The Lightning bird or Impundulu or Thekwane (or izulu, inyoni yezulu) is a mythological creature in the folklore of the tribes of South Africa including the Pondo, the Zulu and the Xhosa. The impundulu (which translates as "lightning bird") takes the form of a black and white bird, the size of a human, which is said to summon thunder and lightning with its wings and talons. It is a vampiric creature associated with witchcraft which was often the servant or familiar of a witch or witch doctor, attacking the witch's enemies. It is said to have an insatiable appetite for blood. It is said to sometimes take the form of a beautiful young man and seduce women.
Read more about Lightning Bird: The Bird, Its Powers, Cultural Significance
Famous quotes containing the words lightning and/or bird:
“‘Tis said of love that it sometimes goes, sometimes flies; runs with one, walks gravely with another; turns a third into ice, and sets a fourth in a flame: it wounds one, another it kills: like lightning it begins and ends in the same moment: it makes that fort yield at night which it besieged but in the morning; for there is no force able to resist it.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)
“The soul has illusions as the bird has wings: it is supported by them.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)