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Mutwa, Vusamazulu Credo - Amarava and Odu
Identifier
013487
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
One of the frequently recurring themes in African, North American and Australian myth is that of the angel marrying the demon, or the Beauty marrying the Beast. In one ancient Zulu legend, the goddess Amarava is forced to marry a hulking ugly creature called Odu. She tries to murder him, so repulsed is she by him, but after a few adventures she comes face to face with him again – he was warned of her intentions and escaped. He doesn't blame her or harbour any rancour, all she sees is sadness because he knew she found him repulsive whilst he found her beautiful and this together with his subsequent care for her, softens her heart and she learns to live with him.
A description of the experience
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa – Zulu Shaman [Dreams, Prophecies and Mysteries]
Now you remember that Ninavanhu-Ma had to marry the Sima-Kade, the Tree of Life, a great many limbed thing, with roots and stones in its bark, whom she originally found very repulsive. Likewise Amarava had been obliged to marry Odu. My children, I think this is a very ancient theme. Over the centuries the story emerged from an ancient epic of the origins of humanity, that something like an angel marries something like a monster or something bestial, and this is essential to our nature