Quel role joue l'intulo dans la mythologie zouloue ?

Intulo est le lezard messager du recit sur l'origine de la mort. Le createur Unkulunkulu envoie d'abord le cameleon unwaba annoncer aux humains qu'ils vivront toujours, puis, ayant change d'avis, depeche le lezard intulo porter le message inverse. Le lezard arrive le premier, et sa parole rend les humains mortels.

Pourquoi l'intulo a-t-il mauvaise reputation ?

Parce que la tradition lui attribue l'annonce de la mortalite humaine. Dans le folklore zoulou, apercevoir ce petit lezard a tete bleuatre se glisser dans une habitation passe pour un presage funeste. Le cameleon, plus lent, garde a l'inverse une place plus respectee, en souvenir du message de vie qu'il aurait du transmettre.

D'ou vient ce recit ?

Il a ete recueilli au XIXe siecle par le missionnaire Henry Callaway dans The Religious System of the Amazulu, a partir de temoignages zoulous. Le motif du message manque entre deux animaux, l'un porteur de vie, l'autre de mort, se retrouve dans de nombreuses traditions d'Afrique subsaharienne.

Back to the Codex

INTULO

neutral

Spirit

☥ SpiritZoulou →Zoulou — ZoulouElder

Gender: Masculine/FeminineSign: création

Intulo is, in the Zulu and more broadly Nguni traditions of southern Africa, the lizard associated with the narrative of the origin of death. The word designates a small lizard with a bluish head. In the myth collected in the nineteenth century by the missionary Henry Callaway, the creator Unkulunkulu first sends the chameleon, unwaba, to carry to human beings the message that they will not die. The chameleon lingers on the way, eats, basks in the sun. The creator then changes his mind and dispatches the lizard, intulo, with the opposite message: humans shall die. The lizard, swift, arrives first, and its word becomes law. Thus death enters the world. This motif of the failed message is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In Zulu popular culture, the intulo keeps a reputation as a bad omen: seeing this lizard slip into a hut passes for a baleful sign, while the chameleon, slower, remains surrounded by cautious respect. Certain modern presentations describe the intulo as a hybrid being, half man half lizard, but the ethnographic tradition makes of it above all the animal messenger of an aetiological narrative explaining why humans are mortal.

Powers & Attributes

creation

Role in the ROHO universe

Founding presence. INTULO stands at the root of the world and sustains the weave since before the beginning. Bound to the Zulu pantheon. Its alignment depends on the invoker's protocol.

Sacred Mask

An ancient ritual mask of sacred wood, old metal and black stone, engraved with symbols of creation, embodiment of the power of Intulo

Era

Ancient cycle

Frequently asked questions

What role does the intulo play in Zulu mythology?

Intulo is the messenger lizard of the narrative on the origin of death. The creator Unkulunkulu first sends the chameleon unwaba to announce to human beings that they will live forever, then, having changed his mind, dispatches the lizard intulo to carry the opposite message. The lizard arrives first, and its word makes humans mortal.

Why does the intulo have a bad reputation?

Because tradition attributes to it the announcement of human mortality. In Zulu folklore, catching sight of this small bluish-headed lizard slipping into a dwelling passes for a baleful omen. The chameleon, slower, keeps by contrast a more respected place, in memory of the message of life it should have delivered.

Where does this narrative come from?

It was collected in the nineteenth century by the missionary Henry Callaway in The Religious System of the Amazulu, from Zulu testimonies. The motif of the failed message between two animals, one bearing life, the other death, is found in many traditions of sub-Saharan Africa.

Related spirits

IDLOZI ABATAWA EHLOSE PUKQILI

Sources and references

Henry Callaway, The Religious System of the Amazulu, 1868-1870
Alice Werner, Myths and Legends of the Bantu, 1933