ABSTRACT
The earth is thought to be a large flat disk floating in water, roofed by the dome of the sky, makholi, which meets the circumference of the disk at the horizon, sendekamisi. The BaVenda have words for the four winds. The east wind is mumbedzi, named after the VhaMbedzi sib, living in the east of the country; the VhaMbedzi themselves call it vhuvhaduvha. Many BaVenda believe that the sun, duvha, travels across the dome of the sky from east to west every day and returns to the east again unseen under the cover of the night; others believe that it returns under the water in which the disk-like world floats and arrives at daybreak ready to start its race across the dome again. They appreciate its great heat and think that if Raluvhimba were to bring it near to the earth they would be burnt up.
