According to Yoruba myth,
In the beginning there was only water beneath heaven, Obatala thought of how Boring the constant, everyday water had become. He went to Olodumare, he was asked to go and create dry land on the waters, Obatala after seeking advice from Orinmila took a cockerel, snail shell, seeds and a chain(made by Ogun). On getting to the world, Obatala first used the seeds to grow a palm tree and partied with some other Orisas, he got drunk, When Oduduwa saw him in a tipsy state, he simply took all the items from Obatala and went ahead to complete the job.

Oduduwa commonly called Oodua, poured the unending sand from the snail shell, and placed the cockerel to scatter the sand; everywhere the sand dropped turned solid. Esu with much curiosity asked the chameleon to test how solid the land was; although the chameleon struggled while standing out of fear that it might not be solid enough, but when he finished, he reported that Oduduwa did a good job. Olodumare promised to make Oduduwa king of that land. The land started expanding and it was called Ile-Ife meaning- "Home of expansion"(could also be understood as "Land of expansion".

Olodumare was disappointed at Obatala, but asked to form Human bodies in their image(Olodumare's will was for them to inhabit this Land). Obatala got clay from the earth which had just been created, and started forming bodies, at first Obatala didn't get the image properly, so he kept trying until he came to the perfect human image. Obatala already tired and with the Joy of finally getting the perfect human image, decided to chill and relax with fresh wine which got him drunk again, out of drunkenness he created deformed bodies, without realising what he had done, he asked Olodumare to give life to his creations. Olodumare sent the breath of life and the clays came alive. Obatala promised to personally take care of the deformed.

Obatala divided his time between heaven and earth, teaching the humans how to survive, he advised them against drinking wine(Obatala devotees don't drink any form of alcohol till today). Most of the Orisa were interested in visiting this new world, and Olokun got angry because this land had been put over water and the humans were disturbing her peace and quiet so Olokun caused a great flood that killed many humans. The humans climbed mountains and asked Esu to deliver a message to Obatala who was in heaven at that time, Esu requested for a sacrifice and they promised him a goat. Orunmila heard about the flood from Esu and decided to come and fight off the flood. Olokun threatened to make another flood and boosted about her ranks being as powerful as Olodumare, Olodumare sent Esu to shut her up, Esu got to Olokun, and she declared a creativity contest Olokun made beautiful Items, but Esu simply called upon his chameleon to copy the colours of everything Olokun did, Olokun got frustrated and just gave up. Apologising to Olodumare was next, after declaring to never flood the whole lands of the earth again. The land kept expanding and humans were migrating, building communities for themselves. Then Orunmila came to teach humans his new invention of divination called Ifa.

Follow this thread. More updates coming soon....

weldone

Well told, good job.

It is interesting how almost all religions have a global flood story in it. This makes it seem likely that there was indeed a huge (possibly global) flood in one of the earliest civilizations.

Good job OP.

@InesQor, as to the floods, is it a reference to the Great Meltdown? The floods after the Ice Age? or a more recent one? :/

i hope you continue this tomorow

PAGAN 9JA:
Good job OP.

@InesQor, as to the floods, is it a reference to the Great Meltdown? The floods after the Ice Age? or a more recent one? :/

Yes it is possibly the great meltdown after the ice age. Referenced in many religions as a great flood.

Aborisa simply means worship of orisa(orisha). The Orisas are seen as the first borns of Olodumare. Some are nature forces, controlling a particular element of nature. The major Orisas that fall into that category are Olokun and Oodua, being the nature forces for water and earth respectively. It is believed that these two alongside Obatala have no definite gender, changing to either male or female as they wish at any time, although Obatala is almost never described as a female.

List of Orisa
Obatala
Olokun
Oodua
Orunmila
Esu(Eshu)
Ogun
Yemoja
Aganju
Orungan
Sango(shongo)
Osun(oshun)
Oya
Oba
Sopona(shokpono)
Osumare
Oko
Erinle
Osanyin
Ososi(oshosi)
Ibeji
Aje
Aja
Orule
Iwa
Odu
Oye
Olosa
Sigidi(shigidi)
Olarosa
Dada
Aroni
Oke
Olori-Merin
Afefe
Moremi
Oranmiyan

The list is actually suppose to be much longer but it's impossible to name all the Orisa

Major/most honoured Orisas

Orunmila: (my personal favourite, my real name is to his honour). The right hand man of Olodumare, he stresses the need to achieve knowledge, wisdom and understanding in order to maintain balance in character(Iwa-pele). He can't be absent when Ori chooses a destiny for a life, he stands out from other orisa and is sometimes considered a different entity. He invented the Ifa system. Palm nuts and seeds are his signature

Obatala: Eldest of the Orisas, he forms humans out of clay. He teaches purity, patience and creativity. He is all about the white colour.

Yemoja: Oldest female orisa, she protects the defenceless and cares for children, she's the one who opens the gate to life for a new born baby, she cares for children right from the womb. She's the goddess of waterbodies, it is believed that the moon came from her. She's the mother of fishes and patron of fishermen.

Esu: records keeper of heaven and earth, he sees everything and knows the mind, he is both prosecutor and defence for u in Olodumare's presence. He gives advise to our Ori when faced with difficult challenges, however he is a trickster and plays a lot, while giving u one helpful advise he could confuse u with an unhelpful one, he oversees the ajogun and doesn't hesitate to punish ur offences, he is the propagator of what the hindus call "Karma". He is placed in charge of keeping balance in the world, and transports sacrifice to the Orisas. He takes his own sacrifice seriously.

Ogun: He is the god of metal works, wars and creativity. He is patron to Warriors, hunters and blacksmiths. Often very violent and doesn't hesitate to pass swift judgement on any form of injustice brought to his hearing. Dogs and palm fronds are his signature.

Sango: He was once human, as the 3rd king of Oyo and 4th paramount ruler over the Yorubas, he stresses truth, righteousness and protects justice. Sango teaches against making decisions while ur emotions are running wild. He is the god of thunder, fire and lightening. Double headed axe is his signature

Olokun: Owner of all waters, the deep parts of the ocean is where he stays, he is the protector of sailors and ship wrecks at sea are his doing. He is the patron of those close to the sea or have dealings with the Oceans.

wow, great work, shongo is a bit of irony, how come the orisa who advises against rash decisions is in charge of an overcharge and raging force like thunder.
A yoruba man once argued with me that sopono is small pox and not an orisa, how did so many orisas become unpopular.
I thought olokun was alway a she.
Anyway good job.

Ubenedictus: wow, great work, shongo is a bit of irony, how come the orisa who advises against rash decisions is in charge of an overcharge and raging force like thunder.
A yoruba man once argued with me that sopono is small pox and not an orisa, how did so many orisas become unpopular.
I thought olokun was alway a she.
Anyway good job.

making rash decisions brought Sango's downfall when he was king, we are suppose to learn from his mistakes. Sopona afflicts small pox and all kinds of illnesses.
I guess the only ones known to man are the ones that were interested in spending some time on earth, some Orisas can't leave heaven, as Olodumare doesn't give them permission and Ifa doesn't tell us about all of them.

Actually, this story made more evolutionary sense than the bible's creation story that says everything was completed, which means everything should be static, but land continue to form from the ocean. I wonder why people can't see this.

ooman: Actually, this story made more evolutionary sense than the bible's creation story that says everything was completed, which means everything should be static, but land continue to form from the ocean. I wonder why people can't see this.

This is an atheist with thinking cap on.

@OP. Pls after the story, kindly break it down to our age. Those names are symbolic. Good job you doing bro

Nice. Every once in a long while, nairaland surprises me by producing a beautiful thread like this one. Welldone @OP. Unfortunately The two idiots above me have already started trolling this thread and causing distractions from learning yoruba tradition/mythology/spirituality/ancestry. Please if you wanna bash christianity(as usual) go create a separate thread instead of digressing this one.

Now I wish somebody would create an igbo version of mythology.

Ubenedictus: wow, great work, shongo is a bit of irony, how come the orisa who advises against rash decisions is in charge of an overcharge and raging force like thunder.
A yoruba man once argued with me that sopono is small pox and not an orisa, how did so many orisas become unpopular.
I thought olokun was alway a she.
Anyway good job.

Now these are the kind of questions/comments that bring about more analysis and learning, and more respect despite your religious/irreligious leaning. Nice.

okeyxyz: Nice. Every once in a long while, nairaland surprises me by producing a beautiful thread like this one. Welldone @OP. Unfortunately The two idiots above me have already started trolling this thread and causing a distractions from learning yoruba tradition/mythology/spirituality/ancestry. Please if you wanna bash christianity(as usual) go create a separate thread instead of digressing this one.

Now I wish somebody would create an igbo version of mythology.

Ooman is a yoruba guy. Im a yoruba too. Whats wrong in finding sense in our spirituality?

This is yoruba not Igbo....the lost generation jew. Your language, culture, traditional and spirituality is lost.....dont troll here and go find your world.

FOLYKAZE:

Ooman is a yoruba guy. Im a yoruba too. Whats wrong in finding sense in our spirituality?

This is yoruba not Igbo....the lost generation jew. Your language, culture, traditional and spirituality is lost.....dont troll here and go find your world.

Suddenly you have turned from bashing christianity to bashing the igbo, yet again distracting from the beauty of this thread. Maybe you are incapable of understanding that I don't need to be yoruba to enjoy/learn yoruba spirituality/mythology. I hope whatever you write next would be in promoting more learning of what the OP has started, instead of looking for a fight with christianity or with igbos. Cheers.

Dont curse the dark.....light the candle in it.

Obviously, some folks will be seeing this as mythical story. Nope, it is not....our ancestors has explained evolution spiritually to their knowledge. So instead of seeing the personify forces, you look beyond what you see.

Obatala means chief of white cloth. It is symbolic and more than cloth. White clothe symbolize light. Physics teaches that the first manifestation of dynamics in the universe was light.

Olokun is salty water which arose after the ice meltdown and turn to liquid water after she meant with Obatala....light.

The chain used by Obatala to travel from the Realm of the Ancestors to Earth appears to be a symbolic representation of the structure used to transmit genetic information from one generation to the next. The genetic code that is used to form each species is passed through a biochemical substance called DNA. When DNA is viewed under a microscope it appears as a double helix, which is similar to the pattern of a chain. In Ifa scripture the reference to the Realm of the Ancestors includes all those Natural Forces that led to the development of human life and is not limited to human form. In Western science that DNA which exists in mammals is believed to be an extension of a chain of transmission from single cell life forms at the bottom of the ocean to complex life forms that populate the earth. This was put in primodial soup....this is the reason Ifa call Olokun the mother of all life.

When Obatala climbs down the chain towards land, he takes soil a from snail shell. The shape of the snail shell is a pattern that recurs throughout Nature. The early Greeks called this pattern the “Golden Mean”. It is a series of expanding circles that get progressively larger at a steady rate. This growth pattern occurs in trees, plants, and sea life. It is the same pattern that regulates the distance of planets from the sun. The snail shell as a sacred object associated with Obatala symbolized the expansive quality of evolution.

Those who are versed in science can look up to this and find some senses.

@OP......pls stop calling this myth. It is not myth but spiritual hypothesis.

Ori wa a gbe wa o.

okeyxyz:

Suddenly you have turned from bashing christianity to bashing the igbo, yet again distracting from the beauty of this thread. Maybe you are incapable of understanding that I don't need to be yoruba to enjoy/learn yoruba spirituality/mythology. I hope whatever you write next would be in promoting more learning of what the OP has started, instead of looking for a fight with christianity of with igbos. Cheers.

Heya. You won cry huh.....sorry

Be the man and stop hiding behind innocence. You were the one that first insult me on this thread. I have shown you way to reorganize yourself and stop been lost generation. Go back to your history.

Amanfrommars has been barking after me because I embrace yoruba spirituality. He said your ancestors were dumb. Mine were not so go follow your dumb descendants of dumb ancestors.

FOLYKAZE:

This is an atheist with thinking cap on.

@OP. Pls after the story, kindly break it down to our age. Those names are symbolic. Good job you doing bro

break it down to our age how do u mean?

macof: break it down to our age how do u mean?

you know some people are just silly.....some might think Olokun is a half human, half fish and have gold crown on her head. You need to make them understand olokun. I just did that in my previous post. Read it pls

macof: break it down to our age how do u mean?

That he still has milk teeth.

FOLYKAZE:

you know some people are just silly.....some might think Olokun is a half human, half fish and have gold crown on her head. You need to make them understand olokun. I just did that in my previous post. Read it pls

oh! I just understood u now

aManFromMars:

That he still has milk teeth.

Stop derailing....foolish lost jew.

Look at the beauty in Yoruba spirituality. Even Ooman embrace this. Go and gather your Igbo history, tradition and culture. I wonder when wandering as lost tribe will stop. You lost respect from me since you said your ancestors are dumb. Only a stupid fellow will stamp on his history, trash it and curse it for another thought. Such a stupid descent of dumb ancestors

FOLYKAZE:

Stop derailing....foolish lost jew.

Look at the beauty in Yoruba spirituality. Even Ooman embrace this. Go and gather your Igbo history, tradition and culture. I wonder when wandering as lost tribe will stop. You lost respect from me since you said your ancestors are dumb. Only a stupid fellow will stamp on his history, trash it and curse it for another thought. Such a stupid descent of dumb ancestors

Descent? I guess you meant descendant. Make the correction and shoot again.




Last reply to your foolishness.

aManFromMars:



Descent? I guess you meant descendant. Make the correction and shoot again.




Last reply to your foolishness.

I made a mistake....thanks for correcting me.

Go and start thread about your history. I challenge on that or we should agree you ignorant and just dumb person who is looking for people to draw down to his level. I cant reject my history, culture and tradition for anybody or anything.

I DONT CURSE THE DARK, I LIGHT THE CANDLE IN IT. Go do that for your people.

the only reason we think the stories in the bible arent myth is becos they are written. If not, i see no reason why i should believe the bible story of creation more than i should believe this.

Ogun and the Invention of Iron when Ogun and the other orisa first decended to earth, they told the humans to settle and prosper. The people were on able to do so as they wished and so Ogun had to show them an example, he talked with Orunmila about this, and was advised to invent something strong and sharp to cut the thick grasses and make holes on the earth. Ogun created an axe, after that a cutlass and finally a sword. The people used this new knowledge to make better life for themselves.

Ogun and circumcision :at the beginning Olure was created to wife Ogun, but she had no interest in him. One time she wanted to get to earth but got stuck at the entrance so she asked Ogun for help. It was a palm tree that was the cause and Ogun had to cut it down, wood from the tree entered Olure causing her great pain, she begged Ogun to get it out, he told her to first accept him as her husband, She agreed and Ogun used his cutlass to scrape out the wood from her vagina, leaving her with scars. Both of them went came to earth together as couples. Ogun couldn’t ejaculate quickly and so he thought cutting of the tip of his manhood would make it faster.



Eshu causing commotion: There were two humans who lived on adjacent farms, they had been good friends for a long time and Orunmila told them to offer sacrifice to Esu ut they refused(or forgot to do it at the right time) so Esu decided to break their friendship. Esu being a trickster made a hat- red one side, blue one side and passed the two men. They talked about how beautiful Esu’s hat was, One said it was blue the other said it was red and this brought a fight between both of them until Esu came to clear the mystery

A human king once refused his regular sacrifice to Esu, and of course Esu loves to punish does u forget him. He went to one of the king’s wives, told her he would help her to secure her husbands love, but she had to cut a strand of his hair and bring to him. He went to the king, told him his wife planned to kill him. Went to the son had told him to assemble warriors cus his father needed to address them. That night the wife came with a knife to get the hair, the king woke up, thinking this wife wanted to kill him, he struggled with her and collected the knife from her, his son heard the screams and went to the room with some men, the king thought his wife and son conspired against him, the son thought he wanted to kill his mother. Until he finally offered that sacrifice Esu came back to settle everything.

pictures of Olokun and Obatala

Ogun

yemoja

Esu

Orunmila

Apart from the Orisa, there are other spritual forces:
Ori
Irunmole
Ajogun
Egungun
Emi

The ori is a very important spirit in the religion. It can be literalised as “head” (physical nd spiritual) it is its own entity which contains our destiny, character, memory(before life/heavenly life) it allows us make decisions through our own free will, it is also our guardian angel. Ori should be worshipped first before any orisa(worshipping orisa is never a must but gives an advantage to achieving ur destiny). As Ifa teaches that he himself is not worthy of sacrifice, that ori alone is worthy of sacrifice because all thoughts start within our own minds/heads and if our heads are focused, then so will our lives. The Irunmole and Orisa are there for the times our heads become detached (Modakeke). Basically, when we're not thinking correctly. Therefore, before seeking the assistance of any of the Irunmole or Orisa use your own head first to solve your problems (use your Ori). Ori is the owner of our destiny, he chooses it for us and we must strive to accomplish our destiny.

The Irunmole are pure spiritual beings/forces, each irunmole has specific assignment given by Olodumare, they are his personal messengers. Its the believe that there are 601 irunmole(400 constantly stay in heaven) and 201 move all around the Universe

Ajogun are the spirits that bring bad tidings. Iku(death) is their leader but it seems they work only when Esu permits them. They are called to duty when a human commits a taboo. Apart from the regular taboos of the community u live in, humans have their personal taboo could be food, cloths, drink, to acting with anger. The way to discover ur taboo is through ifa or connecting with ur Ori

Egungun is also another group of spirits, this ones are the spirits of our ancestors who have lived on earth, who could seek for reincarnation at any time, or probably be ordered by Olodumare to come to earth again; most egunguns come back to earth in that same family of their before life, usually as their grandchildren. Names like babatunde, yewande, babajide etc. Are given to children believe to be reincarnates of their close ancestor.

Emi are the souls of humans. when an Emi is ready to come to the world, Ori then Chooses the destiny.