Gods Many and Lords Many: A Study in Primal Religions

There is a story from the Kalahari Bushmen about creation. Mantis, the primal preying-mantis, is the spirit of creation. His supreme creation was the Eland. But Mantis’ children watched him secretly, and one day when he was away they killed the Eland and ate him. Mantis was desolate. He went to the scene of the killing and there he found on a bush the indigestible gall of the Eland. He told the gall that he would jump on it and pierce it through. The gall answered that if he did, it would burst open and cover him. Mantis was tempted to go away after his children. He resisted the temptation, leaped upon the gall, pierced it through and was swamped in bitter darkness. Here as he groped unseeing his grip suddenly lighted upon an ostrich feather. He used this to wipe the gall from his face, and flung the feather into the sky to be the moon. How would you interpret this story? John Ferguson uses this creation myth and others like it to introduce us to countless expressions of religious faith in places as diverse as Africa, Asia, Australasia and America. Many who find it difficult even to think of ‘gods many and lords many’ will still want to try to understand, and this book - with its thoughtful and challenging question-and-discussion structure - will provide many valuable insights into primal religious thought.