GAUNAB

Death, chaos

Gaunab embodies, in Khoikhoi cosmology, the negative pole of the duality that opposes light to darkness, life to death. Often described as the destroyer, he is the personification of death: he prowls around the villages to seize the dying and carry them off to the underworld. As such, diseases, misfortunes and the end of beings are attributed to him. His figure forms the indispensable counterpoint of Tsui-Goab, the supreme being associated with creation, rain and light. The founding narrative of Nama mythology stages their confrontation. In a titanic struggle, Gaunab, at first the stronger, throws Tsui-Goab to the ground several times, but the latter rises each time more powerful and ends by driving him back to his dark dwelling, the Black Sky. Before yielding, Gaunab manages to wound his adversary's knee. This battle is replayed every night and explains the cyclical return of dawn and darkness, the victory of light remaining ever provisional. In some traditions, Gaunab is associated with the monster Ga-gorib and the malevolent creatures of the pit, extending his domain of death and destruction. The Khoikhoi sought to appease or turn aside his harmful action, notably in times of mourning and sickness. His name and function vary according to the groups and the ethnographic transcriptions.