So last Tuesday night I’m scrolling through Instagram, right? Saw this dope artwork of some lion-headed god – looked straight fire. Didn’t even know who it was. Made me realize I only knew Greek and Norse myths. Pathetic. Grabbed my dusty laptop around midnight thinking “alright let’s google African gods real quick.”
What Went Down First
Typed “African gods list” – total disaster. First page showed me Egyptian stuff (Anubis, Ra… whatever). But everybody knows those. Where’s the rest of Africa? Searched “West African gods” and got so many spellings messing me up. Ogun? Oggun? Ogoun? Some sites said warrior god, others said metalworker god. My head started spinning before bedtime.
Rabbit Hole Time
Woke up still confused Wednesday morning. Dug deeper ignoring Wikipedia this time. Stumbled on oral tradition chaos:
- Every village tells different versions
- Gods behave like moody people (marrying humans, fighting cousins)
- That lion art? Turns out its Ngewo – Mende people’s sky god. Maybe.
My kitchen counter looked like a madman’s workspace – scribbled notes everywhere with coffee stains. Had sticky notes saying “check Anansi later?” and “WHY ORISHAS CHANGE NAMES??” taped to my fridge.
The Kick-in-The-Gut Moment
Thursday I finally called my Nigerian buddy Kwame. Felt stupid asking “yo what gods y’all got?” He laughed saying “Bro we got 401 Orishas minimum – you studied for 3 days and wanna know?” Then he dropped truth bombs:
- Yoruba creation myth depends on whose grandma told it
- Colonizers burned records so much oral history got scrambled
- Voodoo ain’t just dolls – it’s literal god worship turned spooky by movies
Suddenly felt my notebook was useless. How you record something that changes in every town?
My Messy But Real Takeaways
Ended up making my chaotic cheat sheet:
- Anansi – Spider dude. Ghana says he’s the smartest. Jamaica says he’s tricky. Both right?
- Oya – Yoruba wind goddess who apparently started storms during arguments
- Mami Wata – Not one goddess. Whole category of water spirits across 20+ countries
Closed my notebook seeing coffee rings all over 3 days of “research.” Not a pro. Barely scratched the surface. But learned the big thing: African myths ain’t dead stories. They’re living culture still breathing through people’s grandmas and ceremonies today. And that beats any textbook definition.
