Yorùbá mythology

[Green Gaia]

The mythology of the Yorùbá is sometimes claimed by its supporters to be one of the world's oldest widely practised religions. It is a major religion in Africa, chiefly in Nigeria, and it has given origin to several New World religions such as Santería in Cuba and Candomblé in Brazil.

Yorùbá mythology is only one part of itan — the complex of myths, songs, histories and other cultural concepts which make up the Yorùbá religion and society.

Deities

Yorùbá deities are called Orishas. The primordial, first-existing, Orishas are called Obatala and Odùduwà, brother and sister respectively, and their father Olorun. Obatala created humanity and Olorun gave life to the hollow shells Obatala had made. Obatala and Odùduwà later had a son, Aganyu, and a daughter, Yemaja, who was a mother goddess. Her son, Ogun, raped her twice; the second time, her body exploded and fifteen Orishas came out. They included Oshun, Olukun, Shakpana, Shango.

Shango is perhaps the most important Orisha; god of thunder and an ancestor of the Yorùbá. He was the fourth king of the Yorùbá, and deified after his death.

Eshu is another very important Orisha. He is a trickster and very well-respected both by the Yorùbá themselves and the other Orishas.

Yorùbá mythology in the New World

Many ethnic Yorùbá were taken as slaves to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the rest of the New World (chiefly in the 19th century, after the Oyo empire collapsed and the region plunged into civil war), and carried their religious beliefs with them. These concepts were combined with preexisting African-based cults, Christianity, Native American mythology, and Kardecist Spiritism into various New World religions:

* Santería (Cuba)
* Candomblé (Brazil)
* Umbanda (Brazil)
* Batuque (Brazil)

The popularly known Vodun religion of Haiti was founded by slaves from a different ethnic group (the Ewe of present-day Benin), but shares many elements with the Yorùbá-derived religions above.

 

[CSK]

Hi Green, I see you are very knowledgeable about religion in general. I actually came to the forums because I happened upon one of your posts on Google and I wanted to make a few small clarifications. Yet I find myself here to start. I am a Babalawo with Wanaldo or roughly on par with a Catholic Arch Bishop in our religion. I come from the Cuban branch and am in the school of thought that Catholicism ( Santeria/ Regla de Lukumi) has outlived it's necessity in our religion. I am sure you know that when African slaves spread this religion throughout the world they often faced the choice of conversion to Catholicism or die. Therefore it was a necessity that the Orishas were hidden within the Catholic saints. Because Orisha worship and IFA are now allowed in Cuba ( the last place where religious freedom was not allowed by the government until recently) there is no need to continue the facade of Santeria. However 400 years of worship is not so easily brushed aside and therefore we are trying patiently and gently to return to our roots.

I am also the author of Nature's Ancient Religion a 328 page book in English. As I am new I can not post a link to it yet if you simply Google the title it will show up in the first position on Google.

Now If I may humbly address your post here:

First of all we prefer to call our Pataki legends rather than mythology' much as I am quite sure the Christians would bristle at the garden of Eden scene or Noah being called myths. The reason it is claimed to be one of the oldest religions is that the Haplogroup mapping has significantly changed what anthropologists believed. The common opinion until the 2007 Haplogroup mapping sample ( that included Yoruba samples for the first time) was that the Yoruba were a maximum of 4000 years old. The evidence is conclusive that they are 10,000 plus years old now. This of course throws a monkey wrench in all but perhaps the Hindu claims that are of course substantiated with the Vedas being 5,000- 7000 plus years old. While the DNA evidence is clear there is not yet any physical evidence such as sites to complement the DNA evidence. Certainly we are hopeful that this will come soon as this is a major hole in African Anthropology.

Now to explain the "claim" you write of in being widely practiced. Most experts put the number at 100 million followers of some form of Orisha worship and IFA. I put the number at 175,000,000 and with I think valid reasons. Take Cuba for instance here as in almost all of Latin America the Catholics claim Cuba to be 90% Catholic. This is somewhat true on the surface because the vast majority this 90% of 11 million do practice Catholicism in the form of Santeria (or Palo Abakau etc). However the reality is that these combination religions at most are only 20 -30% Catholicism (and that is being generous). Pure Catholicism in Cuba is less than 20% of the 90%. Orisha worship despite the Awoni in Yorubaland does not promote itself as productively as the Abrahamic branches. Brazil for example is also is claimed to be the largest Catholic community in the world 74% of the population yet experts say at least 40 million practice Candomble, Macumba and Umbanda. The Orishas are the same we practice in Cuba. The list goes on and on, Therefore, I am convinced 175,000,000 is more accurate. This would as you know make Orisha worship & IFA the seventh largest religion or way of life in the world.

What does not fit from country to country or even branch of the tree to branch of the tree is the relationships between the respective Orishas, here there are many, many interpretations as to who is married, was born or is related to whom. It is because of the lack of anything but oral inheritance as there is very few documents older than 1000 years. The habit of the African tribes was to pass this information down from family to family and community orally. When you say Obatala and Oduduwa were the first Orishas well you are inviting a world of dissension without clarifying that this ois ONE view of many many and so on with the others. You say Shango is the most important Orisha.... No Orisha is more important than the other.. Is snow more important than rain? Night more important than day? Hands more important than feet? Eshu you say is another important Orisha well, he is important and in his avatar of Ellegua he is among many other things a trickster, yet as Eshu he is balance he rewards and punishes and delivers the rewards and punishments of the deities ( Olodumarre and his two avatars Olorun and Olofin), the Orishas ( Nature's guardians). The Ancestors and The Dead normally guide or hinder us through our dreams though not usually through Eshu.

Finally, The Ewe in Benin and Vodun in the Congo are indeed part of the various forms of Orisha worship and IFA but with some major differences yet I agree the same tree. I hope this has somehow contributed to the site and thank you for including our religion in your posts.

 

[simonremi]

Shango is perhaps the most important Orisha; god of thunder and an ancestor of the Yorùbá. He was the fourth king of the Yorùbá, and deified after his death.

Shango may be the most popular but I am not sure if he is the most important. Orunmila might rightfully be said to be the most important, due to Ifa.

 

[King-Of-Tin]

This is a brilliant resource for those who are not familiar with the Yoruba religion, clear and precise and much better than the wikipedia pages. I was wondering if there was a symbol anyone would think as representing the religion, like the star of David for Judaism or a crucifix for Christianity. I'm trying to write a comic using various deities as characters, and Yemaja seems like a deity who is really exciting and filled with life. However, as an atheist European, I am conscious that I am playing around with peoples' beliefs, and I don't want to hurt anyone.