The
Yorùbá religion comprises religious beliefs
and practices of the
Yoruba people of
old before the Yoruba community encountered Islam, Christianity and
other faiths.
It originated from Africa (chiefly in Nigeria
and Benin
), and in the
New World, where it has influenced or
given birth to several Afro-American religions such as
Lucumí in Cuba
and Umbanda and Candomblé
in Brazil
in addition
to the transplantation of the homeland religions.
Yoruba religious beliefs are part of
itan — the
complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts
which make up the Yorùbá religion and society.
Yorùbá, In Brief
It is in Yorùbá philosophy the indication that all humans have
Ayanmo (manifest destiny) to become one in spirit with Olódùmarè
(Olòrún, the divine creator and source of all energy). Each person
in Ayé (the physical realm) uses thought or action energies to
impact the community of all other living things including the
Earth, and so to move towards destiny. As such, one's destiny is in
one's hands. To attain transcendence and destiny in Òrún-Réré
(spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things), one's
Orí-Inu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must be
elevated to unify with one's Iponri (Orí Òrún). Those who stop
improving are destined for Òrún-Apadi (spiritual realm of the
forsaken). Life and death are cycles of habitation in physical body
and spiritual realms while one's spirit evolves toward
transcendence. This evolution is most advanced in Irùnmolẹ (oní
irun, of the unique hair that distinguishes humans from beasts;
imo, enlightened of destiny, ilẹ on the land)
For most people, iwapẹlẹ (well-balanced), meditation and sincere
veneration sufficiently strengthen one's Orí-Inu. Being
well-balanced, it is believed, that you are in prime position to
make positive use of the simplest form of connection between eniyan
and Olu-Òrún in the form of adúra (petition;prayer) for divine
support.
Some feel it also binding to make a petition or prayer to one's Orí
Òrún as it is said to yield quick and decisive pockets of joy.
Ẹlégbara (Eṣu, the divine messenger) who, without distortion or
partiality for good or for bad, negotiates communication to Òrún
and navigates them to Ayé; deliverer of àṣẹ. It is thought that Ifá
is called upon whilst in times of major decision making; whatever
the 'offering'; the line of advice is commonly used to draw
conclusions that would not have been first thought. Call
Orunmila,Ifa; or try vice-versa; it is said that all communication
with Òrún is energized by invoking àṣẹ.
In the Yoruba Theogany, Olódùmarè has àṣẹ over all.
Deities and other entities
Yòrùbá
Orishas, literally, owners of
heads, are the means to get into contact with the supernatural. The
term is often translated as deities.
Olódùmarè
Olódùmarè is the most
important entity. Olódùmarè is so important, that there can be no
gender assigned, for Olódùmarè is seen mostly as a spirit.
Olódùmarè is therefore more correctly referred to as an IT. IT is
the owner of all heads, for during human creation, Olódùmarè gave
the emi, or breath of life to humans. To the Yorubas, Olódùmarè is
Supreme. If there was a conflict among the other Orishas IT would
take over and the fight would end.
Irunmole
The irunmole were spirits sent by Olodumare to complete various
tasks, often between Orun (the invisible realm) and Aiye (the
physical realm). Some were acknowledged as Orisha for their
accomplishments. The orishas help to create and maintain order on
earth. (see
Orisha article)
Other concepts
Ifá dafa as well as
merindinlogun or (
cowrie shell divination) are important element of Yòrùbá
religious practices.
- Eledua is Olodumare the Pantheon of the - Yoruba
theogany: In this,Olodumare is the supreme being;creator
of night and day; the final recepient of all creation
'Emere' as well as 'akuda' is another manifestation of the yoruba
belief in reincarnation is the belief in the
emere.
Àjòdún / Festivals
This schedule, as determined by the
Yoruba calendar, is illustrative for 10050
year (2008 A.D.) Note the actual dates may vary.
Ṣèrè / January
Erele / February
Olokún = Oríṣà of Okún, the deep seas or oceans, patron of sailors,
and guardian of souls lost at seaErele/Feb 21-25
Èrèna / March
Annual rites of passage for menÈrèna/March 12 – 28
Oduduwa (odudu, the dark pigment; ni ewa, is the beauty) / Iyaagbe
(iya, mother; agbe, who receives) = Oríṣà of Earth and matron of
the Ayé. Oduduwa endows the ebony dark skin pigment that accords
greatest gifts of spirituality, beauty and intellect to the bearer.
The essence of procreative love.Èrèna/March 15 – 19
Oshosi = Oríṣà of Adventure and the huntÈrèna/March 21 – 24:
Igbe / April
Ogun = Oríṣà of the metal and war crafts, and engineering. The
custodian of truth and executioner of justice, as such patron of
the legal and counselling professions who must swear to uphold
truth while biting on a piece of metal.Igbe
Oshun = Oríṣà of Fertility and custodian of the female essence. who
guides pregnancies to term.Igbe starts last Saturday of April, for
5 days-
Onset of wet season (Spring)
Ebibi / May
Egungun (Commemoration of the Ancestors, including community
founders and illustrious dead.Èbíbí: starts last Saturday of May,
for 7 days
Okudu / June
Yoruba New YearOkudu 03: Onset of the Yoruba New Year(2008 is the
10,050th year of Yoruba culture)
Shopona (Oríṣà of Disease, shopona, small pox is a virual disease)
and Osanyin (Oríṣà of Medicine and patron of the healing
professions: osan, afternoon; yin, healing)Okudu 7 - 8
Annual rites of passage for womenOkudu 10 - 23
Yemoja = matriarch of the Òrún-Rere). Oduduwa gave birth to a boy
Aganju (Land) and Yemoja (Water) from marriage to Ọbàtala. Yemoja
in turn birthed many other Oríṣà. The old Ile-Ife kingdom arose on
her burial site.Okudu 18 - 21
Agẹmo / July
Ọrúnmilà / Ifá = Oríṣà of Divination and founder of the Ifá
sciences, whose divination is with 16 palm nuts. Mass gathering of
the yorubaAgẹmo: first and second weeks in July
Oko (Agriculture) Harvesting of the new Yam crop.
Ẹlégba-Bara (Ẹlégba, one who has power to seize) / Eṣu (shu, to
release eject from; ara, the body) = Oríṣà of male essence and
Power, who is the great Communicator and messenger of the will of
Olódùmarè. No woman should bara (ba ra, to rub with, have
intercourse with) a man who has not done Ikola (circumcision: ike,
cutting; ola, that saves) in sacrifice to Ẹlégba.Agẹmo second
weekend of July
Ṣàngo (shan, to strike:/ Jakuta:ja, fight; pẹlu okuta, with stones.
The Oríṣà of Energy – Ara (Thunder) and Manamana, make fire
(Lightening) whose divination is with 16 cowries and whose
messenger and water-bearer is Oshumare (the Rainbow).Agẹmo: third
week of July
Ogun / August
Ọbàtálá = (Obà,to possess; ti ala, of visions or Oríṣà-nla, the
principal Oríṣà). Patriarch of Òrún-Rere, the heaven of goodly
spirits and beneficial ancestors. As Olódùmarè is too powerful and
busy to be pre-occupied by the affairs of any one living being.
Ọbàtálá functions as the principal emissary of Olódùmarè on Aye,
and is the custodian of Yoruba culture. The aso-ala (white cloth)
worn by Ọbàtálá initiates is to signify need to be pure in intent
and action: A recurring punishment for social misfits was to try to
keep white cloth clean in Africa's tropical and dusty climate. The
misappropriation of aso-ala connection to Ọbàtálá was/is a major
weapon against the Yoruba in their psychological resistance of
foreign invasion, as Christian and Islamic converts were/are
indoctrinated that anything considered 'white' is pure: a notion
that has also become a key tenet of racialist supremacyOgun: last
weekend of August
Òwéré / September
Ọwaro / October
Oya (Oríṣà of the odo Oya (river Niger) whose messenger is Afefe
(the Wind), and guardian of gateway between the physical realm
(Aye) and the spiritual realm (Òrún).Ọwaro
Oṣun (Oríṣà of the odo Oṣun and patron of the (sovereign) Ijebu
nationỌwaro third weekend of October
Onset of the dry season (Autumn)
Shigidi (Oríṣà of Òrún-Apadi, the realm of the unsettled spirits
and the ghosts of the dead that have left Aye and are forsaken of
Òrún-Rere. Custodian of nightmares and patron of assassins.Solemn
candlelight to guide the unsettled away from your residence, else
they settle in your dolls or other toys.Ọwaro 30 World Slavery
Day?
Bèlu / November
Òpé / December
Obajulaiye (Oríṣà of Ṣòwò (Commerce) and owo (wealth).Òpé 15
Onset of the second dry season (winter solstice)
Reincarnation
The Yoruba believe in
reincarnation,
similar to the Indian
dharma and
karma. They sometimes name children Babatunde ("Father
returns") and Yetunde ("Mother returns") to signal this
belief.
Yoruba religion in the New World
Many
ethnic Yoruba were taken as slaves to Cuba, the
Dominican
Republic
, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela
and the rest of the New World (chiefly in the 19th
century, after the Ọyọ empire collapsed
and the region plunged into civil
war), and carried their religious
beliefs with them. These concepts were combined with
preexisting
African-based cults,
Christianity,
Native American
mythology, and
Kardecist
Spiritism into various New World lineages:
The
popularly known Vodou religion of
Haiti
was founded by slaves from a different ethnic group
(the Gba speaking peoples of modern
day Benin, Togo
and Ghana
), but shares
many elements with the Yoruba-derived religions above. in addition,
author Ed Morales has claimed that Yoruba
religious beliefs and traditions played a part in early American
blues music, citing blues guitarist Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues as a "thinly veiled
reference to Eleggua, the orisha in charge of the crossroads."
See also
Notes
- Cf. The Concept of God: The People of Yoruba for
the acceptability of the translation
- Murphy, Joseph. Santería. Malaysia: Beacon Press,
1993.
- The yorubas strongly believe in reincarnation. They believe
that when everyone on Earth dies, they come back again, sometimes
through their grandchildren which causes the name "Babatunde-the
father has come back again", "Babajide- the father has woken up
again", "Iyabo-the mother comes", and "Yetunde/Yewande-the mother
comes back again", and so on, especially when the new child
resembles an old relative.
Other references
Ase Magazine titles: Olodumare, Irunmole, Irunmole Faithfuls,
Obatala, Ogun, Yemoja, Esu, Orunmila, Osun, etc. Ibile Faith
Society. (Nigeria/Germany) www.yorubareligion.org
External links
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