LGBT Themes in Mythology - African Mythologies - West African, Yoruba and Dahomean (Vodun)

West African, Yoruba and Dahomean (Vodun)

See also: LGBT themes in African diasporic mythologies

The celestial creator deity of Dahomey mythology is Mawu-Lisa, formed by a merger of the twin brother and sister gods Lisa (the moon) and Mawa (the sun). In combined form, he or she presented as intersex or trangendered (with changing gender). Other androgynous gods include Nana Buluku, the "Great mother" that gave birth to Lisa and Mawa and created the universe, and contains both male and female essences.

The Akan people of Ghana have a pantheon of gods that includes personifications of celestial bodies. These personification manifest as androgynous of transgender deities, and include Abrao (Jupiter), Aku (Mercury), and Awo (Moon).

The mythology of the Shona people of Zimbabwe is ruled over by an androgynous creator god called Mwari, who occasionally splits into separate male and female aspects.

Possession by spirits is an integral part of Yaruba and other African spiritual traditions. The possessed are usually women, but can also be men, and both genders are regarded as the "bride" of the deity while possessed. The language used to describe possession has a sexual and violent connotation but unlike in Yoruba-derived American religions, there is no link assumed between possession and homosexual or gender variant activity in everyday life.