The Mossi are a Gur-speaking West African ethnic group who reside in the Sahel and humid savanna region. They make up one half of the population of Burkina Faso and are a significant population in Cote d'Ivoire as well as Ghana. Like many other Sahelian peoples, the Mossi were organized into settled feudal kingdoms organized along hierarchal caste lines. For the great empires of Mali and Songhai, the Mossi kingdoms served as one of if not the biggest thorns in their sides owning to their massive and heavily armored cavalry raids from the Upper Volta region right into the key imperial cities of the Middle Niger river. One Mansa of Mali sympathized with the Egyptian sultan by comparing his stories of the Mongol hordes with his own tales of Mossi conquests.
Unlike their Malinese, Fulani, and Songhai rivals, the Mossi stood firm against Islamic conversion for nearly 1000 years albeit indulging in syncretic practices such as consulting Muslim wizards for magical aid in the form of divination, spells, as well as amulets. The Mossi were comprised of five autonomous kingdoms with various petty kingdoms underneath them. Of the five kingdoms, Ouagadougou and its king or "Mogho Naba" were recognized as senior among all others.
In the buildup to the conquest of what is now Burkina Faso by the French, Islam had finally succeeded in making headway into the Mossi nation. And not too long after, the French would begin to introduce Christianity. In contemporary times more than half of Mossi people are Muslims, a fifteenth are Christians, but roughly a fifth of Mossi continue to adhere to traditional beliefs. However, the majority of Muslim and Christian Mossi blend traditionalism with their Abrahamic faiths.
Mossi traditional beliefs recognize the existence of a supreme god known as Wende/Wennam/Naba Zidiwinde, the cult of the earth deities like Tenga, and the cult of the ancestor spirits or "Keemse".
Mossi Mythology contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Princess Yennenga of Dagbon was a warrior and big game huntress who joined her father king Naa Gbewaa in battle against the Mandinka.
- Anatomy of the Soul: The spiritual being in Mossi lore is composed of multiple parts.
- The "Seega" inhabits all living beings and leaves the body during sleep. The adventures of the Seega are what people see as dreams. During sleep the Seega is vulnerable and can be stolen or devoured by dark wizards, resulting in death. It is the shadow, and for this reason it is thought that dead people cast no true shadows.
- The Keema is the part of the soul which lingers after death, occasionally scaring people. Keemse take keen interest in their relations after death, protecting and guiding and protecting them in return for offerings of animal Seegas which are released when sacrificed. Keemse will punish the living for misbehavior just as they reward them for good behavior.
- Vousem is the animating soul. It can be seen as a person's breath. At the time of death some say it enters the caverns of mount Plimpikou from where Keemse occasionally visit the living on earth.
- Divine Punishment: Tenga is feared far more than Wende for this reason, as she is the goddess of morality and divine justice. Any act of wrongdoing from lying to rape & murder infuriate her. Swearing an oath in her name as Serious Business.
- Doting Grandparent: After years of his daughter missing, king Naa Gbewaa rejoiced to learn she was alive and returning to him. He was also excited to build up his grandson Ouedraogo into a fine king. He had completely forgotten his anger at Yennenga running away.
- Earth Mother: Tenga is the earth goddess.
- Fertility God: Tenga Wende is charge of climatic conditions and soil fertility.
- God Couple: Wende and Tenga are husband and wife.
- Green Thumb: Tido Wende is the plant deity.
- Ki Wende is the millet deity.
- Have You Seen My God?: Wende is very aloof from humans for the most part
- Heaven Above: Wende is a sky god and the supreme being.
- Mother Nature: Tenga is also the goddess of the forest.
- Our Ancestors Are Superheroes: The first man Siguiri Wende is still worshipped as a god.
- Power of the Sun: Wennam is recognized as a sun god.
- Rebellious Princess: Yennenga's father forbid her to ever marry and locked her away to keep her from men. So her servant helped her disguise as a man and escape on a stallion. While on the road, they were attacked by Mandinka warriors and her servant was killed. She journeyed on until she ran into an elephant hunter named Riale. They fell in love and had a son named Ouedraogo who would be the first Mossi king.
- Sentient Cosmic Force: Wennam is sometimes seen as the life force of Wende manifesting creatively on earth.
- The Underworld: Keemsetenga or Keemkoulogou was the dwelling place of the ancestors. In some legends they torment the wicked dead here, in other beliefs they kick the wicked dead out and force them to wander the wilderness on earth as lost souls.
- Weather Manipulation: Saga Wende is the rain deity.
