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African Fractals
Culture 14: Complexity in African religion

Just as computer scientists view fractals as the most complex because they require the greatest computing power, African religions generally use fractal imagery for the gods with the most spiritual power. Gods representing orderly, cyclic patterns (such as Nummo in Mali and Dan in Benin, shown above) tend to have low power. Trickster gods representing disorder, more common in narrative form, tend to have low power. Fractals and related scaling shapes tend to be associated with the power of life (Nyame in Ghana, Mawu in Benin), and hence higher power.