Emo r’ Urhobo Wad doh!

Your response is as good as mine.

But what does the word “Ay” mean in Urhobo?

“Ay” is Ay-ya-ra – the God of the Urhobos!

Ay-ya-ra (also called, Ay, Hor-re(-ay), Re, Ra, and Horus-o-lob-ra) is the God of the Urhobos.

Ay-ya-ra meant, “The god, Ay, is the One that is approached”.

He is God whose glory is the sun and its stretching and extensive rule.

"Ay" (Oghene) is the creator of ALL things. And He knows ALL things. He is the King of the gods and the God of the wind.

He is God over the whole universe!

Ay is very much in control and concerned about humanity as with all things. 'He' is the force behind all forces!

The name of our Last Ancestor was Aydam (Adam), and Ayram, but the name sounded like Ayda-moo and Ay-ra-ammoo,
or Ayra-ammoo.

Aydam or Ayram meant, “They are perched”, “They are installed” or “They are established”; while Ayra-ammoo meant,
“The god, Ay, is perched” or “The god, Ay, is installed” in Urhobo.

Ayram served a god whose name sounded like “Oo-Ay”, which literally meant, “Bewildering sky”, or “View of the bewildering God”.
From this word the words, “Ghay” and “Oo-ghay” (which meant “View”) evolved, and from which the word “Oo-ghay-eneh” or “Oghene”,
which is God in Urhobo, emerged.

Ayram’s wife looked exactly like him, save for her feminine features. Her name was Ay-iveh (or Iveh for short).
Her name meant “Two gods are installed”, or “Ay is doubled”. “Iveh” means “Two” in Urhobo.

“Oo-Ay” pronounced hue or Hu, or "Uku" (Uhu - the sound of the breath of God) is a sacred word, an ancient name for God. It predates religion. According to The Oxford Dictionary, the word “God” can be derived from the Sanskrit word “HU.”

"Ay" is also called Ay-ama. In Sanksrit, Ayama translates as the "breath or manifestation of life force energy of the universe." He is the energy which exists in all living things.

Ay-ya-ra was also worshiped as "Horus-o-lob-ra" (which is the same as Horso-lob-ra (Osanobua), while we were still at Alqa (present day Bini),
which Urhobo and his relatives call Horsolobroo-weh (Osonobruwhe) or Solobroo-weh for short till this day.

He is the sky-god or Most high-god!

The title Horus-uo or Horso-kisuo or Hyksos meant, “the Hawk or Falcon’s rule”, while Horus-o (or Horkso) meant, “The Hawk or Falcon” in Urhobo; which are all alternative names of earthly representatives of Re, Hor-Re, Ay-ra, or Ra; Re, Hor-re, Ay-ra or Ra meant, the Sun-God (and its stretching or extensive rule).

Ay's other aspect was "Suo" or Ay-bee-soo or Ay-gbe-soo (Egbesu); the aspect of discipline or rule. "Bee" or "Bi" meant "Movement".
"Suo" means "rule". As in Ogiso or Ogisu-o in Benin.

The name Oo-Ay, or Hu-e, or Uhu or Uku or simply "HU" is God's principal name. The word "Uku" is related also to "Chuku" (Chukwu),
one of the Igbo principal names for God. He is the Omnipotent power reigning over all gods.

Hu is also found in the Islamic credo La Ilaha Ila Allah Hu: "There is no God but Allah," Allah Hu means "God, Just He!" He is also "Ay'ledumare"

Though snippets of Ay’s personality and attributes have been fused with several religions, Ay predates religion. He is the Ay in "Ay-mon" (also spelled Amun, Amen, or Ammon). To this day, the name of our God, "Amen" is still recited at the end of prayers in both Jewish and Christian Religions. The Hebrews adopted the word and it passed into Christian use as "Amen". It is a petition for (the God - Ay'men) to fulfill our words.

It is Him that men turn to instinctively in special distress.

Ay (Oghene) is the creator of Good, and what, from the the human point of view, is evil.
He is good and kind, though he punishes evil, even by death. He is the God of Justice; He protects the weak and oppressed from strong and mighty people. There is nothing that exists, or is, which is not God-created. He formed light and created darkness.
It is God who even created death.

The Urhobo people plainly show their concept of God as one who encompasses good and what would
appear to be evil, one who makes and unmakes, one whose power is limitless, whose wisdom is unfathomable
and inscrutable.

Evil and good are not diametrically opposed, because without evil, we would not appreciate good. While time and
space last, good and evil will continue to be opposite sides of the penny; the frontal side of an object receiving
the light of the sun will continue to cast a shadow behind it.

But when eternity has swallowed up time and space, then the sun will perpetually lighten both sides and the shadow will
be no more. That is our future (heaven).

When Urhobo left Alqai-neh (Bini), the priests carried the Sun God with them, not as Horus-o-lobra, but as Ay-ya-ra.
Our sister, as well as our relatives, Isi-yon and Ookoo-ani, left with us, too.

We traveled slowly, following the edge of the river, which ensured that we all had water to drink, to cook, to wash, and for some of us,
to worship. The first big river that we crossed we named Hoo-ri-ye Ologbo (that is, "River that is big" or "Big River".)

We crossed it with floating rafts, and thereafter, it became the demarcation between Oton r'Urhobo and Oton r'Alqa (Benin).
From the hilltop nearby, after Hoo-ri-ye Ologbo, we surveyed the vast, new uninhabited land that lay before us. We named that Hilltop
place "Oogbenoo (that is, "Hill" or, literally, "Raised view" ). It was at Oogbenoo that the elders and heads decided to spread out and
move forward. They named the whole of that area commemorating the spreading of the clans as "Ogha-ra", which meant, "Separation".

Then, able-bodied ighelle, or youths, were deployed along the long border, they set up settlements from Ogha-ra, through Ijjei-re
(literally, "the direction that is cut or given by the sun, Hor-re", which name means "Path", to ada r' Adalqa-ji. This ada r' Adalqa-ji was
where Alqai-neh's incursion into Urhobo new territory was halted some years later; the place which is also called Avre-alqa (Abraka) which
means, "The crossing from Alqa", that bordered Uru n'Igbe (which means, the place or town of "Igbe"; Igbe meant, "Dance" or the movement
of the body to heard or unheard music) where we celebrated the victory of our God.

Urhobo wad-do-o!

interesting!

Op, so it appears we are all serving the same God. What about those that don't know or worship him, will they go to hell?

jchioma:
Op, so it appears we are all serving the same God.

We may not really know, but it is clear that Hu (Ay) is God. From the word "Hu", we have "Human". And when we pray, it is a petition for (the God - Ay-men) to fulfill our words. Amen!

jchioma:
What about those that don't know or worship him, will they go to hell?

For the Urhobo, worship of the Almighty is manifested in one's lifestyle and good conduct. The Urhobo believe that good people who died metamorphose spiritually to the abode meant for such people to continue a better life called "urhorho". It is also believed that evil people who died go to the abode of suffering called "egbevwerhe". To the Urhobo, what happens to a person at death is a separation of the erhi (soul) from ugboma (body), which is buried. There is a general consensus among the Urhobo that after death, the erhi passes into another world, which is known as erivwin (the spirit world). The Urhobo philosophy of life has it that when a person dies he joins the other members of his family in erivwin. We believe in life after death.

Egbevwerhe is where the souls of those whose behaviour and lot while on earth tend to bring shame and ridicule into the Urhobo lineage are exorcised from both the spiritual and physical groups of his extended families. He will not be allowed to join the ancestors nor welcomed into any other lineage. He has no hope of coming back to life and nowhere to go for repose. His soul is thus believed to roam about restlessly and without a goal, lamenting his fate. Such a soul is considered to be in a hell because he has been decorporated from where he rightly belongs. By heaven and hell, I mean reward and punishment in the afterlife. I am not referring to a hell of eternal fire or a heaven filled with harp-playing angels.

The erhi came from erivwin to be born in the flesh; it must go back to erivwin at demise. While the body decomposes in the grave, the erhi leaves it there for erivwin. Where it goes and the group it joins (urhorho or egbevwerhe) depends upon how it comported itself while it was on earth. If it were incorporated in a body, which lived well, died well and was accorded funeral rites, the gates of urhoro would be thrown open for it to join other irhi who form the nucleus of the extended family in the world beyond.

scionofurhobo:


We may not really know, but it is clear that Hu (Ay) is God. From the word "Hu", we have "Human". And when we pray, it is a petition for (the God - Ay-men) to fulfill our words. Amen!



For the Urhobo, worship of the Almighty is manifested in one's lifestyle and good conduct. The Urhobo believe that good people who died metamorphose spiritually to the abode meant for such people to continue a better life called "urhorho". It is also believed that evil people who died go to the abode of suffering called "egbevwerhe". To the Urhobo, what happens to a person at death is a separation of the erhi (soul) from ugboma (body), which is buried. There is a general consensus among the Urhobo that after death, the erhi passes into another world, which is known as erivwin (the spirit world). The Urhobo philosophy of life has it that when a person dies he joins the other members of his family in erivwin. We believe in life after death.

Egbevwerhe is where the souls of those whose behaviour and lot while on earth tend to bring shame and ridicule into the Urhobo lineage are exorcised from both the spiritual and physical groups of his extended families. He will not be allowed to join the ancestors nor welcomed into any other lineage. He has no hope of coming back to life and nowhere to go for repose. His soul is thus believed to roam about restlessly and without a goal, lamenting his fate. Such a soul is considered to be in a hell because he has been decorporated from where he rightly belongs. By heaven and hell, I mean reward and punishment in the afterlife. I am not referring to a hell of eternal fire or a heaven filled with harp-playing angels.

The erhi came from erivwin to be born in the flesh; it must go back to erivwin at demise. While the body decomposes in the grave, the erhi leaves it there for erivwin. Where it goes and the group it joins (urhorho or egbevwerhe) depends upon how it comported itself while it was on earth. If it were incorporated in a body, which lived well, died well and was accorded funeral rites, the gates of urhoro would be thrown open for it to join other irhi who form the nucleus of the extended family in the world beyond.

Hmmm! Interesting. Thank you sir. It is possible that God uses various words for himself to show us that he's a great God.

I am doing some some research base on your summation, and my discoveries are mind blowing. Hu could also be the U in U-bangidi - The supreme being in Hausa. The Eckankar also use Hu in their chants (prayer).

jchioma:


Hmmm! Interesting. Thank you sir. It is possible that God uses various words for himself to show us that he's a great God.

I am doing some some research base on your summation, and my discoveries are mind blowing. Hu could also be the U in U-bangidi - The supreme being in Hausa. The Eckankar also use Hu in their chants (prayer).

It's true; God, at sundry times and in divers manners had revealed Himself in time past unto our fathers...

Ay - ya - ra! Me kpa uvw'ay! Me ye r'uvw'ay! - The Ancient of Days!

Umu Chineke ay! Ay!

"Ay-men! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! A-Ay-men."

The LORD God of Precision!

Op, is there any relationship between urhobo tradition and itshekiri...how similar is to Bini people....