[1][2][3] She is one of the most influential deities in West African theology, and one shared by many ethnic groups other than the Fon people, albeit with variations.

[5] In this traditional religion of West Africa, creation starts with a female supreme being called Nana Buluku, who gave birth to Mawu and Lisa and created the universe.

[5] After giving birth, the mother supreme retired and left everything to Mawu-Lisa (Moon-Sun, female-male), deities, spirits, and inert universe.

This appeasing requires rituals and offerings to the lesser gods and ancestral spirits, who are believed to have the ability to do favors for human beings.

[5][7][8] As millions of West Africans were captured and enslaved during the colonial era, then shipped across the Atlantic to work on sugarcane, cotton, and tobacco plantations, they brought with them their religious ideas, including those about Nana Buluku.