Dinka mythology refers to the traditional religion and folk tales of the Dinka, or Muo
nyiang tribe.
The Dinka tribe, is an ethnic group located in South Sudan, in Africa.
The Dinka have a pantheon of deities. But out of their not so numerous gods, Only 5
of the gods, are considered as the majorly important, and most revered gods of the Dinka
religion. Namely, Nhialac, Deng, Abuk, and Garang.
Now we take a look at each of these deities.
1). Nhialac.
Nhialac was The Supreme and Creator God of the Dinka religion, whose abode is in the
heavens. Nhialac is said to have created the universe, and all that were in it. He is the
god of the sky and rain, and the ruler of all the spirits. The Dinka believed him to
be present in all of creation, and that he had the ability to control the destiny of
every human, plant and animal on Earth.
Nhialac is known by many other names, few of which are; Neur, Acek, Jok, Nya lich, Jaak,
Juong, Dyokin, and shilluk.
According to myths, Nhialac created the first man called,
Garang, and the first woman called, Abuk, out of clay. He made
them quite tiny and placed them in a pot, which he
then covered. When he uncovered the pot after a while, Garang
and Abuk were fully grown. The Myth narated that, in the beginning, Nhialac
made the Earth and the sky to be so close to each other, and connected them with a rope,
so that People who wanted to see Nhialac, could climb up the
rope, to the heavens. However, when the woman, Abuk,
disobeyed him, he permanently withdrew from the earth, into the heavens. He also cut off
the rope which joined heaven and Earth, so that humans, could no longer reach him.
Still, Nhialac did not forget all about mankind, he relegated his power, authority and duties,
to Deng. Thus, Deng took over, as the god of the skies.
2). Deng.
Deng, is the sky god of rain, and fertility, empowered by Nhialic, as the
intermediary between humans, and the celestials.
Now there are different versions of how Deng came to exist.
One version says that Deng was the son of Nhialac, the Supreme god.
In another version, and in some areas of the Dinka tribe, Deng and
Nhialac, were regarded as one god. They were considered as the same spirit.
Another version states that, Deng was the son
of the Primordial woman, Abuk. And in yet another version, Deng was born
an unknown woman who came from the heavens. This version, narrated that A pregnant young
woman appeared from the sky on a fateful day. The people celebrated her arrival and built
a house for her. When her son was born, he had a full
set of adult teeth, which was a sign of spiritual
power, and he wept tears of blood. The woman told the people
that her son would be their leader. Just As she said
this, the rain fell in torrents, giving the boy his name, Deng,
meaning (Rain). As foretold, Deng became their ruler. He ruled
over the people for So many years. When he was old, and had grown
bored of mundane life, he disappeared in a storm. Or in a slight variation, ascended
into the heavens, where Nhialac made him the god of the skies and rain.
Few stories say that when Deng had control of the skies and rain, he took Abuk as his
consort, and had children with her.
3). Abuk. Abuk was a primordial. She was the first
woman to be created by Nhialac, alongside her Primordial husband, Garang.
Now Nhialac was not much of a generous god.
He told the first woman and man, Abuk and Garang, that they could plant and
grind just one grain of millet a day, for their
food. This would hardly be enough for them, nevertheless,
they agreed, as they seemed to have no other choice.
One day Abuk felt really starved and hungry, so she disobeyed Nhialac, and planted several
millet grains. She used a long-handled hoe to secretly do
the planting from heaven. But unfortunately, Abuk
accidentally struck Nhialic with her hoe. This, coupled with the fact that she disobeyed
him, infuriated the god Nhialac so much, that he severed the
rope which joined Earth and the heavens, and then he withdrew
from involvement with human affairs. Because of this, people had
to work hard for their food, and illness and death, came into the world.
Abuk was later elevated to divine status, as the patron
goddess of women and gardens. She presided over
women’s activities, especially farming and the cultivation of millet.
Her emblem was a small snake. But most times, the moon, and sheep, are included as her symbols.
In some traditions, Abuk was the mother of Deng, the god of rain and fertility.
While in other traditions, Deng was Abuk's lover.
This version told that when Abuk rose to divine status, she could no longer be with Garang.
So she had the rain god, Deng, as her lover. For this reason, She is also associated with
water. Abuk and Deng had two daughters together, namely; Candit and Nyaliep, who both drowned
and became divine.
4). Garang,
Garang was the first man on Earth, together with his wife, Abuk.
In some stories, the god, Nhialac created the first humans, by blowing them out of his
nose, other accounts say humans originated from the sky, and were placed in the river
where they came as fully formed adults. Other accounts say that humans were molded as clay
figures, and placed to mature in pots.
Nhialac told them to multiply, and that their children would die, but would come back to
life within, or after 15 days. Garang protested that if nobody dies permanently, then there
wouldn't be enough food. So Nhialac changed his mind, and introduced permanent death.
In a slightly different version, it was after Garang's wife, Abuk, disobeyed Nhialac, that
permanent death came to exist.
Like Abuk, Garang was a Primordial. But unlike Abuk, he did not attain a full god status.
Thus, he was usually considered as a demigod, ancient, or Titan. Some stories say, that
it was the rain god, Deng, who denied Garang a full divine status, and suppressed him.
The Dinka tribe believe that, it is Garang's suppressed spirit who causes most Dinka women,
and some men, to scream.
5). Candit, and Nyaliep.
Candit and Nyaliep were the smaller deities, born from the union of the rain god, Deng,
and the matron goddess, Abuk. They both came to earth, and fell into the
river, where they became river deities. Candit walked the earth in order to firmly
establish Her lineage amongst the humans, after which she returned to her home, in the
river.