An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system (Olodumare is also known by various other names including Olorun, Eledumare, Eleda and Olofin-Orun). This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in several varieties which include Candomblé, Lucumí/Santería, Vodou, Shango in Trinidad, Anago, Oyotunji as well as some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and as well as many others. These varieties or spiritual lineages as they are called are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Togo, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Venezuela among others. As interest in African indigenous religions (spiritual systems) grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates vary, there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide.

Beliefs and rituals

The Yoruba belief in Orisa is meant to consolidate not contradict the terms of Olódùmarè. Adherents of the religion appeal to specific manifestations of Olódùmarè in the form of the various Orishas. Ancestors and culture-heroes held in reverence can also be enlisted for help with day-to-day problems. Some believers will also consult a geomantic divination specialist, known as a babalawo (Ifa Priest) or Iyanifa (Ifa's lady), to mediate in their problems. Ifa divination, an important part of life. UNESCO, the cultural and scientific education arm of the United Nations, declared Ifa a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. An important part of the traditional Yoruba faith is that the Yoruba believe their ancestor Oduduwa fell from the sky and brought with him much of what is now their belief system; although this does not directly contradict the belief that The father of Generation has impacted lifes in other regions of the world. Crucialy, it may well be his embodiment that played part. Part of this is the belief that daily life depends on proper alignment and knowledge of one's Ori. Ori literally means the head, but in spiritual matters is taken to mean an inner portion of the soul which determines personal destiny and success. Ase, which is also spelled “Axe,” “Axé,” “Ashe,” or “Ache,” is the life-force which runs though all things, living and inanimate. Ashe is the power to make things happen. It is an affirmation which is used in greetings and prayers, as well as a concept about spiritual growth. Orisha devotees strive to obtain Ashe through Iwa-Pele or gentle and good character, and in turn they experience alignment with the Ori, or what others might call inner peace or satisfaction with life.

New World

Many Yoruba people were brought to the Americas during the slave trade, along with many other ethnic nationalities from West, Central, and parts of East Africa. Yoruba religious beliefs are among the most recognizable African-derived traditions in the Americas, perhaps due to the comparatively late arrival of large numbers of Yoruba in the Americas and the conglomerative and spiritually tolerant nature of the faith. The Orisa faith is often closely aligned to the beliefs of the Gbe ethnic nationalities (including Fon, Ewe, Mahi, and Egun), and there have been centuries of creative cross-fertilization between the faith communities in Africa and in the Americas. In many countries of the African diaspora, Yoruba and Gbe beliefs have also influenced and become influenced by Catholicism and faiths which originate in the Kongo-Angolan cultural region of West-Central Africa. These include Palo in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Umbanda in Brazil and, according to some sources, the Petro rites of Haitian Vodou.

Santeria (or Lukumĺ) is a set of related religious systems which use Catholic saints as a mask to hide traditional Yoruba beliefs. Saints and other Catholic religious figures are used as disguises for Orishas. However, this process should not be confused with syncretism, as the Catholic saints were never worshiped.

Pantheon

The Yoruba theogany enjoys a Pantheon of Orishas, this includes:Aganju, Obalu Aye, Erinle, Eshu/Elegba, Yemaya, Nana Buluku, Obà, Obatala, Oxossi/Ochosi/Osoosi, Oshumare, Ogun/Ogoun/Ogunda, Oko, Olofi, Olokun, Olorun, Orunmila, Oshun, Osun, Oya, Ozain, and Shango, among countless others. In the Lucumi tradition, Osun and Oshun are different Orishas. Oshun is the beautiful and benevolent Orisha of love, life, marriage, sex and money while Osun is the protector of the Ori, or our heads and inner Orisha. The Yoruba also venerate their ancestral spirits through Egungun masquerade, Orò, Irumole, Gelede and Ibeji,the orisha of Twins (which is no wonder since the Yoruba have the world's highest incidence of twin births of any group). In fact the world capital of twins is the Yoruba town of Igboora with an average of 150 twins per 1 000 birth.

Partial list of Orishas

• Olokun - guardian of the deep ocean, the abyss, and signifies unfathomable wisdom,
• Obatala (Obatalá, Oxalá, Orixalá, Orisainlá) - arch-divinity, father of humankind, divinity of light, spiritual purity, and moral uprightness
• Orunmila (Orunla, Ifá) - divinity of wisdom, divination, destiny, and foresight
• Eshu (Eleggua, Exú, Esu, Elegba, Legbara, Papa Legba) - Eshu is the messenger between the human and divine worlds, god of duality, crossroads and beginnings, and also a phallic and fertility god (a god of Life) and the delieverer of souls to the underworld (a god of Death). Eshu is recognized as a trickster and child-like, while Eleggua is Eshu under the influence of Obatala.
• Ochumare (Oshumare, Oxumare) - rainbow deity, divinity of movement and activity, guardian of children and associated with umbilical cord
• Nana Buluku as Yemaja, the female thought of the male creator Ashe and the effective cause of all further creation.[1]
• Iemanja (Yemaja, Imanja, Yemayá, Jemanja, Yemalla, Yemana, Yemanja, Yemaya, Yemayah, Yemoja, Ymoja, Nanã, La Sirène, LaSiren, Mami Wata) - divine mother, divinity of the sea and loving mother of mankind, daughter of Obatala and wife of Aganju
• Aganju (Aganyu, Agayu) - Father of Shango, he is also said to be Shango's brother in other stories. Aganju is said to be the orisha of volcanoes, mountains, and the desert.
• Shango (Shangó, Xango, Changó, Chango, Nago Shango) - warrior diety ; divinity of thunder, fire, sky father, represents male power and sexuality
• Oba (Obba) - Shango's jealous wife, divinity of marriage and domesticity, daughter of Iemanja
• Oya (Oyá, Oiá, Iansã, Yansá, Iansan, Yansan) - warrior deity; divinity of the wind, sudden change, hurricanes, and underworld gates, a powerful sorceress and primary lover of Shango
• Ogoun (Ogun, Ogúm, Ogou) - warrior diety; divinity of iron, war, labour, sacrifice, politics, and technology (e.g. railroads)
• Oshun (Oshún, Ọṣun, Oxum, Ochun, Osun, Oschun) - divinity of rivers, love, feminine beauty, fertility, and art, also one of Shango's lovers and beloved of Ogoun
• Ibeji - the sacred twins, represent youth and vitality
• Ochosi (Oxósse, Ocshosi, Osoosi, Oxossi) - hunter and the scout of the orishas, deity of the accused and those seeking justice or searching for something
• Ozain (Osain, Osanyin) - Orisha of the forest, he owns the Omiero, a holy liquid consisting of many herbs, the liquid through which all saints and ceremonies have to proceed. Ozain is the keeper and guardian of the herbs, and is a natural healer.
• Babalu Aye (Omolu, Soponna, Shonponno, Obaluaye, Sakpata, Shakpana) - divinity of disease and illness (particularly smallpox, leprosy, and now AIDS), also orisha of healing and the earth, son of Iemanja
• Erinle (Inle) - orisha of medicine, healing, and comfort, physician to the gods
• Oko (Okko) - orisha of agriculture and the harvest
• Osun - ruler of the head, Ori

Image:Eleggua2005.jpg|Eshu/ElegguaImage:Iansa.jpg|Iansan/Iansã, Orixá of wind, changeImage:Nana Buluku.jpg|Nanã, The oldest Orixá in CandombléImage:IbejiTwins.jpg|Pair of IbejiImage:Omolu.jpg|Babalu Aye/OmolúImage:Iansa new.jpg|Iansan/Iansã

Further reading

• John Mason, Black Gods - Orisa Studies in the New World
• John Mason, Olokun: Owner of Rivers and Seas ISBN 1-881244-05-9
• John Mason, Orin Orisa: Songs for selected Heads ISBN 1-881244-06-7
• Lydia Cabrera, El Monte: Igbo-Nfinda, Ewe Orisha/Vititi Nfinda ISBN 0-89729-009-7
• [Chief Priest Ifayemi Elebuibon], Apetebii: The Wife of Orunmila ISBN 0-9638787-1-9
• [J. Omosade Awolalu], Yoruba Beliefs & Sacrificial Rites ISBN 0-9638787-3-5
• Baba Ifa Karade, The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts
• William Bascom, Sixteen Cowries
• David M. O'Brien, Animal Sacrifice and Religious Freedom: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
• James T. Houk, Spirits, Blood, and Drums: The Orisha Religion of Trinidad. 1995. Temple University Press.
• Raul Canizares, Cuban Santeria

Fakayode Fayemi Fatunde (2004) "Osun, The Manly Woman" New York: Athelia Henrietta Press.

• Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit
• S. Solagbade Popoola, Ikunle Abiyamo: It is on Bent Knees that I gave Birth. 2007. Asefin Media Publication
• Jo Anna Hunter, “Oro Pataki Aganju: A Cross Cultural Approach Towards the Understanding of the Fundamentos of the Orisa Aganju in Nigeria and Cuba.” In Orisa Yoruba God and Spiritual Identity in Africa and the Diaspora, edited by Toyin Falola, Ann Genova. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc. 2006.

External links

• Irunmole: sharing perspectives on Ifa and Orisa
• Ijo Orisa Asaforitifa: a community of West African Ifa/Orisa Tradition of Nigeria and Benin Republic
• OrishaNet: A website written by a Lucumi high priest (Babalawo)
• The Palo and Lukumi Organization - Website written by Lukumi Orisha-Ifa High Priest, aka: Babalawo
• Ile Orunmila Temple
• List of Orishas
• Orisha descriptions
• Orishas information and Santeria directory
• Baba Alawoye.com Baba'Awo Awoyinfa Ifaloju, showcasing Ifa using web media 2.0 (blogs, podcasting, video & photocasting)
• OsunPriestess.com Orisa and Yoruba religion resource. Blog, Travel to Nigeria the source of Ifa and Orisa veneration. Traditional temples in U.S.A. Orisa descriptions and documentaries.

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