Qamata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
-
This article discusses the African god; for the town, see Qamata (South Africa)
Qamata (also Qamta or Quamta) is the most prominent god in the folklore of the Xhosa people of south-easterm Africa. Qamata is the child of the sun god, Tixo, and the earth goddess, Djobela.
There are few certain beliefs about Qamata other than that he is omnipresent and that there is no other being like him. One superstitious act that may signify worship of or respect for him involves small artificial heaps of stones scattered about the land. A traveller may often be seen adding a stone to such a heap "for Qamata," in hopes of being granted luck or good fortune in whatever he happens to be thinking of at the time.
Prominent Zulu sangoma and writer Credo Mutwa has recounted a legend of how, when Qamata wanted to create dry land, the sea dragon Nkanyamba interfered. Qamata's mother, Djobela, created four giants to help him in work and battle Nkanyamba. When Qamata's task was completed and enough dry land had been recovered, the giants were turned to stone so they could continue to keep watch over the land. The southernmost of them, Umlindi Wemingizimu ("watcher of the south") became Table Mountain, near Cape Town, South Africa.
