Berber paganism.

[Igu]

Awar, your wishes are realized!

there are plenty of good books about it but all of the are in french, so you will only have a translation from french to english of articles, I tried to fix the errors, but it takes time. I'm sure that it is understandable.

taken from the forums of kabyle.com

As in all civilizations that the world has known, plenty of elements characterize their identity and their specifity. Among the Amazighs -as among Greeks, Romans, the Germans, the araméen- existed beliefs, worshipping.. gods.

Here are some of the Gods and goddesses having populated the imaginary of the Amazigh society. It must be said that the pagan and agnostic traditions inherited at dawn of the history still remain.One always speaks in Kabylie of Aguellid ameqqran (the large lord, the god.) name given to MASENSEN which was one of the largest unifying heads of all the Amazigh tribes.
Here are some names:

GURZIL = an amazigh God represented by a head of bull at the Luwata nomads.This same god is taken along by Kahina at the time of each one of his engagements against the Arabs.

IDIR = Name of divinity.From Edder, to live, which is also found in Baliddir:"the alive God".(Ball or Baal:suffix meaning phenician:god or lord)


IGUC = or Iyuc (as it is frequent in the speeches amazigh, G, becomes Y, etc), god of the rain at Berghwata of Morocco.

LILU = God amazigh, synonymous with rainwater.Probably alternative of ILLU=dieu at the Tuaregs.

MAKURGUN = God amazigh.Made up name punico-amazigh.

IFRU:the ethymology of this name is probably related to the verb:Fru:to regulate, solve, sort.

MAQURTAM = God amazigh.Amazigho-punic made up name.
NABEL:(Name of divinity, éponyme and toponym)

SINIFER = warlike God at Luwata.

SUGGAN or Seggen, name of a divinity amazigh.Name which one nowadays finds towards Aïn Me Lila - Algeria -.

TILILWA (name of a divinity amazigh)

WARSISIMA = God amazigh.this name is a compound:name + prefix:wer+isem (without name)

WARSUTIMA = name of a divinity amazigh.also made up:wer+utim?
* WIHINAM = name of a divinity amazigh.

YAM (name of a divinity amazigh).

YUKUS (name of divinity amazigh, alternative of Yakuc).

YUNAN = God amazigh.

YUR = the moon, but also a god amazigh.

AFRIKA = Goddess amazigh.

GURAYA (Name of holy in Kabylie;sponsor of Bgayet and which one also finds towards Tipasa)

ANZA' R: god of the rain among Kabyles

[Igu]

ANZ' AR:¶ <br>¶in old amazigh beliefs (Kabyle and Riffian in particular) it represents "GOD OF the RAIN", beside many other gods and goddess.¶<br>
¶The Legend wants that god "ANZ' AR" got excited of a pretty girl, that he wanted to marry.¶This one refused categorically but ends up releasing in the last analysis.¶<br>¶It is from there that "TISLIT N WANZ' AR came" (the wife of ANZ' AR) name by which one indicates the rainbow the rainbow appears after that the rain fell.¶What is, accprding to the old beliefs and myths symbolizes the joy the Anzar's couple and his wife.¶

[AWAR]

Thank you. I believe this is a totally unknown, yet interesting subject.

[Igu]

Imazighen in general and Kabyles in particular consider that death belonged to the life.¶With the fact, it is its last stage.¶And before passing the weapon on the left, they bequeath all their goods to the males men with a moustache and make considerable efforts to marry Tullas.¶<br>
¶God of dead being "Qebbad' Llarwah' " people never die, but are made lead by this divine moron of Qebbad'.¶The legend wants that Qebbad' is in all the houses and its strategic place for reluquer At Wexxam is on Ajgu Alemmas, and when time to leave came and it dsort its matos of criminal and descends rear tgharghart to botch a life or two!¶ <br>¶Yellowbellies:¶ Aâsas Lh' macaw, Ccix Lkanun subdue butchery without stumbling!¶although Kabyles count much on them!!¶ <br>
¶After a few days of Tandelt (action of to bury) one of the members of the family makes a dream which is often a cry of late to eat chips or Timsemdin, Tighrifin (thousand-all).¶Then one proceeds, early the morning, in Assufegh N wesfel:¶i.e. coffee and Timsemdin, timeqr' udin, tamtut and others frandises for those which rise early (the world belongs them not?).¶<br>
¶But the most mythical piece is often held before death:¶that is to say the hurdy-gurdy.¶Inevitably, at least one of the inhabitants of the village meets, sees or in the worst case hears only famous Taqufett N At laxart, or Mzizel Iz' ekwan ¶<br>

[Igu]

Among the pagan rites which could cross the ages and which remained there until now and which always exists in Algeria, the Celebration of ANZAR, God of the rain, the Master of water.¶<br>In Kabylie, the inhabitants celebrated there ANZAR on arrival of the great drynesses in order to have a little rain, and for this reason it was necessary to make a festival and to present an offering at ANZAR, and this offering is not null other than the most beautiful girl of the village, than one names "THISSLIT ANZAR", promised in marriage of ANZAR, so that it can exaucer their prayers and to make fall the rain.¶It is told that formerly, at the time where the animals spoke and where the Gods had a human appearance, ANZAR, God of the rain appeared after the rain in the shape of a rainbow, one day after having immersed the water villagers, it saw with far, beautiful girl which bathed in a small river, charmed and got excited of her ANZAR the Jura to have it like partner, while approaching her, the girl flees with any pace, but ANZAR encased the step to him, it requested it to agree to follow it in the sky, where she will reign with him, and ¶<br>The girl refused her offer, and preferred the life of the mortals, with the ostentation of the Gods, offusqué by her answer ANZAR felt made indignant.¶<br>Furious by its refusal, ANZAR, shouted revenge, thus the next day, the villagers will discover rivers, brooks and desiccated sources, misfortune had fallen, death was certain, plus nothing could alleviate the anger of ANZAR.¶<br>The villagers requested the girl to yield to the desires of ANZAR in order to alleviate its anger and to follow it in its kingdom, thus the girl sacrificed herself for the survival as of his.¶Such is the legend of ANZAR, which one tells until now.¶<br>

[Igu]

AWAR said:

Thank you. I believe this is a totally unknown, yet interesting subject.

We should have been colonized by england, we would have sold our image easily thanks to english ;D

[Igu]

Anzar, gives us the rain!

The rites of water find their origin in the ancient legend of Anzar.....These ritual evolved/moved in their original state with the arrival of Islam and were little by little substituted by a purely Islamic rite which is called "El salat el Istiqa", "the prayer of water"…nevertheless certain old forms of the rite of Anzar perdurent still today in North Africa under different alternatives according to areas', in particular in kabylie, and thus practised formerly in the kasbah of Algiers (appellé "Bou&endja", "that which has the ladle") during the Fifty & 60…This legend tells that Anzar, the king of the rain, "agellid ageffur" wishes to marry a girl who refuses with him.

It threatens it to drain the river then puts this threat at éxécution. The girl yields to this blackmail and whereas it was stripped, it carries it in a flash, while returning water with the ground… A whole symbolic system this legend.... "Anzar, Anzar, have Rebbi switt-id rear azar"… "Anzar, Anzar, Ô God still sprinkles to it until the racine"… ou… "Aman mercy I uqlib, aghenja itsgririb"… "De the water of water for the last ploughing, that the cuillière makes it tomber"… it is partly by these words that one formerly called upon God and the king of the rain, Anzar, at the time of cerémonies where for the rain was asked when it had suddenly missed…

The legend of Anzar

It is told that formerly, at the time where the animals spoke and where the Gods had a human appearance, Anzar, appeared after the rain in the shape of a rainbow.

One day after having immersed water the villagers, it saw with far, beautiful girl who bathed in a small river.Charmed and got excited of it Anzar the Jura to have it like partner.While approaching it, the girl flees with any pace, but Anzar encased the step to him, it requested it to agree to follow it in the sky, where she will reign with him, and will share its richnesses and its capacities.
The girl refused her offer, it préfére by far the life of the mortals, with the ostentation of the Gods, thus offusqué Anzar felt made indignant.
Furious by its refusal, Anzar, shouted revenge, thus the next day, the villagers will discover rivers, brooks and desiccated sources, misfortune had fallen, death was certain, plus nothing could alleviate the anger of Anzar.

The villagers requested the girl to yield to the desires of Anzar in order to alleviate its anger and to follow it in its kingdom.Thus the girl sacrificed herself for the survival as of his.Thus the king of the rain satisfied, the life niormale took again his course.Such is the legend of Anzar, which one tells until now.
The rite of Anzar
For example here details of a rite of obtaining the rain carried out in the valley of high Sebaou at Ath Ziki in the Seventies - drawn from H. Genevese - "a rite of obtaining the rain" - Acts of second International Congrés of Western Study of the Cultures of Méditerrannée
The rite is presented in the form of a setting in scene of the legend of Anzar.A girl plays the role of "tislit bb-wanzar":toilet and ornament due to a bride, cortége bridal.She holds in hand "a&enja" a ladle and the procession sings invocations has Anzar, the king of the rain, while quétant of door with door.One recoit thus semolina, meat, grease, onions etc… Arrivé in a sanctuary, the procession stops and the women prepare a meal ceremonial with what was gathered.All the guides take share there.Then the "qibla", the conspicuous healer of the village, strips been engaged, the envelope in a net with fodder, then seven times ahead the turn of the sanctuary holding makes him make the ladle in hand in order to have the head of the ladle as if it asked water, while repeating:"ay At mercy awit-d mercy, nefka tarwiht I I T yev&an" Ô people of water, give water, we give the life has which wants it.¶Enter other songs, been engaged the répéte an incantation which starts with the worms according to:¶"nekk D tmurt ttakniwin" "Me and the ground let us be Co-wives".¶ <br>¶Aprés that a certain number of songs were entonnés by the women, the girls deliver themselves to the play "zerzari", called elsewhere "will lkura", the ball.¶Provided each one with a stick, they dis****nt the ball in order to be made it fall into the dedicated hole has to receive it.¶ <br>¶When the girls put the ball in the hole, they sing:¶"Agellid yersed rear lqaá, tislit tsebbed terda" "the King is descended towards the ground, been engaged subjected themselves and agreed"…¶
¶We will be able to note and to hear in these times of secheress, the women said:¶"It misses nothing any more but the equivocal and the spoons which we did not fill of water…"¶Can be remains it in the unconscious one of his wives of the notions of the rite of Anzar without the knowledge?¶<br>

[Igu]

In Antiquity among Berbers of the lake Triton (Jerid) there was once the year, as greek autors brought back, a ceremony in which took part all the girls.¶One, selected for its beauty, was richly equipped and thus symbolized a goddess, Aphrodite for the Greeks, in fact certainly a Berber divinity, it entered water in order to bring the divine blessing to him.¶<br>¶After which the girls separated in two camps (like the çoffs) and fought without saving themselves, with blow sticks or stones.¶it was not rare they wounded rhemselves, even seriously and sometimes die of their wounds.¶<br>¶Then they were found as if nothing happened and the life took again its course;¶this ceremony was to some extent a means of expier collectively the possible faults made along the year, to purify for a good year, where water would not be lacking.¶<br>
¶One finds traces of this very old rite in many places of North Africa, sometimes indeed it is a play of ball which took over, if not the engagements are done between boys of different villages (thus in Aurès), Islam undoubtedly seeing evil eye of the female quarrels… ¶<br>

[AWAR]

Thanks for the contributions here. It's not a popular theme obviously, but it's much appreciated by the few who follow your posts here!

Anyway, it's becoming even more interesting to me, ever since I did my Y-chromo DNA test which shows I'm a Berber ;D ;D ;D ( well, sort of )


Do you know if there's any online glossary for the language you guys use? I just want to see some words translate to.
Thanks in advance

[Igu]

AWAR said:

Thanks for the contributions here. It's not a popular theme obviously, but it's much appreciated by the few who follow your posts here!

Anyway, it's becoming even more interesting to me, ever since I did my Y-chromo DNA test which shows I'm a Berber ;D ;D ;D ( well, sort of )


Do you know if there's any online glossary for the language you guys use? I just want to see some words translate to.
Thanks in advance

Hi cousin ;D

you know, Berber (especially Kabyle) is more difficult to pronouce than Arabic, There are three letters more, a special K that sounds like "Me" in german ("ich"), a special G, and a special B that sounds like V.

you must add to that a rough -and funny- accent that even I don't have, when I speak to my grand ma she tells me -because of the nonexistence of the accent- "that's not Kabyle! that's arabic!"

You want a dictionary? I know one, but in french-kabyle:
www.makabylie.info/?dir=ahric8&file=dico-fra-kbl-a

you may find a solution, translate a word from english to french and then to kabyle

[recluse]

Igu,

One of the things that drew me to this discussion board in the first place was curiosity about North Africa and ancient Iberia. I wish there were more of that kind of thing here. I've especially enjoyed your posts about Berbers and Berber culture. I will continue to read them but won't respond because I am reverting to 'guest' only. Keep up the good work!

[Igu]

recluse said:

Igu,

One of the things that drew me to this discussion board in the first place was curiosity about North Africa and ancient Iberia. I wish there were more of that kind of thing here. I've especially enjoyed your posts about Berbers and Berber culture. I will continue to read them but won't respond because I am reverting to 'guest' only. Keep up the good work!

Don't worry, I also fee like a guest in many topics that interest me a lot, but where I have no knowledge, so I just eat the information.

[Igu]

Lybian=Berber.

Hérodote (the father of the history) teaches us in these writings that "POSEIDON" was of lybian (berber) orgin... It is also said that the MEDUSE, this character with snakes on the head which was killed by Persée, were not invented by the Greeks. They borrowed it from the Lybian Religion. In this religion, it belonged to a trio of three Goddess which represented wisdom. With the origin, the snakes were associated wisdom.

Herodote also teaches us that the dress of Athena had been copied from that of lybian women and that the cries pushed by its priestesses (Dinghy) were also of Lybian origin. Also Plato himself identifies Athena with lybian goddess NEITH. Goddess left the bottom of the Neolithic era and which was also taken again by the Egyptians. It is a goddes which was adored among Egyptians during predynastic times (there is more than 5000 years). Moreover the Egyptians had given him the epithet "Teh' enut", name with which they called the Lybians.

[geo]

Berber paganism! Interesting.

I always connected desert-ethics to monotheism but it seems there are exceptions. Any links on the subject?