Yoruba religion

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Statue of the oriṣa Eṣu, Ọyọ, Nigeria, c 1920
Statue of the oriṣa Eṣu, Ọyọ, Nigeria, c 1920

The Yoruba religion is the religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people both in Africa (chiefly in Nigeria and Benin Republic), and in the New World, where it has influenced or given birth to several religions such as Santería in Cuba and Candomblé in Brazil in addition to the transplantation of the homeland religions.

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

Contents

[edit] Deities

Temple of Ọshun in Oshogbo, Nigeria.
Temple of Ọshun in Oshogbo, Nigeria.

Yòrùbá deities are called Orishas, literally "owners of heads". Shango is perhaps the most important Orisha; god of thunder and an ancestor of the Yòrùbá. He was the fourth king of the Yòrùbá, and deified after his death.

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

[edit] Iya Nla

The mysteries of nature and existence has been cultivated and worshiped in a religious custom by the first human ancestor from all around the world. Through those ancestors that has been humanity embodiment named and elevate to a heavenly status in order to honor them and to continue with their customs. These first ancestors teach to their descendents how to understand the exoteric and esoteric form and ways of the invisible forces in order to sustain the continuous dynamics of existence within Nature. These first ancestors became the representative of those invisible spiritual forces and they were named by their descendents according to their language, region and culture meanings of what this name represents within the worship of the mysteries of Nature and existence. This human embodiment of the first ancestors helps to distinguish the diverse aspect and influences of Ìyá Nlá manifestations.

Ìyá Nlá wise discipline teach us that if we transcends the consciousness of the physical form and allow ourselves to flow and be nurtures into the essence of Awon Iya Wa (Our Mothers) maternal caring we be able to access both form, the Forces in Nature and the wisdom of our first ancestors. If we learn how to develop an ongoing relationship within the harmony of creation to develop the sensitivity of these forces that, they assume the characteristic of a particular Imale or Irunmole or first African ancestors that they were elevated to the Òrìsà status.

Iyá Nlá aspects, roads, paths, manifestations, roles, attributes, synonymous, concepts, or praise names are directly related to her ability and authority to heal strike or destroy at will. Ìyá Nlá the self-existent energy who gives life and harmony on earth, endowed by inherit attribute to her daughters the infinite and eternal gifts of working with Õrõ (Egungun), Eleiye (the force that gives the power and mystical abilities) in order to intensify cause, effect and changes. With these gifts an Ìyá Àjé is able to meld the terrestrial and astral power to cure, curse or to cause retributive justice on anyone who disrespects woman and motherhood. Ìyá Nlá is the sacred womb who gives life; she is the doorway to existence and the origin of the biological tools, manifested in every woman

From "The Source Iya Nla Primordial Yoruba Mother" Iyalaja Ileana Alcamo ISBN 1-890157-41-4

[edit] Other concepts

The Yòrùbá pantheon includes several other entities besides the Orisha, such as Egbére.

Ifá dafa as well as merindinlogun or (cowrie shell divination) are important element of Yòrùbá religious practices.

  • Eledua

[edit] Reincarnation

The Yoruba believe in reincarnation. They sometimes name children Babatunde ("Father returns") and Yetunde ("Mother returns") to signal this belief.[1]

[edit] Yoruba religion in the New World

Many ethnic Yoruba were taken as slaves to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela and the rest of the New World (chiefly in the 19th century, after the Ọyọ 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 lineages:

The popularly known Vodun religion of Haiti was founded by slaves from a different ethnic group (the Gba speaking peoples of modern day Benin, Togo and Ghana), but shares many elements with the Yoruba-derived religions above. in addition, author Ed Morales has claimed that Yoruba religious beliefs and traditions played a part in early American blues music, citing blues guitarist Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues as a "thinly veiled reference to Eleggua, the orisha in charge of the crossroads."

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Murphy, Joseph. Santería. Malaysia: Beacon Press, 1993.

[edit] References

  • Morales, Ed (2003). The Latin Beat. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81018-2. , pg. 277
  • Alcamo, Iyalaja Ileana (2007). The Source IYA NLA Primordial Yoruba Mother. Athelia Henrietta Press, Inc. ISBN 1-809157-41-4, pg. 32

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Afro-American Religions
Religions Candomblé • Hoodoo • Kumina • Obeah • Palo • Quimbanda • Santería (Lukumí) • Spiritual Baptist • Umbanda • Vodou
Deities Babalu Aye • Eshu • Iansan • Mami Wata • Obàtálá • Ogoun • Ọlọrun • Orunmila • Ọṣun • Shango • Yemaja
Roots Ifá, Oriṣa (Yorùbá) • Lwa (Dahomey) • Nkisi (Kongo) • Catholicism (Portugal, Spain)
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