₦airaland Forum

I never cease to amaze me when blackman prefers the jewish jesus to his own identity and heritage,at this time and age when we suppose to know the truth.

that's xactly wat i meant.I hav misgivings about diz so called african religions.It's always abt how to eliminate evrythin and everyone around them,stinks of evil-bite me.

Yoruba religion
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The Yorùbá religion comprises religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people of old before the Yoruba community encountered Islam, Christianity and other faiths. It originated from Africa (chiefly in Nigeria and Benin Republic), and in the New World, where it has influenced or given birth to several Afro-American religions such as Lucumí in Cuba and Umbanda and Candomblé in Brazil in addition to the transplantation of the homeland religions. Though specific numbers are unknown, it is possibly the largest African-born religion in the world. Though claims are made for an ultimately Egyptian/African origin to Judaism, Judaism was finalized as the religion of the Hebrew people of the Levant. Christianity and Islam also have long histories in Africa, but neither of those can claim to be African in origin in their present state like the undoubtedly African religion of the Yoruba. While much of Africa has increasingly adopted foreign religions, many indigenous faiths remain. The lack of proselytizing or establishing written "rule books" prevents these religions from spreading as much as Islam or Christianity. Regardless, they survive, both in Africa and the Western Hemisphere.

Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan — the complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts which make up the Yorùbá religion and society.

Contents [hide]
1 Yorùbá, In Brief
2 Deities and other entities
2.1 Olódùmarè
2.2 Irunmole
2.3 Egun
2.4 Other concepts
3 Àjòdún / Festivals
4 Reincarnation
5 Twins in Yoruba society
6 Yoruba religion in the New World
7 See also
8 Notes
9 Other references
10 External links



[edit] Yorùbá, In Brief
It is in Yorùbá philosophy the indication that all humans have Ayanmo (manifest destiny) to become one in spirit with Olódùmarè (Olòrún, the divine creator and source of all energy). Each person in Ayé (the physical realm) uses thought or action energies to impact the community of all other living things including the Earth, and so to move towards destiny. As such, one's destiny is in one's hands. To attain transcendence and destiny in Òrún-Réré (spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things), one's Orí-Inu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must be elevated to unify with one's Iponri (Orí Òrún). Those who stop improving are destined for Òrún-Apadi (spiritual realm of the forsaken). Life and death are cycles of habitation in physical body and spiritual realms while one's spirit evolves toward transcendence. This evolution is most advanced in Irùnmolẹ (oní irun, of the unique hair that distinguishes humans from beasts; imo, enlightened of destiny, ilẹ on the land)

For most people, iwapẹlẹ (well-balanced), meditation and sincere veneration sufficiently strengthen one's Orí-Inu. Being well-balanced, it is beleived, that you are in prime position to make positive use of the simplest form of connection between eniyan and Olu-Òrún in the form of adúra (petition;prayer) for divine support.

Some feel it also binding to make a petition or prayer to one's Orí Òrún as it is said to yield quick and descisive pockets of joy. Ẹlégbara (Eṣu, the divine messenger) who, without distortion or partiality for good or for bad, negotiates communication to Òrún and navigates them to Ayé; deliverer of àṣẹ. It is thought that Ifá is called upon whilst in times of major decision making; whatever the 'offering'; the line of advice is commonly used to draw conclusions that would not have been first thought. Call Orunmila,Ifa; or try vice-versa; it is said that all communication with Òrún is energized by invoking àṣẹ.


In the Yoruba Theogany, Olódùmarè has àṣẹ over all.


[edit] Deities and other entities
Yòrùbá Orishas, literally, owners of heads, are the means to get into contact with the supernatural. The term is often translated as deities[1].


[edit] Olódùmarè
Olódùmarè is the most important entity. Olódùmarè is so important, that there can be no gender assigned, for Olódùmarè is seen mostly as a spirit. Olódùmarèis therefore more correctly referred to as an IT. IT is the owner of all heads, for during human creation, Olodumare gave the emi, or breath of life to humans. To the Yorubas, Olódùmarè is Supreme. If there was a conflict among the other Orishas IT would take over and the fight would end.


[edit] Irunmole
The irunmole were spirits sent by Olodumare to complete various tasks, often between Orun (the invisible realm) and Aiye (the physical realm). Some were acknowledged as Orisha for their accomplishments. The orishas help to create and maintain order on earth. (see Orisha article)

"Everything wrote are okay but Orisa is different from Irunmole. Human beings can become Orisa if they performed extra ordinary tasks in the world before they are gone to heaven. Examples are Jesus, Mohammed, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa etc. But Irunmole are numbered, they are not more than 401. The number cannot increase. They are the ones Olodumare (Supreme Being) gave the rights to care for the earth before the human beings came to the world. And they also thought us how to live life as we are living today. We are worshiping God through them. We are not worshipping Orisas, they are human beings like us. In Yoruba belief, human being cannot be worshiped but they can be honored. We are honoring Orisas and our Ancestors. The number of Orisas would continue to be increasing as the world is existing. There is no English word for Irunmole, better to leave it as Irunmole, the servants of Olodumare, God, the Supreme being. - by Prince (Babalawo)Adigun Olosun MA MA PGDJ PGCR. (www.yorubareligion.org)


[edit] Egun
The egun are ancestral spirits who made transition, but are still placated to assist and guide one throughout life. (see Egungun article)





[edit] Other concepts
Ifá dafa as well as merindinlogun or (cowrie shell divination) are important element of Yòrùbá religious practices.

Eledua is Olodumare the Pantheon of the - Yoruba theogany: In this,Olodumare is the supreme being;creator of night and day; the final recepient of all creation
'Emere' as well as 'akuda' is another manifestation of the yoruba belief in reincarnation is the belief in the emere.


[edit] Àjòdún / Festivals
This schedule, as determined by the Yoruba calendar, is illustrative for 10050 year (2008 A.D.) Note the actual dates may vary.

Ṣèrè / January

Erele / February
Olokún = Oríṣà of Okún, the deep seas or oceans, patron of sailors, and guardian of souls lost at sea Erele/Feb 21-25

Èrèna / March
Annual rites of passage for men Èrèna/March 12 – 28

Oduduwa (odudu, the dark pigment; ni ewa, is the beauty) / Iyaagbe (iya, mother; agbe, who receives) = Oríṣà of Earth and matron of the Ayé. Oduduwa endows the ebony dark skin pigment that accords greatest gifts of spirituality, beauty and intellect to the bearer. The essence of procreative love. Èrèna/March 15 – 19

Oshosi = Oríṣà of Adventure and the hunt Èrèna/March 21 – 24:

Igbe / April
Ogun = Oríṣà of the metal and war crafts, and engineering. The custodian of truth and executioner of justice, as such patron of the legal and counselling professions who must swear to uphold truth while biting on a piece of metal. Igbe

Oshun = Oríṣà of Fertility and custodian of the female essence. who guides pregnancies to term. Igbe starts last Saturday of April, for 5 days-

Onset of wet season (Spring)

Ebibi / May
Egungun (Commemoration of the Ancestors, including community founders and illustrious dead. Èbíbí: starts last Saturday of May, for 7 days

Okudu / June
Yoruba New Year Okudu 03: Onset of the Yoruba New Year (2008 is the 10,050th year of Yoruba culture)

Shopona (Oríṣà of Disease, shopona, small pox is a virual disease) and Osanyin (Oríṣà of Medicine and patron of the healing professions: osan, afternoon; yin, healing) Okudu 7 - 8

Annual rites of passage for women Okudu 10 - 23

Yemoja = matriarch of the Òrún-Rere). Oduduwa gave birth to a boy Aganju (Land) and Yemoja (Water) from marriage to Ọbàtala. Yemoja in turn birthed many other Oríṣà. The old Ile-Ife kingdom arose on her burial site. Okudu 18 - 21

Agẹmo / July
Ọrúnmilà / Ifá = Oríṣà of Divination and founder of the Ifá sciences, whose divination is with 16 palm nuts. Mass gathering of the yoruba Agẹmo: first and second weeks in July

Oko (Agriculture) Harvesting of the new Yam crop.

Ẹlégba-Bara (Ẹlégba, one who has power to seize) / Eṣu (shu, to release eject from; ara, the body) = Oríṣà of male essence and Power, who is the great Communicator and messenger of the will of Olódùmarè. No woman should bara (ba ra, to rub with, have intercourse with) a man who has not done Ikola (circumcision: ike, cutting; ola, that saves) in sacrifice to Ẹlégba. Agẹmo second weekend of July

Ṣàngo (shan, to strike:/ Jakuta:ja, fight; pẹlu okuta, with stones. The Oríṣà of Energy – Ara (Thunder) and Manamana, make fire (Lightening) whose divination is with 16 cowries and whose messenger and water-bearer is Oshumare (the Rainbow). Agẹmo: third week of July

Ogun / August
Ọbàtálá = (Obà,to possess; ti ala, of visions or Oríṣà-nla, the principal Oríṣà). Patriarch of Òrún-Rere, the heaven of goodly spirits and beneficial ancestors. As Olódùmarè is too powerful and busy to be pre-occupied by the affairs of any one living being. Ọbàtálá functions as the principal emissary of Olódùmarè on Aye, and is the custodian of Yoruba culture. The aso-ala (white cloth) worn by Ọbàtálá initiates is to signify need to be pure in intent and action: A recurring punishment for social misfits was to try to keep white cloth clean in Africa's tropical and dusty climate. The misappropriation of aso-ala connection to Ọbàtálá was/is a major weapon against the Yoruba in their psychological resistance of foreign invasion, as Christian and Islamic converts were/are indoctrinated that anything considered 'white' is pure: a notion that has also become a key tenet of racialist supremacy Ogun: last weekend of August

Òwéré / September

Ọwaro / October
Oya (Oríṣà of the odo Oya (river Niger) whose messenger is Afefe (the Wind), and guardian of gateway between the physical realm (Aye) and the spiritual realm (Òrún). Ọwaro

Oṣun (Oríṣà of the odo Oṣun and patron of the (sovereign) Ijebu nation Ọwaro third weekend of October

Onset of the dry season (Autumn)

Shigidi (Oríṣà of Òrún-Apadi, the realm of the unsettled spirits and the ghosts of the dead that have left Aye and are forsaken of Òrún-Rere. Custodian of nightmares and patron of assassins. Solemn candlelight to guide the unsettled away from your residence, else they settle in your dolls or other toys. Ọwaro 30 World Slavery Day?

Bèlu / November

Òpé / December
Obajulaiye (Oríṣà of Ṣòwò (Commerce) and owo (wealth). Òpé 15

Onset of the second dry season (winter solstice)

You think anyone will let a Yoruba man within a mile of Aso rock so soon after the OBJ fiasco? guy put on your thinking cap. Maybe you wanted to type 'Lamido Sanusi as president come 2011'

the yorubas have to wait till 2047 for their next turn and I wonder how old Fashola will be then

yorubaland is the home of voodoo and ogboni

Police chiefs are criminals all around the world. It's not peculiar to Nigeria. You no wan try Indonesian and Thai police

No plan to prune seven-point agenda, says Presidency
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja

WHETHER now or in the future, the Presidency says it has no intention to trim the seven-point agenda upon which the socio-economic pillars of the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua administration are built.

In its defence of the agenda and the need to go ahead with it, the Presidency said yesterday that the items in the economic blueprint are well articulated, interrelated and inter-independent with the capacity to revive the economy.

The Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, who spoke on the position of the Federal Government on the matter, said since the agenda is not an ad-hoc measure, any attempt to prune it would amount to economic suicide.

The Presidency is also not deeming the comment of the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the agenda be reduced to two or three items as an attack on the government but a suggestion with the best of intention.

Adeniyi told journalists yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the implementation of the seven-point agenda is very crucial to the survival of the Nigerian economy because Vision 20-2020 is anchored on it.

The government said Nigerians should see Sanusi's views during his screening by the Senate that the seven-point agenda be pruned to two as a "suggestion and not an attack on the government focal policy."

He insisted that there was no way the government would concentrate only on power and infrastructure without gas, "which is the Niger Delta element in the seven-point agenda, as the power sector requires adequate gas supply from the Niger Delta to function."

The presidential aide said without peace in the Niger Delta, gas could not be sourced.

Adeniyi said: "Fortunately, I watched the Senate proceedings of the confirmation of the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi. And I didn't see any area where he attacked President Yar'Adua's seven-point agenda as was imputed. All the items on the seven-point agenda are inter-related. But if you check the 2009 budget, those two areas highlighted account for more than 90 per cent of the spending. But even at that, paying more attention to power and infrastructure does not mean you have to neglect the Niger Delta because if you do that, the power agenda would be dead on arrival.

"One of the critical challenges facing government today is gas and pipeline vandalism. And the Niger Delta is crucial to this. You can also not ignore food security or even physical security. So, basically, the President and Mr. Sanusi are on the same page. I know that power is central to everything. And so does the President. That is why he is taking the Niger Delta situation very seriously because without tackling that problem, we will not have power, after we have made so much investment in turbines. With what is going on today, you cannot conclude that President Yar'Adua does not understand the importance of power and infrastructure. But my own interpretation of what Mr. Sanusi said on the need to pay more attention to two items on the seven-point agenda would be that he was only expressing the mind of the President with whom he had had extensive discussions in the last couple of weeks."

Adeniyi added that the need for critical infrastructure led to the recent award of contracts worth N140 billion for the rehabilitation and construction of several key roads across the country.

He said: "I am also aware that once the current negotiations with trailer owners, who have about 3,000 trailers along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are concluded, hopefully within the next few weeks, the company which won the concession of the highway will begin work. And many other roads are also lined up for concessioning."

The presidential mouthpiece cited the ongoing reconstruction of the Airport Road in Abuja to where thousands of trees planted along the present four-lane highway are giving way to the originally planned 10 lanes illustrates the need for thorough planning.

He said the President would not allow such; he is a methodical person. "I think Nigerians will ultimately appreciate his approach. The President said at the time those trees were being planted many years ago and with probably billions of naira spent to nurture them, someone must have known that the road was designed for 10 lanes. Yet they erected Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) poles and planted trees very close to the four-lane road such that to extend the road now, you have to cut those beautiful trees and the power poles will have to be relocated. That episode alone tells a story about our nation."

Noting that in whatever the President does, there is much thought to it, "not only in terms of current challenges and prospects but also with regards to the future", Adeniyi said: "Take the story of railways, for instance. What government is doing now is to work on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model with General Electric and African Development Bank (ADB) to ensure that by early 2011, we will have railway services across the nation."

Adeniyi said in addition to the dredging of River Niger, which has been in the offing since independence, will also be undertaken this year. The contractors, he said, have been mobilised to site and are only waiting for the water level to rise. The dredging will start next month with expectation that it will be completed before December.

Last Tuesday, the President held a meeting with the governors of the eight states along the over 500 kilometres River Niger channel, that is Niger, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa to explain the benefits of the project to these states, the entire nation and the West African sub-region.

My friend travels from Lancaster to Stanford bridge every time Chelsea has a home game. that is what i call support.

walata44, are you saying he should or shouldn't i.e go for the second term, I'm interested

you lack some econonic basics. you are sentimental with the man. the ex-governor has no any impact on the crude oil price.be appreciative for the steps he took to wage war on the global economic meltdow

Why does being GAY have to be a sin. Ignorance is just displayed in this thread showing our backward and African mentality. Just as "twins were evil" or "albinos are this or that". Has anyone on this thread ever used their common sense (which is not common though) to reflect on this. (By the way i'm not gay)

You have made Nigerians feel safe, I mean, when great giants, like the lehman brothers, with billions of dollars running out of business, you didn't allow that happen, Nigerians can put money in any bank and know they'll get it, GOD BLESS YOU SIR.

We should wait and see what he has deliver.

In my own opinion the guy has been the President for 6 months or thereabout, he is nice, coolheaded gentleman and seems transparent.

However, apart from mentioning his 7 point agenda and 2020 vision he has yet to do anything substantial nor can I personally see his vision.

Until he set out his vision clearly and the time frame at which he is going to achieve them and finaly for us to see at least succesful completion of any of his programme I will say it will be too early for anybody to judge him on merits and therefore 2nd term should be off the table.

He needs to prove that his 'selection' or election is justified. 2nd term is to be looked at towards the end of the first term