An African Religion
Yoruba
An African Tradition: the Religion of the
Yoruba
 Africa
 the second largest
continent in terms of
landmass
 home to some four hundred
million people and several
hundred religions
 including the religion of
the Yoruba.
 The Yoruba are from Western
Africa: Nigeria, Benin and Togo
 The Yoruba have favored living in
cities
 There are three important cities:
Ife, Oyo, and Ijebu
 Ife has been the center of
Yoruba religion
 It was here that the god
Orisha-nla first began to
create the world
 PURPOSE
 The purpose of the Yoruba religion:
 maintain the balance between
the human beings of earth and
the gods and ancestors of
heaven while guarding against
the evil deeds of sorcerers and
witches
 Yoruba sees reality as being divided
into two separate worlds: heaven
and earth
Heaven
 Invisible home of the gods and
the ancestors
 Earth
 Ordinary world, visible home of
human beings, descended from
the gods
 Populated by perverted form of
human beings, witches and
sorcerers, who can cause
disastrous harm if not controlled
Yoruba Cosmology
Gods and Ancestors
 Primal traditions hold a belief in
both a supreme god and a host of
less powerful deities.
 The supreme god of the Yoruba is
Olorun
 The many deities of the Yoruba
worship are known as orishas
 The supreme god, lesser deities,
and ancestors all inhabit heaven
Olorun: the High God
 Supreme God: Olorun
 Original source of power in the universe
 All life forms owe their existence to
Olorun
 Uninvolved in human affairs
 Not worshipped in rituals
 No shrines are assigned to him
 No sacrifices are on his behalf
 The orishas, other gods, function as
mediators between Olorun and
human beings.
Orishas
 Lesser gods
 Truly significant
 Are a source of sacred
power and can help or
harm human beings
 Worshipped in ritual
 To be appeased
 Orisha-nla
 Ogun
 Esu
 Orisha-nla: Creator god
 Created the earth
 Ogun: god of Iron
and War
 Once was human
 First King of Ife
 After he died, he
became a god
 Now lives on the
border between
ancestors and other
orishas
 Esu: Trickster
 Mediates between heaven and earth
 Has a place in every shrine
 Contains both good and evil properties
 These characteristics make him a trickster figure
A mischievous supernatural being
Part human/animal/divine
Functions as teacher:
 Shows people consequences of certain behaviors
acts as a messenger for the other deities
He assists Olorun and the other gods by causing
trouble for people who offend them or fail to
worship them.
Everyone prays to Esu so that he will not harm
them.
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Ancestors
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The heavenly ancestors are deceased humans
who have acquired supernatural status.

Possess sacred power that can help or harm the
living.
They are worshipped through rituals at special
shrines.
Two types of ancestors:
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Family ancestors
1.
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Gained their supernatural status by earning a good
reputation and living to an old age
Worshiped by their own families
Deified (sacred/holy) ancestors
2.
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Important human figures known throughout Yoruba
society
Worshiped by large numbers of people
E.g. Ogun
Ritual
 Several types of ritual practitioners mediate between the gods and ancestors in
heaven and the human beings on earth
 There has to be a specialist who can facilitate communication with the deity or
ancestor
 Examples:
 the head of a family is responsible for worshiping the family’s ancestors
 in the home at the family shrine
 The king, or chief, of a city is in charge of the city’s annual festivals and
performs a host of other religious functions
 Priests oversee the various rituals carried out at the shrines of each orisha
Diviners
 Among the priests who engage
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in specialized services are
diviners.
Diviners are priests who can tell
people’s futures
Diviners have special training,
innate gifts and life experience
The role is usually passed from
parent to child
It is taboo for anyone else to
perform divination
Divination
 Divination is an extremely important
aspect of Yoruba religion because
knowledge of one’s future is
considered essential for determining
how to proceed with one’s life.
 The procedure for divination requires
the diviners to memorize hundreds of
Wisdom stories
 the diviner recites the appropriate
story for each person who asks for
divination
 Diviners add a ritual aspect – wearing
a mask, special clothing/ using
implements
Sangoma diviners, Botswana
Yoruba Diviner’s Bag
How do you divine your Future:
 What is your destiny?
 What will you become in 5
years?, In 10?, In 20?
 Will you
 Go to college?
 If so, what will you study?
 Get married?
 Have kids?
 How many?
 Live in Bakersfield?
 Travel the world?
 Where will you go?
 Another ritual specialist mediates
between the ancestors and the living
 Wearing ceremonial masks and
costumes
 this specialist becomes a living
representation of an ancestor by
dancing at festivals
 When an important person dies
 The specialist imitates that
persons
 The specialist conveys
comforting messages from the
deceased to the living.