Creation myths in Africa are almost always
linked to traditional activities of agriculture, tech-
nology, or the primacy of nature. In traditional
African creation narratives, the God head takes
many forms or no form at all. God in Africa
works with dieties who often represent aspects of
God’s personality to accomplish the work of cre-
ation. Creation narratives are also concerned with
relationships once a firmament is established.
These relationships include any combination of
man, animal, nature, ancestors, diety, spirits, and
the realm of the supernatural.
With the advent of colonialism and imperial-
ism, creation narratives in Africa were often rein-
terpreted to support political aims. This includes
the need to establish territory, gender roles, and
the uses of knowledge and information. The
extent to which African creation myths have been
compromised is not easy to determine. However,
the strength of myth and legend remains strong
within the continent and in the Black diaspora.
Creations myths associated with African people
do not have to be considered ancient or indigenous
to the continent to have an impact. For example, in
1878, a southern African American (gulf coast) cre-
ation myth explained the different races of man and
the power imbalance among them. In one myth,
Africans, Asians, and Native Americans were cre-
ated by God out of clay, whereas Europeans
(Frenchmen and Englishmen) were made out of
insects. This myth identified the source of European
aggression against people of color in North
America as a source of animate energy. James
Weldon Johnson’s 1927The Creationprovides an
African American interpetation of how a self-existent
God created the Earth and mankind. The Nation of
Islam’s European origin myth explains racism and
racial discrimination against blacks.
Katherine Olukemi BankoleSeealsoCosmology
Further Readings
Asante, M. K., & Abarry, A. S. (Eds.). (1996).African
Intellectual Heritage:A Book of Sources.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Hilliard, C. B. (Ed.). (1998).Intellectual Traditions of
Pre-Colonial Africa. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Jackson, J. G. (1972).Man,God,and Civilization. New
York: University Books.
Mbiti, J. (1970).African Religions and Philosophies.
New York: Doubleday.
Obenga, T. (1990).Ancient Egypt and Black Africa.
Chicago: Karnak House.CROSSROADS
The crossroads is a major concept in African reli-
gion. It is a pervasive idea that suggests there is a
point where good and evil, humanity and divinity,
the living and the Dead, the night and the day, and
all other contradictions, opposites, and situations
involving decisions must meet. At this point, there
exists an intermediary to open the way, to provide
humans with choice, and to teach wisdom at the
gate. This gatekeeper goes by many names, but is
known in the Yoruba as Legba, Eshu, or Ellegua
depending on the language and country of practice.
In the sense that the crossroads is literally the
place where several paths cross, where several roads
intersect, it is really a philosophical concept. As
such, the African idea is that, at the point of deci-
sion, the human has the possibility of touching
divinity or forever remaining locked in mortality.
As a profound philosophical concept and idea, the
notion of crossroads sits at the entrance into the
study of African religion, initiation, ritual perfor-
mance, spiritual resources, benefits, and indeed rein-
carnation. One cannot escape the space of decision.
Everything is decided, and in the greatest, most
poignant moments of the spiritual quest, the human
being must, out of relative ignorance of all the pos-
sibilities, choose and, by choosing, express an exis-
tential life that gives value and meaning to the quest.
This is the first and last thing that must be done.
Because the Yoruba see Legba as the deity who
stands at the crossroads, some have been inclined
to see him as a trickster prepared to trick humans
into making the wrong choice or having difficulty
discovering right from wrong, but this explanation
is limited. Legba is the personification of the space
that belongs to no one; it is a space given to the
person who is best able to negotiate its demands,
and, as such, it is called the crossroads. Among the
Yoruba, Legba’s music is the first and last played
and he is the first invoked in a ceremony.186 Crossroads