth, and the births of your ancestors. In this way you shall know what happened before you came here to this website or to your first African religious event--and, thus, you will know what the world had been like into which countless times before, you had been re-born. Co-existing with God for all prior eternity was the force of Disorganized Action, sometimes known as chaos, "unpredictability," “disruption," or "entropy." Without humanly character, Disorganized Action was the incarnation of the tendency in the universe for “things to fall apart." Even God’s best laid plans for cosmic organization could be disrupted by the whims of Disorganized Action. Indeed, God's only advantage over Disorganized Action was that God (who is neither male nor female, “good" nor “bad") possessed the power and goodness of Ashe; of Creativity. It was only for this reason that God was able to create and sustain creative ways for things to happen (and the emerging forms for them to happen in) and, thus, usually stayed at least a pace ahead of Disorganized Action's ability to disrupt and frustrate them. Creativity, like Disorganized Action, also had other names--praise names--such as "foresight,""organiz- ation,""order," "predictability," "knowledge," and "negentropy." Using the action of Creativity'sAshe (vital power),God was able to make little bundles of its own "God- parts" and called them Deities.Of course, some of  these Deities were created before others.Among the first of them was Witness and his wife, Word.After a while both Witness and Disorganized Action agreed that it was God, after all, who  was truly  superior and had  the best  plan for Heavenly  existence.  And each of the Deities God had created also agreed (what else could they do)? Thus, it was  God who spread out a Heaven in which they lived and communicated.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Because Witness saw from the beginning that which was created, he was able to tell his wife, Word, all about it. She never forgot a thing. Word made oral libraries, "directories and files," and marvelously organized them and made them availableto Witness whenever he wished to be reminded of how various events had transpired in Heaven. He even told her, for example, that God's acts were so creative that God caused small parts of Disorganized Action to be stripped off, made considerably tamer, and let these parts reproduce themselves all over the place; that is, all over Heaven  and even  in the dreams of  the Deities. They would, neverthe- less be helpful to Deities and, later, to People, for coping with their father, Disorganized Action.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Disorganized Action's Many Children                                                                                                                              *These little  parts, the children  of  Disorganized  Action,  would  forever  become known  as  Tricksters. They  could  always  be identified  as  such  because  they would  answer to  that  name. God had ordained them and, unlike the case with their father, Disorganized Action, there was at least some assurance that these children would  not be so  disruptive to the Deities' plans so long  as the Deities spoke kindly to them, gave them little "treats," and always recognized them first; before  doing  anything, and at the completion  of doing  things. (By contrast, with Disorganized  Action, one  was  always taking  a chance  and  needed a  hope that one's plans would not be disrupted). One day Witness told Word that he saw God take parts of Heaven, a  few things in it, and  energy  packets  called the Seeds of Growing Life, and cast them below to form what we now call Earth, the Living World. And just as God had taken from Self little Godparts and made Deities, the citizens of Heaven, God also was to take some of Self and invest these little bundles with some of the Ashe of  Creativity, and  some  of the stuff  from which Destinies are made, and set them apart--stored in a Heavenly warehouse--until a day certain in the  Living Future when they would  be trans- ported  to and, finally,  fashioned on, Earth. When  combined  with  the  Seeds of Growing Life, these  little  bundles  of Godparts would bec- ome genes and, eventually, People. ( But that's getting ahead of the story).                                                                                                                                                                      God Creates "Selected Heads."
 God described the Deities as “Selected Heads" because they not only had lives, but also had great Creat- ivity, Intelligence, and Specific Destinies. God simply described the little bundles of Godparts that were tucked away as "Heads" because they also contained Creativity, Intel- ligence, and Specific Destinies, but in much smaller amounts.  Some say God sent Deities down to help decorate the Earth; and others say that God sent Special Animals down to do it. Probably both versions are correct. But what is surely true is that both Deities and Animals loved the Earth so much that they all wanted regularly to vacation there, and they did. In fact, many of the Animals decided to stay on Earth permanently. But the Deities did not believe this to be correct and, being what they were--capable of both nice and not-so-nice things--they soon started to eat the squatter Animals; believing that the little creatures needed an "attitude adjustment." Everyone knew that, basically, the animals were Heavenly creatures reasoned the Deities. But they made the Animals so nervous that the Animals started to compete with and eat each other also.                                                                              *Because they did this, that is, took the Law of Diet into their own hands, they also started to fight, to manipulate each other, to conflict, and to spoil things on this Earth--the very Living World that they had done so much to decorate beautifully in accord with the expert advice of Harmony. Harmony, on the original request of God, had  esthetically, rhythmically, and  lov- ingly  sewn  together  the  stars,  the moons, and  the celestial  lights of Heaven, so her  advice  on the decoration  and design of the Earth was well respected in the work of the Deities; who, themselves, were busy  about laying out vacation resorts for their kind--e.g., Mountains, Hills, and Oceans--and painting the Sky with Rain and Rainbows.                                                                                                                                       *The Deities continued to live, socialize and hunt on Earth whenever they came down  to  visit. Little Tricksters  also came  down and spread  themselves out  all over the World. They were into everything, and there was no way to get them all back into Heaven. In order to keep these little Tricksters from playing with and maybe  even spoiling their vacation plans, the Deities  decided  to  use them as errand and messenger boys and girls. The little Tricksters were happy with this arrangement because in this way they could be given little treats and be called by name (recognized) before and at the end of every organized activity in which the Deities en-gaged. A similar practice had been occurring in Heaven from near the beginning of Mem-orial Time because God was especially pleased with the little Tricksters.                                                                                                                                                           The Little Tricksters Saw Everything                                                                                   Perhaps unknown to the Deities, because of their notices to and requests on the little Trick- sters, the little fellows had seen every event, problem, lesson, solution, and experience the Deities experienced in Heaven and on Earth. And, because the Tricksters loved Witness and his wife, Word, so much, they agreed to tell Witness everything they saw on Earth from their perspectives and  even agreed to  carry  Word on their backs(!) everywhere she  wanted  to go and speak. As you can see, because of the Trick- sters, Witness, got to  know how Deities functioned on Earth: what their opportunities and problems were, and  what  their  rituals, offerings, sacrifices,  and ceremonies  were that they  used to  remove  problems  or to  gain advantages. The Deities themselves would often ask the little Tricksters to find out for them, from Wit- ness, how other Deities solved problems and had good times in Heaven and on Earth. And, of course, for a small offering, the little Tricksters did consult with Witness, on their behalves, and transmitted the information accurately to them. Thus, Witness got to know all that was happening and that could happen in the lives of  the inhabitants  of or visitors to  Earth. More- over, because  of  their keen observation, their omnipresence, and  their  natural  enjoyment  of  tricking Deities (inherited from their father Disorganized Action), the little Tricksters got to know all of the things on Earth that would not happen as plan- ned as well. Witness, his wife, Word, and the Trickster kids became very wise; and pretty well-off econ- omically. The Deities often consulted them, with good results, when they listened carefully  to their explanations  and  did what  they  were advised to do; which  they did not always happen!  For example, they  were often  told  to  make offerings, or to  say  special  prayers, or to use special  words, in order to do their ceremon- ies and rituals correctly, and to get favorable results. They were also told to build their shrines beautifully and to feed each other edible offerings, especially the Ashe  stuff  which God had  invested in all Living Things, and of  which  they were especially fond  and energized. Things  were  fairly  eventful  on  Earth  and  in  Heaven.  For example,  the  Deities farmed and fished, feasted  and  fornicated, frolicked and fought; they produced children, and art, music and  dance  as  well. In other words,  they  did  all  of the things that would  be expected  of lively beings and, occasionally, they even died and were reborn. In the course  of their lives they often  made errors  in judgment and  were sometimes  chastised  by  God and made to oversee the ethics or "best practices" of certain Earthly phenomena,  for eternity, in order  to  make  them do the right things in the areas of their transgressions. (For example, if God was an- gered because a Deity kept an excessively messy house, the Deity could be sentenced to be, forever, the  Guardian  of Cleanliness).                                                                                                                                   *                                                                                  Earthly Vacations for the Deities                                                                            Eventually, through  the  help of the Little Tricksters  and  Witness, the Deities became very skilled at learning how to retrieve the  stories  of  Word and, thus, learned how their fellow Deities--of whom  there  were hundreds--solved problems through prayers, offerings,  and sacrifices. Word's Heavenly  memory  contained riddles, incantations, myths, songs, praise-names, folktales, proverbs, and  methods to obtain  the cooperation  of other Deities  or to stop the meddling of other Spirit Forces--some of whom, though they existed in the realm of the In-Between Zone (between Heaven and Earth), could still cause problems for the vacationers and dwellers on Earth. Usually, what the vacationing and resident Deities, Plants, and Animals wanted was "good fortune." For example, they wanted children, marriage, money, defeat of an enemy, and a long life. Of course, they also wished to avoid "bad fortune" like losses,  poverty, fights,  illness or death, or lack of love, bad marriages, and few children. Most  important, they  learned  that  the  only  things  that  their fellow Deities (as well  as  the Tricksters and Witness)  wanted in exchange for good advice  were  natural things that  could be gathered from the Earth: e.g., parts  of plants, shells, beads, pieces of bones, foods. Of course, if the wisdom required, or the help of other Deities and Spirit Forces sought, was of importance in solving an extreme problem, they might even demand from each other some of the Ashe stuff God had invested in all living things. Things could have gone on  forever in this  fashion, but at one point in primordial history, God decided that it would be better for the Earth if the Deities played a less active role on it. In their vacationing and squatting oftentimes they failed the few simple expectations God had of them. For example, they engaged in excesses of many kinds. Sometimes  they  defiled Nature, i.e., left the face of the Earth unclean  and sometimes they failed to be productive, to be reproductive, or to leave behind good children. God, who had so many things to do other than pay daily attention of the affairs of Earth, asked them to retire to their favorite resorts on Earth or to come back to Heaven and stay there per-manently. God thought that the Earth would be better served if it were populated mainly by Animals and Plants and those little bundles of Godparts (people) that had been stored earlier in the Heavenly warehouse. So, as God ordered, most of the Deities either went to their resorts on Earth e.g., back into the moun- tains,   the rivers,   the seas, the forests, or the air or returned  outright  to  Heaven.  The Animals  and  Plants,  mostly  remained  on Earth. And most of  the Mystical Spirit Forces  pref-erred  to  remain  in  limbo, in  the  In-Between Zone  connecting  Heaven and Earth, though some of  them stayed on Earth as Nature  Spirits. The Nature Spirits  and the Mystical Spirit Forces saw it as their jobs  to observe  the  goings-on  on  Earth  and  to  insure  that no Beings on Earth would ever  return to  Heaven in an impure state (and  all  Plants, Animals, Deities, Spirits, and  People  would periodically, ideally, have to return to Heaven for rein- carnation, for more Ashe, and for new Destinies) .                                                                                                                                                                                                   God Prepares to Instruct Earth's New Inhabitants                                                                                                                                    God asked a few of the Deities--who now sparingly travelled to Earth--to gather some of the Soul of the Earth and receive from Him, once back in Heaven, the little bundles of Godparts (which God called Heads), to combine them, and to give them shapes and body parts that, based on their experience, would be useful on Earth. The Deities did a pretty good job of fash-ioning People, although they did make some mistakes. A few of the People were crippled, or had no color, or virtually no brains; but, alas, all  of  them  were complicated. When one thinks of it, look at all  that they had in them(!)  They had  some  Godpart,  some  Ashe, some Creativ-ity, some Destiny and now, thanks to the Deities, they even had Soul. Indeed, they had nice shapes and body parts and they left Shadows when walking under the Sun which proved that, unlike the Mystical Spirit Forces, bona fide residents of the Earth and would spend at least half of their time here and, in alternation, an equal time in Heaven. But still  something  was missing (they weren't moving; they weren't creating!). When all the People were assembled, God performed  the  first and last act of grace: the  infusion of  the Ashe  of  Breath  into them to make them  and all  their children Living Beings. And  this  is  how people came to get "time shares" on the Earth and enjoy a tour--in the Marketplace of Experience where--they could trade and shop to their hearts' content.                                                                                                                          For the First and Last Time God Spoke Directly to the People                                                                               As God's final act of intervention at this time, God gathered all of the People on a Mountain Top and gave them a great speech. Listening also were the Deities and the various kinds of Spirit Forces, Anim- als, and Plants.                                                                                                                                     * God said: "...Of all my creations, you are the most blessed. You have two abodes: one  an Earthly Mar- ketplace  and  the other a Heavenly Home. For about eighty years you shall dwell on one and then for eighty years or so you shall dwell in the other. Ideally, for the span of four Earthly generations you shall repeat this cycle-- each time arriving  in a better and even  more  Loving Family and  in  more Beautiul Earthly surroundings.                                                                           "Inspired by Harmony, you shall respect the lives of your fellow Plants and Animals and  the sensitiv- ities of Earth's Mystic  and  Natural  Forces. Before your Soul returns to Earth, on each occasion I shall take you to the warehouse where Heads are kept. Each Head will have some Ashe, some Creativity, some intelligence. And each Head will exist simultaneously in five forms: an Ideal Self (which will remain in Heaven  each time  you pass through), a Charac- ter, and  a  three-part Destiny. These latter four parts, Character and three-part Destiny will accompany you to Earth.                                                                            "You must know,  also, that the three parts of your  Destiny are very weighty, but the  choice  of  Destin- ies,  for any of your  Earthly  incarnations,  will  be  left entirely up to you. Some Heads, with their Ashe, Intelligence, Creativity, Ideal Self, Character,  and  Destinies, are  above  average  in  quality,  but  most  are average and below average and will have to make many sacrifices when on Earth to be successful. The three parts of your Destiny are: ( 1 ) those  Unchangeable Things that you  arrive into (e.g., your sex, your Family, your epoch); (2) the Resources and Conditions of life that will be available to you; and  (3) the Series of  Events, Choices,  and  Experiences--your  Life Story--which will confront you in that in- carnation.                                                                            "Once  your  Soul  chooses  a  Head  and  is  re-born into  an  Earthly  Family, it is expected  that  you will use  your  Character  to  fulfill, as well  as possible, your chosen Destiny. Within cer-tain limits, it will be routinely possible to modify the second and  third  parts of your Destiny (your Resources  and  Life Story); it will prove much harder, however, to modify your Charac-ter, although that too can be done. At the time in Heaven that your Soul chooses your Head (and the kinds of Destinies contained in it) there will be present Witness, his wife,Word, and many assembled  Deities  who will be  watching  you, listen- ing  to  your  pledges, and watch-ing  the kinds of  sacrifices you are willing to make  in order to insure  that things go well for you and your Head on Earth.                                                                           "Whether or not you become aware of it, a Guardian Deity will protect you and, during your lifetime, perhaps--through your family heritage and your Initiation-- give "birth" to your divine knowledge about your Destiny. Your parent Deities will also favor you--because they are most like you or because they are the ones you will most need-- and will have a special relationship to you once your Head comes to Earth. They will "rule" your Head, especially one of them. Since they too love the Earth, and wish to be there, they will want you to help keep the memory of them alive and well-respected on Earth. You will serve them in this way. In return, your Mother and your Father Deities will also serve you in the follow-  respects.                                                                            "Use the correct methods to call on them  (and  feed them), they will be available to  advise  you of your Destiny and clarify  any  questions  or choices  you should make  at times  when  your  Head's Ashe, Intelligence, or Creativity are weakening.  However,  once you  become  aware of them,  if you  fail to  honor them,  they have ways  to  make  you  feel very  much  like  they  felt when  their characters failed and ways to make you personally learn the lessons of reverence and sacrifice that were necessary for them to learn in order for them to enhance their Ashe.                                                                              "They can show you how to strengthen your Head with the right Plant Medicines; they can actually  intervene in  the operations of other People's Heads  so  as  to make Events go smoothly for you; and they can foresee what kinds of problems lay on  your current  Road. Sing to  them, Dance  for them, maintain  their Altars (their "Faces") nearby,and help others who also serve them. Additionally, Wit- ness, Harmony, and the Trickster Children will have shown the Knowledgeable among you how  to divine to the Deities  and  to your foreparents, that is,  how  to  ask them questions in order to know, for your benefit, in which one of Word's libraries is contained the Experience you or others might to en- dure and  master  at any given  time.                                                                             "Recall that when the Deities were on Earth, they had  done  everything you could possibly think of, and have encountered every pleasure and problem you are likely to encounter. Since they can see the Future and know the Past, their advice and actions  are very powerful; steep-ed  in Ashe.  And,  for  your ed- ification, most  of the Deities have  left behind,  hovering near the Earth  (or in  it),  their  own Spirit-Doubles.                                                                             "Your Deity Spirit-Doubles may actually come personally to visit you if you are lucky enough to Dance and Sing to them just right.  When  they  come, your Body will take care of itself for a while, and your Head will be totally  engaged with the Spirit Double, with what it wants, and with what it has to say. These "possessions" are blessed moments.                                                                            "I, God, warn you, however, that I shall give you each only a few notes to sing, so use each one carefully. "Finally, it is time that you understand Time itself or, more precisely, themselves. Just as Head is the one Deity whom you will never be without, Time is the Deity whose eye you can never escape for, like the Trickster Children, Time is every- where. Understanding your obligations to Time will not be easy because there is, to start, the Mother of Time and the Father of Time, and Time--which can never be "saved"--is always short.                                                                           "The Mother of Time is concerned with the progress of your Life, of your Family, and of your People. Since you will start as a Baby, you will be headed into the Living Future. That is, next you will be a young Child, then an Adolescent, a young Adult, a mature Adult, an Elder, and then when you die, an Ancestor.                                                                            "This is the direction of the Living Future, and since it is the special concern of the Mother of Time, the women among you will exercise special influence on its shaping and nurturance. The Living Future is the exuberance of life: the morality of the  individual, the nurturance of the individual,  and the integrity of the local ecology.

"There is also the Father of Time, whose special concern is the Memorial Future. He is concer -ned about what lay ahead, or down the Road, in the direction that the Ancestors are going. He wants to make sure that they are well equipped and purified to return to Heaven, and that the conditions of Earth (its moral controls, standards, families, and ecology) are such that the Ancestors will not leave with heavy hearts nor return to it in Chaos--the Earth as modified by Disorganized Action. The Fathers also want to assure that the Spirit Forces and Mystic Forces find the Ancestors' journey to Heaven acceptable.                                                                         "In other words, just as there is a Future on Earth for the Living--with the younger children arriving further into that future than the present ones--there is also a future for those headed into the past; those Ancestors who will have temporarily left you and your Families behind. Among them, the ones who died first will be further down the Road into that Future than the ones who have died recently. It is mainly for men to be concerned  with the  satis- faction  of  the Ancestors and knowing what they want in terms of Family morality, Family sustenance, and the integrity of the neighboring ecology.                                                                         "Though these two Futures appear to be in opposite directions, this is only an Ear- thly illusion. In real- ity, they are but Twin Arrows headed in different directions on the same Circle of Reincarnation. The Mother of Time and the Father of Time are happily and eternally married and dynamically balanced. Wherever Father predominates, Mother will be repres-ented also, and wherever Mother predominates, Father's voice, too, shall, be heard.                                                                      "My advice to you is the same as my advice to the Deities who preceded you here. Do not en-gage in excesses, do not defile Nature, be productive, be reproductive, and leave behind good children. If you do these things, you will have the greatest chance of fulfilling  your Des-tinies and not leave before your  appointed  time (to languish, until that time, in the In-Between Zone or, worse yet, on the Earth itself. It is important for you to set a good example and to dis- cipline your Children They must show love and  kindness  to each other and special  acts of daily respect for their Elders.                                                                          "Their characters must be perfected as nearly as possible so that, when needed, their Ashe, Creativity, and Intelligence will help them modify their Destinies in the most desired dir- ections. It is most impor- tant  to  leave behind good Children, for someday when  you  return to your Family on Earth--if  I  permit  you to return to Earth--these Children  will  be your  parents, or  grandparents, or great-grandparents. But as you guide your Children, respect them, for the youngest leaves of the Tree grow closest to God.  It will  be no  surprise  to you, then, why the Elders and the grandchildren will have a special Love for each other --one  has  recently  been where the other is  about to  go. Also,  be kind  to your Children (for, after all, they get to choose your nursing home!).                                                                          "There will be among you  the  Deities, the  Ancestors, the  Knowing  and  the Unknowing. Serve the Dei- ties, Respect  the  Ancestors, Listen  to  the  Knowing and, with all  your Heart, embrace  the Unknowing.                                                                           "Your  Ancestral  and Deity Ashe will  be passed  down  and  around  through  the cycles of your Family, for in all that I have designed (just as I may be represented on Earth as The Rock of Eternity), the Family is the bedrock of your Cosmic Cycles and your Religious  Experience. You  may  reproduce  your own Children, you may reproduce by  helping others  with their Child- ren, or you may  reproduce Families of  the Knowing, my  Priestly  Ministers  on Earth.  In any event, I enjoin you once again to be reproductive.                            “May the  Heavens as your Blanket and the Earth as your Pillow, Forever.”                                                                                                        AND WITH THESE ACTS AND WITNESSES, WORDS, AND FORCES PRESENT,                                                                                 GOD FIRST SPOKE TO THE PEOPLE.  

"THE HEAVENLY BLANKET & THE EARTHLY PILLOW"

A NEO-AFRICAN CREATION STORY