Olapa,
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
of the
moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, is married to Enkai (
Ngai
Ngai (also called Múrungu or Enkai) is the monolithic Supreme God in the spirituality of the Kikuyu (or Gikuyu) and the closely related Embu, Meru and Kamba groups of Kenya, and the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. Ngai is the creator of the uni ...
),
god
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
of the
sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
in
Maasai mythology
The Maasai religion encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania.
Traditional beliefs
In Maasai culture, nature and its elements are important facets of their religion. Enkai (also called ''Engai'') is the ...
.
Mythology
The two fought one day, and Olapa, being a short tempered woman, inflicted Enkai with a wound. To hide his shame, he took to shining very brightly, so that no one could look straight at him. In revenge, Enkai hit Olapa back and struck out one of her eyes. This can be seen today, when the moon is full.
Name
The word for moon and
month
A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the cycle of Moon phases; such lunar mo ...
(''olapa'') carries the masculine gender form 'ol' in the prefix.
External links
* Naomi Kipury: ''Oral Literature of the Maasai'' (1983: East African Educational Publishers Ltd., PO Box 45314 Nairobi, Kenya)
The myth of the sun and the moon
{{Africa-myth-stub
Lunar goddesses
Religion in Kenya
Maasai deities