Liza
and Mawu
told by Heather Arnott
"Good
side to having a twin, huh?" said
Eileen.
"Well, that should take all of five seconds, so hurry up, I've got
places to be."
"Alright, I'll
start by telling you about Mawu and
Liza. The story of Mawu and Liza is also African, like Ajaka's twins,
but it is from the Fon people."
"The Yoruba
were fun people," replied Eileen.
"Not fun
people, Fon people! They live in West
Africa." corrected Gladys.
"Well, that's
just a silly name for a group of
people."
"Okay. Anyway,
Mawu and Liza were the children of
the Great Mother, Nana Buluku, who made the world. Liza and Mawu are
the sun and the moon. Liza, the sun, is a male and lives in the West
and represents action, growth, and heat. Mawu, the moon, is a female
who lives in the East and represents fertility, wisdom, and cool. For
awhile they didn't have any kids..."
"I should
hope not they, are brother and
sister!" exclaimed Eileen.
"Well, sort of.
They were created, not born, so it's
a little different. And besides that, they were the only two beings in
existence, except for their mother, so they had to procreate. One day
there was an eclipse and on that day Liza and Mawu created children,"
said Gladys.
"So I am
supposed to believe that every time an
eclipse happens, Liza and Mawu are making love?"
"That's what
the Fon believe. The children Liza and
Mawu had were the other gods of the universe. In fact, these gods were
seven sets of twins, fourteen gods in all!"
"Well now that
is just ridiculous," said Eileen.
"Who can have seven sets of twins in a row? Isn't that physically
impossible?"
"Probably not
if you are the moon, your husband is
the sun, and you are both gods. Regardless, Eileen, they did. Each set
of twins was made of a different substance and given a different place
to live and rule. One set was given the Earth, another thunder and
lightning. One pair was made of iron and were made to give humans tools
and weapons. Others were given the sea and forest and all other
elements of the universe. My favorite set of twins are the twins who
inhabit and care for the space between the Earth and the Heavens. They
also make the length of time that humans live and inform their mother,
Mawu, of the activities of humans."
"If some of
them were made of real stuff, like iron,
why didn't anyone see them? I mean, I've never seen any god made of
iron running around."
"That's because
Liza and Mawu are very careful that
no one sees their children, they know exactly how to hide them. And the
world has existed quite well so far, as have the Heavens, so those sets
of twins can't be doing too badly."
"Okay, well
that is one story, but I'm not buying
it. Maybe they only did okay because their parents were twins too,"
said Eileen.
"Well then,
Eileen, let me tell you another..."
To
the Hero Twins
To
Castor and Pollux
To
Hopi Creation
Back
to Romulus and Remus
Back
to Ajaka's Twins
Email Me
Back
to My Storybook
Back
to My Intro
Author's Note: The story is
based on the story found on the "Mawu-Lisa the Creators" webpage, but
incorporates facts from the other webpage.
Bibliography:
"Mawu-Lisa the Creators"
John Corbally's Mawu-Lisa Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~jcorbally/eng203/rmawulisa.html
"West African Myths"
Website: Twin Myths from Around the World
http://www2.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/ndi/twinmyths.html
Image Information:
Sun/Moon Wallpaper
Shala's Beadworks
shala.addr.com/pspart/graphics/wallpaper/