her with a fertile marriage. Water is intimately
associated with fertility in Africa. Among the
Hutu, on the day of her wedding, a woman’s
body is smeared with milk and herbs to cleanse
her from her previous life and make her pure
and ready for her new life as a married woman.
Marriage is a binding contract, not to be broken
lightly. One of the most common causes of divorce
is sterility on the part of women and men. This is
easy to understand given that the only non-
negotiable requirement for marriage is fertility.
Thus, among the Luo people, for instance, a
woman may divorce her husband if he is sexually
impotent, and therefore incapable of getting her
pregnant, and also if he suffers from gluttony.
However, special arrangements, such as sexual and
reproductive duties being performed by a close
relative or another woman, may prevent divorce.
In some communities, in the case of death of
one of the spouses, it is the responsibility of the
family of the deceased to provide a replacement.
This has often been referred to aswife inheritance
and is grossly misunderstood. The brother of a
man who just died does not inherit his sister-in-
law per se as much as he lives up to his obligation
to provide for his brother’s widow and their
children, thus sparing them a life of misery.
Likewise, when a woman dies, her family must
provide a replacement for her in the form of
another woman who will be responsible for the
children and husband of the deceased wife. This is
because, in the African tradition, marriage is often
a levirate union.
The death of one’s spouse is nonetheless
always followed by a period of mourning, which
may last for a while. Thus, among the Luo people
again, a man who has lost his wife must wait
until he can sleep in their conjugal room or be
around other women. It is not until he has
dreamed of making love with his wife, which may
take quite a long time (sometimes several years),
that he is allowed to use the conjugal bedroom
again and live a normal life. Until then, he must
sleep in another room and sometimes even out-
side on the veranda.
Ama MazamaSeealsoChildren; Family; Fertility; Infertility; Initiation;
Procreation; Rites of Passage; Rituals
Further Readings
Binet, J. (1959).Le mariage en Afrique noire. Paris:
Editions du Cerf.
Kimathi, G. (1983).Courting in Marriage. Nairobi,
Kenya: Uzima.
Mbiti, J. (1990).African Religions and Philosophy.
London: Heinemann.
Phillips, A. (1953). Survey of African Marriage and
Family Life. London & New York: Published for the
International African Institute by Oxford University
Press.
Turtoe-Sanders, P. (1998).African Tradition in Marriage:
An Insider’s Perspective. Brooklyn Park, MN: Turtoe-
Sanders Communications.MAWU-LISA
African deities are generally grouped as primary
deities, secondary deities, and tertiary deities, the
latter group including clan spirits, local divinities,
and personal gods. In the Dahomean Vodun
pantheon, Mawu-Lisa (also spelled Mahu-Lisa,
Mahou-Lissa, or Mahu-Lissa) is the first on the
list of primary deities. In other words, in the hier-
archy of powers, Mawu-Lisa comes at the top and
assumes the role of commander-in-chief.
Mawu and Lisa are the creator couple of
Heaven and Earth. Mawu, the female principle,
corresponds to the moon and is associated with
night, fertility, motherhood, gentleness, forgive-
ness, rest, and joy, all characteristics that one sees
in women. Lisa, the male principle, corresponds
to the sun and is associated with day, heat, work,
power, war, strength, toughness, and intransi-
gence, all things that characterize typical male
persons. Hence, Mawu and Lisa are the sky gods
who absorb the nature of the Supreme Being or
God Almighty in the Fon Cosmology.
Indeed, Mawu among the Fon of Dahomey
(now Benin Republic) is the same spiritual princi-
ple or entity as Odoudouwa (also known asOlou
Odawa) among the Nago and the Yoruba of
Nigeria. In the same vein, Lisa among the Fon
corresponds to Obatala (also calledOrisha N’la,
Itchala, orItchala Mon) among the Nago and the
Yoruba. These and many other similarities
between the Dahomean Vodun and the Nigerian
Orisha are so clearly discernible and striking thatMawu-Lisa 411