In Yoruba culture, we believe that masquerades come from heaven and that they are not human beings. That is why they cover their faces, so that even if the person inside the masquerade regalia is your father, you pretend you do not know him. As far as you know, the masquerade is ara orun {entity from heaven}

Now, masquerades have power, we believe and they can use their whip to flog and whip anybody within reach. But with all these powers, the masquerade knows there are some people he dare not touch with his whip. He dares not whip a senior masquerade who is for the moment a human being because he is not in their regalia, he does not harass the moriwos (people in their masquerade fraternity, and won’t whip a babalawo and of course he has to bend down in abeyance to the Alaagba who is the head of the moriwos.

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