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Concept
Dinka religion
Summary
Dinka spirituality is the traditional religion of the Dinka people (also known as Muonyjang people), an ethnic group of South Sudan. They belong to the Nilotic peoples, which is a group of cultures in Southern Sudan and wider Eastern Africa. The Dinka people largely rejected or ignored Islamic (and Christian) teachings, as Abrahamic religious beliefs were incompatible with their society, culture and traditional beliefs.
The supreme, creator god, Nhialic, is the god of the sky and rain, and the ruler of all the other gods and spirits. He is generally seen as distant from humans. Nhialic is also known as Jaak, Juong or Dyokin by other Nilotic groups such as the Nuer and Shilluk. Nhialac created ex-nihilo and rarely involves itself with the affairs of humans.
There are several versions of the Dinka creation myth which mainly concerns itself with the creation of humans. The first humans are Garang and Abuk. In some cases Nhialac created humans by blowing them out of its nose, other accounts say humans originated from the sky and were placed in the river where they came as fully formed adults. Other accounts say that humans were molded as clay figures and placed to mature in pots. Garang and Abuk were made out of the clay of Sudan.
Nhialac told them to multiply and that their children would die but would come back to life within 15 days. Garang protested that if nobody dies permanently then there would not be enough food. Nhialac then introduced permanent death. Nhialac commanded them to only plant one seed of grain a day or gave them one grain to eat a day. Being hungry, everyday Abuk made a paste with the grain to make the food last longer. However, when Abuk disobeyed and planted more Nhialac cut the rope that connected Heaven and Earth.
The Dinka have a pantheon of deities, most notable:
Nhialic, creator god
Ayum, goddess of the wind. She is often referred to as a force that prevents rain from falling.
Alwet, goddess of the rain.
Aja.
Nyanngol, also known as Nyanwol or Nyancar, a female goddess.
Gerrang, also known as Garang.
Official source
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