De quoi Atète est-elle la déesse ?

De la fécondité et de la maternité, elle protège en particulier les femmes qui cherchent à concevoir et à accoucher sans danger.

Comment lui rend-on un culte ?

Par des rites principalement féminins, comportant des offrandes végétales et d'orge macérée, des chants oraculaires parfois en transe, et un rite où l'on jette des plantes sacrées dans la rivière ; le vendredi lui est consacré.

Le culte d'Atète a-t-il une dimension sociale ?

Oui, le rituel de l'atete est pour les femmes oromo un espace d'expression et de résistance, et il est rattaché à l'institution religieuse du qallu.

Back to the Codex

ATÈTE

ally

Goddess

🌍 EarthKafa →Kafa — KafaElder

Gender: FeminineSign: fertilité

Atete, also transcribed Ateete or Adheetee, is a fertility goddess venerated in southern Ethiopia, notably in the Kafa region, and attached to Oromo religion. A feminine, non-violent deity, she is associated with motherhood, with the spiritual power of women and with the protection of those who seek to conceive and to bring children into the world in safety. Her cult takes the form of rites led by women, with plant offerings, steeped barley and oracular songs sometimes uttered in a state of trance. An old fertility rite has the participants gather sacred plants and cast them into the river. Friday is consecrated to her. The atete ritual also constitutes, for Oromo women, a space of expression and resistance, and her cult is bound to the religious institution of the qallu.

Powers & Attributes

fertility

Role in the ROHO universe

Blacksmith of the Cycle. ATÈTE transmutes matter through the sacred flame and keeps the tools of the thresholds. Bound to the Kafa pantheon.

Sacred Mask

An ancient ritual mask of fired clay, bronze and fossilised roots, engraved with symbols of fertility, embodiment of the power of Atète

Era

Ancient cycle

Frequently asked questions

Of what is Atete the goddess?

Of fertility and motherhood; she protects in particular the women who seek to conceive and to give birth without danger.

How is she worshipped?

Through mainly feminine rites, comprising plant offerings and steeped barley, oracular songs sometimes in trance, and a rite in which sacred plants are cast into the river; Friday is consecrated to her.

Does the cult of Atete have a social dimension?

Yes: the atete ritual is for Oromo women a space of expression and resistance, and it is attached to the religious institution of the qallu.

Related spirits

KAIWAN KAIKARA CANDIT DIANG

Sources and references

Atete, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atete)
Lambert Bartels, Oromo Religion: Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia, an Attempt to Understand (Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 8) (1983)
Kuwee Kumsa, The Siiqqee Institution of Oromo Women, The Journal of Oromo Studies, vol. 4, n° 1-2, p. 115-152 (1997)