October 19, 2004
From Brazil, we have Omolu (also known as omulu and omolou), a god imported by African slaves.
Omolu is also known as Obaluaye, and those of you around my age may remember Desi Arnaz singing about him in his hit babalu aye. Interesting that people have renewed their interest in Omolu as a result of AIDS, and are hoping he can help them.
Some other smallpox gods: from Hinduism we have Shitala, the Yoruba bring us Shapona (third paragraph from bottom), who became Omolu when he hit Brazil. Finally, we have Sagbata/Sakbata, from two regions in Africa. When the World Health Organization was attempting to eliminate smallpox in Africa, they encountered significant resistance from the faithful, partially because of the disrespect thought being exhibited toward the local gods, who often governed more than smallpox. Eventually more tactful explanations were successful in alleviating the fears of the populace.
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But... but... this is where I come to fulfill my 'discussion of polytheism as it pertains to communicable disease' needs.
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Is this renewal of interest in Omolu happening in Brazil? Across the world? I was going to guess that it's connected to the lack of access to AIDS drugs experienced in some countries, but if it's on the upsurge everywhere, something else is probably at play.
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It's ok, coppermac. Senhor Bonfim told me so. When I go to Bahia next year I'll keep an eye out.
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Interesting stuff, coppermac. I've found Alardy , another deity for your collection - "As in the case of lightning strike, the Ossetes did not mourn for victims of smallpox, for fear of antagonizing Alardy, their smallpox god...". It all conjures up a vision of some divine realm where the gods of serious diseases like smallpox patronise the gods of athlete's foot or halitosis. "You're not the god of influenza - just the god of a bit of a sniffle". Incidentally, I believe 'Mephistopheles' means something like 'bringer of disease', doesn't it?
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copermac - this is fascinating, thank you. When I have time, I will try to read it more carefully to have a good discussion. Can you tell us more about how the World Health organisation dealt with the issue of innoculations and gods of small pox?
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Whoops, sorry jb. I thought no-one was posting in this thread, so I left it alone. A brief summary of the fight against smallpox: In 1958 a group of doctors from the Soviet Union approached the World Health Organization and proposed an international campaign to eliminate smallpox. Despite the cold war, western bloc countries signed on readily, seeing the advantage of eradicating a killer (approximately 2 000 000 deaths per year, globally). It took almost ten years to plan and set in motion, but by then most countries were prepared to help in the effort, as were nationless groups such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Several years later, smallpox existed only in rare pockets (it has never been truly eradicated, but with innoculation, its ability to infect has been severely restricted. 1977 reported the last known 'wild' case of smallpox, in a Somali man who was cured. Dealing with people who recognized smallpox gods was awkward at first, primarily because the doctors viewed the innoculations as a medical issue, while the populace viewed it as a religious issue. Compounding that, none (or very, very few) of the doctors were polytheistic or had much of an idea of what the idea even meant. How could one 'offend the gods' by helping people? The faithful, however, believed that their gods were not utterly malicious -- they simply meted out punishment (illness and death) and reward (recovery and good health) as gods will, frequently in response to the actions of the afflicted. These faithful, therefore, were not enamoured of calling out their gods and pissing them off by allowing syringe-wielding heathens to stamp all over traditions. Some felt that they were being asked to declare war on their gods, and you can imagine the resistance that met. In any event, translators and more sensitive approaches eased the fears of many, though some were violently forced to submit to innoculation. Oh, and thanks, Plegmund, for the new (to me) deity.