Pemba

spirit · Mali · West Africa

Pemba is the first grain of Bambara (Bamana) creation, which fell to earth and became an acacia tree; from rotten wood and his own saliva he shaped Mousso Koroni, the first woman. His premature, disordered acts of creation let chaos into the cosmos, and the water deity Faro had to descend to restore balance — creation without wisdom.

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