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Yoruba Mythology - Culture (8) - Nairaland

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Fulani/fulbe Traditional Beliefs And Mythology / Lucifer As The Olósí (not Esu)of Yorùbá Mythology / Fulani/ Hausa Myths, Mythology And Legends (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Yoruba Mythology by amor4ce(m): 11:23pm On Nov 04, 2011
What's the story about Olosi, Osoosi, and the 16 sons of Oduduwa?
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 10:01am On Nov 05, 2011
Oxossi (also Oshosi, Ochosi, Ososi, Oxosi, or Osawsi) is both the Orisha of the forest and one of the three warrior orishas referred to as the "Ebora" in the Yoruba religion. He is a hunter, and his role as an often solitary figure in the wilderness lends him another role as a shaman. He is also connected with all hunter communities, and is often depicted as a friend or ally of both the caboclos and the nature spirits of the forests of Brazil. Oshosi is most important to the people of Brazil in Candomblé (a Latin American religion derived from the traditional spiritual practices of the Yoruba people of West Africa), as the Amazon Rainforest brings this element of him to the fore[citation needed] in Candomblé more than in its cousins, the island religions of Cuban Santeria and Haitian Voudoun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxossi
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 10:04am On Nov 05, 2011
Olòrún is the Yorùbá name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions (and other belief systems), Who is either the sole entity in monotheism, or a single entity in polytheism. Eitherway, It is regarded as a Self-Existing Being.

Commonly addressed as Olódùmarè, It is often regarded as the infinite ruler of the heavens; all-encompassing, and said to be the owner of all heads. No gender is typically assigned. Hence, It is commomnly referred to as "It" or "They" (although this is meant to address a somewhat singularity). The divine creator and source of all energy, It is often thought to be the conduit through which the thoughts and actions of each person in "Ayé" (the world) interact with those of all other living things, including the universe itself.
Olòrún has also been variously conceived as being incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation and the "greatest conceivable existent".
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 12:21pm On Nov 05, 2011
Oranyan Omoluabi, King of the Yoruba, also known as Oranmiyan, was a Yoruba king from the kingdom of Ile-Ife and son to Oduduwa.[1] According to Yoruba history, he founded Oyo at around the year 1170 and one of his children, Eweka I, went on to become the first Oba of the Benin Empire. Following his death, his family erected an obelisk known as the Staff of Oranmiyan at the place where their father died.[1]
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 12:24pm On Nov 05, 2011
One of the oldest yoruba literature.

[size=20pt]THE STAFF OF ORANYAN[/size]

ORANYAN, a brave and warlike King, founded the city of Oyo. As it was necessary for him to lead an expedition to a distant part of his kingdom, he left his son in charge of the capital during his absence.

 But the King was away for such a long period that it was thought he and his soldiers must have perished, and at last the people made his son King, and for some time he ruled them wisely and happily.

 However, Oranyan was not dead, and after many delays and hardships he again drew near to Oyo with his few surviving followers.

 As he approached the city he was startled to hear the notes of the Kakaki trumpet, which is sounded for the King alone.

 Feeling sure that nobody could be aware of his return, he asked a man working in p. 47 the fields for whom the trumpet was being sounded.

 “For the King,” replied the man.

 “Yes, but which King?” asked the travel-worn stranger.

 “Do you not know that the son of Oranyan is King, and rules over us wisely and well? His father was killed in battle many months ago.”

 Desiring his son’s happiness more than his own, the old King retraced his steps, and settled down with his few friends in humble retirement in a remote part of the country. Only at Oranyan’s death was his presence made known to his son.

 The young Prince, now King, grieving at his noble father’s sacrifice, erected an obelisk over the spot where he died, and the monument, which is known as the Staff of Oranyan, is still to be seen.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 12:27pm On Nov 05, 2011
ORANYAN, a true boss. He act like one, and died like one. Rest in peace.

1 Like

Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 1:10pm On Nov 05, 2011
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:50pm On Nov 05, 2011
The Divine Being.

God is commonly called "OLORUN," a contracted form of "Eniti-o-ni-orun," "the Owner of the Heavens; or of "Olu-orun," the Chief in the Heavens; or "Orun," the heavens, which is an abbreviated form of Olorun, and is intended to imply both heaven and earth together, which are sometimes spoken of together as the Universe. "ALAIYE,"' a contracted form of "Eniti-o-ni-aiye," "the Owner of the Earth," or of "OLUWA-AIYE," "the Master of the Earth," the term "Aiye" being understood to include both the earth and the heavens together; "OLUDUMARE," which some interpret to mean The Chief, or The King who is the Son of "ERE," and some regard as representing THE "EVER RIGHTEOUS ONE," and some "God the Almighty"; and "Oloni," a contracted form of "Oluwa ini," the Owner of all our possessions, and other like names, many of which are commonly applied to inferior and subordinate Deities, as was the case with some of the ancient nations, as, for instance, the Greeks and the Romans.

Man, both from his inability to fully grasp the Infinite and for his own convenience, has been wont to represent this Being to himself by some attribute of His that impresses him more forcibly than others, or, through some special blessing from Him to which he attaches unexceptional value, and sometimes to content himself with transferring to Him a name he had applied before to some subordinate deity. Thus the Greeks like other Aryan races speak of Him as "Zeus" or "Jupiter," "The God of light," or the "God of heaven," and "Theos," the "Being who has made and arranged all things"; the Jews speak of Him amongst other names as "The Mighty One"; the English still apply to Him the Saxon name "God," "a graven image," which they had before their conversion to Christianity applied to an inferior deity; and the Yorubans speak of Him as "Olorun," "the Owner of the Heavens," or, "The Chief One in, or, The King of the Heavens."

The number of Yoruba gods commonly reckoned is 401, but it is strictly more correct to say that the number is 600, arranged generally under two divisions, 200, as the Babalawos would say, placed on the right-hand side, and 400 on the left-hand side. But the gods more commonly worshipped are Ifa, Oduduwa, Obanta and Obanla his wife, Osun, Ogun, Yemaja, Buruku, Obalufon, Orisa-oko, and Soponno, Sango and Obatala.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:51pm On Nov 05, 2011
[1]These Deities are generally known among us as "Orishas, " a term which, after the religious tradition of the country, was originally applied to some being whom Ifa, or Orunmila, the Son of God, had sent out with others to search about for and collect together the wisdom which he had strewn about, and who were successful in their search and collection whilst others failed, and who were then spoken of as "Awon ti o ri sa," i.e., those who were successful in making their collection, and who after, and in consequence of this, became objects of worship. But others have represented the term "Orisha" as derived from the circumstance of a serious difference on a

[1. Compare the BAKICI BACI of the Bavili and the EBAMI of the Bini.]

particular occasion between two friends named Arin and Ogba, a difference in which some elders interfered, over a potsherd, "Isha," which the one had made a present of to the other, but a return of which the giver afterwards from envy demanded, and which after its return was accounted sacred and became an object of worship; and they say that from this every other object of worship has been called an "Orisha" (Ori-isha), in allusion to the potsherd over which there had been a severe difference.

Sango, the god of the atmosphere; Aramife, the god of fire; Aje, the god of trade; Obalufon, the god of a prosperous empire; Korikoto and Oke, gods of child-birth; the gods of the sea, Yemoja, Okun or Olokun, and Osun; the god of war, and the goddess of hunting (Ogun and Oranmiyan, Ososi and Uja his wife, Obalogun and Akipo his wife, and Ikuligbogbo); the god of agriculture, Ogun; the gods of prophecy and song, Ifa and Erinle; the god of eloquence, Obatala; the god of love and beauty, Olokun; the god of wisdom, Olokun; and the deities of the hearth fire, the Egun, or spirits of deceased ancestors.

Some of the Yoruba Divinities have been borrowed from other tribes.

Sango, from the Niger territory; Eko-Ifa, from the Akoko tribe; and Aje, from the Egun or Popo tribe.

Yorubans, whose heathen and idolatrous worship is a recurring festival at which a particular divinity is worshipped, have from this circumstance often denominated a day in every cycle of five days from the name of the deity to whose worship it is devoted, e.g., thus we find one day named Ojo Jakuta, i.e., the day when Jakuta or Shango[1] is worshipped; Ojo Obatala, i.e., the day when Obatala is worshipped; Ojo Ifa, i.e., the day when Ifa is worshipped, or when he sits on a throne like a king; Ojo Abameta, i.e., the Abameta day; and Ojo Yemaja, which is Ojo Oro as well, when both Yemaja and deceased ancestors' spirits are worshipped.

The Yorubans bury their dead in their houses, and believe in them, in their power after death, and in their interest in their surviving friends; this is the family Oro and Egun worship, i.e., the worship at some fixed place in a house of the spirits of deceased ancestors, male and female, by surviving members of a family of which they had been a visible part, the fixed place being commonly marked by coloured designs on a wall of the house

[1. Shango is an imported "power," see the days of the week of the Bavili and Bini, pages 64 and 214.]

or on the floor, and called "Olojuba-Baba," or "Oju-Egun, Baba," i.e., the spot specially assigned to the worship of the spirits of our deceased ancestors, and to which has been added the worship of such spirits as Esu, the devil, whose image is often placed on the left-hand side of the entrance into a premises; Esi, whose own is often in the piazza; whilstIfaor Orunmila's ORO, which consists of 32 sacred palm nuts in a bowl, is generally placed at the sleeping apartment of the head of the house, and on an elevation raised above that occupied by the images of other orishas kept in the house to mark his superior importance.

Yorubans, like many other African tribes, make use of groves which they regard as sacred to some of their gods, and consecrated for worship to them in connection with their idolatry, and which they sometimes designate as "Igboro," i.e., groves sacred to the spirits of our ancestors-" "Igbo Egun", or "Igbale Egun", or "Opa," "Igbo Osonyin," "Igbo Oluwa-Olofin,", or "Igbo Oluwa Aramife."

The practice of appropriating individual trees to purposes of devotion is indulged in by many African tribes, including the Yorubans.

The Palm tree, the Cotton tree, the Iroko tree, the Akoko tree, and the Ekika, whose leaves are commonly employed fresh on occasions of installation to the position and rank of a sovereign, and to the office of a priest of high rank, and the Omiyolo tree, the Iporogun and the Atori shrubs are among others accounted sacred trees and shrubs in Yoruba.

The Palm tree, on occasions of both private and public festivities connected with religious worship. Its branches are commonly employed to decorate places and objects of worship, both as a mark of reverential regard and adoration and as a token of the belief and confidence of worhippers in their divinities, and in their attributes also which the height, strength, and durability of the tree itself and the upward direction of its younger branches are regarded as representing, exactly as the tree was regarded as sacred both by the Etrurians and the Greeks, and the Oak by the Jews and Greeks, and the ancient heathen nations of Gaul and Britain.

The great Oracle of the Yoruba country is Ifa. He is represented chiefly by 16 palm nuts each having from four to 10 or more eyelets on them. Behind each one of these representative nuts are 16 subordinate Divinities. Each one of the whole lot is termed an Odu -which means a chief, a head. This makes the number of Odu altogether 256. Besides these, there are 16 other Odus connected with each of the 256, and this makes the whole number of Odus 4,096. Some increase this large number still by an addition of 16 more to each of the last number of Odus, but the 16 principal ones are those more frequently in requisition.

There is a series of traditional stories, each of which is called a road, a pathway, or a course, and is connected with some particular Odu. Each Odu is supposed to have 1,680 of these stories connected with it, and these, together with those of the other Odus, every one aspiring to the office of "A Babalawo," who is a divining or sacrificing priest, is expected to commit to memory, though scarcely has any one been found to perform the feat. Many learn by heart a very, considerable number, rather an appreciable number connected with the principal Odus. Upon the appearance of an Wit on the divining or consulting bowl, the "Babalawo," thinks of some of the stories attached to it, and from any of them that appears to him to suit the case upon which he is consulted, he delivers his Oracular response, and prescribes the sacrifice that would be accepted.

These, each of which is always represented in a pair, and is spoken of as two, are named thus:Eji Ogbe, Oyekun meji, Iwori meji, Edi meji, Bara meji, Okaran meji, Urosi meji, Owaran meji, Osa meji, Ogunda meji, Eture meji, Oturupon meji, Ose meji, Ofu meji and Eka meji. Eji or meji means two, double, or a pair.

Eji Ogbe is regarded the most principal, "The Dux," or "Imperator" and "King," whose appearance on the consulting bowl is always regarded as indicating the communication of a message of very great importance, since earthly sovereigns are not accustomed to come and. stand out before their people themselves and set aside for the time being their representatives or deputies except when the communication to be delivered is one of uncommon importance.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:52pm On Nov 05, 2011
Subordinate Odus are constituted and represented by the conjunction of two principal Odus at one and the same time upon the consulting and divining bowl, the one on the right and the other on the left, this simultaneous appearance and their conjunction uniting to give them their respective names, e.g., when Eji Ogbe and Oyekun appear together, they are joined together and named Ogbe-Iyekun; or if Eji Ogbe appear with Ogunda, they are both together named Ogbe-Ogdnda, and so on with all the rest. The first of the two names in combination is always that of the Odu which appears on the left-hand side.

Each nut, or the collection, is commonly described as Ikin or Akin, which means a strong one, after they have been, with an elaborate religious performance, set aside for the sacred purpose of divination. The collection is usually topped by an Ikin, called an Oduso, which is regarded as above being consulted or delivering a message, hence the parable,-

"Akin li a I pa- a ki lu Oduso."

"An Akin is the one we may strike for divination: we have: no right to strike an Odusu."

An "Adele," or a "Watch Akin," is that which happens not to be taken up with the rest by a consulting priest, when he takes out with one grasp of the palm of his right hand 16 and 1 Odus from the number of ikins in his bag or from the face of his consulting bowl for consultation and divination. This one, left behind, does the duty of a keeper of the house for both himself and his comrades, till they should be returned to their place again.

Ifa is known by a great many descriptive and attributive names, among which are the following:-"Orunmila" (Heaven is the wise and successful Arbiter or Reconciler; again, Heaven, knows him who will be saved or how to save), "Olodumare" (Olodun, Omoere, Olodu, the son of Ere) "Ikuforiji" (the Being whom death honours and pays obeisance to), "Olijeni" (the Master of the seventh (7th) day festival), "Oba Olofa Asun l'ola" (the Ruler who draws blessing and prosperity after Him, and who sleeps in the midst of honours), "Nini," ti ise "Omo Oloni" (the Possessor, who is -the Son of the greater Possessor), "Erintunde" (laughing comes back to the world, or the Being whose advent into the world has brought back the laugh of joy and gladness), "Owa" (the Being whose advent into the world from heaven filled men with joyful and thankful surprise which caused many to ask, "Is it Thou who hast come?" "Iwo li o wa?" and the Being from heaven whose constant cry to all in the world is that they should come to Him), "Owo, Alarun jarun" (the Parent who has given birth to five children and has lost none of them by death), "Olubesan" or "Olu-li ibi Esan" (the Chief Avenger of wrongs), "Edu" (the Black One, or the Great One whom, as tradition says, troubles have ma-de black), "Ope Ifa" (the palm sacred to Ifa), "ljiki-ti ki f'ori ba le f'enikan" (the Being whom all honour with the daily morning salutation, but who is above paying respect to any other being), "Abakuwijo" (the Being whose power is so great that he calls death to account), "Baba ye omo" (the Father who reflects honour on his children, or of whom his children may justly be proud). "Okitibiri, a-pa-ojo iku da" (the Being who, turning himself over as it were in a struggle, postpones for his client the day of death).

Divination is taken by a Babalawo on a highly esteemed broad circular bowl or four cornered fan of a moderate size, which is generally covered with white flour from a dry tree, and upon which he works, and with one of the fingers of the right hand imprints certain signs, representing such Ifa representatives as may be left in the palm of his left hand, after he has attempted with one grasp of the palm of his right hand to take up all the 16, where they were all held. These small signs or marks which would represent a number of efforts, and would be placed one after another horizontally would, according to their number and respective positions, represent one or other of the principal or subordinate Odus, or Divinities. From that Odu or Divinity, and one or other of the traditional stories connected with it, and with the aid of lot casting and of Opele, divination is taken and delivered.

Ifa, to speak more properly, an Odu delivers his responses in and through the channel of Parables, which every Babalawo is expected to be able to interpret. Hence it is commonly said:-

Owe ni Ifa ipa,
Omoran ni imo-
Bi a ba wipe mo-
Omoran a mo-
Nigbati a ko ba mo,
A ni, ko se!

Ifa speaks always in parables,
A wise man is he who understands his speech,
When we say understand it
The wise man always understands it,
But when we do not understand it -
We say it is of no account or the prediction is not fulfilled.

A Babalawo may sometimes be seen sitting over his Ifa Bowl, attempting to consult the god and divine for an applicant who is present with him, and who, it may be, desires to know whether a business he thinks of embarking in would prosper. He uses his Ikins in the manner described above, and Eji Ogbe, the prince of all the Olodus or Odus appears. Upon this he casts lot to find out from him what the business is in regard to which he has been asked to consult him, and what the result of embarking in it would be to the applicant. The business known and its issue foretold, if this issue should be favourable, the Babalawo may sometimes be heard delivering himself thus and saying amongst other things with the authority of Eji Ogbe, of whose appearance he will have imformed the humble applicant-
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:52pm On Nov 05, 2011
Bi a ba bo oju,
Bi a ba bo imu
Isale agbon ni a ipari re.

Ada fun Orunmila nigbati o nlo gba ase l'owo Olodumare; o rubo. Olodumare si wa fi ase fun u. Nigbati gbogbo aiye gbo pe o ti gba ase l'owo Olodumare nwon si nwo to. Gbogbo eyi ti o wi si nse. Lati igba na wa ni a nwipe. A Se!

"If (when) we wash the face,
If (when) we wash the nose
We are accustomed to finish the operation at the bottom of the chin."

Ifa was consulted for Orunmila on the occasion when he would go to receive authority and power from the Almighty One and he offered the sacrifice prescribed to him. After this the Almighty One gave him authority and power.

When the people of the world learnt that he had received authority and power from the Almighty, all of them began to flock to him, to consult him on their affairs.

It was since then we have been accustomed to say "A se!" - "It will be as predicted."

Opele, or Opepere, is an Oracle of inferior rank to Ifa, and who is regarded as his constant attendant and is commonly spoken of as his slave. He is always represented by eight flat pieces of wood, or metal, or something else, strung together in two rows of four on each side, placed at equal distances from each other and joined together. The disposition of one or other of these pieces when the whole ensign is thrown and made to spread out upon the ground would represent at once a particular Odu; and one of Opele's chief duties is to show to the Babalawo what particular Odu he should consult upon a case referred to him.

Opele is often and frequently thus consulted by Babalawos, who usually carry about them its ensigns, because, consulting it carries with it less labour than, and is not so difficult as the work of consulting the Master, Ifa, himself; but this would be on matters of minor importance, and its response would be that of a servant for his master, and which is not always absolutely relied upon.

Opele is expected to be referred to and consulted every morning that a devotee might know whether the day would be for him prosperous or not and, if it should be seen to be a non-prosperous one, what sacrifice he should offer to conciliate the goodwill of his divinity in order that he might convert the day to a prosperous one for him, and also, that he might generally secure the blessing of his guidance and other assistance throughout the day; whilst a Babalawo is expected to ordinarily consult his Ifa every fifth day, which is the close of a week of Oses or worshipping days. Hence the parable runs:-

(1) Oju mo ki mo ki Awo ma sode wo
Agbede a gbon ada-

(2) Bi oni ti ri, ola ki ri be, li o mu ki Babalawo ma da Ifa ororun.

(1) "There is never a morning when a Babalawo or a consulting Priest does not consult his Opele, as there is never a morning that a blacksmith is not called upon to sharpen a cutlass for a farmer." (2) "The possibility of to-morrow not being like to-day in regard to the events which may transpire in it, is what induces a Babalawo to consult his Ifa and sacrifice to it every fifth day."

There are three grades of priests. As the sacred nuts are given by Babalawos in two sets of sixteen Ikins and one Oduso to applicants, those who receive only the first set, which is called "The Olori," or Chief, form one grade, and this is the first. Those who receive both the first and the second, which is called "The Orisa," or the next in rank, make another, the second grade; and those who have, each one with his right foot in conjunction with those of his own Babalawo's, and any of his fellow or senior Babalawo's with him, resting upon his own and moving in a circle with him, trodden upon his Ifa nuts deposited in a lump of Eko or Agidi (comflour pudding), and who are generally spoken of as "Awon ti a te ni Ifa," or "Those who are trodden together with Ifa nuts," form the third grade. Those of the first grade are entitled to worship their Ifa always, but not to divine with it or suffer it to be so employed. Those of the second grade can both worship their own and divine with it, or suffer it to be thus used; and those two first are spoken of as "Awo egun," or "Elegan"; whilst those of the third class, who have been brought to their position through the services of Olodus, or chief Babalawos, are, besides being entitled both to worship their own Ifa and divine with it, also privileged to eat of any sacrifice that may be offered to or before the "Igba Odu," or the calabash or gourd vessel sacred to Odu, a privilege which is denied to those of the first two grades, as it is to any non-Ifa owning man, or, as the eating out of a sacrifice of any kind offered to Ifa and that which has been placed upon it and is called Irefa, is denied to women generally; and are also known as "Awo Olodu," the Principal Ifa worshippers.

The ceremony on the part of the Babalawo consists, after divining with his Ifa for it, in collecting the palm nuts that he would consecrate, burying them in the solid earth or at the head of a river, or in some other convenient place, three days before the public performance of the giving and receiving service, bruising them, washing them and the candidate also when he is of the second grade, and when he is said to wash the devil away from himself or wash Ifa water, this water having had what are known as Ifa leaves bruised in it, enclosing them in the same kind of leaves, placing the packet on a plate and solemnly depositing it in the palms of the hands of the candidate kneeling before him with closed eyes, after he shall have answered to his name called out the third time, and when he would signify his glad acceptance of the parcel by touching his forehead and breast with it, saying "May my head, or the divinity of my destiny, or my Creator accept it! My own heart accepts it." He will have paid the fees prescribed for every part of the ceremony and furnished victims and other offerings for sacrifice, which, in the case of those of the second grade, are expected to be, in every item, the double of those provided by candidates of the first grade, whilst by all, an observance with feasting is had on the third and on the seventh day respectively of the formal acceptance.

To these belongs the privilege of being led to a stream of water after the performance of the above ceremony, accompanied by their Babalawos and their assistants, to be further washed, in order to a greater purification, and escorted home triumphantly with a parrot's tail tightly tied to each one's forehead as a consecration token, with the praises of Ifa or Orunmila being lustily chanted after them.

There is the ceremony of extinguishing the Odu fire-(Pinodu, i.e., Pa-ina-odu). Under it a candidate receives upon the open palms of his hands, previously and frequently dipped in consecrated Ifa water, dropping flames from a new lamp lighted with a new wick and held by a Babalawo, and rubs the different parts of his body with them, without experiencing any injury. This is accepted as a token of his having become a proof against the fire of sickness, or having gained a victory over it and over bereavement, disappointment, or any other trouble and death also. He is escorted, after his performance, to a stream, led by his Oluwo and followed by the latter's assistant or Ajigbona, carrying on his head animal and other sacrifices that have been offered on his behalf, and holding them to it with both hands, they being wrapped in a clean white sheet covered over with both a fine and a coarse mat, and having a rope wound tightly around them. When the parcel is removed from his head and thrown into and deposited in a muddy part of the stream, into which he would descend, his head is held forward and it is washed with water whose droppings are allowed to fall on the bundle, and which the stream would carry away. This is regarded as a token that all his uncleanness and all the ills that might have befallen him are carried away from him.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:52pm On Nov 05, 2011
The Igbadu is a covered calabash, containing four small vessels made from cocoanut shells, cut, each into two pieces in the middle, and which hold besides something unknown to the uninitiated, one a little mud, another a little charcoal, and another a little chalk, and another some camwood, all which are intended to represent certain Divine attributes, and which, with the vessels containing them, represent the four principal Odus-Eji Ogbe, Oyekun meji, Ibara meji, and Edi meji-and this calabash is deposited in a specially and well-prepared wooden box called Apere. The box is regarded as very sacred and as an emblem of Divinity, and is also worshipped. It is never opened, except on very special and important occasions, as when perhaps a serious difference is to be settled, and not without washed hands and often the offering of blood to it, when the opener would, as a mark of reverence, turn his face away from it as he opens it, saying, "Bi omode ba si isa, a ye ojun fun oru re" "If a child opens a boiling pot, he would turn away from the heat." Whatever is offered as a sacrifice to or before the Igbadu is to be eaten at once; no portion of it is to be left to the next day, and none but Olodus, i.e., those who have undergone the trampling ceremony, are to partake of it; whilst the room where it is deposited is considered so sacred that no woman nor any uninitiated man is ever permitted to enter into it, and the door opening into it is generally beautified with chalk and charcoal colouring, giving it a spotted appearance. One who receives his Ifa with trampling is usually received into this room and into the company of waiting and expectant Babalawos with much ceremony, after he has been escorted from the Igbodu and here it is he offers his first homage to Ifa after his initiation.

An Igbodu is a grove where the ceremony of giving Ifa with trampling is performed by the ObaIodu, or the chief Olodu priest, for those who desire to have it from him. The grove always contains three extemporized partitions, built of young palm branches and the Omu shrub. Into the first of these partitions any woman or any uninitiated person may enter, and here such. persons are expected to tarry as spectators or waiters. Into the second, Babalawos, and all Olodus, all those who have received Ifa by trampling are privileged to enter and remain. The third is entered only by the Obalodu, the ceremony-performing priest, who would take the candidate with him into it and who also would have brought his Igbadu into it previously under cover of night to preserve the sacred object from public gaze, and there perform his ceremony with the aid of such fellow Olodu priests as he might have seen fit to invite.

Ifa lays claim to every plant in creation as sacred to his worship, and thus it is come to pass that upon consultation by a Babalawo, one Odu will advise the use of the leaves of certain plants; another will prescribe one of these, or others totally different along with them, and so other Odus. But the plants whose leaves are always in demand, and which are considered as specially sacred to Eji Ogu, the Prince of all Odus, are Tete, Odundun, Renren, Gbegi, the Oriji herb, lpoye, omini, and the Iwerejeje plant; but some of these are known and described by sacred names on occasions of, or for purposes of divination. Then the leaves of the Tete herb become Ewe attedaiye, i.e., the herb that betokens our seniority in our entrance into the world; Renren becomes Ewe tutu, the herb of pacification; and Gbegi become Ewe Agidimogboyin.

Ifa or Orunmila is believed to know all and everything and is therefore consulted upon every circumstance of life, that of sickness not excluded; and he, through a consulting Babalawo, always prescribes medicines for the diseases referred to him; and for this, there is a foundation in the circumstance that in the traditional sayings of every Olodu, or Odu, mention is always to be found made of sufferers from this or that form of disease and of the remedies that cured them effectually. Hence every Babalawo is necessarily a physician in his own way, and he is often resorted to by professional practitioners for consultation with Ifa for aid to them in the exercise of their art.

Ela is evidently one of the many attributive names by which Ifa is described, and a very principal one among them. It is a contraction of the term "Orun mila," and is intended to represent the Divinity to all its worshippers and devotees, principally as a Saviour and Deliverer, and one that is strong and mighty and is unconquerable by Death itself, so that all that look to him for help in trouble and against any other evil, death not excluded, will find that their confidence has not been misplaced; and this, although the name is often used as if it represented a separate and distinct Divine personality, and although a separate and distinct representative ensign made of pieces of ivory, carrying four eyelets each and corresponding in number to the Ifa palm nuts (Ikin) which, with one Oduso, are 17, are chosen and employed to represent him.

He is sometimes described in songs of praises and in other speeches as "Ela omo Osin" Ela the child of "Osin" (the Ruler); sometimes as "Ela omo Oyigi (Oyigiyigi) Ota omi" Elathe offspring of a stone, i.e., the hard stone from the bed of a spring of water (an emblem of great strength), a quality which believed in, enables devotees to identify themselves with him, and regard themselves free in consequence from death, or protected against it, and say also when they utter the above praise, "Awa di Oyigiyigi, a ki o ku mo," "We are ourselves. become Oyigiyigi, that is the stone which gave birth to Ela, and will no longer die," or, at other times to say, "Ela ro a ki o ku mo-Okribiti, Ela ro (sokale) Oruo Ifa," "Ela has descended to the earth-we shall die no more-and this is Ifa's name." Sometimes he is described as "Eniti ngba ni la," "He is the one that saves us, and devotees may be heard saying sometimes of a friend, "Nwon se ebo Ela fun u" "We have made the Ela sacrifice, or the delivery or salvation sacrifice for him." One of them may be heard thus to confess his ignorance of the saving power of Ela, "Emi ko tete mo pe, Ela ni nwon mbo la ni ile wa," "I did not know in time that it is the Ela that is worshipped and sacrificed to in our family for salvation," or "Ko tina, ko to ro, beni on (Ela) ni gba ni la ni Ife," "He is of no account, he is too small to be thought of, yet he is the one who is accustomed to deliver us from trouble in Ife," or the world, for which the term Ife is often employed. And at other times he may be heard spoken of as 1"Oba-a mola" "The king, by knowing whom, we have come to salvation."

Ela holds a very important place in the Ifa system of worship. It is to be found in connection with each of the 256 Odus of the system, a circumstance that suggests that the system aims especially at impressing its followers with the idea that Ifa is a Saviour and Deliverer at all times and under all circumstances. It, besides the Odu Osetura, is always first humbly and reverently invoked and its favour sought for acceptance whenever Ifa is to be worshipped with a sacrifice, and is thus addressed-
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:53pm On Nov 05, 2011
Ela! Omo Osin, mo wari o! or, Ela meji, mo wari o! or Ela! Mo yin aboru
Ela! mo yin aboye-
Ela! mo yin abosise.

O Thou Ela, Son of the Ruler,
I humble myself before thee!

or, O Ela! I praise the sacrificing that meets with acceptance or opens the way to blessing,
O Ela! I praise the sacrificing that brings life-
O Ela! I praise the sacrificing act that accompanies or precedes labour;

and it is the divinity to which harvest offerings are always presented by worshippers-especially in the yam season, before any portion of the harvest is partaken of, and when they are said to split the Ela yam (Pa isu Ela, or Pa Ela), and when also the following song may be heard sung lustily to Ela's praises, and Orunmila is said to come and partake of the yam with them-

Ela Poke!
Eni esi si wa soro odun,
Odun ko, mo wa sodun, Iroko oko!
Iroko oko! Odun oni si ko. Ela Poke!
Ela has reappeared!

Our friend of the past year has come again to observe the yearly festival-
The anniversary has returned. I am come O Iroko (Lord)
of the cultivated field to observe the yearly festival.

O Iroko of the cultivated field, this day's anniversary has returned.

Ela has reappeared!

Baba wa okirikisi!
Omo at' orun ro s'aiye
Ti o ko wa da s'aiye
Baba wa okirikisi!

O Thou, our worthy Father!
The Son who hast descended from heaven to this earth
Who hast placed us in the world-
Thou our worthy Father!

The ceremony connected with the giving of Ela to one applying for it is identical with that with which Ifa is given to those who come under the first two grades of recipients who are generally spoken of as Awo Egan, and drawbacks and privileges are like those to be found in both cases.

The male sex is the sex which particularly gives itself to Ifa worship. There are, however, times when divinations may recommend and prescribe that worship to a woman. Whenever this should be the case, a woman would receive from a Babalawo only one Ikin or Consecrated Palm nut called Eko, which she would carry about her body for her protection, and whenever divination should recommend and prescribe to her sacrifice to Ifa, she would, for the time being, hand over her Eko either to her husband or to her brother, or any other male relative according to prescription, who would include it in his own Ikins for the purpose of the worship and sacrifice in which she would participate.

There is a particular Palm tree that is known by the name of Ope-Ifa, or the Ifa Palm tree, because that class of palm trees commonly yield nuts carrying four eyelets each, and these are the only nuts employed in Ifa worship, and are devoted to it. They are regarded sacred to this purpose, and are often spoken of as Ekuroaije, i.e. "Nuts that are not to be eaten"; and if nuts carrying two or three eyelets should be found among these yielded by such trees, these would be called Ekurq-Ososa-i.e., the palm nuts whose beauty has deserted them through the loss of one or more eyelets -oso-sa.

The cost of supplying Ifa to a candidate varies from; £5 to £150, and more, according to the circumstances of the individual; and often children are pawned, slaves sold, and other sacrifices made to raise the funds necessary to cover the expense of the elaborate ceremony.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:57pm On Nov 05, 2011
There are other oracles; but some of these are local, and are resorted to only by particular tribes or townships, e.g., there is the Oro Ilare of Ijesha land, which is said to come down from heaven to Ilare or Aiye, or the world, once a year, to be waited upon by those who may need his Oracular assistance, and whose temporary residence is always a grove, where he is always attended by an Aworo Oro Ilare till his return to heaven. The Aworo would deliver his responses to inquirers. His advent is always looked forward to with joy, and the public roads and thoroughfares of a town are always specially cleaned and put in order for his reception, whilst the number of men and women repairing to the grove for his Oracular assistance is always large. There are such divinities as Osun, Yemaja, Ososi and Elegbara, &c., which are often consulted, mostly by women, using sixteen cowries for their consulting signs; and among some of the tribes, Eluku and Agemo, which also are regarded as possessing much predicting capacity, and are often resorted to, as their predictions are always esteemed infallible.

An Ogberi or lgberi is one that is not initiated into the mysteries of the religion with which a Babalawo, from the nature of his office, is expected to be fully acquainted.

The Cola-fruit holds a very important and sacred place. Both it and the tree bearing it are considered sacred. Every Orisha is worshipped with the fruit, whilst a woodman's axe should on no account be laid upon the tree. Hence the parable which is commonly heard, "Orisa ti o yan igi obi li ayo, on-li o da awon iyoukun li Eru- A ki iyo Ida ba Orisa ja; Ayasebi Eke ati Eyo ni i be igi obi danu o" "The divinity that has chosen the Cola tree as his specially valued and loved representative has made all other trees subservient to it. We are not accustomed to draw out the sword to fight a divinity with; and no one but a liar and a perfidious person ever thinks of cutting down and throwing away a Cola tree." The fruit is very commonly and extensively employed by men and women all over the country for purposes of consultation and divination, the majority using it as if they sought divination through it, each one, from his own god, or as if it were a divinity by itself, whilst Babalawos and other intelligent persons use it with the idea that divination is being sought for from Ifa with it. It is commonly split into halves and thrown upon the ground, as is always done with Opele, the position assumed then by the pieces, either that in which their faces are turned upwards or that in which they are turned downwards, or that in which some look upwards and others look downwards at one and the same time, being understood to declare either good or evil, as the case may be, care being commonly taken previously to precede this ceremony with a libation of pure and clean water poured out upon the ground in humble worship of the god Earth, the parent, after a sort, of all mankind, as from it we have all been brought into existence, and upon whose surface the split Cola pieces would be thrown for divination.

It is sometimes described in praises by the honourable title of "Baba, abebe oloran ku si oran, Oran oloran li obi i ku si." "Our father who intercedes in another person's matter till he dies over it; Cola is commonly put to death over other people's affair," which is evidently intended for the divinity which it represents, and which refers to his work of intercession between parties at variance with each other with a view to peace making, and that death over it which it entails on him, and which, together with a further division into plugs and into smaller pieces, and an immediate mutual consumption of them by the parties interested in the peace making, and their respective friends, confirm and sea] the peace made. It is this circumstance that has given rise to the phrase so often used, "A ti pa obi si oran na." "We have split Cola over the matter," which is equal to saying, "We have settled the matter."

It, or the god it represents, is often spoken of as one whose entreaty or intercession is on no account to be refused; hence the saying, "Ebora," or " Ebo-ara ki ko ebe fun obi." "The gods are not in the habit of refusing to listen and accept entreaty or intercession from the Cola nut;" and it is this that has suggested the presentation of Cola nuts amongst other things by a suitor for the hand of a young woman in marriage to the parents, urging with them his suit, his desire and request for a betrothal, and his prayer for their acceptance of it.

There are among the heathens those in our country who profess to exercise the office of speaking with the dead, and of being mediums of communications from them to the living, and who are known as "Awon Abokusoro"-speakers with the dead-and whose deliverances have generally been found to be true. But the system does not appear to be so elaborate with them as it is with their fellow-professors in Europe and America.

There is a great variety of sacrifice, and each prescribed sacrifice or each set of such a sacrifice takes its name generally from the object for which it is offered. Among them may be mentioned the following:-The Redemption sacrifice; the exchange sacrifice; the wealth and the longevity sacrifice; the sacrifice for recovery from illness and for preventing death - those for the possession of strength, and for the avoiding of losses of any kind; those for protection against being a cause of trouble to one's own self; those against being successfully plotted against; those against a fire accident, and for the removal of drought or the prevention or the cessation of a flood of rain; that for attaining to some title and office of dignity, and that for securing a long enjoyment of the office, especially if he who seeks it had been told beforehand through Ifa divination that his enjoyment of it would not be long; that for securing the sign or mark on one's forehead that would assure him of his safety from the approach and touch of the angel of Death, and of victory and triumph over difficully and trouble - and that for acquiring superiority to others, &c.

These various sacrifices mentioned, being atonement sacrifices, suggest the existence originally in the mind of the Pagan Yoruban that sin and the anger of an offended god are the cause of the various ills incidental to human life: that blessings are to be had only from him and according to his will, and that for this he is to be propitiated by means of sacrifice and offering, since he who desires them is a sinner.

Animals for sacrifice range from reptiles to man. Meat-offering includes all variety of food and drink; but for every particular sacrifice a certain victim is prescribed, and sometimes the same animal may be prescribed for more than one sacrifice; and so it is with meat and drink offerings, eg., against death in sickness, a sheep, and for longevity, a dog; for strength to the body, a ram sheep and a cock; against losses, a basket of eggs, most of which are usually employed with leaves sacred to Ifa; against being lied upon, domestic pigeons and palm nut shells; against trouble and misfortune, rats; against drought, small crabs from which water drops each time each makes a leap; against a flood from incessant rain or for confusion of a plot, snails; against a fire accident, a wild hog or a duck with different kinds of Ifa leaves; for victory in a time of war a ram sheep and an old cock together; against the death of a very young child, a hen that had had chickens; to be permitted to come to a title and for the destruction of a plot, a wild hog.

They are sometimes burnt with fire, and in some cases, like that of the Irapada or Redemption offering, the whole victim is roasted with fire within doors till it is reduced to ashes, and after this water is thrown into the hearth from behind it to extinguish the fire, and all the ashes and fire-brands are collected and taken outside, and as with all other offerings and gifts to Esu or Satan are placed on a public road for him. Sometimes they are taken out of the town alive and across a river, if any is near at hand, and left in the bush whereto they are supposed to bear the sin, guilt and trouble of the offerer which had been transferred to them. Sometimes they are thrown into a river to be carried away by it with the offerer's sin and sorrow. Sometimes they are buried in the earth, with or without a chain attached to them, and a portion of it standing on the surface, the subject for whom the sacrifice is offered making a sleeping place of the spot to assure himself of the protection and security sought for and alleged to be given, and which the chain symbolizes. Sometimes they are placed at the edge of a river. Sometimes as in the case of Ebo Aba, i.e., a purpose sacrifice or a sacrifice to the divinity of purpose or that divinity which enables one to make a purpose, and Ebo Ase, i.e., an accomplishment sacrifice or a sacrifice to the divinity of will that accomplishes his purpose or enables a man to accomplish a purpose, the blood of a sacrificed victim is sprinkled first upon the right lintel, which is sacred to the Alaba, and then upon the left lintel, which is sacred to the Alase, and after this, upon the surface of the door hanging on one of them, some of the feathers of a fowl or other winged animal offered being affixed at the same time to each blood-sprinkled surface, whilst the flesh of the victim is either roasted or boiled and eaten altogether quickly and in a standing posture. Sometimes the sacrifice is taken at once outside and left on a street or some highway, as in the case of another Ebo Irapa or Irapada, a redemption or exchange offering, which consists of a 16-wicked lamp lighted, and which is usually employed in the case of the serious illness of an important person to change his fate and deliver him from death. Sometimes they are thrown from one priest to another, they standing together in a straight line, as in the case of Ebo Agbeso or the heave offering, which is not to be suffered to fall to the ground during the performance of the exercise, the object sought being to secure the offerer against the triumph of his enemies over him. Sometimes they are living creatures, left to be devoured by other living creatures, as in the case of a sacrifice in which seven very young chickens are usually employed, and taken out to some public highway and left there to be devoured by hawks, the death of the individual for whom it is offered being supposed to be substituted for and averted by that of the chickens. Sometimes the head of the offerer is streaked with the blood of the victim, exhibiting him as one for whom an atonement has been made, and assuring him thereby of his acceptance, as in the case of the Ebo isami, or the sign-marking sacrifice, when some of the blood of the victim is mixed by the Babalawo and hi assistant, the Ajigbona, with both mud and some bruised sacred or Ifa leaves in a sacred grove from which the preparation is usually brought out ceremoniously for those waiting for it, to be employed in marking their foreheads in order to secure to them escape from death and assure them of it. These may be heard saying and singing amongst themselves, "Edu, i.e., (Orunmila) ti sa ni li ami a ko ku mo, Iwerejeje ni Edu fi sami." "Edu, or Orunmila, has marked us we shall not die again. It is the leaf of the Iwerejeje herb he has employed in doing it." Sometimes an offerer's hands are laid upon the victim before it is slain for the transferring of his guilt and death to it, and at other times the offerer touches his head with that of the victim or the body of the victim is passed over and made to touch every part of the body of him for whom it is offered, as is the case with the "Ebu iparo ori," the sacrifice for exchanging or substituting one's head, fate, or destiny with that of another. Sometimes sacrifices are eaten after they have been offered up, and sometimes they are not to be eaten, especially when they are offered for one in a dangerous illness. Sometimes in a case like this the sacrifice is buried in the earth with the bedding and covering of the sick person, and his body is washed over the spot if he is able to stand it. Some, like Ebo Osu, are to be eaten at once, as soon as they have been offered up, as is the case with either the Aba or the Ase sacrifice, and unlike it, are not to be suffered to remain to the next day. Some are attached to a light fan suspended upon a pole firmly planted in the ground and left to be waved about by the wind. Some victims are paraded through a town, city, or village for whose welfare they are to be sacrificed, and sometimes they are dragged about also on the solid ground before they are sacrificed in order that they might carry away with them the sin, guilt, and death of the inhabitants, and other troubles to which it may be they are liable.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:57pm On Nov 05, 2011
There are other oracles; but some of these are local, and are resorted to only by particular tribes or townships, e.g., there is the Oro Ilare of Ijesha land, which is said to come down from heaven to Ilare or Aiye, or the world, once a year, to be waited upon by those who may need his Oracular assistance, and whose temporary residence is always a grove, where he is always attended by an Aworo Oro Ilare till his return to heaven. The Aworo would deliver his responses to inquirers. His advent is always looked forward to with joy, and the public roads and thoroughfares of a town are always specially cleaned and put in order for his reception, whilst the number of men and women repairing to the grove for his Oracular assistance is always large. There are such divinities as Osun, Yemaja, Ososi and Elegbara, &c., which are often consulted, mostly by women, using sixteen cowries for their consulting signs; and among some of the tribes, Eluku and Agemo, which also are regarded as possessing much predicting capacity, and are often resorted to, as their predictions are always esteemed infallible.

An Ogberi or lgberi is one that is not initiated into the mysteries of the religion with which a Babalawo, from the nature of his office, is expected to be fully acquainted.

The Cola-fruit holds a very important and sacred place. Both it and the tree bearing it are considered sacred. Every Orisha is worshipped with the fruit, whilst a woodman's axe should on no account be laid upon the tree. Hence the parable which is commonly heard, "Orisa ti o yan igi obi li ayo, on-li o da awon iyoukun li Eru- A ki iyo Ida ba Orisa ja; Ayasebi Eke ati Eyo ni i be igi obi danu o" "The divinity that has chosen the Cola tree as his specially valued and loved representative has made all other trees subservient to it. We are not accustomed to draw out the sword to fight a divinity with; and no one but a liar and a perfidious person ever thinks of cutting down and throwing away a Cola tree." The fruit is very commonly and extensively employed by men and women all over the country for purposes of consultation and divination, the majority using it as if they sought divination through it, each one, from his own god, or as if it were a divinity by itself, whilst Babalawos and other intelligent persons use it with the idea that divination is being sought for from Ifa with it. It is commonly split into halves and thrown upon the ground, as is always done with Opele, the position assumed then by the pieces, either that in which their faces are turned upwards or that in which they are turned downwards, or that in which some look upwards and others look downwards at one and the same time, being understood to declare either good or evil, as the case may be, care being commonly taken previously to precede this ceremony with a libation of pure and clean water poured out upon the ground in humble worship of the god Earth, the parent, after a sort, of all mankind, as from it we have all been brought into existence, and upon whose surface the split Cola pieces would be thrown for divination.

It is sometimes described in praises by the honourable title of "Baba, abebe oloran ku si oran, Oran oloran li obi i ku si." "Our father who intercedes in another person's matter till he dies over it; Cola is commonly put to death over other people's affair," which is evidently intended for the divinity which it represents, and which refers to his work of intercession between parties at variance with each other with a view to peace making, and that death over it which it entails on him, and which, together with a further division into plugs and into smaller pieces, and an immediate mutual consumption of them by the parties interested in the peace making, and their respective friends, confirm and sea] the peace made. It is this circumstance that has given rise to the phrase so often used, "A ti pa obi si oran na." "We have split Cola over the matter," which is equal to saying, "We have settled the matter."

It, or the god it represents, is often spoken of as one whose entreaty or intercession is on no account to be refused; hence the saying, "Ebora," or " Ebo-ara ki ko ebe fun obi." "The gods are not in the habit of refusing to listen and accept entreaty or intercession from the Cola nut;" and it is this that has suggested the presentation of Cola nuts amongst other things by a suitor for the hand of a young woman in marriage to the parents, urging with them his suit, his desire and request for a betrothal, and his prayer for their acceptance of it.

There are among the heathens those in our country who profess to exercise the office of speaking with the dead, and of being mediums of communications from them to the living, and who are known as "Awon Abokusoro"-speakers with the dead-and whose deliverances have generally been found to be true. But the system does not appear to be so elaborate with them as it is with their fellow-professors in Europe and America.

There is a great variety of sacrifice, and each prescribed sacrifice or each set of such a sacrifice takes its name generally from the object for which it is offered. Among them may be mentioned the following:-The Redemption sacrifice; the exchange sacrifice; the wealth and the longevity sacrifice; the sacrifice for recovery from illness and for preventing death - those for the possession of strength, and for the avoiding of losses of any kind; those for protection against being a cause of trouble to one's own self; those against being successfully plotted against; those against a fire accident, and for the removal of drought or the prevention or the cessation of a flood of rain; that for attaining to some title and office of dignity, and that for securing a long enjoyment of the office, especially if he who seeks it had been told beforehand through Ifa divination that his enjoyment of it would not be long; that for securing the sign or mark on one's forehead that would assure him of his safety from the approach and touch of the angel of Death, and of victory and triumph over difficully and trouble - and that for acquiring superiority to others, &c.

These various sacrifices mentioned, being atonement sacrifices, suggest the existence originally in the mind of the Pagan Yoruban that sin and the anger of an offended god are the cause of the various ills incidental to human life: that blessings are to be had only from him and according to his will, and that for this he is to be propitiated by means of sacrifice and offering, since he who desires them is a sinner.

Animals for sacrifice range from reptiles to man. Meat-offering includes all variety of food and drink; but for every particular sacrifice a certain victim is prescribed, and sometimes the same animal may be prescribed for more than one sacrifice; and so it is with meat and drink offerings, eg., against death in sickness, a sheep, and for longevity, a dog; for strength to the body, a ram sheep and a cock; against losses, a basket of eggs, most of which are usually employed with leaves sacred to Ifa; against being lied upon, domestic pigeons and palm nut shells; against trouble and misfortune, rats; against drought, small crabs from which water drops each time each makes a leap; against a flood from incessant rain or for confusion of a plot, snails; against a fire accident, a wild hog or a duck with different kinds of Ifa leaves; for victory in a time of war a ram sheep and an old cock together; against the death of a very young child, a hen that had had chickens; to be permitted to come to a title and for the destruction of a plot, a wild hog.

They are sometimes burnt with fire, and in some cases, like that of the Irapada or Redemption offering, the whole victim is roasted with fire within doors till it is reduced to ashes, and after this water is thrown into the hearth from behind it to extinguish the fire, and all the ashes and fire-brands are collected and taken outside, and as with all other offerings and gifts to Esu or Satan are placed on a public road for him. Sometimes they are taken out of the town alive and across a river, if any is near at hand, and left in the bush whereto they are supposed to bear the sin, guilt and trouble of the offerer which had been transferred to them. Sometimes they are thrown into a river to be carried away by it with the offerer's sin and sorrow. Sometimes they are buried in the earth, with or without a chain attached to them, and a portion of it standing on the surface, the subject for whom the sacrifice is offered making a sleeping place of the spot to assure himself of the protection and security sought for and alleged to be given, and which the chain symbolizes. Sometimes they are placed at the edge of a river. Sometimes as in the case of Ebo Aba, i.e., a purpose sacrifice or a sacrifice to the divinity of purpose or that divinity which enables one to make a purpose, and Ebo Ase, i.e., an accomplishment sacrifice or a sacrifice to the divinity of will that accomplishes his purpose or enables a man to accomplish a purpose, the blood of a sacrificed victim is sprinkled first upon the right lintel, which is sacred to the Alaba, and then upon the left lintel, which is sacred to the Alase, and after this, upon the surface of the door hanging on one of them, some of the feathers of a fowl or other winged animal offered being affixed at the same time to each blood-sprinkled surface, whilst the flesh of the victim is either roasted or boiled and eaten altogether quickly and in a standing posture. Sometimes the sacrifice is taken at once outside and left on a street or some highway, as in the case of another Ebo Irapa or Irapada, a redemption or exchange offering, which consists of a 16-wicked lamp lighted, and which is usually employed in the case of the serious illness of an important person to change his fate and deliver him from death. Sometimes they are thrown from one priest to another, they standing together in a straight line, as in the case of Ebo Agbeso or the heave offering, which is not to be suffered to fall to the ground during the performance of the exercise, the object sought being to secure the offerer against the triumph of his enemies over him. Sometimes they are living creatures, left to be devoured by other living creatures, as in the case of a sacrifice in which seven very young chickens are usually employed, and taken out to some public highway and left there to be devoured by hawks, the death of the individual for whom it is offered being supposed to be substituted for and averted by that of the chickens. Sometimes the head of the offerer is streaked with the blood of the victim, exhibiting him as one for whom an atonement has been made, and assuring him thereby of his acceptance, as in the case of the Ebo isami, or the sign-marking sacrifice, when some of the blood of the victim is mixed by the Babalawo and hi assistant, the Ajigbona, with both mud and some bruised sacred or Ifa leaves in a sacred grove from which the preparation is usually brought out ceremoniously for those waiting for it, to be employed in marking their foreheads in order to secure to them escape from death and assure them of it. These may be heard saying and singing amongst themselves, "Edu, i.e., (Orunmila) ti sa ni li ami a ko ku mo, Iwerejeje ni Edu fi sami." "Edu, or Orunmila, has marked us we shall not die again. It is the leaf of the Iwerejeje herb he has employed in doing it." Sometimes an offerer's hands are laid upon the victim before it is slain for the transferring of his guilt and death to it, and at other times the offerer touches his head with that of the victim or the body of the victim is passed over and made to touch every part of the body of him for whom it is offered, as is the case with the "Ebu iparo ori," the sacrifice for exchanging or substituting one's head, fate, or destiny with that of another. Sometimes sacrifices are eaten after they have been offered up, and sometimes they are not to be eaten, especially when they are offered for one in a dangerous illness. Sometimes in a case like this the sacrifice is buried in the earth with the bedding and covering of the sick person, and his body is washed over the spot if he is able to stand it. Some, like Ebo Osu, are to be eaten at once, as soon as they have been offered up, as is the case with either the Aba or the Ase sacrifice, and unlike it, are not to be suffered to remain to the next day. Some are attached to a light fan suspended upon a pole firmly planted in the ground and left to be waved about by the wind. Some victims are paraded through a town, city, or village for whose welfare they are to be sacrificed, and sometimes they are dragged about also on the solid ground before they are sacrificed in order that they might carry away with them the sin, guilt, and death of the inhabitants, and other troubles to which it may be they are liable.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 11:58pm On Nov 05, 2011
Human sacrifices have been practised by all the different sections of the Yoruba nation and other West African tribes, especially at periodical festivals and on other great occasions; but till the recent conquest of the kingdom of Dahomey (on the East of the Yoruba kingdom) by France, and the unresisted and bloodless conquest and annexation of the great and powerful kingdom of Ashantee (on the South-east) by Great Britain, they were very common and abundant in them in connection with their respective ancestral worship.

The king of Dahomey is reported, as far back as 1664, to have built a royal dead-house, the mortar of which had been mixed with human blood.

In Yoruba the human victim chosen for sacrifice, and who may be either a free-born or a slave, a person of noble or wealthy parentage, or one of humble birth, is, after he has been chosen and marked out for the purpose, called an Oluwo.

He is always well fed and nourished and supplied with whatever he should desire during the period of his confinement. When the occasion arrives for him to be sacrificed and offered up, he is commonly led about and paraded through the streets of the town or city of the Sovereign who would sacrifice him for the well-being of his government and of every family and individual under it, in order that he might carry off the sin, guilt, misfortune and death of all without exception. Ashes and chalk would be employed to hide his identity by the one being freely thrown over his head, and his face painted with the latter, whilst individuals would often rush out of their houses to lay their hands upon him that they might thus transfer to him their sin, guilt trouble, and death. This parading done, he is taken through a temporary sacred shed of palm and other tree branches, and especially of the former, the Igbodu and to its first division, where many persons might follow him, and through a second where only the chiefs and other very important persons might escort and accompany him to, and to a third where only the Babalawo and his official assistant, the Ajigbona, are permitted to enter with him. Here, after he himself has given out or started his last song, which is to be taken up by the large assembly of people who will have been waiting to hear his last word or his last groan, his head is taken off and his blood offered to the gods. The announcement of his last word or his last groan heard and taken up by the people, would be a signal for joy, gladness and thanksgiving, and for drum beating and dancing, as an expression of their gratification because their sacrifice has been accepted, the divine wrath is appeased, and the prospect of prosperity or increased prosperity assured.


Shi.t sad
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 12:01am On Nov 06, 2011
A sheep or any other brute creature chosen as a victim for a propitiatory sacrifice for one who desires to come to a great and important public office, and in respect of whom Ifa had predicted a short enjoyment of the position and an early removal from it to make room for another person who would enjoy it longer, would be similarly paraded through the town that it might be loaded with the ill-will which his enemies are believed to entertain against and wish the offerer and with the death pronounced against him, and when after this it is being led back into his house it would be clubbed to death at once at the entrance by some specially appointed persons.

Human sacrifices are generally offered in Yoruba and in many other parts of Africa by Sovereigns, especially when an expiation that is to be made is of a general character, and in the interests of their respective governments and peoples; and this is always, in Yoruba, according to the specific prescription and after the instigation of priests who, to reconcile them to the fearful and revolting deed and prevent to them qualms of conscience over it, usually seek by their language to magnify before them their great power and the importance of their office, and impress them with the idea that no one would or could call them into account for this use which they would make of a fellow man's life.

Sacrifices are offered for and by private individuals, individual families, a particular quarter of a town or city, or the whole of it in the king's name. When a sacrifice is a family one it is commonly spoken of as Ebo Agbole-a household sacrifice. When it is for a particular quarter of a town or city it is spoken of as Ebo igboro-or a district sacrifice; and when it is for a whole town or city it is generally spoken, of as Ebo Agbalu-a sacrifice for sweeping away evil from the town, or Ebo Oba, or the King's sacrifice.

These sacrifices which are offered by heathens to their Orishas, who occupy the place both of subordinate deities and mediators, are believed to be taken to the Great One by a spirit whom they denominate "Agberu," the carrier, whose special business it is to take them to him and wait upon him with them. He goes by the title, "Agberu ti igbe ebo re orun" " Agberu who carries people's sacrifices to heaven." The basket in which he is supposed to carry the sacrifices to heaven is lined with leaves sacred to Ifa, as for instance "Ewe toto," the toto leaf, " which is symbolical of the wish and prayer of the offerer that he may be equal to those who are before and above him;" the "Ewe Ewuruju" the Ewuruju leaf, which is symbolical of his wish that he may surpass others; "Ewe Igberesi" the Igberesi leaf, which is generally spoken of and described as the Igberesi leaf which accompanies a sacrifice to heaven. " Ewe Igberesi ti I sin ebolo si orun" and the Yeye leaf, which is often described as "Ewe Yeye ti ije ki ire ya si ile eni," "the Yeye leaf that brings blessing into our houses."

The Yoruban names of priests are the following:-The Babalawo, the Oluwo, the Ajigbona, the Aworo, the Odofin, the Aro, the Asarepawo, the Asawo, the Apetebi, who is sometimes called Ayawo.

The Babalawo is the president of the mysteries and the rites and ceremonies of religion and worship, and he is also the Sacrificing Priest, the teacher of the religion, and the Diviner by consulting the Sacred Oracles. He is always specially and in a formal manner consecrated to his office when he is to serve a king as his Consulting Priest.

An Oluwo in this class is a senior and chief of the class of Babalawos, whose directions the rest are all expected to obey; but often may a man be heard speaking of a Babalawo from whom he has received his Ifa as his Oluwo.

An Ajigbona is a chief assistant both to the Oluwo and any of the other Babalawos, and on an occasion of a great sacrifice, e.g., that of offering a human being, he is the only one, with an Aworo, appointed to accompany the Babalawo who would perform the sacrifice to what may be described as the most sacred place in the Igbodii, and which is the place both of slaughter and of offering.

An Odofin is a titled Babalawo next in rank to the Oluwo, and he is privileged to act for him in his absence.

An Aro is the third Babalawo in rank, and he is entitled to act for both the Oluwo and the Odofin in their absence.

An Asare pawo is a messenger whose office it is to call upon the Babalawos at their respective residences and invite them to a meeting whenever an appointment has been made, and he and all who bear the title with him are those who are also expected to prepare and extemporise an Igbodu whenever the Babalawos ask for one.

An Asawo is another attendant upon a Babalawo, and a special assistant to an Asare pawo.

An Apetebi or Esu or Ayawo is a woman who is regarded as the wife of Orunmila himself, and who may in reality be either a Babalawo's wife or the wife of any one for whom a sacrifice is to be offered and who is always expected to give assistance at it.

An Aworo is a chief minister devoted to a particular Orisha, and to him is assigned the difficult and revolting task of putting to death a fellow human being devoted to sacrifice.

A candidate for the office and dignity of a Babalawo is expected to be a pupil to a Babalawo well known for his wide knowledge of the mysteries of the religion and his skill in the exercise of it, and especially in the art of divination, for at least three years and learn the profession from him. But pupils who are ambitious of being much superior to their fellows of the same profession sometimes elect to continue their pupilage and apprenticeship to four, five, six, and even seven years.

As the doctrines and practice of the profession are not committed to writing, the teacher only employs oral teaching, reproducing from his memory from time to time such things as the pupil should learn and commit also to memory himself; and his witnessing of his teacher's performances frequently and assisting him at them are also expected to promote his education.

The course is divided into three parts covering the three years of ordinary pupilage. In the first year the candidate learns the names of all the Olodus and Odus,-the signs representing each of them and testifies by practice his mastery of them. In the second year he learns the one thousand and one traditions connected with the Olodus and Odus and-which are said to be so many that there has scarcely been a Babalawo found who has learnt and can recite the whole of them; but there are those who have learnt and committed to memory a much greater number of them than others have done, and who then can make a wider use of the consulting bowl. In the third year the candidate learns the method and use of lot casting and in connection with it assists at the consulting bowl.

A Babalawo, elected and appointed to wait upon a king always as his Babalawo who is to consult Ifa for him is always one who has distinguished himself above others by his superior knowledge of the traditions and his skill in using them and in the art of consulting the oracle Ifa. His term of pupilage must have exceeded three years, and he is generally formally set apart for this his very important and responsible office and the dignity connected with it by other Babalawos at a special meeting held for the purpose when they would amongst other ceremonies unitedly place on his head some leaves sacred to Ifa, to signify to him and to others his elevation to the office.

His specially appointed assistants are the Olwo Otun Awo, the right hand Babalawo, otherwise named Orisa; the Olowo Osi Awo, the left hand Babalawo, otherwise named the Osopo; and the Olopon ekeji awo, or the second consulting bowl Babalawo, each of whom has his own Ajigbona, who is sometimes called Lewere.

His ensign of office consists of a string of beads of various colours worn always round his left wrist; a cow's or bullock's tail which he always carries about with him; and a staff which is sometimes an Opa Osu, i.e., a staff sacred to Ofu; at other times an Opa Orerere, the Orerere staff, and at other times an Opa Osororo, or the Osororo staff.

The office is supported from regularly prescribed consulting and divining fees which are sometimes and indeed often exceeded on account of what is thought to be the superior financial position of an applicant for consultation of Ifa; the sacrifices and offerings made to the gods; and gifts from those whom they serve which these account it a duty and a privilege to make to them, especially at stated festivals.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 1:19am On Nov 06, 2011
[size=20pt] IFA
[/size]
Ifa, god of divination, who is usually termed the God of Palm Nuts, because sixteen palm-nuts are used in the process of divination, comes after Shango in order of eminence. The name Ifa apparently means something scraped or wiped off: he has the title of Gbangba (explanation, demonstration, proof). Ifa's secondary attribute is to cause fecundity: he presides at births, and women pray to him to be made fruitful; while on this account offerings are always made to him before marriage, it being considered a disgrace not to bear children. To the native mind there is no conflict of function between Ifa and Obatala, for the former causes the woman to become pregnant, while the latter forms the child in the womb, which is supposed to be a different thing altogether.

[1. Near Porto Novo.]

Ifa first appeared on the earth at Ife, but he did not come from the body of Yemaja, and his parentage and origin are unexplained. He tried to teach the inhabitants of Ife how to foretell future events, but they would not listen to him, so he left the town and wandered about the world teaching mankind. After roaming about for a long time, and indulging in a variety of amours, Ifa fixed his residence at Ado, where he planted on a rock a palm-nut, from which sixteen palm-trees grew up at once.

Ifa has an attendant or companion named Odu (? One who emulates), and a messenger called Opele (ope, puzzle, or ope, palm-tree). The bandicoot (okete) is sacred to him, because it lives chiefly upon palm-nuts. The first day of the Yoruba week is Ifa's holy day, and is called ajo awo, "day of the secret." On this day sacrifices of pigeons, fowls, and goats are made to him, and nobody can perform any business before accomplishing this duty. On very important occasions a human victim is immolated.

A priest of Ifa is termed a babalawo (baba-ni-awo), "Father who has the secret," and the profession is very lucrative, as the natives never undertake anything of.importance without consulting the god, and always act in accordance with the answer returned. Hence a proverb says, "The priest who is more shrewd than another adopts the worship of Ifa." As Ifa knows all futurity, and reveals coming events to his faithful followers, he is considered the god of wisdom, and the benefactor of mankind. He also instructs man how to secure the goodwill of the other gods, and conveys to him their wishes, His priests pluck all the hair from their bodies and shave their heads, and always appear attired in white cloths.

The general belief is that Ifa possessed the faculty of divination from the beginning, but there is a myth which makes him acquire the art from the phallic god Elegba. In the early days of the world, says the myth, there were but few people on the earth, and the gods found themselves stinted in the matter of sacrifices to such an extent that, not obtaining enough to eat from the offerings made by their followers,[1] they were obliged to have recourse to various pursuits in order to obtain food. Ifa, who was in the same straits as the other gods, took to fishing, with, however, but small success; and one day, when he had failed to catch any fish at all, and was very hungry, he consulted the crafty Elegba, who was also in want, as to what they could do to improve their condition. Elegba replied that if he could only obtain the sixteen palm-nuts from the two palms -that Orungan[2] the chief man, had in his plantation, he would show Ifa how to forecast the future; and that he could then use his knowledge in the service of mankind, and so receive an abundance of offerings. He stipulated that in return for instructing Ifa in the art of divination, he should always be allowed the first choice of all offerings made. Ifa agreed to the bargain, and going to Orungan, asked for the sixteen palm-nuts, explaining

[1. Compare this with Lucian, "Zeus in Tragedy," where Zeus complains that the sea captain Mnesitheus had, only sacrificed one cock to entertain sixteen gods.

2. The son and ravisher of Yemaja is also so named]

to him what he proposed to do with them. Orungan, very eager to know what the future had in store for him, at once promised the nuts, and ran with his wife Orisha-bi, "Orisha-born," to get them. The trees, however, were too lofty for them to be able to reach the palm-nuts, and the stems too smooth to be climbed; so they retired to a little distance and drove some monkeys that were in the vicinity into the palms. No sooner were the monkeys in the trees than they seized the nuts, and, after eating the red pulp that covered them, threw the bard kernels down on the ground, where Orungan and his wife picked them up. Having collected the whole sixteen, Orisha-bi tied them up in a piece of cloth, and put the bundle under her waist-cloth, on her back, as if she were carryino, a child. Then they carried the palm-nuts to Ifa. Elegba kept his promise and taught Ifa the art of divination, and Ifa in his turn taught Oruno-an, who thus became the first babalawo, It is in memory of these events that when a man wishes to consult Ifa, he takes his wife with him, if he be married, and his mother if he be single, who carries the sixteen palm-nuts, tied up in a bundle, on her back, like a child; and that the babalawo, before consulting the god, always says, "Orugan, ajuba oh. Orisha-bi ajuba oh." ("Orungan, I hold you in grateful remembrance. Orisha-bi, I hold you in grateful remembrance."

For the consultation of Ifa a whitened board is employed, exactly similar to those used by children in Moslem schools in lieu of slates, about two feet long and eight or nine inches broad, on which are marked sixteen figures. These figures are called "mothers." The sixteen palm-nuts are held loosely in the right hand, and thrown through the half-closed fingers into the left hand. If one nut remain in the right hand, two marks are made, thus | |; and if two remain. one mark, |.[1] In this way are formed the sixteen "mothers," one of which is declared by the babalawo to represent the inquirer; and from the order in which the others are produced he deduces certain results. The interpretation appears to be in accordance with established rule, but what that rule is is only known to the initiated. The following are the "mothers":

[1. This process is repeated eight times, and the marks are made in succession in two columns of four each.]



No. 6 is No. 5 inverted; 8 is 7 inverted; 10, 9 inverted; 13, 12 inverted; and 14, 11 inverted. Meji means "two," or "a pair," and the following appears to be the meaning of the names:--(1) The close pair (buru, closely). (2) The removed pair (Yekuro, to remove). (3) The street pair (Ode, a street). (4) The closed-up pair (Di, to close up, make dense). (5) The squatting-dog pair (losho, to squat like a dog). (6) The cross-bow pair (oron, cross-bow). (7) The striped pair (abila, striped). (cool ?Vulture-pair (akala, vulture). (9) The pointing pair (sha, to point). (10) The pair ending downward (Ku, to end, da, to upset on the ground). (11) ?The top-heavy pair (Dura, to make an effort to recover from a stumble; opin, end, point). (12) The tattoo-mark pair (ture, name of certain tattoo-marks). (13) The edge pair (leti, on the edge of). (14) The folded-up pair (Ka, to fold or coil). (15) The opened pair (shi, to open). (16) The alternate pair (fo, to pass over, pass by, jump over, skip).

From these sixteen "mothers" a great many combinations can be made by taking a column from two different "mothers," and figures thus formed are called "children." Thus (13) and (2) and (11) and (10) make respectively-



As the figures are read from right to left, the system is probably derived from the Mobammedans. James Hamilton, indeed, describes[1] a very similar mode of divination which he saw in the oasis of Siwah, where it was called Derb el ful, or Derb el raml, according to whether beans or sand were used. He says: "Seven beans are held in the palm of the left hand, which is struck with a smart blow with the right half-closed fist, so that some of the beans jump into the right hand - if an odd number, one is marked; if even, two. The beans are replaced in the left hand, which is again struck with the right, and the result marked below the first. This being repeated four times gives the first figure, and the operation is performed until there are obtained four figures, which are placed side by side in a square; these are then read vertically and perpendicularly (sic), and also from corner to corner, thus giving in all ten figures. As each may contain four odd or four even numbers, they are capable of sixteen permutations, each of which has a separate signification, and a proper house, or part of the square in which it should appear."

The initiation fee paid to a priest for teaching the art of divination is, it is said, very heavy, and moreover does not cover the whole of the expense; for the Oracle is, like Oracles generally, ambiguous and obscure, and the neophyte finds that he constantly has to refer to the priests for explanations of its meaning, and on each such occasion he is required to pay a consultation fee. When a man is initiated the priest usually informs him that he must

[1. "Wanderings in North Africa," pp. 264-65.]

henceforward abstain from some particular article of food, which varies with the individual.

Ifa figures in connection with a legendary deluge, the story of which, now adapted to the Yoruba theology, was probably derived from the Mohammedans. Some time after settling at Ado, Ifa became tired of living in the world, and accordingly went to dwell in the firmament, with Obatala. After his departure, mankind, deprived of his assistance, was unable to properly interpret the desires of the gods, most of whom became in consequence annoyed. Olokun was the most angry, and in a fit of rage he destroyed nearly all the inhabitants of the world in a great flood, only a few being saved by Obatala, who drew them up into the sky by means of a long iron chain. After this ebullition of anger, Olokun retired once more to his own domains, but the world was nothing but mud, and quite unfit to live in, till Ifa came down from the sky, and, in conjunction with Odudua, once more made it habitable.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by amor4ce(m): 2:31am On Nov 11, 2011
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Re: Yoruba Mythology by HISchild: 8:01am On Nov 11, 2011
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." - Isa 45:21 

"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else." - Isa 45:6 

"For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens." -1 Chr 16:26

LORD = JEHOVAH, The Lord JESUS CHRIST (Isaiah 9:6, Rev 1:7-8)
Re: Yoruba Mythology by amor4ce(m): 10:01pm On Nov 11, 2011
@HISchild,
Is "Lord" an apt title? Isn't "Lord" translated as Baal? When last did you call upon the name of the Alpha and Omega instead of saying "Lord"? Are you aware of the British legacy of replacing HIS name with "Lord"? Are you sure of the spellings and pronunciations of "Jehovah" and "Jesus"? Do you call the name IeZeus? Are you aware of the iniquity of the Amorites? Do you know that slavery in the Americas was a fulfilment of Genesis 15? Have you read about the Amorites? Are you aware of the similar physical features of the Amorites and oyinbo (stung by bees)? Did the Ancient of Days instruct us to remember HIM with images and the decoration of trees(Jeremiah 10:1-10?)? Did the Temple design ever include an image on the Mercy Seat (atonement piece)?
Re: Yoruba Mythology by HISchild: 1:31am On Nov 12, 2011
Lord is = κύριος kurios, koo'-ree-os - From κῦρος kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority, that is, (as noun) controller; by implication Mr. (as a respectful title): - God, Lord, master, Sir.
LORD = english substitution during translation of the original texts inspired by GOD, of GOD's holy and reverend name YAHWEH / JEHOVAH.  The Lord GOD Almighty goes by many fine titles of reverence.

[s]ba‛al, bah'-al = a Phoenician deity, a wretched idol: - Baal, [plural] Baalim[/s].

I don't know about your doctrines re: amorites / canaanitish tribe, and so on.  I do know that the Lord (Master / Rabboni) JESUS CHRIST, "The Mighty GOD" (Isaiah 9:6), The only Savior of the world (Hosea 13:4, Acts 4:12) came to save the souls of many sinners.  "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."- 1 Tim 1:15   

Thus, its about knowing the Lord GOD, The Lord JESUS CHRIST by grace and mercy alone, and not about "religion" or theory or intellectual exercise or anything of that sort.

------
"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" - John 14:23

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12-13

So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of GOD.” - Rom 10:17.  "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." - Heb 4:12
Re: Yoruba Mythology by amor4ce(m): 1:56am On Nov 12, 2011
It seems you didn't get what I was driving at. Check out the physical features of the Amorites as described on wikipedia and other sources and compare with Genesis 15, especially the part about Abraham's descendant's serving as slaves for 400 years in a strange land. Ask yourself what the iniquity of the Amorites could mean. The Israelites weren't enslaved in Egypt for up to 400 years (check it out yourself in the book of Exodus).

Don't many who call themselves Christians practice idolatry with various images? If you were born like 500 years ago in this part of the world who would you have been worshiping? As for me, I don't know what I would have done but I thank God Most High for HIS grace upon my life.

By the way, I doubt that Lord means supreme in authority considering how the word is used in the British kingdom where lords have no throne.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by anonymous6(f): 3:20pm On Nov 12, 2011
Re: Yoruba Mythology by PAGAN9JA(m): 4:30pm On Nov 12, 2011
HISchild:

"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." - Isa 45:21 

"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else." - Isa 45:6 

"For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens." -1 Chr 16:26

LORD = JEHOVAH, The Lord JESUS CHRIST (Isaiah 9:6, Rev 1:7-8)


shut up with your biblical nonsense. angry
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Nobody: 10:47pm On Nov 12, 2011
Great posts! I already bookmarked this thread.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by amor4ce(m): 9:14pm On Nov 13, 2011
HISchild, don't be discouraged.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 1:44am On Nov 17, 2011
Re: Yoruba Mythology by Rgp92: 1:49am On Nov 17, 2011
[size=20pt]MINOR GODS[/size]


[size=20pt](1) OLOKUN.
[/size]
OLOKUN (oni-okun, he who owns the sea), "Lord of the Sea," is the sea-god of the Yorubas. He is one of those who came from the body of Yemaja.

As man worships that from which he has most to fear, or from which he hopes to receive the greatest benefits, the inland tribes pay little or no attention to Olokun, who is, however, the chief god of fishermen and of all others whose avocations take them upon the sea. When Olokun is angry he causes the sea to be rough and stirs up a raging surf upon the shore; and it is he who drowns men, upsets boats or canoes, and causes shipwrecks.

Olokun is not the personally divine sea but an anthropomorphic conception. He is of human shape and black in colour, but with long flowing hair, and resides in a vast palace under the sea, where he is served by a number of sea-spirits, some of whom are human in shape, while others partake more or less of the nature of fish. On ordinary occasions animals are sacrificed to Olokun, but when the condition of the surf prevents canoes from putting to sea for many days at a time, a human victim is offered to appease him. It is said that such sacrifices have been made in recent times, even at Lagos, by the people of the Isaleko quarter, who are chiefly worshippers of Olokun. The sacrifice was of course secret, and according to native report the canoemen used to watch by night till they caught some solitary wayfarer, whom they gagged and conveyed across the lagoon to the sea-shore, where they struck off his head and threw the body into the surf.

A myth says that Olokun, becoming enraged with mankind on account of their neglect of him, endeavoured to destroy them by overflowing the land; and had drowned large numbers when Obatala interfered to save the remainder, and forced Olokun back to his palace, where he bound him with seven iron chains till he promised to abandon his design. This, perhaps, has reference to some former encroachment of the sea upon the low-lying sandy shores, which are even now liable to be submerged at spring-tides.[1]

Olokun has a wife named Olokun-su, or Elusu, who lives in the harbour bar at Lagos. She is white in colour and human in shape, but is covered with fish-scales from below the breasts to the hips. The fish in the waters of the bar are sacred to her, and should anyone catch them, she takes vengeance by upsetting canoes and drowning the occupants. A man who should be so ill-advised as to attempt to fish on the bar would run a great risk of being

[1. Another myth of this nature has been mentioned in Chapter II., under Ifa.]

thrown overboard by the other canoemen. Olokunsu is an example of a local sea-goddess, originally, as on the Gold Coast at the present day, considered quite independent, being attached to the general god of the sea, and accounted for as belonging to him.

[size=20pt](2) OLOSA.
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Olosa (oni-osa, owner of the laaoon) is the goddess of the Lagos Lagoon, and the principal wife of her brother Olokim, the sea-god. Like her husband she is long-haired. She sprang from the body of Yemaja.

Olosa supplies her votaries with fish, and there are several temples dedicated to her along the shores of the lagoon, where offerings of fowls and sheep are made to her to render her propitious. When the lagoon is swollen by rain and overflows its banks she is angry, and if the inundation be serious a human victim is offered to her-, to induce her to return within her proper limits.

Crocodiles ate Olosa's messengers, and may not be molested. They are supposed to bear to the goddess the offerings which the faithful deposit on the shores of the lagoon or throw into the sedge. Some crocodiles, selected by the priests on account of certain marks borne by them, are treated with great veneration; and have rude sheds, thatched with palm leaves, erected for their accommodation near the water's edge. Food is regagularly supplied to these reptiles every fifth day, or festival, and many of them become sufficiently tame to come for the offering as soon as they see or hear the worshippers gathering on the bank.

[size=20pt](3) SHANKPANNA.
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Shankpanna, or Shakpana, who also came from the body of Yemaja, is the Small-pox god. The name appears to be derived from shan, to daub, smear, or plaster, which probably has reference to the pustules with which a small-pox patient is covered, and akpania,[1] a man-killer, homicide. He is accompanied by an assistant named Buku,[2] who kills those attacked by small-pox by wringing their necks.

Shan-kpanna is old and lame, and is depicted as limping along with the aid of a stick. According to a myth he has a withered leg. One day, when the gods were all assembled at the palace of Obatala, and were dancing and making merry, Shankpanna endeavoured to join in the dance, but, owing to his deformity, stumbled and fell. All the gods and goddesses thereupon burst out laughing, and Shankpanna, in revenge, strove to infect them with small-pox, but Obatala came to the rescue, and, seizing his spear, drove Shankpanna away. From that day Shankpanna was forbidden to associate with the other gods, and he became an outcast who has since lived in desolate and uninhabited tracts of country.

Temples dedicated to Shankpanna are always built in the bush, at some little distance from a town or village, with a view to keeping him away from

[1. Akpania, kpa, to kill, and enia, a person.

2. Perhaps bu, to rot, emit a.stench, and iku, death.]

habitations. He is much dreaded, and when there is an epidemic of small-pox the priests who serve him are able to impose almost any terms they please upon the terrified people, as the price of their mediation, To whistle by night near one of Shankpanna's haunts is believed to be a certain way of attracting his notice and contracting the disease. As is the case with Sapatan, the small-pox god of the Ewe tribes, who have perhaps adopted the notion from the Yorubas, flies and mosquitos are the messengers of Sbankpanna, and his emblem is a stick covered with red and white blotches, symbolic, it seems, of the marks he makes on the bodies of his victims.

[size=20pt](4) SHIGIDI.
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Shigidi, or Shugudu, is deified nightmare. The name appears to mean "something short and bulky," and the god, or demon, is represented by a broad and short head, made of clay, or, more commonly, by a thick, blunted cone of clay, which is ornamented with cowries, and is no doubt emblematic of the head.

Shigidi is an evil god, and enables man to gratify his hate in secret and without risk to himself. When a man wishes to revenge himself upon another he, offers a sacrifice to Shigidi, who thereupon proceeds at night to the house of the person indicated and kills him. His mode of procedure is to squat upon the breast of his victim and "press out his breath;" but it often happens that the tutelary deity of the sufferer comes to the rescue and wakes him, uponwhich Sbigidi leaps off, falls upon the earthen floor, and disappears, for he only has power over man dur ing sleep. This superstition still lingers among the negroes of the Bahamas of Yoruba descent, who talk of being "hagged," and believe that nightmare is caused by a demon that crouches upon the breast of the sleeper. The word nightmare is itself a survival from a similar belief once held by ourselves, mare being the Anglo-Saxon mære, elf or goblin.

The person -who employs Shigidi, and sends him out to kill, must remain awake till the god returns, for if he were to fall asleep Shigidi would at that moment turn back, and the mission would fail. Shigidi either travels on the wind, or raises a wind to waft him along; on this point opinions differ. The first symptom of being attacked by Shigidi, is a feeling of heat and oppression at the pit of the stomach, "like hot, boiled rice," said a native. If a man experiences this when he is falling asleep, it behoves him to get up at once and seek the protection of the god he usually serves.

Houses and enclosed yards can be placed under the guardianship of Shigidi. In order to do this a hole is dug in the earth and a fowl, sheep, or, in exceptional cases, a human victim is slaughtered, so that the blood drains into the hole, and is then buried. A short, conical mound of red earth is next built over the spot, and an earthen saucer placed on the summit to receive occasional sacrifices. When a site has thus been placed under the protection of Shigidi, he kills, in his typical manner, those who injure the buildings, or who trespass there with bad intentions.

[size=20pt](5) OLAROSA.
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Olarosa (?Alarense, helper) is the tutelary deity of Houses. He is represented as armed with a stick or sword, and his image is found in almost every household guarding the entrance. His office is to drive away sorcerers and evil spirits, and to keep Elegba from entering the house.

[size=20pt](6) DADA.
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Dada, more properly Eda, or Ida, is the god of New-born Babes and Vegetables. The name appears to mean natural production, anything produced or brought forth by natural process. Dada is repre. sented by a calabash ornamented with cowries, on which is placed a ball of indigo. He is one of those who came from the body of Yemaja.

[size=20pt](7) OYA.
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Oya is the goddess of the Niger, which is called Odo Oya, the river of Oya. She is the chief wife of the thunder-god, Shango, and, as has already been said, her messenger is Afefe, the Wind. At Lokoro, near Porto Novo, there is said to be a temple of Oya containing an image of the goddess with eight heads surrounding a central head. This is supposed to be symbolical of the numerous outfalls of the Niger through its delta. Oya, and the two following sprang from Yemaja.

[size=20pt](cool OSHUN.
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Oshun, goddess of the river of the same name, which is the sacred river of Jebu Ode, is the second wife of Shango. Crocodiles which bear certain marks are sacred to her, and are considered her messengers. Human sacrifices are made to Oshun in time of need.

[size=20pt](9) OBA.
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Oba, the third wife of Shango, is the goddess of the River Ibu, or Oba.

[size=20pt](10) AJE SHALUGA.
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Aje Shaluga is the god of Wealth, and confers riches on his worshippers. The name appears to mean either "the gainer who makes to recur," or "the sorcerer who makes to recur." (Aje, sorcerer; aje, earner, or gainer, and shalu, to recur.) His emblem is a large cowry. One proverb says, "Aje Shaluga often passes by the first caravan as it comes to the market, and loads the last with benefits;" and another, "He who while walking finds a cowry is favoured by Aje Shaluga." The large cowry, emblematic of Aje Shaluga, has no value as. a medium of exchange, the small white cowries being alone used for that purpose. He is the patron of dyes and of colours generally. He came from the body of Yemaja.

[size=20pt](11) ORISRA OKO.
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Orisha Oko (oko, farm, garden, plantation) is the god of Agriculture, and is one of those who sprang from the body of Yemaja. As the natives chiefly depend upon the fruits of the earth for their food, Orisha Oko is much honoured. There is scarcely a town or village that has not a temple dedicated to him, and he has a large number of priests and priestesses in his service.

Although his first care is to promote the fertility of the earth, he is also -the god of natural fertility in general, for he is a phallic divinity, and his image is always provided with an enormous phallus. He thus resembles Priapus, who, although a phallic deity, was, apparently, primarily a garden-god, who fostered and protected crops. (Catullus, xix. xx.; Tibullus, I. i.)

An emblem of Orisha Oko is an iron rod, and honey bees are his messengers. It is probably with reference to his phallic attributes that he has the title of Eni-duru- "the erect personage." One of his functions is to cure malarial fevers, to which those who disturb the soil in the process of cultivation are particularly liable.

There is an annual festival to Orisha Oko, held when the yam crop is ripe, and all then partake of new yams. At this festival general licence prevails, the priestesses give themselves indiscriminately to all the male worshippers of the god, and, theoretically, every man has a right to sexual intercourse with every woman he may meet abroad. Social prejudices have, however, restricted the application of this privilege, and it is now only slave-girls, or women of the lowest order, who are really at the disposal of the public, and then only if they are consenting parties. At this festival all kinds of vegetable productions are cooked and placed in vessels in the streets, for general use.

[size=20pt](12) OSANHIN.
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Osanhin (san, to benefit) is the god of Medicine, and, as he is always applied to in cases of sickness, his worship is very general. His emblem is the figure of a bird perched upon an iron bar.

[size=20pt](13) ARONI.
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Aroni is the Forest-god, and, like the last, has a knowledge of medicine, though the cure of disease is not his special function. The name means "One having a withered limb," and Aroni is always represented as of human shape but with only one leg, the head of a dog, and a dog's tail.

Aroni seizes and devours those who meet him in the forest and attempt to run away when they see him; but if a man faces him boldly and shows no sign 'of fear, he leads him to his dwelling in the fastnesses of the forest, and keeps him there for two or three months, during which time he teaches him the secrets of the plants and their medicinal properties. When the pupil has no more to learn Aroni dismisses him, giving him a hair from his tail to prove to the incredulous that he has really been initiated.

An eddy of wind, rushing through the forest and swirling up the dead leaves, is considered a manifestation of Aroni.

[size=20pt](14) AJA.
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Aja, whose name appears to mean a wild vine, is a deity somewhat similar to Aroni. Like Aroni, she carries off persons who meet her into the depths of the forest, and teaches them the medicinal properties of plants; but she never harms anyone. Aja is of human shape, but very diminutive, she being only from one to two feet high. The aja vine is used by women to cure enflamed breasts.

[size=20pt](15) OYE.
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Oye, the god of the Harmattan wind, is a giant who, according to some, lives in a cavern to the north of Ilorin, while others say that 'he resides on the mountain named Igbeti, where Elegba is supposed to have his palace.

[size=20pt](16) IBEJI.
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lbeji, Twins (bi, to beget, eji, two) is the tutelary deity of twins, and answers to the god Hoho of the Ewe-tribes. A small black monkey, generally found amongst mangrove trees, is sacred to Ibeji. Offerings of fruit are made to it, and its flesh may not be eaten by twins or the parents of twins. This monkey is called Edon dudu, or Edun oriokun, and one of twin children is generally named after it Edon, or Edun.

When one of twins dies, the mother carries with the surviving child, to keep it from pining for its lost comrade, and also to give the spirit of the deceased child something to enter without disturbing the living child, a small wooden figure, seven or eight inches long, roughly fashioned in human shape, and of the sex of the dead child. Such figures are nude, as an infant would be, with beads round the waist.

At Erapo, a village on the Lagoon between Lagos and Badagry, there is a celebrated temple to Ibeji, to which all twins, and the parents of twins, from a long distance round make pilgrimages.

It is said to be usual in Ondo to destroy one of twins. This is contrary to the practice of the Yorubas, and, if true, the custom has probably been borrowed from the Benin tribes to the east.

[size=20pt](17) OSHUMARE.
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Oshumare is the Rainbow-god, the Great Snake of the Underneath, who comes up at times above the edge of the earth to drink water from the sky. The name is compounded of shu, to gather in dark clouds, to become gloomy, and the word mare, or maye, which occurs in one of the epithets of Olorun, and the meaning of which is uncertain. This god is also common to the Ewe-tribes, under the name of Anyiewo, and has been described in "The Ewe-Speaking People of the Slave Coast of West Africa." A variety of the python, called by the Yorubas ere, is the messenger of the rainbow-god, and is sacred to him.

[size=20pt](18) OKE.
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Oke, mountain, or hill, is the god of Mountains, and is worshipped by those who live in mountainous or rocky country. If neglected, he is apt to roll down huge masses of rock upon the habitations of those who have been forgetful of his wants, or to sweep them away by a landslip. When any great mishap of this nature occurs, a human victim is offered up to turn away his anger. The falling of boulders or detached pieces of rock is always considered the handiwork of Oke and a sign that something is required. The emblem of Oke is a stone or fragment of rock. He is one of those who sprang from Yemaja.

At Abeokuta there is a rocky cavern in which Oke is worshipped. It is popularly believed by the other tribes that the Egbas, when defeated in war, can retire into this cavern, which then hermetically seats itself till the danger is past.

[size=20pt](19) OSHOSI.
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Oshosi, who is also one of those who came from Yemaja, is the patron of Hunters. He resides in the forest, and drives the game into the snares and pitfalls of his faithful followers, whom he also protects from beasts of prey. He is represented as a man armed with a bow, or frequently by a bow alone. Offerings are made to him of the fruits of the chase, chiefly of antelopes.

[size=20pt](20) AND (21) THE SUN AND THE MOON.
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According to the myth, the sun, moon, and stars came from the body of Yemaja. Orun, the Sun, and Oshu, the Moon, are gods, but the stars do not seem to have been deified. The worship of the sun and moon is, moreover, now very nearly obsolete, and sacrifices are no longer offered to them, though the appearance of the -new moon is commonly celebrated by a festival.

The stars are the daughters of the sun and moon. The boys, or young suns, on growing up tried to follow their father in his course across the sky to where the sea and the sky meet, and which, say the Yorubas, is the place where the white men go and find all the things with which they fill their ships; but he, jealous of his power, turned upon them and tried to kill them. Some of them sought refuge with Olosa, some with Olokun, and the remainder with their grandmother, Yemaja, who turned them into fish. Thus all the sons were driven out of the sky, but the daughters remained with their mother and still accompany her by night. This myth is virtually the same as that current among the eastern Ewe-tribes, who have almost certainly learnt it from their Yoruba neighbours.

To see the new moon is lucky, and, just as in England, people wish when they first see it. As amongst the Ewe-tribes, an eclipse of the Moon is supposed to indicate that the Sun is beating her, and steps are taken to drive him away, similar to those described in "The Ewe-Speaking People."

The Yorubas pay some attention to the heavenly bodies. The planet Venus, when near the Moon, is called Aja-Oshu, the Moon's Dog, becauseshe travels with it. When a morning star she is called Ofere, or Ofe, which seems to mean a pale blue colour. When an evening star she is called Irawo-ale, Star of the Evening. Sirius is called Irawo-oko, Canoe Star, because it is believed to be a guide to canoemen. A proverbial saying likens the stars to chickens following a hen, the Moon; and the Milky Way is called the group of chickens."

[size=20pt](23) OLORI-MERIN.
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Olori-merin, possessor of four heads, is another god whose worship is nearly, if not quite, obsolete. He was the tutelary deity of towns, and was represented by a hillock, or, if no hillock existed within the precincts of the town, by an artificial mound.

Sacrifice was made to Olori-merin every three months, or four times a year, and always consisted of a new-born child not more than three or four days' old. The child's throat was cut by a priest, and the blood, caught in a calabash or earthen vessel, was placed on the summit of the mound, after which the flesh was sliced up into small pieces and buried in the mound. During this dreadful scene the mother had to be present. This sacrifice was called Ejodun (Eje-odun), "The season of blood."

Olori-merin had, as his name betokens, four heads, with which he watched the four points of the compass from the top of his mound, and it was believed that no war or pestilence could attack a town under his protection. He had the legs and feet of a goat. Sometimes, at -night, he appeared in the shape of a venomous serpent.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by rgp922: 2:04am On Nov 17, 2011
[size=20pt]REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING.
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The deities Obatala and Odudua represent, say the priests, Heaven and Earth. Oloran is the real Heaven-god, or Sky-god, answering to the Ewe Mawu, but he is now almost pushed out of sight, and Obatala, a more active agent, acts for him. The difference between Olorun and Obatala appears to be that the former is the personal divine firmament, and the latter an anthropomorphic sky-god, a later conception; and we perhaps here see a repetition of the process by which in the religion of ancient Greece Kronos supplanted Uranus. Obatala, or Heaven, marries Odudua, or Earth,[1] and has two children, named Aganju and Yemaja, who, according to the priests, represent Land and Water. These two intermarry and have a son, Orungan, "Air," the region between the solid firmament, and the earth. Orungan ravishes his mother Yemaja, who, while endeavouring to escape from further outrage, falls and bursts open, whereupon a number of gods emerge from her gaping body.

The gods whose origin is thus accounted for as the offspring of Yemaja, are of various types. The Sea-god (Olokun), the Thunder-god (Shango), the Sun, the Moon, the Lagoon (Olosa), the three river-goddesses Oya, Oshun, and Oba, the god of Mountains (Oke), and Ogun, god of iron and war and of the River Ogun, are all the product of Nature-worship, but are not of one type, for the Sun and Moon belong to the

[1. Rhea, bride of Kronos, to some extent represented the earth in Grecian mythology.]

old order of things, to the same religious system as Olorun, and are personally divine, while the others belong to the new order, and are anthropomorphic. Shankpanna, god of small-pox, is personified pestilence, and belongs to another type; while Dada, Oshosi, Aje Shaluga, and Orisha Oko, as the respective patrons of vegetable productions, hunters, wealth, and agriculture, may be regarded as the tutelary deities of industries, and as belonging to a third class of religious conceptions. The myth thus assigns a common origin alike to the ancient gods and to those which are more modern.

There are, however, other gods who do not belong to this family circle; that is, they are not descendants of Obatala and Odudua, so the mythological scheme is incomplete, no attempt being made to account for their origin. These gods are the God of Divination (Ifa), the Forest-god (Aroni), the Phallic-god (Elegba), the Harmattan Wind (Oye), the Rainbow (Oshumare), the tutelary deity of households (Olarosa), the god of Medicine (Osanhin), and Shigidi. These also are of various types. The Harmattan Wind and the Rainbow are Nature-gods of the old order, and Aroni, god of forests, of the new. Olarosa and Osanhin are tutelary deities, and Shigidi is personified nightmare. Ifa was probably originally the God of fecundation, though now his chief function is to foretell the future. Elegba, primarily a phallic divinity, seems to be gradually becoming a personification of evil, and here we perhaps see a tendency towards Dualism, which in the future might, if undisturbed, result in Elegba becoming the Evil Deity, and Obatala or Ifa the Good.

The incompleteness of the scheme seems, as has been said, to show that the myth of Yemaja is comparatively recent, and this is supported by the fact that the myth itself is not universally accepted in its entirety. Shango, for example, is said by some to be of independent origin, like Ifa; and Odudua, the mother of Yemaja, according to the myth, is by others included in the number of those who sprang from Yemaja's body. No general consensus of opinion has yet been arrived at, but the myth of Yemaja is the only one that holds the field, and no doubt in course of time the gods whose origin is as yet unexplained would also be held to have come from the daugliter of Obatala, and Odudua.

We find the same want of accord in the myths of the origin of man. According to some, Obatala made the first man and woman out of clay or mud, whence he has obtained his titles of Alamorere and Orisha Kpokpo; while, according to others, the first pair came, with the gods, from the body of Yemaja. Although the first story somewhat resembles the account of the origin of man given in the Book of Genesis, there is no reason for supposing it to be borrowed. When uncivilised man, after speculating about the origin of mankind, has come to the conclusion that there must have been a first pair, and has accounted for that first pair by the theory that they were made by a superior being out of something; the material which he would be most likely to select for their manufacture is clay or mud, because it is with these that he makes his own first rude attempts to model the human form. To make a rude imitation of the figure of a man in clay requires far less skill and far less labour than to carve one out of a block of wood, whence it is that most of the images of the gods are made of clay. Clay figures being primordial, and images being ordinarily made of clay even when the arts have somewhat advanced, this would be the substance which the myth-makers would introduce into their myths describing the origin of the first pair, a connection of ideas between clay and the human form already existing.[1]

The second story, which cannot be any older than the myth of Yemaja, of which it is a part, is sufficiently precise to give the name of the first couple, that of the man being Obalofun (Lord of Speech), and that of the woman Iya (Mother). After coming out of the goddess at Ife, they settled there, and had a numerous progeny, which increased and multiplied till the whole earth was populated, hence it is that Ife is considered the cradle of the human race. Of course Obalofun and Iya were Yorubas, for it is a peculiarity of every uucivilised people to believe that the first man and woman were of their race.

Another tradition, though it makes Ife the place of origin of the Yoruba tribes, represents it as being colonised by persons migrating from the interior. This tradition is perhaps a dim recollection of a historical fact, historical, that is, in so far that the Yoruba tribes probably did in the remote past come

[1. According to one Greek myth, Pandora, the first woman, was ruade by Hepæestus out of earth, and, according to anotlier, Prometheus made man out of earth and water. See also Lucian, "Dialogues of the Gods," i.]

down from the interior, and occupy the territory in which they were found at the commencement of the present century; for the cognate Tshi tribes of the Gold Coast also have a tradition of a migration from the interior. Most probably the two traditions refer to a great southward movement of the original stock from which the Tshi, Gã, Ewe, and Yomba tribes are descended, and which, starting from some central point in the interior, spread out in fan-shape till it reached the sea-coast. The tradition of the Yoruba migration is as follows.

Long ago a certain person living in the far interior sent fifteen people from his country to go to the south, and with them came, of his own free will, one named Okambi,[1] who afterwards became the first King of Yoruba. When they were leaving, the person who sent them gave Okambi a slave, a trumpeter named Okinkin,[2] a fowl, and something tied up in a piece of black cloth. They journeyed for some time, and when they opened the gate of the south and passed into the unknown country, they found nothing but water spread out before them. At first they thought of returning, but fearing the anger of the person who had sent them, they entered the water; and, finding it quite shallow, waded on through it. This they did for some time until Okinkin the trumpeter sounded his trumpet, in accordance with the instructions the person had given, and thereby reminded Okambi of the something tied up in black cloth, which was to be opened when the trumpet

[1. This name means "an only child." Okan, one, and bi, to bear.

2. Okinkin appears to mean "owner of a very small portion."]

sounded. The cloth was accordingly untied, and a palm-nut, with some earth fell into the water from it. The nut immediately began to grow, and shot up so rapidly that in a few minutes it had become a tall palm with sixteen branches.[1] All the party, being very tired from their long wading climbed up into the tree and rested on the branches till next morning, in which position a certain person named Okiki[2] saw them from the country from which they had been sent out. When he saw them, Okiki reminded Okinkin the trumpeter that it was his duty to sound the trumpet again, whereupon he sounded it, and Okambi untied the piece of black cloth a second time. When it was opened, earth fell from it, and, drying up the water, made a small mound. The fowl that the personage had given Okambi then flew on to the mound and scratched the earth here and there, and wherever the earth fell it dried up the water. When there was a good space covered with earth, Okambi came down from the tree, bringing with him his trumpeter Okinkin and his slave Tetu.[2] The other persons wished to come down also, but Okambi would not

[1. This number often recurs in Yoruba myths. There were sixteen palm-nuts on the two palms in the garden of Orungan, the chief man, which Ifa obtained for the purpose of divination, and sixteen palm trees grew up from the palm-nut that Ifa planted on the rock at Ado. Sixteen persons, viz. fifteen and Okambi, commence the journey to the south.

2. This name is sometimes given as Okiki-shi. Okiki means rumour, or report, and Okiki-sbi, "borrowed from report." There is an unintelligible Gã proverb, "Nobody knows who has born Okaikoi," which perhaps refers to the same personage.

Tetu means "executioner."]

allow them to do so until they had promised to pay him, at stipulated periods of time, a tribute of 200 cowries apiece. The place where the palm sprung up from the water afterwards became Ife, and, some time after, three brothers set out from there in different directions, to make fresh discoveries. When they went away they left a slave, named Adimu,[1] to rule Ife during their absence.

This tradition is vague and meagre of detail, the only points brought out being that a certain number of persons migrated southward from the interior, and found a region covered with water. This latter detail, however, strongly supports the theory that a real migration took place; for the large stretches of shallow water of the lagoon system, which during the rainy season are enormously extended by the inundation of the low-lying portions of the surrounding country, could scarcely have failed to excite the wonder of a people accustomed to the plateaus and mountain ranges of the interior, and to leave a lasting impression upon their memories.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by rgp922: 2:09am On Nov 17, 2011
MINOR GODS.

(1) OLOKUN.

OLOKUN (oni-okun, he who owns the sea), "Lord of the Sea," is the sea-god of the Yorubas. He is one of those who came from the body of Yemaja.

As man worships that from which he has most to fear, or from which he hopes to receive the greatest benefits, the inland tribes pay little or no attention to Olokun, who is, however, the chief god of fishermen and of all others whose avocations take them upon the sea. When Olokun is angry he causes the sea to be rough and stirs up a raging surf upon the shore; and it is he who drowns men, upsets boats or canoes, and causes shipwrecks.

Olokun is not the personally divine sea but an anthropomorphic conception. He is of human shape and black in colour, but with long flowing hair, and resides in a vast palace under the sea, where he is served by a number of sea-spirits, some of whom are human in shape, while others partake more or less of the nature of fish. On ordinary occasions animals are sacrificed to Olokun, but when the condition of the surf prevents canoes from putting to sea for many days at a time, a human victim is offered to appease him. It is said that such sacrifices have been made in recent times, even at Lagos, by the people of the Isaleko quarter, who are chiefly worshippers of Olokun. The sacrifice was of course secret, and according to native report the canoemen used to watch by night till they caught some solitary wayfarer, whom they gagged and conveyed across the lagoon to the sea-shore, where they struck off his head and threw the body into the surf.

A myth says that Olokun, becoming enraged with mankind on account of their neglect of him, endeavoured to destroy them by overflowing the land; and had drowned large numbers when Obatala interfered to save the remainder, and forced Olokun back to his palace, where he bound him with seven iron chains till he promised to abandon his design. This, perhaps, has reference to some former encroachment of the sea upon the low-lying sandy shores, which are even now liable to be submerged at spring-tides.[1]

Olokun has a wife named Olokun-su, or Elusu, who lives in the harbour bar at Lagos. She is white in colour and human in shape, but is covered with fish-scales from below the breasts to the hips. The fish in the waters of the bar are sacred to her, and should anyone catch them, she takes vengeance by upsetting canoes and drowning the occupants. A man who should be so ill-advised as to attempt to fish on the bar would run a great risk of being

[1. Another myth of this nature has been mentioned in Chapter II., under Ifa.]

thrown overboard by the other canoemen. Olokunsu is an example of a local sea-goddess, originally, as on the Gold Coast at the present day, considered quite independent, being attached to the general god of the sea, and accounted for as belonging to him.

(2) OLOSA.

Olosa (oni-osa, owner of the laaoon) is the goddess of the Lagos Lagoon, and the principal wife of her brother Olokim, the sea-god. Like her husband she is long-haired. She sprang from the body of Yemaja.

Olosa supplies her votaries with fish, and there are several temples dedicated to her along the shores of the lagoon, where offerings of fowls and sheep are made to her to render her propitious. When the lagoon is swollen by rain and overflows its banks she is angry, and if the inundation be serious a human victim is offered to her-, to induce her to return within her proper limits.

Crocodiles ate Olosa's messengers, and may not be molested. They are supposed to bear to the goddess the offerings which the faithful deposit on the shores of the lagoon or throw into the sedge. Some crocodiles, selected by the priests on account of certain marks borne by them, are treated with great veneration; and have rude sheds, thatched with palm leaves, erected for their accommodation near the water's edge. Food is regagularly supplied to these reptiles every fifth day, or festival, and many of them become sufficiently tame to come for the offering as soon as they see or hear the worshippers gathering on the bank.

(3) SHANKPANNA.

Shankpanna, or Shakpana, who also came from the body of Yemaja, is the Small-pox god. The name appears to be derived from shan, to daub, smear, or plaster, which probably has reference to the pustules with which a small-pox patient is covered, and akpania,[1] a man-killer, homicide. He is accompanied by an assistant named Buku,[2] who kills those attacked by small-pox by wringing their necks.

Shan-kpanna is old and lame, and is depicted as limping along with the aid of a stick. According to a myth he has a withered leg. One day, when the gods were all assembled at the palace of Obatala, and were dancing and making merry, Shankpanna endeavoured to join in the dance, but, owing to his deformity, stumbled and fell. All the gods and goddesses thereupon burst out laughing, and Shankpanna, in revenge, strove to infect them with small-pox, but Obatala came to the rescue, and, seizing his spear, drove Shankpanna away. From that day Shankpanna was forbidden to associate with the other gods, and he became an outcast who has since lived in desolate and uninhabited tracts of country.

Temples dedicated to Shankpanna are always built in the bush, at some little distance from a town or village, with a view to keeping him away from

[1. Akpania, kpa, to kill, and enia, a person.

2. Perhaps bu, to rot, emit a.stench, and iku, death.]

habitations. He is much dreaded, and when there is an epidemic of small-pox the priests who serve him are able to impose almost any terms they please upon the terrified people, as the price of their mediation, To whistle by night near one of Shankpanna's haunts is believed to be a certain way of attracting his notice and contracting the disease. As is the case with Sapatan, the small-pox god of the Ewe tribes, who have perhaps adopted the notion from the Yorubas, flies and mosquitos are the messengers of Sbankpanna, and his emblem is a stick covered with red and white blotches, symbolic, it seems, of the marks he makes on the bodies of his victims.

(4) SHIGIDI.

Shigidi, or Shugudu, is deified nightmare. The name appears to mean "something short and bulky," and the god, or demon, is represented by a broad and short head, made of clay, or, more commonly, by a thick, blunted cone of clay, which is ornamented with cowries, and is no doubt emblematic of the head.

Shigidi is an evil god, and enables man to gratify his hate in secret and without risk to himself. When a man wishes to revenge himself upon another he, offers a sacrifice to Shigidi, who thereupon proceeds at night to the house of the person indicated and kills him. His mode of procedure is to squat upon the breast of his victim and "press out his breath;" but it often happens that the tutelary deity of the sufferer comes to the rescue and wakes him, uponwhich Sbigidi leaps off, falls upon the earthen floor, and disappears, for he only has power over man dur ing sleep. This superstition still lingers among the negroes of the Bahamas of Yoruba descent, who talk of being "hagged," and believe that nightmare is caused by a demon that crouches upon the breast of the sleeper. The word nightmare is itself a survival from a similar belief once held by ourselves, mare being the Anglo-Saxon mære, elf or goblin.

The person -who employs Shigidi, and sends him out to kill, must remain awake till the god returns, for if he were to fall asleep Shigidi would at that moment turn back, and the mission would fail. Shigidi either travels on the wind, or raises a wind to waft him along; on this point opinions differ. The first symptom of being attacked by Shigidi, is a feeling of heat and oppression at the pit of the stomach, "like hot, boiled rice," said a native. If a man experiences this when he is falling asleep, it behoves him to get up at once and seek the protection of the god he usually serves.

Houses and enclosed yards can be placed under the guardianship of Shigidi. In order to do this a hole is dug in the earth and a fowl, sheep, or, in exceptional cases, a human victim is slaughtered, so that the blood drains into the hole, and is then buried. A short, conical mound of red earth is next built over the spot, and an earthen saucer placed on the summit to receive occasional sacrifices. When a site has thus been placed under the protection of Shigidi, he kills, in his typical manner, those who injure the buildings, or who trespass there with bad intentions.

(5) OLAROSA.

Olarosa (?Alarense, helper) is the tutelary deity of Houses. He is represented as armed with a stick or sword, and his image is found in almost every household guarding the entrance. His office is to drive away sorcerers and evil spirits, and to keep Elegba from entering the house.

(6) DADA.

Dada, more properly Eda, or Ida, is the god of New-born Babes and Vegetables. The name appears to mean natural production, anything produced or brought forth by natural process. Dada is repre. sented by a calabash ornamented with cowries, on which is placed a ball of indigo. He is one of those who came from the body of Yemaja.

(7) OYA.

Oya is the goddess of the Niger, which is called Odo Oya, the river of Oya. She is the chief wife of the thunder-god, Shango, and, as has already been said, her messenger is Afefe, the Wind. At Lokoro, near Porto Novo, there is said to be a temple of Oya containing an image of the goddess with eight heads surrounding a central head. This is supposed to be symbolical of the numerous outfalls of the Niger through its delta. Oya, and the two following sprang from Yemaja.

(cool OSHUN.

Oshun, goddess of the river of the same name, which is the sacred river of Jebu Ode, is the second wife of Shango. Crocodiles which bear certain marks are sacred to her, and are considered her messengers. Human sacrifices are made to Oshun in time of need.

(9) OBA.

Oba, the third wife of Shango, is the goddess of the River Ibu, or Oba.

(10) AJE SHALUGA.

Aje Shaluga is the god of Wealth, and confers riches on his worshippers. The name appears to mean either "the gainer who makes to recur," or "the sorcerer who makes to recur." (Aje, sorcerer; aje, earner, or gainer, and shalu, to recur.) His emblem is a large cowry. One proverb says, "Aje Shaluga often passes by the first caravan as it comes to the market, and loads the last with benefits;" and another, "He who while walking finds a cowry is favoured by Aje Shaluga." The large cowry, emblematic of Aje Shaluga, has no value as. a medium of exchange, the small white cowries being alone used for that purpose. He is the patron of dyes and of colours generally. He came from the body of Yemaja.

(11) ORISRA OKO.

Orisha Oko (oko, farm, garden, plantation) is the god of Agriculture, and is one of those who sprang from the body of Yemaja. As the natives chiefly depend upon the fruits of the earth for their food, Orisha Oko is much honoured. There is scarcely a town or village that has not a temple dedicated to him, and he has a large number of priests and priestesses in his service.

Although his first care is to promote the fertility of the earth, he is also -the god of natural fertility in general, for he is a phallic divinity, and his image is always provided with an enormous phallus. He thus resembles Priapus, who, although a phallic deity, was, apparently, primarily a garden-god, who fostered and protected crops. (Catullus, xix. xx.; Tibullus, I. i.)

An emblem of Orisha Oko is an iron rod, and honey bees are his messengers. It is probably with reference to his phallic attributes that he has the title of Eni-duru- "the erect personage." One of his functions is to cure malarial fevers, to which those who disturb the soil in the process of cultivation are particularly liable.

There is an annual festival to Orisha Oko, held when the yam crop is ripe, and all then partake of new yams. At this festival general licence prevails, the priestesses give themselves indiscriminately to all the male worshippers of the god, and, theoretically, every man has a right to sexual intercourse with every woman he may meet abroad. Social prejudices have, however, restricted the application of this privilege, and it is now only slave-girls, or women of the lowest order, who are really at the disposal of the public, and then only if they are consenting parties. At this festival all kinds of vegetable productions are cooked and placed in vessels in the streets, for general use.

(12) OSANHIN.

Osanhin (san, to benefit) is the god of Medicine, and, as he is always applied to in cases of sickness, his worship is very general. His emblem is the figure of a bird perched upon an iron bar.

(13) ARONI.

Aroni is the Forest-god, and, like the last, has a knowledge of medicine, though the cure of disease is not his special function. The name means "One having a withered limb," and Aroni is always represented as of human shape but with only one leg, the head of a dog, and a dog's tail.

Aroni seizes and devours those who meet him in the forest and attempt to run away when they see him; but if a man faces him boldly and shows no sign 'of fear, he leads him to his dwelling in the fastnesses of the forest, and keeps him there for two or three months, during which time he teaches him the secrets of the plants and their medicinal properties. When the pupil has no more to learn Aroni dismisses him, giving him a hair from his tail to prove to the incredulous that he has really been initiated.

An eddy of wind, rushing through the forest and swirling up the dead leaves, is considered a manifestation of Aroni.

(14) AJA.

Aja, whose name appears to mean a wild vine, is a deity somewhat similar to Aroni. Like Aroni, she carries off persons who meet her into the depths of the forest, and teaches them the medicinal properties of plants; but she never harms anyone. Aja is of human shape, but very diminutive, she being only from one to two feet high. The aja vine is used by women to cure enflamed breasts.

(15) OYE.

Oye, the god of the Harmattan wind, is a giant who, according to some, lives in a cavern to the north of Ilorin, while others say that 'he resides on the mountain named Igbeti, where Elegba is supposed to have his palace.

(16) IBEJI.

lbeji, Twins (bi, to beget, eji, two) is the tutelary deity of twins, and answers to the god Hoho of the Ewe-tribes. A small black monkey, generally found amongst mangrove trees, is sacred to Ibeji. Offerings of fruit are made to it, and its flesh may not be eaten by twins or the parents of twins. This monkey is called Edon dudu, or Edun oriokun, and one of twin children is generally named after it Edon, or Edun.

When one of twins dies, the mother carries with the surviving child, to keep it from pining for its lost comrade, and also to give the spirit of the deceased child something to enter without disturbing the living child, a small wooden figure, seven or eight inches long, roughly fashioned in human shape, and of the sex of the dead child. Such figures are nude, as an infant would be, with beads round the waist.

At Erapo, a village on the Lagoon between Lagos and Badagry, there is a celebrated temple to Ibeji, to which all twins, and the parents of twins, from a long distance round make pilgrimages.

It is said to be usual in Ondo to destroy one of twins. This is contrary to the practice of the Yorubas, and, if true, the custom has probably been borrowed from the Benin tribes to the east.

(17) OSHUMARE.

Oshumare is the Rainbow-god, the Great Snake of the Underneath, who comes up at times above the edge of the earth to drink water from the sky. The name is compounded of shu, to gather in dark clouds, to become gloomy, and the word mare, or maye, which occurs in one of the epithets of Olorun, and the meaning of which is uncertain. This god is also common to the Ewe-tribes, under the name of Anyiewo, and has been described in "The Ewe-Speaking People of the Slave Coast of West Africa." A variety of the python, called by the Yorubas ere, is the messenger of the rainbow-god, and is sacred to him.

(18) OKE.

Oke, mountain, or hill, is the god of Mountains, and is worshipped by those who live in mountainous or rocky country. If neglected, he is apt to roll down huge masses of rock upon the habitations of those who have been forgetful of his wants, or to sweep them away by a landslip. When any great mishap of this nature occurs, a human victim is offered up to turn away his anger. The falling of boulders or detached pieces of rock is always considered the handiwork of Oke and a sign that something is required. The emblem of Oke is a stone or fragment of rock. He is one of those who sprang from Yemaja.

At Abeokuta there is a rocky cavern in which Oke is worshipped. It is popularly believed by the other tribes that the Egbas, when defeated in war, can retire into this cavern, which then hermetically seats itself till the danger is past.

(19) OSHOSI.

Oshosi, who is also one of those who came from Yemaja, is the patron of Hunters. He resides in the forest, and drives the game into the snares and pitfalls of his faithful followers, whom he also protects from beasts of prey. He is represented as a man armed with a bow, or frequently by a bow alone. Offerings are made to him of the fruits of the chase, chiefly of antelopes.

(20) AND (21) THE SUN AND THE MOON.

According to the myth, the sun, moon, and stars came from the body of Yemaja. Orun, the Sun, and Oshu, the Moon, are gods, but the stars do not seem to have been deified. The worship of the sun and moon is, moreover, now very nearly obsolete, and sacrifices are no longer offered to them, though the appearance of the -new moon is commonly celebrated by a festival.

The stars are the daughters of the sun and moon. The boys, or young suns, on growing up tried to follow their father in his course across the sky to where the sea and the sky meet, and which, say the Yorubas, is the place where the white men go and find all the things with which they fill their ships; but he, jealous of his power, turned upon them and tried to kill them. Some of them sought refuge with Olosa, some with Olokun, and the remainder with their grandmother, Yemaja, who turned them into fish. Thus all the sons were driven out of the sky, but the daughters remained with their mother and still accompany her by night. This myth is virtually the same as that current among the eastern Ewe-tribes, who have almost certainly learnt it from their Yoruba neighbours.

To see the new moon is lucky, and, just as in England, people wish when they first see it. As amongst the Ewe-tribes, an eclipse of the Moon is supposed to indicate that the Sun is beating her, and steps are taken to drive him away, similar to those described in "The Ewe-Speaking People."

The Yorubas pay some attention to the heavenly bodies. The planet Venus, when near the Moon, is called Aja-Oshu, the Moon's Dog, becauseshe travels with it. When a morning star she is called Ofere, or Ofe, which seems to mean a pale blue colour. When an evening star she is called Irawo-ale, Star of the Evening. Sirius is called Irawo-oko, Canoe Star, because it is believed to be a guide to canoemen. A proverbial saying likens the stars to chickens following a hen, the Moon; and the Milky Way is called the group of chickens."

(23) OLORI-MERIN.

Olori-merin, possessor of four heads, is another god whose worship is nearly, if not quite, obsolete. He was the tutelary deity of towns, and was represented by a hillock, or, if no hillock existed within the precincts of the town, by an artificial mound.

Sacrifice was made to Olori-merin every three months, or four times a year, and always consisted of a new-born child not more than three or four days' old. The child's throat was cut by a priest, and the blood, caught in a calabash or earthen vessel, was placed on the summit of the mound, after which the flesh was sliced up into small pieces and buried in the mound. During this dreadful scene the mother had to be present. This sacrifice was called Ejodun (Eje-odun), "The season of blood."

Olori-merin had, as his name betokens, four heads, with which he watched the four points of the compass from the top of his mound, and it was believed that no war or pestilence could attack a town under his protection. He had the legs and feet of a goat. Sometimes, at -night, he appeared in the shape of a venomous serpent.
Re: Yoruba Mythology by PAGAN9JA(m): 3:42pm On Nov 17, 2011
Rgp92:

Animals for sacrifice range from reptiles to man.
Human sacrifices have been practised by all the different sections of the Yoruba nation and other West African tribes, especially at periodical festivals and on other great occasions; but till the recent conquest of the kingdom of Dahomey (on the East of the Yoruba kingdom) by France, and the unresisted and bloodless conquest and annexation of the great and powerful kingdom of Ashantee (on the South-east) by Great Britain, they were very common and abundant in them in connection with their respective ancestral worship.

The king of Dahomey is reported, as far back as 1664, to have built a royal dead-house, the mortar of which had been mixed with human blood.

In Yoruba the human victim chosen for sacrifice, and who may be either a free-born or a slave, a person of noble or wealthy parentage, or one of humble birth, is, after he has been chosen and marked out for the purpose, called an Oluwo.

He is always well fed and nourished and supplied with whatever he should desire during the period of his confinement. When the occasion arrives for him to be sacrificed and offered up, he is commonly led about and paraded through the streets of the town or city of the Sovereign who would sacrifice him for the well-being of his government and of every family and individual under it, in order that he might carry off the sin, guilt, misfortune and death of all without exception. Ashes and chalk would be employed to hide his identity by the one being freely thrown over his head, and his face painted with the latter, whilst individuals would often rush out of their houses to lay their hands upon him that they might thus transfer to him their sin, guilt trouble, and death. This parading done, he is taken through a temporary sacred shed of palm and other tree branches, and especially of the former, the Igbodu and to its first division, where many persons might follow him, and through a second where only the chiefs and other very important persons might escort and accompany him to, and to a third where only the Babalawo and his official assistant, the Ajigbona, are permitted to enter with him. Here, after he himself has given out or started his last song, which is to be taken up by the large assembly of people who will have been waiting to hear his last word or his last groan, his head is taken off and his blood offered to the gods. The announcement of his last word or his last groan heard and taken up by the people, would be a signal for joy, gladness and thanksgiving, and for drum beating and dancing, as an expression of their gratification because their sacrifice has been accepted, the divine wrath is appeased, and the prospect of prosperity or increased prosperity assured.

A sheep or any other brute creature chosen as a victim for a propitiatory sacrifice for one who desires to come to a great and important public office, and in respect of whom Ifa had predicted a short enjoyment of the position and an early removal from it to make room for another person who would enjoy it longer, would be similarly paraded through the town that it might be loaded with the ill-will which his enemies are believed to entertain against and wish the offerer and with the death pronounced against him, and when after this it is being led back into his house it would be clubbed to death at once at the entrance by some specially appointed persons.

Human sacrifices are generally offered in Yoruba and in many other parts of Africa by Sovereigns, especially when an expiation that is to be made is of a general character, and in the interests of their respective governments and peoples; and this is always, in Yoruba, according to the specific prescription and after the instigation of priests who, to reconcile them to the fearful and revolting deed and prevent to them qualms of conscience over it, usually seek by their language to magnify before them their great power and the importance of their office, and impress them with the idea that no one would or could call them into account for this use which they would make of a fellow man's life.

Sacrifices are offered for and by private individuals, individual families, a particular quarter of a town or city, or the whole of it in the king's name. When a sacrifice is a family one it is commonly spoken of as Ebo Agbole-a household sacrifice. When it is for a particular quarter of a town or city it is spoken of as Ebo igboro-or a district sacrifice; and when it is for a whole town or city it is generally spoken, of as Ebo Agbalu-a sacrifice for sweeping away evil from the town, or Ebo Oba, or the King's sacrifice.

These sacrifices which are offered by heathens to their Orishas, who occupy the place both of subordinate deities and mediators, are believed to be taken to the Great One by a spirit whom they denominate "Agberu," the carrier, whose special business it is to take them to him and wait upon him with them. He goes by the title, "Agberu ti igbe ebo re orun" " Agberu who carries people's sacrifices to heaven." The basket in which he is supposed to carry the sacrifices to heaven is lined with leaves sacred to Ifa, as for instance "Ewe toto," the toto leaf, " which is symbolical of the wish and prayer of the offerer that he may be equal to those who are before and above him;" the "Ewe Ewuruju" the Ewuruju leaf, which is symbolical of his wish that he may surpass others; "Ewe Igberesi" the Igberesi leaf, which is generally spoken of and described as the Igberesi leaf which accompanies a sacrifice to heaven. " Ewe Igberesi ti I sin ebolo si orun" and the Yeye leaf, which is often described as "Ewe Yeye ti ije ki ire ya si ile eni," "the Yeye leaf that brings blessing into our houses."


I think its only fair that[b] if other animals are sacrificed, then even humans have the right to be sacrificed[/b]. Infact, even today, we can sacrifice murderers and ra.pists to the Gods. By doing so, we do good to society by punishing them and we do good to the criminals to have the honour to do one last service to humanity.

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