Leza

Nationality/Culture

African/Bantu

Pronunciation

LEE-zuh

Alternate Names

None

Appears In

Bantu creation myths

Lineage

None

Character Overview

Various Bantu-speaking peoples of central and southern Africa believe in a supreme deity or god called Leza. A sky god and creator spirit, Leza is believed to have once lived on earth and is the subject of several myths.

Major Myths

According to a story told by the Basubiya people, Leza taught humans different arts as well as the proper way to worship him. When he finished, Leza climbed up a spiderweb to his home in the sky. The people tried to follow him, but the spiderweb broke and they fell to earth.

In a legend told by the Ila people, a woman who had lost all the members of her family decided to find Leza to ask him why he made her experience such sorrow. She built a ladder to the sky, but it crashed to earth. While searching for a road to the sky, she told the sad story to people she met. They explained that all people were meant to suffer, and that she was not alone in her sorrow. The woman never found Leza, and she, too, eventually died.

In yet another story, told by the Kaonde people, Leza once gave three gourds to a honeybird and instructed it to take them to humans. He told the bird that two of the gourds contained seeds and that humans could open these. The third gourd, however, should remain closed until Leza came to earth. While carrying the gourds, the bird became curious and opened all of them. Two held seeds, but the third contained death, sickness, and dangerous animals. Leza could not capture these unpleasant things, so humans were forced to build shelters to protect themselves.

Leza in Context

Leza is an example of how some African cultures viewed themselves as having a direct kinship with the gods. Leza is said to have once lived on earth as a human and to have been a very powerful chief. He later became the god of the sky and rain. This may indicate a legend about a specific tribal leader who died and became a subject of worship after he was gone.

Key Themes and Symbols

Leza is identified with the sky and rain. He is also presented in various myths as a provider and teacher. He gives seeds to the people so they can grow crops, and he teaches them about art and religious ceremonies. He is also the creator of disease and death, though he tries to protect people from these. This further shows him to be a guardian and protector of his people. In the myth of the Kaonde, the honeybird that opens the gourds symbolizes curiosity—a potentially dangerous quality that can lead to much trouble.

Leza in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

Leza is a popular figure in Bantu-speaking cultures. In everyday Bantu expressions about weather he is credited as the bringer of rain. He is mentioned throughout Alice Werner's important 1933 work Myths and Legends of the Bantu, which brought many elements of Bantu mythology to the attention of the Western world.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Real people often become legendary characters through the re-telling of tales over the course of centuries. Imagine what kind of tale might be told about you five hundred years from now. What characteristics of yours would be remembered and emphasized? What real-life experiences of yours might be exaggerated into compelling myths? Try re-creating a real event into a myth about your legendary self.

SEE ALSO African Mythology