Originally the Adhola, in their religious set up, hailed Jok as their supreme king. When the Bantu arrived on the scene, the Adhola adopted the Bantu belief in Were who is the chief of fertility. Were became central to the concept of a supreme being in their traditions.
Did the Jopadhola have a 'white god' before Christianity arrived in Uganda?
The Adhola people are a Ugandan tribe in the North East district of Tororo. They belong to the Nilotics ethnicity among the Luo, but they held a religious belief that their god was white.
Recommended articles
White feathers
Among the attributes, like merciful and good, given to Were among the Adhola was that he was thought to be physically white with shapeshifting powers. This belief influenced them to decorate the shrines established for Were with white feathers.
On each side of the shrine, a white feather was fixed into the ground near a gate. Each morning came with blessings for the home if the head of the family opened the gate. As part of their prayers, the head of the family always asked Were to make the day as white as the feathers.
For protection and defence of family and home, they had a god named Were Madiodiopo.
Their god of battle also bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the Norse mythology from Old Scandinavia.
If one was embarked on a journey, he or she could beseech Were for journey mercies at any shrine they came across. Comparatively, for guidance and guardianship on a journey, hunting or in fighting, they had a special god, called Othin, for this purpose.
Othin and Odin, gods of the wilderness
Othin was the god of the wilderness. Othin is a variation and old form of Odin the Norse mythology. Other variations include Othinus and Odinus.
In the Norse mythology, Odin is depicted as a wild card, known venturing far from home in Asgard for personal solitary strolls throughout the universe.
He is also a war god, a poetry god and a relentless seeker of wisdom, as well as a giver of it.
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: news@pulse.ug