God is known as olodumare the one who has the fullness of everything and olorun the owner of heaven, the lord whose abode is in the heaven above. The concepts of ori and human destiny in traditional. The yoruba believe olodumare is omnipotent and is also responsible for the creation of all life. Yoruba followers believe olodumare participates in a calm, restful, rather inactive life. Devotion to the orisha is active and widespread, but olorun has neither priests nor cult groups. The yoruba for belief is igbagb find more yoruba words at. Dada adelowo introduction this paper is motiated by the need.
The religion flourishes in the caribbean, and south america where it has been transplanted along with the peoples who followed this religious path, from africa. Oduduwa between 1100 ad and 1700 ad, the yoruba kingdom of ife experienced a golden age, the oba or ruler of ife is referred to as the ooni of ife. God in yoruba belief and the theistic problem of evil pdf. This article also goes over the disinformation of good and evil within religion and shedding of colonized thought. The question whether olodumare, god in y oruba belief, as bolaji idowu translat ed it, is god is a tortuous one.
Johnson and oyinade, monotheism in traditional yoruba religion. Hisher contact with humans is through the orisa, especially esu and ifa. Similarly, in the great lakes region of east africa, the supreme being, mulungu, is thought to be omnipresent but. In yoruba pantheon, there are two categories of deities ori. When a new child is born as a reincarnated being, they carry not only the wisdom of the ancestor soul they possessed before, but also the accumulated knowledge of all of their lifetimes. Pertinent among such beliefs, are the beliefs in ori1 and human destiny. Lucas, the first indigene to write about yoruba religion was an acclaimed egyptologist in his life time, and perhaps the only intel lectual among the anglican clergy in his time. The yoruba pantheon consists of hundreds of gods, worshipped for an immense variety of purposes, each representative of some natural element or human emotion. He talks with humans, the high god, the orisa, the egungun, and the. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and.
The book contains a lot of information about the yoruba tribes mythology, deities and beliefs, but with each reference made to olodumare, i felt like the author was. The yoruba people are based in nigeria, benin and togo. The politics of global economic relations and international business n. The yoruba world abounds with gods, known in yoruba as orisa.
Basic yoruba belief involves ritual practices such as singing, dancing, drumming, spirit possession, ritual healing, respect for ancestors and divination. The creed of black africans, as spoken in olodumare god in yoruba belief. You must go to god to attend to your needs, because without the help of god what can man do. Practitioners of the yoruba religion, which was developed among the yoruba people of nigeria and benin, believe that before we are born we stand before god and choose our own destiny. God in yoruba belief paperback august 1, 1995 by bolasi e.
Influence of yoruba culture in christian religious worship by odejobi cecilia omobola institute of education, faculty of education, obafemi awolowo university, ileife, osun state, nigeria. Origin of the yoruba and the lost tribes of israel dierk lange abstract. Concepts and theories on women in yoruba religious sphere. The study of yoruba religious tradition in historical. Olodumare in the traditional yoruba religion is the only supreme god with features like the. Originally prohibited from practicing african religions, slaves and free people of color mostly frequented the catholic churches but they carried their african beliefs and over the centuries. John ayorunde tunde isola bewaji is a senior lecturer in philosophy in the department of language, linguistics, and philosophy at the university of the west. Thus it brings us to olodumare, oloduma re olorun, eledumare meaning. Yoruba and ancient near eastern history, the present article argues that yoruba traditions of provenance, claiming immigration from the near east, are basically correct. Igboin, in his paper is olodumare, god in yoruba belief, god. Yoruba tradition says everything is in the hands of god olodumare when they are going to bed at night. In the yoruba religion, gender is not an issue when it comes to reincarnation, and it is believe to change with each new rebirth. It was he who provided his father with the knowledge of creation. Esu can be understood as a mediator between the orisha and humanity and he observers our actions, especially the sacrifices and rituals for the orisa.
Orishas deities worshipped in yoruba land oldnaija. Through painstaking research, he wrote that the yoruba religion had its origin in. The relationship between people and supernatural beings. God in yoruba belief and the theistic problem of evil. Influence of yoruba culture in christian religious worship. African religion study on olodumare and disinformation of the supreme being. Ifa yoruba fundamentals of the yoruba religion orisa worship chief fama. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and other cultural concepts which make up the yoruba society. Its name comes from the yoruba olodumare, which means lord to whom our eternal destiny goes. The relationship between people and supernatural beings in. Bolaji idowu, john ayotunde bewaji, kazeem ademola fayemi, kola abimbola analyses manifests some seemingly contradictions which was hinged upon by benson o. It is so because the concept of, and the belief in, olodumar e are undergoing cir. When we ascend into the yoruba religion, we must first look at the source of all living creatures within our universe and beyond. The concepts of ori and human destiny in traditional yoruba.
This book provides detailed instruction of practical usage of ifa by practitioners and nonpractitioners and answers many questions with respect to how to pray the ifa way. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts which make up the yoruba society. Abstract religion is the strongest element in african culture and exerts great influence upon the conduct of the african people. He is not interested or involved when it comes to earthly matters and lets other orishas, who are described as his sons and daughters, answer human concerns through divination, possession, sacrifice and more. How to build a relationship with your god goddess and deity warning ancestor duration. In all the previous works which have reference to the religion of the yoruba, the deity has been assigned a place which makes him very remote, of little account in the scheme of things. Yoruba religion is the basis for a number of religions in the new world, notably santeria, umbanda, trinidad orisha, haitian vodou, and candomble. Many people have turned to the yoruba religion in this spiritual revolution. This is a treatise on the importance of plants ewe yoruba. The yoruba people iv page ife and thus became the first oba meaning king or ruler in the yoruba language of who today are known as the yoruba people. God in yoruba belief wazobia, new york, ny 1994 isbn 18886832005. The concept of ori in the traditional yoruba visual representation 2 representation of the human images and specifically the distortion of certain parts of human form, e.
Eshu is the messenger god, acting as a link between humans and the yoruba deities orishas. Rituals in yoruba traditional religion are not usually administered by the uninitiated or the untrained yoruba. Avaliable format in pdf, epub, mobi, kindle, ebook and audiobook. The yoruba traditional religion ytr which is vibrant and influential among the yoruba speaking people of western nigeria has had a deep influence on the culture of the people. The yoruba religion has become widespread throughout the western hemisphere as well as its native africa. Staying strictly within yoruba religion, these writers present olodumare as christian god, muslim allah, and esu as satan or devil. Lucas, jonathan olumide the religion of the yorubas, lagos 1948. Other names are also used that reflect the yoruba belief that god has all the possible attributes of a person. Narrative and knowledge in yoruba cosmology marcus. There is a welldeveloped body of literature in yoruba philosophical studies. The concept of ori in the traditional yoruba visual. The term is also translated as deities, divinities or gods. The concepts of ori and human destiny across different strata of human existence.
The yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of. On the basis of comparative studies between the dynastic tradition of the. Yoruba god, power, and the imaginative frontiers toyin falola ghana during the first world war. How to say belief in yoruba thesaurus and word tools. Oloddumare is the unique, supreme, omnipotent and creative god of everything. They are specialists in leading the others in worship. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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