Unkulunkulu

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Unkulunkulu, literally "the great-great", is the highest being among the Zulu . The highest being is at the head of all spirits and other creatures. Because the supreme being is believed to be infinitely distant, it does not play a major role in the practice of religion for most of the tribes. Therefore hardly any prayer is addressed to the highest being ( Deus absconditus ). The idea of ​​the highest being is supposed to explain the origin of the world ( prima causa ). Because it created living beings from a primordial substance, it is also called a shaper or "creator of all things and primordial father". The ideas about the highest being differ greatly. Some consider the Supreme Being to be omnipotent. It not only created living beings, but also the whole world. The highest being can perhaps take care of people. It has no tangible shape.

literature

  • Henry Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu: Unkulunkulu , 1968, digitized
  • Report "The Lives of Warriors - the Zulu", Marianhill. Magazine for One World, Volume 138, No. 1/2020, p. 4,